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Description
There's a lot of Stagecoach-related waffle from me at the minute. It's not favoritism, it's plainly due to the fact they have something worth documenting.

Up in Inverness, the Stagecoach Highlands fleet in the city has seen some extensive renewal in 2023, not least twenty-five brand-new all-electric Yutong E10s for the city network, but also some of the large influx of equally factory-fresh Enviro400 MMCs Stagecoach are divvying-up around the UK. Among the new stock currently arriving are a trio of new coaches for duties linking Inverness to the various ferry ports and doubling-up on shorter "Citylink" services.

The first of these new beasts is seen here in the shape of 59001 (YT23 BKD), departing Perth (Broxden)on a long-haul service to Edinburgh. Some would say this kind of duty is unsuitable for such a machine, but technologically it is more than capable, even if it lacks a few of the specification features from the usual fare, but so long as you get there, right?

59001-3 (the others still pending delivery) are rather attractive "MOBIpeople Explorer 330"-bodied Scania K320IB4s. A type that's been around for a while, they're usually purchased by independent coach operators in single numbers, but Stagecoach's latest policy of vehicle sourcing is throwing up a few pleasant surprises. In addition, they look a lot better than expected wearing the "local" livery as opposed to the garish "long distance" yellow they could've worn.

I like the look of these coaches a lot but I have one minor gripe, As a traditionalist, I prefer my emergency door to be positioned on the offside as obvious, mess-free means of escape in case of a nearside roll-over. The nearside wheelchair position and built-in lift can also be seen in this view. Nevertheless, this combination demonstrates a lot of potential.

Description
There's a lot of Stagecoach-related waffle from me at the minute. It's not favoritism, it's plainly due to the fact they have something worth documenting.

Up in Inverness, the Stagecoach Highlands fleet in the city has seen some extensive renewal in 2023, not least twenty-five brand-new all-electric Yutong E10s for the city network, but also some of the large influx of equally factory-fresh Enviro400 MMCs Stagecoach are divvying-up around the UK. Among the new stock currently arriving are a trio of new coaches for duties linking Inverness to the various ferry ports and doubling-up on shorter "Citylink" services.

The first of these new beasts is seen here in the shape of 59001 (YT23 BKD), departing Perth (Broxden)on a long-haul service to Edinburgh. Some would say this kind of duty is unsuitable for such a machine, but technologically it is more than capable, even if it lacks a few of the specification features from the usual fare, but so long as you get there, right?

59001-3 (the others still pending delivery) are rather attractive "MOBIpeople Explorer 330"-bodied Scania K320IB4s. A type that's been around for a while, they're usually purchased by independent coach operators in single numbers, but Stagecoach's latest policy of vehicle sourcing is throwing up a few pleasant surprises. In addition, they look a lot better than expected wearing the "local" livery as opposed to the garish "long distance" yellow they could've worn.

I like the look of these coaches a lot but I have one minor gripe, As a traditionalist, I prefer my emergency door to be positioned on the offside as obvious, mess-free means of escape in case of a nearside roll-over. The nearside wheelchair position and built-in lift can also be seen in this view. Nevertheless, this combination demonstrates a lot of potential.