UK operator Stagecoach will run the island's bus network and school buses from next April, after winning a five-year States contract.

Stagecoach has been operating in the UK since 1980 and claims to transport around 2.5 million people per day.   

The States says it 'scored highly in the tender process, both in terms of quality of service and value for money.'

Environment and Infrastructure is responsible for the bus service and is assuring islanders that the change-over will be smooth.

Equally, it says staff employed by the current operator will be taken on by Stagecoach and the bus livery will stay the same as the brand remains buses.gg.

Because of this, E&I's Deputy Adrian Gabriel says there will 'likely be no change for the passenger.'

Guernsey's bus network has been run by CT Plus or an affiliated company since 2012. In 2022 Tower Transit took over.

Deputy Gabriel says there is no issue with the change of operator:

"I'd like to thank CT Plus for the hard work they have done over the past 12 years. Particularly when we were in the throes of Covid. The drivers stepped up and so did the local management.

They've worked hard with a school bus development as well, and I am hoping that Stagecoach will be able to replicate that. In fact, I am sure they will be able to replicate that.  I am looking forward to partnering with them around exciting times ahead."

Engineering director at Stagecoach, Tony Vincent, says the company has experience in coastal and island communities:

"We've got bases in Orkney and Arran in Northern Scotland and Devon and Cornwall.

We've been on a couple of bus journeys here, and it is very similar, the roads and walls, it is what we are used to."

The five year contract, with an option to extend to seven years, begins on 1 April 2025.