Just read on BBC Ceefax Friday 20th 12noon that the bus company Aston Express has lost its licences to operate bus services due to poor maintaince and not being in a safe condition.Stagecoach East Midlands has purchased the business and will operate the current services provided by Aston Express. Stagecoach EM would like to point out it will use its own fleet of busses and NOT Aston Expresses.
Could be the start of Stagecoach expanding again now that it has sold of its American division.

Could it be that there may be a bit of competition coming to Sheffield before long

They will enjoy the monopoly, now they have lost another competitor. Stagecoach: a very apt name for a company run by bandits.

The main services which will now be Stagecoach East Midlands operated within South Yorkshire are routes:
99 Crystal Peaks to Chesterfield
252/253 Crystal Peaks to Sheffield
265 Sheffield to Barnsley (Certain Journeys only mainly early am and evening and Sunday)
plus any other journey which Aston Express Buses had operated in Derbyshire

Ho hum, Stagecoach have got the M17 back then! At least there will be less worry about what buses are running up and down our road - With Aston one day you would get a tiny unmarket mobility bus, then next day a full size single decker too big to fit a residential street!

I'm sure commuters on the 253 will enjoy a proper bus!

And maybe Stagecoach are on the march to compete with First?

Shame a little company has gone though, exactly the same way as Sheaf Line and Northern bus.

Are the bus drivers from Aston still runnign those services? I found them to be very friendly and probably the best service i get on public transport, it woudl be a shame to lose them.

Anyone know if the 10 trip ticket i bought with aston still works with the new company?

Wilf

I have tried the Stagecoach website but no mention

http://www.stagecoachbus.co.uk/south_yorkshire/index_html/index_html

I am guessing they will run with Stagecoach buses marked as on hire to Aston with Aston tickets valid initially until Stagecoach have re-registered the routes, when it will become part of the Stagecoach network for proper.

News just in is that the first red indian in nearly 20 years has just been sighted near the Rother Valley Country Park in Killamarsh. It would appear it is finally safe for their return now Bailey Drive has lost it's cowboys!!!!;)

I used to live in Marsh Lane near Eckington and when the Aston Express busses came along it was like a god send!! It was a complete nightmare as a teenager trying to get anywhere living out there. The drivers were all friendly and they always ran on time. They used to do very cheep trips out to the coast. I must admit i am sorry that thing have turned out this way for them :o(

Looks like Stagecoach have off loaded all the Aston bus routes - they have all been deregistered in the latest traffic commissioner report, and registered by Whites Worldwide Travel, a coach company based in Calver!

What about the 89 = Sheffield to whateverrandomhospitaltowardsChesterfield ?

That bus is a good alternative to First.

Also, Stagecoach taking over means the one & two zone ticket will drop from 1.05£ to 85p ;)

That still makes First Mainline the most expensive to travel on !

The Sheffield journeys on route 89 are operated by TM Travel.

Whites of Calver is also part of Stagecoach empire it bought them out a few years ago as part of purchase of Chesterfield Transport.At the time is was also after Hulleys of Baslow.

Ah, so it it one of several registered names of Stagecoach East Midlands..... So Stagecoach is continuing with the ex Aston routes after all! I hope they manage to conjour up a minibus for the M17 then, those full size single deckers don't fit up St Quentin Drive very well!

I guess one of the reasons the 25 doesn't go to Totley is probably because no full size single decker will fit down Queen Victoria road or Mickley Lane, such a shame... The M17 is a good alternative, but it doesn't run enough for you to be able to depend on it :(

Oh, a full size bus could easily do Queen Vic and Mickley Lane, as the old 917 night bus went that way and that was sometimes a double decker! It is rather steep, and I'm not sure there is enough demand to make a 25 to Totley pay - if you are going town to Totley you get the 97, so it is only people from Woodseats, Meadowhead and Bradway who would use it, and as the M17 only ever has about 2 passengers there can't be that much demand!

Originally posted by Andy C
Oh, a full size bus could easily do Queen Vic and Mickley Lane, as the old 917 night bus went that way and that was sometimes a double decker! It is rather steep, and I'm not sure there is enough demand to make a 25 to Totley pay - if you are going town to Totley you get the 97, so it is only people from Woodseats, Meadowhead and Bradway who would use it, and as the M17 only ever has about 2 passengers there can't be that much demand!

I say that beacuse as the 97 service is lame and you can't depend on it, having an alternative service via Bradway couldn't do much harm. It would also rationalise stuff a bit, and offer less different terminises to cater for, First likes to do that...