Stagecoach Manchester

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RE: Stagecoach Manchester

(14/02/2014 20:37)R971XVM Wrote:  

(14/02/2014 10:24)YSV-205 Wrote:  19454 was operating the 142 this morning Manchester bound in Didsbury at 0745.

So......the Megarider tickets for Magicbus are cheaper than the regular Stagecoach. If I had a Magicbus Megarider ticket & saw the 142 coming & it was a regular Stagecoach Enviro400 I would think I can't put my hand out to stop it as I don't have the correct ticket, but...........surely if I did, the driver would have to accept my ticket because the bus should be a Magicbus. Would I be right? I suppose the same question can be asked about the two Spectra's. How is one supposed to know?

Yup - go by the route numbers, not the bus colour. 142 / 143 is solely Magicbus. This appears to be an issue that most of Manchester's university students cannot grasp.

Having said that, there is a theory floating around that if a route is operated by a blue Magicbus (outside of 142/3) we *should* in theory be charging Magicbus band fares, but I don't know how true that is.

I think the rule is that Magicbus fares only apply on the 142/143. Drivers will usually charge the normal fare for other routes. I've heard of drivers specifically telling passengers 'this is not a Magicbus' when they get on. Presumably therefore by the same token, ANY bus that operates the 142/143 should charge the Magicbus fare.
I would guess this is to do with the Magicbus fares being aimed solely at students, rather than the general public taking advantage of one that's simply replacing a bus that's out of service for some reason.