Megarider hits £10

Stagecoach Manchester have announced a batch of price increases that will see their weekly Megarider ticket hit the ten pound mark.  Their Dayrider tickets will also see an increase, while route-specific tickets are withdrawn.

The Ashton Dayrider, originally introduced to counter competition from Dennis's and Mayne (now both absorbed by Stagecoach) is on the way out, as are Chorlton's 85/86 Day and Week tickets and their counterparts on the 192 route.  Both these tickets were brought in as part of Stagecoach's drive to beat competition from GM Buses.  With GM Buses gone, there's not much danger of anyone else taking on Stagecoach on either of these routes any time soon.  They're high frequency routes and any competition would need low prices and a lot of vehicles and staff to stand a chance of breaking Stagecoach's grip.

It's worth noting that even with these price increases, Stagecoach's ticket range is cheaper than First's in Greater Manchester, although that does reflect Stagecoach's slightly smaller range compared to First.

Those price increases in full:

Megarider: £10 (up 50p)
Dayrider: £3.30 (up 30p)
Dayrider PlusOne (for one adult and one child) £4.80 (up 30p)
Group Dayrider (two adults and two children) £6.60 (up 60p)

All changes take effect from this Sunday (23rd March).

Comments

[Skintight Chorltonite!]

I think it's abhorrent that Stagecoach have stopped offering the route-rider for the 85/86 service. Now people who rely on this service will have to pay an extra £156 a year, most people who use this service don't need a mega-rider because they only use the 85 and 86. So I don't see why we should have to pay for something we don't use.
Now that they have the monopoly on this service- I see them increasing the price as and when they want. It's profiteering in it's true form.