Transport group Stagecoach to focus on energy reduction as part of its fifth annual Group-wide Green Week programme on 3 – 7 June, 2013

• Sustainability drive incorporates World Environment Day on 5 June
• Transport group planning new phase of environmental strategy

3-6-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — The company, which has bus and rail operations in the UK and in North America, is planning a series of events between 3 and 7 June.

During the week-long programme of activities, the Perth-based company will encourage employees and customers to continue driving forward the green agenda.

This year’s Green Week incorporates World Environment Day on Wednesday 5 June – a widely celebrated global day for positive environmental action when people from all walks of life can come together to ensure a cleaner, greener outlook for future generations.

Stagecoach Group’s 35,000 employees in the UK and North America also have significant environmental achievements to celebrate during Green Week.

The Group has delivered its current five-year targets 12 months ahead of schedule, achieving an overall absolute reduction of 8% in carbon emissions from buildings and a cut of 3% in annual carbon emissions per vehicle mile from fleet transport. Compared to the size of its global operations, Stagecoach has cut the carbon impact (kg CO2 per £ of turnover) of its business in the UK and North America by more than 20% in the past four years.

Earlier this year, figures compiled as part of the Government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme showed that Stagecoach Group is among the top 10% of large companies in the UK for its performance in reducing the carbon emissions from its business.

The Group’s strategy has been supported by an £11million green investment programme. Employee initiatives and eco teams set up by staff have also helped drive dramatic improvements in energy and carbon efficiency. Last year, Stagecoach Group also retained the prestigious Carbon Trust Standard for its action on carbon reduction.

To maintain the momentum of the Group’s programme, work is now underway to develop a new five-year strategy. This will include identifying further cost-effective energy-saving opportunities, continuing investment to make the business greener, and setting new targets around carbon reduction and water consumption.

Stagecoach’s annual Green Week aims to raise awareness of environmental issues among staff and passengers through a series of events, which will include:

• Green initiatives held in partnership with a number of local schools
• A series of green giveaway events and roadshows at bus and rail companies across the UK where employees will hand out thousands of eco giveaways to passengers
• Competitions within the company’s UK Bus and Coach Canada operations for customers to win free travel on their local services
• Employee energy awareness events at many of the Group’s businesses
• Paper amnesty schemes at many companies to encourage recycling
• Stagecoach green teams getting involved in local environmental projects
• ‘Leave your car at home’ days held at depots and offices
• Staff green quiz competitions with top prizes for employees
• ‘Wear something Green’ on World Environment Day with proceeds going to local environmental projects
• Lunchtime walks and cycling into work events for employees

Stagecoach Group Chief Executive Martin Griffiths said: “We have achieved a great deal over several years in reducing the environmental impact of our operations and growing our business sustainably. That is all down to the hard work of our staff.

“We have been widely recognised for our efforts in becoming a greener business. But there’s a lot more we still want to achieve. Green Week helps us to continue the momentum. We will also continue to work hard all year round to attract more people to public transport as well as taking further steps to become a more sustainable business ourselves.”

Stagecoach Group initiatives underway include:

• investing in a hi-tech eco-driving system, which is expected to reduce fuel consumption at the Group’s bus division by 4%. The scheme also offers employees the chance to earn “green points” that are converted into financial benefits from a potential £900,000 annual bonus pot.
• becoming the UK bus industry’s leading investor in new hybrid electric buses, which deliver a 30% reduction in carbon emissions compared to standard vehicles. By March 2013, the Group will have around 240 hybrid electric buses in service across the UK, more than any other operator. Furthermore, Stagecoach recently announced that it has ordered an additional 38 hybrid-electric buses for its Manchester operations as well as 17 biomethane gas buses to go into operation in Sunderland in 2014, with support from the Department for Transport’s Green Bus Fund.
• increasing the number of vehicles running on biofuel, as well as testing other sustainable recycled biofuels.
• investing almost £450 million over the past six years in new buses and coaches for the UK with greener engines.
• installing a new ‘intelligent’ lighting system, which uses movement sensors to determine the amount of light required, at a number of bus depots and railway stations across the UK and in North America.
• improving energy management systems at offices and depots to reduce carbon emissions from buildings.
• investing £2.2 million at South West Trains in a major regenerative braking project to save energy on more than 200 trains.
• introducing an innovative energy-saving engine standby system to reduce carbon emissions from idling trains.
• reducing the CO2 emissions from our bus fleet in the UK by more than 188,000 tonnes over the past eight years through use of a hi-tech fuel additive.
• implementing new contracts for waste and recycling at East Midlands Trains which has helped increase the recycling rate at stations to over 70%.
• cutting gas and energy consumption at South West Trains’ 20 largest stations by 9%, saving 110 tonnes of carbon.
• taking part in community environmental projects such as the Adopt-a-Road scheme in Canada where our Coach Canada employees take part in an annual road clean-up mission on a stretch of road near their head office.

Every year, Stagecoach reports on its carbon emissions through its corporate website, www.stagecoach.com. It also provides information on its global carbon footprint to the Carbon Disclosure Project, the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emissions database.

For further information about Stagecoach visit www.stagecoach.com

ENDS

For media enquiries, please contact: Stagecoach Group Communications on 01738 442111 or email: media@stagecoachgroup.com

Notes to Editors:

STAGECOACH GROUP

• Stagecoach Group is a leading international public transport group, with extensive operations in the UK, United States and Canada. The Group employs around 35,000 people, and operates bus, coach, train, and tram services.
• Stagecoach is one of UK’s biggest bus and coach operators with around 8,000 buses and coaches. Around 2.5 million passengers travel on Stagecoach’s buses every day on a network stretching from south-west England to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The Group’s business includes major city bus operations in London, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and Cambridge. Low-cost coach service, megabus.com, operates between around 60 towns and cities across the UK.
• Stagecoach is a major UK rail operator, running the South West Trains, Island Line and East Midlands Trains networks. It has a 49% shareholding in Virgin Rail Group, which operates the West Coast inter-city rail franchise.
• Stagecoach also operates the Supertram light rail network in Sheffield.
• In North America, Stagecoach operates around 2,900 buses and coaches in the United States and Canada. Megabus.com serves more than 100 cities in North America. Stagecoach is also involved in operating commuter and transit services, contracted bus services, charters, sightseeing tours and a small number of school bus services.