Stagecoach is starting its Golden Hop open-top (route 122) on Saturday (29 April). The fleet of six converted buses will run up to every 20 minutes, 7 days a week and will connect St Marychurch, Torquay, Paignton and Paignton Zoo. Visitors will be able to enjoy a unique sightseeing experience and hop on and off as often as they like to visit destinations and attractions along the route.
Each ‘Golden Hop’ bus has a distinctive yellow livery with its very own ‘bus hopper’ animal character. All six buses were unveiled on Paignton Seafront by Stagecoach South West Managing Director Bob Dennison, Mayor of Torbay Gordon Oliver and Richard Cuming, Chair of English Riviera Attractions and owner of Bygones.
Children at Cockington Primary School were responsible for coming up with the name ‘Golden Hop’ to describe the bus route itself. Joining the Hop mascot Gary the Rabbit, the remaining five hopping characters have been named by classes from schools around the area.
Bus hopper partner locations are:
- Bygones
- Dinosaur World
- Kents Cavern
- Paignton Travelshop
- Paignton Zoo
- Torquay Museum
For the first day of service only (29 April), all single journeys on the Golden Hops will cost just £1.
Further details of the new service, including a full timetable, are available on the website: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/south-west/hop-up-top-with-the-bus-hoppers.
Stagecoach South West provides local bus services across the whole of Devon and Torbay, and into Plymouth, Cornwall and Somerset. Over its financial year from May 2015 to April 2016 it carried a total of 32.1 million passengers and operated a total of 17.94 million miles. It employs a total of 1,197 staff located at 4 depots, 3 sub-depots and 8 outstations.
