Stagecoach gears up for savings

BUS and rail company Stagecoach has started identifying "soft" cost savings in case it gets hit by the global downturn.

The group, which owns 14 per cent of the UK bus market and 25 per cent of rail, has been insulated from the downturn due to a "modal shift" from cars to public transport, but chief Executive Brain Souter says it would have to be "a depression not a recession" for it to get hurt.

He added: "The question for us and for other transport operators is whether this modal shift can occur faster than the impact of a downturn in the economy."