John ‘Maverick’ Walker, or ‘Mav’ to his friends, has been described by superiors and colleagues at Stagecoach as a “reckless and wild cowboy who drives by the seat of his pants”, but also as a rule-breaker of unmatched brilliance and “one of the finest drivers Stagecoach has ever produced”. One co-worker, known simply as ‘Iceman’ has gone as far as to call him, “the fastest man alive”.
Having trained at Stagecoach’s elite bus-driver training school in the Nevada desert, Bus Stop Gun, ‘Mav’ graduated second in his class in 2024 and has been manning the Number 3 bus in Yateley ever since.
‘Iceman’, his long-time colleague and driver of the 406 to Farnborough, said that he initially viewed Walker as a problem, believing that he was “unsafe every time he went on the road” adding “I didn’t like him because he was dangerous”, but said after they moved past their rivalry following a turbulent “movie-worthy” series of events he came to the decision that “he would be Walker’s conductor any time”. ‘Iceman’, whose real name is Clive Parker, said it was a privilege to watch him drive the Vigo bend, and that he commanded that corner like no one else he’d ever seen, “like a man possessed.”
The Yarbler reached out to his Bus Stop Gun commander, Marz Gendelfuon, call sign ’Cobra’, who reflected on his time at the academy, noting, “I saw some real genius in his driving, but I couldn’t say it in the classroom.”
Walker himself told The Yarbler that his driving philosophy came down to one defining principle, ‘Don’t think, just do’, and that his style, while renegade, dangerous, and likely to catch up with him, always garnered results on the road, adding, “it’s not the bus it’s the driver”.
It’s safe to say that while Walker may put pedestrians and passengers at risk with his driving, this is nonetheless almost certainly worth it when weighed against his fantastic capacity to not only get results but look like a legend doing it.
We at The Yarbler certainly wouldn’t want to have him driving us, working for us, or on the road near us. Still, there’s no doubt we’d take any opportunity to watch him work his driving magic from a safe distance, preferably stood behind some sort of massive barrier.
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