28/11/2005
- Norwich, Chesterfield, Wolverhampton, Lancaster, Preston, Blackpool added
- Birmingham-London services to increase by 50% with services every 2 hours
megabus.com, the UK’s leading low-cost inter-city bus service, is launching £1 travel between London and six new locations as part of a major expansion of the concept across the UK.
Transport giant Stagecoach is expanding its megabus.com operation to offer a range of new long distance routes.
Bookings are being accepted from today for services linking London with Norwich, Chesterfield and Wolverhampton. The first buses on these routes will run from 5 December.
Stagecoach has also added Lancaster, Preston and Blackpool to the megabus.com network, bringing the total number of cities in the network to more than 40.
The number of return services between Birmingham and London is increasing by 50%, from six a day to nine, with services every two hours.
Brian Souter, Chief Executive of Stagecoach Group, said: “megabus.com has opened up inter-city travel to a whole new market of people with super low fares. From young people, and former car and train users, to families and senior citizens, megabus.com has built a first-class reputation for taking customers in comfort direct to their destination for unbeatable value.
“This is the biggest expansion of routes on the megabus.com network in more than 18 months and we believe there is the potential for further growth in the future.”
The new services will use a mix of coach and double-decker vehicles with new comfortable seats and toilets.
More than 1.5 million people a year already travel with megabus.com, and the latest extension of the service will link Lancaster, Preston and Blackpool with both London and Manchester.
megabus.com is based on the same concept as the low-cost airlines. Seats on the no-frills ticketless service are yield managed with passengers enjoying lower fares the earlier they book. Seats start from £1 and all reservations are subject to a 50p booking fee.
Last month, Stagecoach launched a budget rail service, megabus.com, following the huge success of megabus.com. The megatrain.com concept is being piloted at South West Trains, the UK’s biggest rail franchise, on some off-peak services on the Portsmouth-London and Southampton-London routes.
For further information, please contact:
Steve Stewart, Head of Media and Public Affairs, Stagecoach Group
Tel: 01738 442111 or mobile 07764 774680
Notes to Editors
The number of services to and from the new destinations is as follows:
- Lancaster - one return trip
- Preston - four return trips
- Blackpool - one return trip Norwich - one return trip
- Chesterfield - one return trip
- Wolverhampton - one return trip
Full details of the new timetables are available at www.megabus.com.
For information about Stagecoach’s budget rail service, please visit www.megatrain.com.
