megabus.com is launching five new services on 1 May.
The Stagecoach-owned business has partnered with Bristol-based South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach Company Ltd to deliver five new routes across the Midlands and south west, with direct links to Heathrow and Gatwick.
It’s the first time megabus.com has offered direct links to the two airports. It will provide daily departures to Heathrow from Barnstaple, Cardiff, Bristol, Bath, Gloucester and Cheltenham, and new links between Cardiff, Bristol and Gatwick.
A fleet of 26 coaches, which will bear the blue-and-yellow megabus.com livery, will operate the new services from the South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach Company depot in Bristol. Tickets are now on sale from £1 plus booking fee – and to celebrate the launch, all fares during the first week will be that price.
The new routes are:
- M6a Barnstaple – Tiverton – Taunton – Bridgwater – Bristol – Heathrow Airport – London Victoria
- M38 Barnstaple – Tiverton – Taunton – Bridgwater – Bristol – Gloucester – Birmingham – Leicester – Loughborough University – Nottingham Trent University – Nottingham City Centre
- M25 Cardiff – Bristol – Heathrow Airport – Gatwick Airport
- M18 Bath – Corsham – Chippenham – Heathrow Airport – London Victoria
- M14 Gloucester – Cheltenham – Cirencester – Swindon – Heathrow Airport – London Victoria.
megabus.com Managing Director Edward Hodgson says: “We are delighted to add these latest routes to the megabus.com network. We are excited to be offering, for the first time, direct services to both Heathrow and Gatwick airports, providing passengers the cheapest possible option for travelling to and from these key hubs which are used by millions of people every year.
“We’re also providing new services right to the heart of two key universities in the East Midlands – Nottingham Trent and Loughborough; and the West Country – University of Bath, opening up great value travel for even more students.
“Our aim is to provide new affordable transport options for people who previously may not have been able to afford to make these journeys, and by doing so we are delivering a boost to tourism and local communities. We look forward to continuing to welcoming more customers on board."
South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach Company Ltd Managing Director Roger Durbin says: “We are delighted to be joining forces with megabus.com. We have watched megabus.com grow and develop for a number of years and very much look forward to working in partnership with them to provide a top-class service on these routes.”