Buoyancy in the scheduled coach service market shows no sign of ending after National Express introduced a trio of new routes and uplifted the timetables of three others from 3 July.
Airport services to and from Luton and Stansted are prominent among the changes, which come as bullish competitor FlixBus continues to grow its offering and underline its stated aim of running the UK’s largest scheduled coach network by 2025.
However, National Express has already outlined plans to purchase 130 new coaches, while its July changes follow an uplift in March as neither it nor FlixBus appear willing to blink first in the increasingly competitive scheduled coach service marketplace.
The three new routes introduced by National Express are:
- A31, running 12 services per day between Luton Airport and Portsmouth via London
- 424, with a daily overnight service between Blackpool and London via Manchester
- 455, providing four services per day between Northampton and London via Milton Keynes.
Enhanced are:
- A2 between Luton Airport and London Paddington, which has seen daily services increase from 16 to 48
- A5 between Stansted Airport and London Paddington, which goes from 16 to 39 services per day
- A7 between Stansted Airport and London Victoria, which sees a 15-minute reduction in journey times and 42 trips per day.
The further increase follows what National Express says is “a continued surge” in custom during 2023 that is expected to reach 21 million passenger journeys by year end. In 2022 it carried over 16 million customers, up from over 10 million in 2021. Railway strikes and increased motoring costs are given as contributing factors to that boom.
Says Service Delivery Director Ed Rickard: “More and more customers are turning to coach for great value, reliable and sustainable travel. It is encouraging to see them making the switch from other modes and choosing our coaches.
“With continued investment in our services this month, we are making it even easier for our new and existing customers to save their money for their holiday treats. And by letting us do the driving, our customers can enjoy a relaxing, comfortable journey to their summer destinations.
“2023 has been hugely busy across our network so far, giving us confidence that the demand is there. As we roll out more services, we expect to see 21 million customers travelling by coach to get where they need to be.”
