Information AboutNational Express |
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| bus transport in the united kingdom | |
| national express group companies | |
| former nationalised industries of the united kingdom | |
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National Express is the brand under which the majority of long distance Bus and Coach services in the United Kingdom are marketed, and also the company that manages this network and operates some of the services. Most services are subcontracted to local bus and coach companies throughout the UK, as specified below. The brand and company are based in Birmingham and are owned by the National Express Group , a group of diverse transport interests also including passenger rail operators and local bus operators. HISTORY K124 EB Irizar of National Express pictured in Cambridge .]] The ''National Express'' brand was created in 1972 by the state-owned '' National Bus Company '' (''NBC'') to bring together the express bus and coach services operated by companies within the NBC group. The National Express network was largely a branding and management exercise, with services continuing to be operated by the individual companies. With the Privatisation of the NBC in the 1980s , National Express was subject to a management buy-out in 1988 . In 1992 , National Express Group plc was floated on the London Stock Exchange with a remit to acquire new businesses in the passenger transport market, with National Express as a subsidiary company. During 2001, National Express took a very unpopular decision to end the historic on-board steward/ess service, leaving many passengers on buses for up to six hours without food or drink. Phil White, their then MD had stated he felt they made the company look old fashioned and passengers did not need them. The ensuing campaign by the hundreds of sacked staff, and thousands of complaints from customers did not produce any result. It was after this, many ex-staff approached rival Stagecoach , for assistance in their fight against National Express. For most of its existence National Express Coach Division had little, if any, competition in the long distance coach market. However, in 2003 Stagecoach Group introduced a " No-frills " service, Megabus , whose GBP £1 fares sparked a Price War with National Express in autumn 2004. Passenger numbers on core routes have also suffered severely due to cut-price rail fares, such as Virgin Trains' value tickets and the Megatrain (Stagecoach & Virgin) web fares. ACCIDENTS
SERVICE BRANDS ;Network Most domestic National Express services fall into this category, with the exception of: ;Shuttle Frequent services from London operate as National Express Shuttle services. Most of these services operate at least once an hour and operate over direct routes - some other services deviate to serve smaller destinations. The London - Birmingham and London - Bristol services are marketed as NXL (National Express London) services and operate with Irizar PB / Scania K124 coaches. Unusually, the London - Birmingham service is operated directly by National Express and is not franchised out. Also the 040 Bristol - London Shuttle defies National Express's norm by continuing to Burnham on Sea (a small westcountry seaside resort) once a day in each direction, usually early morning to London and late evening from, but still retains its NXL shuttle branding. Shuttle services: From / To London
Non-London Shuttle services
;Airport National Express Airport services operate to a variety of destinations from London Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton and Stansted. The Airport brand was created in 2003 when the National Express image brand was updated - it merged the former Airlink, Flightlink and Jetlink brands, which were confusing, especially to passengers travelling between Heathrow and Gatwick airport. Most coaches on these services operate with the National Express Airport brand, the airport being in white inside a red box below the 'National Express' name on the side of the coach. The exception to this is the 210 service between Wolverhampton and Gatwick Airport, operated by National Express Group company Travel West Midlands , for which new vehicles purchased in early 2006 carry the standard National Express livery. It is not unusual to see 'Airport' coaches on other services. Selection of Airport services:
ACCESSIBLE COACH ROUTES National Express is introducing a new generation of coaches onto the UK network that feature a wheelchair lift incorporated into the passenger entrance. The easy access coach features a wider entrance and a completely flat floor throughout the coach to aid mobility for all. A streamlined NX Magic Floor Lift is incorporated into the passenger entrance and when deployed, the wheelchair is locked in place and the customer safely and securely uses the same standard three-point seat belt as other customers. Other features include reclining leather seats, air conditioning and a large toilet. A programme of routes is currently being planned to roll-out the accessible coach across the network, with the whole network being fully accessible by 2012. The routes currently operating with the wheelchair accessible coaches are:
FRANCHISE OPERATORS
For bus enthusiasts, transport manual publisher Transport Diversions Emporium publish a weekly fanzine/annual, entitled the ''National Express Handbook'', which details the latest official franchisees, along with detailed, up-to-date fleet information, and associated commercial developments in the scheduled coach operating field. This yearly publication is available in most bookstores, plus the internet. DISCOUNT FARE BRANDS ;Coachcards National Express offers a range of coachcards to customers which allows discounts on National Express tickets. At one point this consisted of a Student, Young Persons and Advantage 50 coachcards which allowed the holder up to 30% of the price of coach tickets. This has since been rationalised with the company only offering an NX2 card, offering the same discount to Students and Young Persons cards. Since the introduction in 2004 of half price fares for the over 60's the Advantage 50 card was scrapped, although cards are still valid until expiry. A Family coachcard is also offered and is cheaper than the NX2 card and allows the holder of the card to take one child free with them, in many cases the cost of the Family Coachcard is cheaper than the fare for a child. ;Brit Xplorer This is a card valid for a set period of time which allows non-UK residents (a passport of another country is needed to purchase this) travel as a standby passenger on all National Express services, the holder does however for a small fee have the option to reserve a seat. ;Funfares Launched as a result of severe competition from EasyBus and Megabus , funfares are cheap single fares, some as low as £1, purchased only on the internet as an 'e-ticket', similar to low-fare airlines, thus reducing overheads. Further restrictions are put on these tickets such as the inability to change the time on the ticket or to travel on a different coach. Funfares were launched on Shuttle services but have since been rolled out across the network. A percentage of seats on off-peak services can be booked in this way. ;Multirides For frequent travellers, packs of ten separate journeys can be bought for a saving of ten percent on regular fares. Tickets are valid for up to six months. MAJOR DESTINATIONS
INTERESTING FACTS National Express' longest service is the 336 from Penzance to Edinburgh. The entire journey takes an estimated 18 hours and 30 minutes. It stops at 41 destinations en route and is a journey mostly undertaken at night. Other long journeys include the 539 service from Bournemouth to Edinburgh which takes and estimated 13 hours and 20 minutes. Most destinations have easy access to London with nearly every town and city having a direct service to the heart of the English capital. SEE ALSO
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