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New coach service between London and East Lancashire

ROLLING OUT The discount operator Megabus ROLLING OUT The discount operator Megabus

A BATTLE of the buses is in store with the launch of a new budget line offering trips from Burnley and Pendle to London from just £1.

Discount operator Megabus has begun to run three services a day from stops in Burnley, Nelson and Colne to London’s St Pancras station.

Under a combined coach and rail service, the buses connect with East Midlands Parkway station, in Nottinghamshire, to complete the journey to St Pancras by rail.

The move, under their new ‘Megabus Plus’ venture, puts the firm in competition with National Express, which has run services from Colne, Nelson and Burnley, through East Lancashire, to the capital for a number of years.

Usually the cost of the Megabus service would be £12 to London and £9 to return, though some £1 tickets will be made available, depending on booking times.

The trip takes roughly between six and seven hours, while National Express coach services usually take between seven and eight hours.

A rail journey to London from Burnley and Pendle, via Preston, has a journey time of between three and four hours.

Brian Souter, chief executive of Stagecoach, the group behind the new arrival, said: “Our budget services are continuing to attract more and more people looking for an affordable, reliable and greener travel alternative.

“This new timetable will allow even more people, in even more places to access our fast, comfortable services for as little as £1 and help make their money go further.”

The Burnley and Nelson stops are at the towns’ respective bus stations and Colne’s is opposite the Market Street precinct.

Comments(5)

DaveBurnley says...
12:04pm Fri 27 May 11

Will they be serving pies and Tizer on these posh new charabancs?

BjornAganeByka says...
12:53pm Fri 27 May 11

More scams from the terrible Souter family.
Stagecoach operate all the buses for National Express so they must know all the costs and logistics involved.
This puts them in an ideal situation to open a rival service which will be cheaper than National Express.
It will only be cheaper than National Express until National Express withdraw their service and then prices will go up.
The Souter's have done this elsewhere, driving many smaller firms out of business and then withdrawing from unprofitable but neccessary routes and just cherry-picking the most profitable ones.
The Souter brother and sister are not fit people to run a knocking-shop, never mind a public bus service, and the day that the Traffic Commisioner takes away their operator's licence can't come soon enough.

whirlingdervish says...
6:15pm Fri 27 May 11

BjornAganeByka wrote:
More scams from the terrible Souter family.
Stagecoach operate all the buses for National Express so they must know all the costs and logistics involved.
This puts them in an ideal situation to open a rival service which will be cheaper than National Express.
It will only be cheaper than National Express until National Express withdraw their service and then prices will go up.
The Souter's have done this elsewhere, driving many smaller firms out of business and then withdrawing from unprofitable but neccessary routes and just cherry-picking the most profitable ones.
The Souter brother and sister are not fit people to run a knocking-shop, never mind a public bus service, and the day that the Traffic Commisioner takes away their operator's licence can't come soon enough.
you talk gubbins,its not public transport anymore,,ask maggie, what public transport bus do you catch.is there any outside london

BjornAganeByka says...
8:15pm Fri 27 May 11

whirlingdervish - as there just seems to be me and you interested in this particular news item, I'll explain my complaint :
The Souters define everything that has gone wrong with public transport ( my current employment sector ) since Thatcherscum decided to asset-strip the UK.
There is no regulation of routes or services.
Private operators can do more or less as they please - including, like the Souters, running routes at a loss in order to drive a competitor out of business. Once the competitor has gone, leaving the Souters with sole running "rights", they will close all routes except the most profitable.
Ask the passengers of Preston Bus exactly how the Souters destroy bus services. Ask the Noth West Traffic Commisioner Beverly Lunt why she made Souters sell Preston Bus.
The Souters are to integrated public transport what Jedward are to quality music.

sean_brfc says...
12:28am Sat 28 May 11

Megabus is the worst bus service company ever (although I do still have to use them to get to uni because the bus stop is very convenient). Their website didn't provide me all the details I needed and when I got to the bus they turned me away and I had to get the next day's bus. They then didn't respond to my e-mail. They're a joke. Although what do you expect when it's only £4 to Coventry!

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