Tag: megabus

megabus to double it’s service over the Christmas season

  • As Christmas makes a comeback after last year’s disappointment, megabus is set to double its service in an effort to ensure families can still connect over the festive period
  • The coach provider will be operating over 9,000 miles on Christmas day alone – double the mileage of last year. Over 48,000 miles will be covered on Christmas Day and Boxing Day combined
  • The increase comes after another tumultuous year of restrictions meaning families have missed out on quality time together, with older generations affected the most
  • Three quarters (73%) of grandparents say not seeing their grandchildren has been the worst thing about the pandemic – having missed out on 49 hugs, 47 kisses, 40 conversations and 25 family meals with their grandkids since it began

With the UK still planning to enjoy the festive celebrations this year, megabus is set to double its service in an effort to ensure that families aren’t separated for a second Christmas running.

The coach provider is due to operate over 9,000 miles on Christmas Day alone – more than double last years’ service – connecting loved ones from locations including London, Bristol, Manchester, Cardiff, Reading, Leeds, Birmingham Nottingham and many more

Across the festive period (17 Dec – 3 Jan) over half a million miles will be travelled – averaging almost 40,000 per day. 48,000 will take place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

With over 2,700 trips being operated by megabus this festive period, the company is clearly ensuring it is there to help families to spend Christmas together. 

The increase comes after another tumultuous year of restrictions meaning many families have missed out on quality time together, with older generations affected the most.

Three quarters (73%) of grandparents say not seeing their grandchildren has been the worst thing about the pandemic – having missed out on 49 hugs, 47 kisses, 40 conversations and 25 family meals with their grandkids in the last 12 months.

Seven in 10 (74%) parents claim to be making a concerted effort to reunite children with grandparents, with 80% saying that their kids missing grandparents has been one of the hardest things to deal with over the past year.

In a normal year, grandparents will spend an average of 90 hours travelling to see their grandkids, spending £240 each to enjoy precious quality time together.

The top moments grandparents have missed due to the pandemic:

  1. 49 hugs
  2. 47 kisses
  3. 40 conversations
  4. 27 playtimes with toys
  5. 25 meals together
  6. 24 walks
  7. 19 bedtimes
  8. 19 daytrips
  9. 18 school runs
  10. 18 hand drawn pictures

Mark Venables, Managing Director from megabus, said: “After so many families were forced to spend last Christmas apart, and we’ve all dealt with more restrictions this year, we’re determined to help bring as many people together as possible this festive season.

“Complying with all current government guidelines, we have over 13,000 seats available for Christmas Day and Boxing Day alone – so we’re really excited to help Brits get around and travel with confidence to see their loved ones this Christmas.

“Seats are already selling fast, so I’d really like to thank all of our fantastic people who are working over the festive period and especially those who have volunteered to work on Christmas day to provide these services to our customers.”

megabus will serve a number of key destinations across the country, including Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Cardiff, Nottingham, and Bournemouth and many others.

Crucially, megabus will be operating up to every 30 minutes between Heathrow Airport and London Victoria on Christmas day and Boxing Day when there are no other public transport options available.

megabus will be running services across many key destinations over the festive period, including:

Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Norwich, Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Southampton, Plymouth, Newquay, Heathrow Airport, Manchester Airport, London.

megabus offers thousands of extra coach seats and urges: Book ahead for Christmas

  • 5,600 additional coach seats available from 23 to 27 December
  • Support provided by the Department for Transport to provide significant extra capacity over the festive period
  • 23 and 27 December busiest days for travel, with Sheffield, Newcastle and Leeds most popular destinations
  • Additional destinations now back on the map following government agreement
  • Customers advised to book ahead as services are expected to be busy, to wear a face covering unless exempt, sanitise their hands regularly and maintain space when travelling
  • Tickets can be booked at megabus.com with free alterations up to 24 hours before travel

Stagecoach, Britain’s biggest bus and coach operator, has announced that 5,600 extra socially-distanced seats are being made available on its megabus coaches over the Christmas period, and urges families and friends planning to be reunited to book ahead.

With support from the Department for Transport, Stagecoach can offer extra megabus seats from all the major cities and many regions across the country including the North East, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol, Cardiff and London.

Additional seats will also be offered on services to and from Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The agreement with government will also allow megabus to provide services from additional places across the South West including Falmouth, Plymouth, Exeter, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Swindon. There will now also be services running to and from the north including Doncaster, Bradford and Scunthorpe with extra stops at Cambridge and new services to Great Yarmouth.

Around 50% of the previously available seats throughout December have now sold out, with cities such as Sheffield, Newcastle and Leeds showing big spikes in demand.  Wednesday 23 and Sunday 27 December are the most popular days for travel and now thousands of extra seats are on sale, megabus is urging people to book ahead, especially as rail services are expected to be busy.

Students have also been successfully using megabus coaches to get home for Christmas, with figures showing a 90% increase during the student travel week, compared with the previous week. Extra coaches were provided on many routes.

Mark Venables, Managing Director for megabus, said: “Direct and high frequency intercity coaches are an increasingly popular travel choice and this year in particular, they will play a vital role in helping families and friends to be reunited for Christmas.

“On the busiest days in December, we have already sold around 50% of the capacity we had available, so it’s great news that we’re working with the UK Department for Transport to increase the number of seats on our services in the run up to the festive break. This agreement also means we’re able to add many more towns and cities across the South West and Northern England onto our network.

“We know that coach and train seats are booking up quickly, and with the increase in advance ticket sales that we have seen, we’re urging people to plan ahead and book travel as soon as possible.  

“Our megabus services offer safe, easy and hassle-free travel and provide a great alternative to cars and train travel, which are typically a much more expensive way to travel. All of our tickets offer free amendments up to 24 hours in advance, so we’re offering flexibility this year, as well as great value travel.” 

Extensive additional safety measures have been introduced across all services to ensure that people can travel with confidence. This includes regular touch-point cleaning, social distancing and anti-bac stations on board all coaches. All customers travelling are asked to wear face coverings in line with the government’s rules.  

Customers travelling in the run up to Chrsitmas are advised to: 

  • Plan and book ahead to try and avoid busy times and routes 
  • Reserve a seat in advance 
  • Try to avoid making unnecessary stops during your journey 
  • Come with a face covering to wear throughout your journey 
  • If you feel unwell or have any Coronavirus symptoms, please do not use public transport 

megabus will be operating throughout the festive period including on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, providing a safe and convenient way for people to get together with family and loved ones in line with the government’s Christmas rules. 

All megabus tickets can be altered up to 24 hours in advance free of charge. Those wishing to reserve a seat benefit from double the usual luggage allowance, and the coaches can be tracked while they’re on the road at https://coachtracker.uk.megabus.com/.

All tickets can be booked at megabus.com.