National Express is stepping its coach services up a gear over the Bank Holiday weekend as it adds thousands of extra seats and low cost fares to the network.
The UK’s largest coach operator is making thousands of fares from £7 available and has added nearly 6,000 extra seats to its network to ensure as many people as possible can travel affordably and make the most of the long weekend (Friday 1 – Monday May 4, 2015).
National Express has already taken tens of thousands of bookings for the Bank Holiday weekend and it has seen year-on-year passenger journey numbers soar by as much as 75 per cent on certain routes as engineering works on the rail network threaten to disrupt train services around the country.
Engineering work on lines including those running between the capital and East Anglia, Berkshire, the Midlands and Kent, will mean longer journey times, multiple changes and replacement buses for rail passengers - with delays of more than an hour forecast.
National Express has already taken thousands of coach bookings for services from locations impacted by the rail disruption on the Bank Holiday weekend, adding thousands of extra seats to the network – and stands ready to add more if necessary.
Latest figures for the Bank Holiday weekend show coach bookings are up by up to 75 per cent year-on-year on certain routes affected by the disruption, while Friday 1 May is the most popular day to travel.
The top five biggest increases in coach bookings on routes hit by rail disruption are:
- Norwich – London
- Winchester – London
- Ipswich – London
- Wolverhampton – London
- Canterbury – London
London meanwhile is the most popular destination to travel to overall this Bank Holiday weekend followed by Stansted and Heathrow airports as people look to jet off on a quick break.
Outside of London the top five most popular cities to travel to are: Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester and Cardiff.
National Express UK Coach Managing Director Tom Stables said: 'We are making thousands of fares from £7 available and adding 6,000 seats to the network to open up affordable travel to all this Bank Holiday. As disruption to the rail network threatens to spoil the Bank Holiday weekend, we stand ready to add as many seats as necessary to ensure everyone can benefit from our unrivalled value and comfort.'
National Express offers year-round value with fares starting at £7. For more information or to book visit www.nationalexpress.com or call 0871 781 81 81.