National Express has confirmed plans to grow its UK coach network to include 15 new routes.
With this expansion, the operator is placing emphasis on “fast, frequent services connecting cities, towns and airports”.
This news follows a significant increase in customers in 2022, with over 16 million passengers travelling on National Express services, up from 10 million in 2021.
National Express believes that factors such as the Queen’s funeral, the return of live events, increased fuel prices and the disruption caused by rail strikes have contributed towards this growth.
Likewise, an increase in passenger numbers has also been reported by National Express’s competitor, FlixBus, demonstrating an overall rise in demand for coach travel in the UK.
Ed Rickard, Service Delivery Director for National Express UK, said:More and more customers are turning to coach for great value, reliable and sustainable travel. It’s encouraging to see customers making the switch from other modes of transport and choosing our coaches. With our record customer satisfaction scores, they clearly like what they’ve seen, which gives us confidence that the demand is there.
We're expecting 2023 to be even busier as we roll out our uplift in service provision, with forecasts predicting 21 million customers travelling by coach to get them where they need to be.
New National Express Routes
Launched 20 March:
- Luton Airport – Golders Green – Finchley Road – Baker Street – Paddington – Marble Arch
- Stansted Airport – Golders Green – Finchley Road – Baker Street – Marble Arch – Paddington
Launched 31 March:
- Huddersfield – Bradford – Leeds – Meadowhall – Derby – Birmingham
- Grimsby – Cleethorpes – Louth – Lincoln – Newark-on-Trent – Leicester – Birmingham
- Edinburgh – Glasgow – Carlisle – Manchester – Liverpool
- Glasgow – Carlisle – Milton Keynes – London
- Edinburgh – Glasgow – Hamilton – Milton Keynes – Golders Green – London
Launching 28 April:
- Leicester – Nottingham – Derby
- Hull – Scunthorpe – Nottingham – London
- Grimsby – Cleethorpes – Louth – Lincoln – Nottingham – London
- Rugby – Coventry – Warwick – Heathrow Airport – London
- Penzance – Camborne – Newquay – Launceston – Okehampton – Exeter – Heathrow Airport – London
- Nottingham – Leicester – Peterborough – Cambridge – Stansted Airport
Launching 26 May:
- Newcastle – Durham – Darlington – Leeds – London
Launching 14 July:
- Poole – Bournemouth – Southampton – Fareham – Portsmouth – Chichester – Gatwick Airport
These new routes take the network’s capacity up to 11,000 journeys across the country each week. To facilitate this expansion, National Express is also investing in 130 new vehicles to add to the fleet.
