DAVID JENKINS considers how Stagecoach’s budget fare long distance coach brand has developed since its launch 14 years ago and over the past few years he has been sampling some of its services — included two rides on the short-lived MegabusGold offering available on the M4 corridor into London
ON THE COACH ROADS OF BRITAIN
Megabus.com has come a long way since it started with ex-Hong Kong Alexanderbodied Leyland Olympians between London and Oxford in 2003. Its name has become synonymous with cheap coach travel, both in Britain and the United States, although its recent withdrawal from Europe and the overnight London-Scotland sleeper market has dented its expansionist image.
The initial concept of relatively short inter-city journeys such as Leeds- Manchester-Liverpool and Edinburgh- Glasgow soon gave way to longer distance low frequency services radiating from London.
Mid-life coaches cascaded from other duties supplanted the double-deckers, sometimes after a Stagecoach subsidiary had lost a National Express contract. As patronage has grown, new coaches have been introduced, now accounting for most of around 125 on UK duties.
Plastic bags tied to the armres…
