ALAN MILLAR pays £1 an hour — plus the booking fee — for a Megabus ride from Manchester to Birmingham Airport, aboard what turns out to be a hired-in coach from a Peterlee independent
ON THE COACH ROADS OF BRITAIN
The need to travel from Manchester to the West Midlands at the end of a working day in April 2016 led me to Megabus.com.
My options of where to end up were flexible. It could be Birmingham, Coventry or Leamington Spa. National Express departures were limited and the fares were relatively high. Megabus.com could get me to Birmingham Airport for £3.50 including the booking fee, 18 days in advance.
It meant leaving Manchester at 17.20 and reaching the airport 3hr later. There are quicker — and more expensive — ways of making the journey, but 20.20 was a decent enough time to arrive with time to eat before crashing to bed. A hotel booking website located a room near the National Exhibition Centre for £56 including VAT and breakfast. As David Jenkins explains, Megabus.com uses Shudehill Interchange in Manchester.
This is a short walk from Piccadilly Gardens and is next to the Arndale Centre, served by First and Arriva buses as well as Metrolink trams. There are smarter parts of the city with arguab…
