Megabus (Europe): Difference between revisions
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On May 30, 2008, Megabus will add new service from [[New York, New York|New York]] to [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]], [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] , [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]], [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], and [[Washington, D.C.]]. A [[New York]]-[[Buffalo]]-[[Toronto]] route will also be added. During the first week of service all tickets were free.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}<sup>5</sup> |
On May 30, 2008, Megabus will add new service from [[New York, New York|New York]] to [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]], [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] , [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]], [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], and [[Washington, D.C.]]. A [[New York]]-[[Buffalo]]-[[Toronto]] route will also be added. During the first week of service all tickets were free.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}<sup>5</sup> |
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In the US, megabus's primary competitors are [[Greyhound Lines]], [[Amtrak]], and a collection of discount carriers such as [[ |
In the US, megabus's primary competitors are [[Greyhound Lines]], owned by First Group, [[Amtrak]], and a collection of discount carriers such as [[BoltBus]], also owed by First Group (parent company of Greyhound),[[Chinatown bus]]. |
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===Proposed merger=== |
===Proposed merger=== |
Revision as of 20:42, 17 May 2008
File:Megabuslogo2.PNG | |
Founded | 2003 (United Kingdom), 2006 (United States) |
---|---|
Headquarters | Perth, Scotland (United Kingdom) Chicago (United States) |
Service area | United Kingdom United States Canada |
Service type | Intercity coach service |
Operator | Stagecoach Group (some future lines to be contracted) |
Chief executive | Brian Souter (UK) Dale Moser (US) |
Website | Official Web site |
Megabus is a "no-frills" intercity bus service run by the Scottish-based Stagecoach Group. The service began in the United Kingdom in August 2003 and in the United States in April 2006 (operated by subsidiary Coach USA).
Service overview
In the UK, prices are advertised as starting at £1, with a 50p booking fee. In the US, fares start from $1, with a booking fee of 50 cents. Megabus follows the yield management model typically used by airlines where the lowest fares are offered to those who book early or on less popular journeys. Also mirroring the low cost airline model, the services often call at out-of-town locations therefore avoiding the need to drive through congested city centres in order to maintain punctuality.
Tickets must be purchased in advance, the more in advance, the cheaper they are, via their website or by telephone. Passengers are simply given a reservation number which they show the driver when they board. It is not possible to buy a ticket on the bus except on a few Scottish services. Tickets can be paid for in pounds sterling, euros, or United States dollars.
The company started a price war with rivals, notably National Express and Scottish Citylink, who lowered some pre-booked tickets to £1 in Autumn 2004. However, competition with the latter operator has since ended since the two operators started to pool together services in 2005.
Scope of service
- Megabus announced, on 6 October 2004, that they have carried more than one million passengers.
- On 14 November 2005, the Megabus concept was extended to certain rail services, with the introduction of Megatrain between London Waterloo and Southampton Central, and London and Portsmouth and Southsea/Portsmouth Harbour, using a dedicated carriage on selected South West Trains services.
Expansion into U.S.
On 22 March 2006, Megabus started taking bookings for new routes in the United States, with a network of services based in Chicago with daily routes to Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, St. Louis, Ann Arbor, Columbus, Louisville, Toledo, Detroit, Kansas City and Minneapolis.
On 8 August 2007, Megabus introduced service to the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego, and the Tempe, Arizona[1][2] However, service to the Phoenix area was discontinued in January 2008 due to low ridership and service to downtown San Diego and San Ysidro was discontinued on Sunday, March 23, 2008. Service to Pittsburgh, PA was also discontinued. [citation needed]
On May 30, 2008, Megabus will add new service from New York to Atlantic City, Boston , Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.. A New York-Buffalo-Toronto route will also be added. During the first week of service all tickets were free.[citation needed]5
In the US, megabus's primary competitors are Greyhound Lines, owned by First Group, Amtrak, and a collection of discount carriers such as BoltBus, also owed by First Group (parent company of Greyhound),Chinatown bus.
Proposed merger
On 13 September 2005, ComfortDelGro (the owners of Scottish Citylink) and Stagecoach announced that they were entering into a joint venture to provide express coach services within Scotland, effectively ending the competition on Megabus routes within Scotland. Under the terms of the agreement, Stagecoach would acquire 35% of Citylink, in return for certain rights to the Megabus brand in Scotland. Megabus operations in the rest of the UK remain unaffected by the deal. Despite being a minority shareholder, Stagecoach has assumed operational control of Scottish Citylink, with Stagecoach staff taking management roles within the company and Stagecoach subsidiaries replacing subcontract operators on many routes. Some Citylink services have also been sacrificed in favour of the Megabus brand where operations overlapped.
After an investigation started in March 2006, the Competition Commission has ruled that the merger is anti-competitive. Though regulators will begin consultation with the two companies to seek an appropriate remedy, it is likely that this will involve the forced divestment of some services to an independent operator.
Fleet
UK
Initially, most of the routes used buses designed for short local public transport journeys that had no toilet or luggage space, and each passenger was allowed only one bag. Toilets have been added to the fleet, enabling Megabus to eliminate toilet stops. These double decker buses are 94-seat tri-axle Leyland Olympian built for service with Hong Kong Citybus in 1990/1991. Stagecoach purchased Citybus in March 1999 but sold the company in 2003 after the group hit financial difficulties, the batch of Olympians used for Megabus remaining in Stagecoach ownership following the divestment. These powerful Cummins-engined Olympians soon became the trademark of the fleet in their dark blue livery with huge Megabus wording and logos adorning almost every available part of the bodyside. Newer 'high-frills' bendy coaches, which do have toilets and reclining seats, were used for the longer journeys between London and Scotland, but these were replaced early in 2005.
In the early days, a number of mid-life Volvo B10M coaches temporarily operated various routes, mainly in the South of England, until sufficient Olympians had been prepared for service. Gradually, most of these coaches were taken off Megabus work and used by Stagecoach elsewhere. However, the type made a reappearance at the end of 2005 when they became the mainstays on the services from London to Birmingham and London to Nottingham/Chesterfield.
In summer 2004, Stagecoach received a batch of Neoplan Skyliners for use on the Oxford Tube service. This displaced a number of 68 seat five-year-old double-deck Jonckheere-bodied MAN coaches, some of which went into service with Megabus on cross-border services and on services wholly within Scotland.
Stagecoach ordered another batch of Neoplan Skyliners in 2004, which went into service on Megabus in early 2005. These replaced the articulated coaches used on services between London and Scotland, and also Olympians on some of the other longer distance services. This meant that Olympians were mainly confined to the shorter distance routes in southern England.
In October 2006, Stagecoach announced an £11m order for 45 Volvo B12BT 15-metre coaches with Plaxton Panther coachwork for their UK Megabus operation. The three-axle coaches will be the longest rigid vehicles in the UK on their introduction to service in February 2007, and the first of their kind to be built in Britain. The 63-seat vehicles will be fully accessible, with wheelchair lifts fitted.
Vehicles are owned and maintained by various Stagecoach subsidiaries that lie within the route network. In lieu of properly branded Megabus vehicles being available, it is not unusual for Stagecoach service vehicles to deputise; these ranging from standard double deck types such as the Volvo Olympian and Dennis Trident, through to Volvo B10M single deckers or even Dennis Dart SLF midibuses. Red Stagecoach London double deckers from Leyton were often seconded to Megabus motorway work until the sale of that company to Macquarie Bank.
Accessible Coach Routes:
- Service M9 - Aberdeen - Glasgow via Dundee and Perth.
- Service M90 - Inverness - Edinburgh via Perth.
- Service M7 - Cardiff to London
- Service M10 - Bristol to London
- Service M6 - Plymouth to London via Exeter
- Service M20 - Edinburgh to London via Newcastle, Scotch Corner, Wakefield and Sheffield
US
The US Megabus fleet began in Chicago with used MCI 102EL Renaissance coaches. These coaches were often painted Coach USA coaches, and some services were served by Chicago and Milwaukee based Coach USA buses. In Summer 2007 Megabus updated its Chicago-based fleet with new 56-seat 3-axle J4500 motorcoaches. The West Coast services also began that August with all-new J4500s.
In Fall 2007, Megabus became the only scheduled inter-city service in North America to operate double decker coaches. The company began to receive some of the 14 TD925 double decker buses it had ordered from the Belgian manufacturer Van Hool. These 72-passenger vehicles are something that sets the bus line apart from classic carriers.
In May 2008, Megabus' operations will expand to the New York City market. Out of the Olympia Trails garage, Megabus will use a mix of the Vanhool TD925 and MCI D4505 coaches equipped with WiFi, except for service to Boston will be run by DATTCO using its existing equipment, and service to Atlantic City will be operated by Academy Bus using its existing owned and leased fron New Jersey Transit fleet.
UK Routes
Services from London to Oxford commenced on 4 August 2003, and routes from Edinburgh-Glasgow, Edinburgh-Perth and Glasgow-Dundee were added one month later. During November 2003 routes between Manchester-Liverpool and Manchester-Leeds were added, these ceased on 27 June 2004 and 3 October 2004 respectively. The most significant development of the Megabus network came on 1 March 2004 when a whole network of routes from Green Line Coach Station, a short distance from Victoria Coach Station, in London were added. Services have since moved to Victoria Coach Station in a deal with Transport for London[3] These new services served Brighton, Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Cardiff, Swansea and Birmingham.
On 28 June 2004 routes from London to Milton Keynes, Leicester, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow were added and within two months these were followed by the expansion of the Scottish routes to include Aberdeen and Inverness.
Stagecoach lost the contract to run the National Express route between Gloucester, Cheltenham and London, prompting Stagecoach to introduce Megabus between Cheltenham, Gloucester and London from 5 September 2004.
On 6 September 2004, Stagecoach took over the Motorvator coach service between Edinburgh and Glasgow, selling a number of seats per journey through the Megabus site (the remainder being available without booking in advance, at regular fares). This enabled Stagecoach to cancel the dedicated Megabus service between the two cities.
Routes between London and Liverpool, and London and Newcastle started on 10 October 2004.
On 15 November 2004, the Oxford to London service was replaced by seats on the Oxford Tube.
From 6 December 2004, the Megabus service between Cheltenham, Gloucester and London also called at Swindon.
On 31 January 2005, the Stagecoach Express service X5 between Oxford and Cambridge became part of the Megabus network, selling a number of seats per journey in the same way as the Oxford Tube and Motorvator.
From 18 April 2005, Nottingham, Worthing and Winchester were added to the network (by slight extensions/modifications to existing routes), however rationalisation of the rest of the network also took place. In particular, some early morning and late evening services were withdrawn.
From 13 June 2005, the Liverpool to London service called additionally at Stoke-on-Trent and a new service was introduced between Coventry and London. However, the London-Cardiff-Swansea service was withdrawn between Cardiff and Swansea.
The joint venture between Citylink and Megabus led to a co-ordination of services in Scotland. On 21 November 2005, the 900 Motorvator service was replaced by an enhanced Citylink service. However, the facility to buy seats through the Megabus website was retained.
From 28 November 2005, most of the faster Citylink services between Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth and Glasgow, and Inverness, Perth and Edinburgh were replaced by a more frequent, combined Megabus/Citylink service. As a consequence, passengers who previously used parallel Citylink services from the bus station in Perth town centre were required to use Broxden Park and Ride on the outskirts of the town, with little to no onward connections to the town centre. Tickets for the combined Megabus/Citylink services are available through both companies' websites, though often at conflicting prices. From 16 February 2006, the slower Citylink service between Dundee, Perth and Glasgow became available to book through the Megabus website, restoring Perth bus station to the Megabus network.
Also on 28 November 2005, the London to Manchester route was extended to Preston, with certain journeys extended further to Blackpool or Lancaster. This coincided with the loss of National Express work at Preston depot. The extensions to Blackpool and Lancaster were short lived, and were withdrawn in February 2006, citing low passenger numbers.
Again, following the loss of National Express contracts (this time at Rugby depot), on 5 December 2005, the London to Birmingham service was increased in frequency to every two hours. However, an additional stop was introduced at the outskirts of Coventry, with the withdrawal of the direct once a day Megabus service to Coventry city centre. One journey a day in each direction was extended to Wolverhampton. The stops in the south of Birmingham were no longer served.
Further changes on this day were the doubling of the London to Nottingham service to twice a day with one journey extended to Chesterfield (which regained its Megabus service lost in April 2005) and the introduction of a new once a day service from London to Norwich.
A number of changes to routes were made on 27 March 2006. A new direct service was introduced between Ferrytoll Park & Ride in Fife, Edinburgh and London via Newcastle and Sheffield. Together with changes to the Leeds to London services meant that changes at Tibshelf services were no longer needed. In addition, many routes had timetable changes. In particular, the London to Southampton and London to Portsmouth routes became feeders to the London to Bournemouth service, meaning that passengers were required to change at Winchester. Some London to Bristol journeys were extended to Cwmbran.
The London to Norwich service was withdrawn on 14 May 2006, as were the services from London to Wolverhampton and Chesterfield.
The London to Cheltenham service introduced an extra stop at Reading on 20 November 2006.
Early in February 2007, it was announced that the service between London, Milton Keynes, Leicester and Nottingham would be withdrawn on 11 March 2007.
From 21 May 2007, services between London and Leeds were extended to include Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Newcastle.
On 1 October 2007, the London hub moved from Bulleid Way to Victoria Coach Station. [4]
Route number | Route | Start date | End date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
M1 | Wolverhampton - Birmingham - Coventry - London | 1 March 2004 | 14 May 2006 | Wolverhampton and Coventry added from 5 December 2005 |
M1 | Birmingham - Coventry - London | 15 May 2006 | to date | |
M2 | Bournemouth - Ringwood - Winchester - London | 1 March 2004 | to date | Winchester added from 18 April 2005 |
M3 | Southampton - Winchester - London | 1 March 2004 | 26 March 2006 | Winchester added from 18 April 2005. |
M4 | Portsmouth - London | 1 March 2004 | 26 March 2006 | |
M4 | Portsmouth - Southampton - Winchester - London | 27 March 2006 | to date | Change of vehicle required at Winchester. |
M5 | Worthing - Brighton - London | 1 March 2004 | 18 May 2008[5] | Extended to Worthing from 18 April 2005 |
M6 | Plymouth - Exeter - London | 1 March 2004 | to date | |
M7 | Swansea - Cardiff - London | 1 March 2004 | 12 June 2005 | |
M7 | Cardiff - London | 13 June 2005 | to date | |
M8 | Edinburgh - Glasgow | 8 September 2003 | 5 September 2004 | Replaced by joint service with Motorvator (900) |
900 | Edinburgh - Glasgow | 6 September 2004 | 20 November 2005 | Joint service with Motorvator. Replaced by joint service with Citylink. |
900 | Edinburgh - Glasgow | 21 November 2005 | to date | Joint service with Citylink |
M8 | Dundee - Perth - Glasgow | 16 February 2006 | to date | Joint service with Citylink |
M9 | Aberdeen - Dundee - Perth - Glasgow | 8 September 2003 | to date | Extended to Aberdeen from 23 August 2004. |
M10 | Cwmbran - Bristol - London | 1 March 2004 | to date | Cwmbran added from 27 March 2006. |
M11 | Glasgow - Manchester - London | 28 June 2004 | to date | |
M12 | Leeds - Sheffield - Chesterfield - London | 28 June 2004 | 9 October 2004 | Route changed: see below |
M12 | Newcastle - Scotch Corner - Leeds - Tibshelf Services - London | 10 October 2004 | 17 April 2005 | Route changed: see below |
M12 (Shuttle) | Sheffield - Chesterfield - Tibshelf Services | 10 October 2004 | 17 April 2005 | Connects with M12. Route changed: see below |
M12 | Leeds - Sheffield - Tibshelf Services - London | 18 April 2005 | 26 March 2006 | |
M12 | Leeds - Sheffield - London | 27 March 2006 | 20 May 2007 | |
M12 | Newcastle - Sunderland - Middlesbrough - Leeds - Sheffield - London | 21 may 2007 | to date | |
M12 (Shuttle) | Newcastle - Scotch Corner - Sheffield - Tibshelf Services | 18 April 2005 | 26 March 2006 | Replaced by route M20 |
M13 | Chesterfield - Nottingham - Leicester - Milton Keynes - London | 28 June 2004 | 14 May 2006 | Extended to Nottingham from 18 April 2005 and extended to Chesterfield from 5 December 2005 |
M13 | Nottingham - Leicester - Milton Keynes - London | 15 May 2006 | Withdrawn on 11 March 2007 but reintroduced as Leicester - London (non-stop) from 1st August 2007, one journey each way. | |
M14 | Cheltenham - Gloucester - Swindon - Reading - London | 5 September 2004 | to date | Swindon added from 6 December 2004. Reading added from 20 November 2006. |
M15 | Liverpool - Stoke-on-Trent - London | 10 October 2004 | to date | Stoke-on-Trent added from 13 June 2005 |
M16 | Coventry - London | 13 June 2005 | 4 December 2005 | Replaced by extra stop on route M1 |
M17 | Lancaster - Preston - Manchester - London | 28 November 2005 | 26 February 2006 | |
M17 | Preston - Manchester - London | 27 February 2006 | to date | |
M18 | Blackpool - Preston - Manchester - London | 28 November 2005 | 26 February 2006 | |
M19 | Norwich - London | 5 December 2005 | 14 May 2006 | Services to & from Norwich was withdrawn after 14 May 2006 due to low ridership |
M20 | Inverness - Perth - Ferrytoll - Edinburgh - Newcastle - Scotch Corner - Sheffield - London | 27 March 2006 | to date | |
M40 | Oxford - London | 4 August 2003 | 14 November 2004 | Replaced by booking facility with Oxford Tube |
Oxford Tube | Oxford - London | 15 November 2004 | to date | Service operated by Stageocach Oxford as Oxford Tube, but seats can be booked through Megabus |
M62 | Manchester - Leeds | 17 November 2003 | 3 October 2004 | |
M63 | Manchester - Liverpool | 17 November 2003 | 27 June 2004 | |
M90 | Inverness - Perth - Edinburgh | 8 September 2003 | to date | Extended to Inverness from 23 August 2004. |
M92 | Edinburgh - St. Andrews | 26 September 2003 | 20 September 2004 | |
X5 | Oxford - Cambridge | 31 January 2005 | to date | Service operated by Stageocach East as a Stagecoach Express service, but seats can be booked through Megabus |
U.S. and U.S.-Canada Routes
Chicago Hub
Megabus in the U.S. began operations on 10 April 2006 with routes between Chicago and Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and St. Louis. Services also began between Indianapolis and Cincinnati. A service that was initially offered between Indianapolis and Columbus was later canceled due to low ridership.
On 11 September 2006, a stop in Toledo was added on the route operating between Chicago and Cleveland.
Additional services were added on 2 April 2007: a stop in Ann Arbor along the Chicago-Detroit route, new service between Minneapolis and Milwaukee, an extension of the Chicago-Toledo-Cleveland route into Pittsburgh, an extension of the Chicago-St. Louis route into Kansas City, a re-introduction of the Chicago-Indianapolis-Columbus route, new service between Cincinnati and Columbus, and new service between Chicago and Louisville via Indianapolis.
On 13 March 2008 a stop was added in Madison, Wisconsin on the twice daily M4 Chicago-Minneapolis route. The M4A Chicago-Milwaukee-Minneapolis gained a second daily bus, although that service travels past the city, no stop is scheduled in Madison. Also added on March 13th, 2008 was a Columbia, MO stop once daily in each direction on the Chicago - St. Louis - Kansas City route.
On 27 March 2008 Megabus added a new route, Chicago - Champaign - Memphis. Offering 2 Daily trips in each direction.
Los Angeles Hub
On 8 August 2007, Megabus opened it's second US base in Los Angeles. Initially services were offered in California, Arizona and Nevada. By April 2008 only the routes to the Bay Area and Las Vegas remained. The future of the hub (and remaining routes) is unknown as Megabus has not released tickets past mid-June 2008 for any of the routes, while it has already released them for the other hubs through mid-September 2008.
New York Hub
On 30 May 2008 Megabus will begin East Coast operations. The initial cities served from New York will be Atlantic City, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo (Airport), Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington DC. Tickets are also available for trips between Buffalo and Toronto.
Routes
All routes are operated directly by a Coach USA-owned company, except for New York City to Boston and Atlantic City, which will be operated by companies independent of Coach USA and Stagecoach Group. Cities to where service has been discontinued, but where the route has not been discontinued, are noted in italics.
Route number | Route | Start date | End date (if discontinued) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
M1 | Chicago - Ann Arbor - Detroit | April 102006 | The stop in Ann Arbor was added on April 2, 2007. | |
M2 | Chicago - Milwaukee | April 10, 2006 | The route is also served by the M4A. | |
M3 | Chicago - Toledo - Cleveland - Pittsburgh | April 10, 2006 | September 162007 | A stop in Toledo was added on September 11, 2006. A stop in Pittsburgh was added April 2, 2007. Replaced by the M3C when service to Pittsburgh was withdrawn. |
M3C | Chicago - Toledo - Cleveland | September 162007 | Replacement for the M3. | |
M4 | Chicago - Madison - Minneapolis | April 10, 2006 | A stop in Madison, WI was added on March 13, 2008. | |
M4A | Chicago - Milwaukee - Minneapolis | April 22007 | A second daily service was added on March 13, 2008. | |
M5 | Chicago - St. Louis - Columbia, MO - Kansas City | April 10, 2006 | The route was extended to Kansas City on April 2, 2007. A stop in Columbia was added on March 13, 2008. | |
M6 | Chicago - Indianapolis - Columbus/Cincinnati | April 10, 2006 | June 42006 | Service to Columbus was withdrawn June 4, 2006 due to low ridership. The stop has been reinstated on the M6C at Ohio State University. |
M6C | Chicago - Indianapolis - Columbus - Louisville | April 2, 2007 | Service to Louisville withdrawn September 16, 2007 due to low ridership. | |
M10 | Los Angeles - Phoenix - Tempe | August 82007 | January 72008 | Withdrawn due to low ridership. |
M11 | Los Angeles - Las Vegas | August 8, 2007 | Unknown future status. | |
M12 | Los Angeles - Oakland - San Francisco | August 8, 2007 | Unknown future status. | |
M14 | Los Angeles - San Jose - San Francisco | August 8, 2007 | Unknown future status. | |
M15 | Los Angeles - San Diego | August 8, 2007 | March 232008 | Withdrawn due to low ridership. |
M | Chicago - Champaign - Memphis | March 27, 2008 | ||
M | New York City - Boston | May 302008 | To be operated by DATTCO under contract. | |
M | New York City - Atlantic City | May 30, 2008 | Currently an Academy Bus Lines route. Operation will remain with Academy after May 30, 2008, under contract. | |
M | New York City - Philadelphia | May 30, 2008 | Service offered in conjunction with Philadelphia Trolley Works. | |
M | New York City - Baltimore - Washington, D.C. | May 30, 2008 | ||
M | New York City - Buffalo - Toronto | May 30, 2008 |
References
- ^ George Raine (2007-08-02). "Bargain bus company riding into Bay Area next week". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ Kerry Fehr-Snyder (August 2, 2007). "Phoenix-LA bus service for as low as $1.50". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ Stagecoach - megabus.com moves to new London hub
- ^ London services move coach station
- ^ [1]
External links
- Megabus.com
- Scottish Citylink Coaches
- BBC News Online articles [2] [3]
- Photo site of tri-axle Olympians by Megabus fan
- A UK Megabus Discussion Group
- A US Megabus Discussion Group
See also
- Coach services in the United Kingdom
- Gotobus - an independent bus ticketing website
- BoltBus - a competing service in the United States