National Express withdraws from Eurolines

[radamfi]

I got this email today. National Express are partnering with Ouibus instead.

To give our customers greater benefits and convenience, we have decided to withdraw from the Eurolines organisation. Rest assured, you will still be able to enjoy the same amazingly affordable fares to all major European destinations through National Express.

Continue to enjoy all your favourite destinations like Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and 100s more. All that is changing is when you book online, you book through the National Express website rather than the Eurolines website. Simple!

So, from 11 January 2018 all bookings for European travel will need to be made via nationalexpress.com

If you need to book return travel from Europe before then please visit ouibus.com

We have partnered with Ouibus, one of Europe's biggest coach operators. This means you can now travel to even more destinations across Europe, with many more fast and convenient connections possible than before.

 

[JonathanP]

Interesting. Since ouibus, owned by SNCF, mainly serves France, I don't know what will happen to connections further afield. Gone, or still run by other Eurolines partners without NX involvement?

You have to wonder if the end is nigh for Eurolines.
I was at Munich central coach station last week on a busy friday evening. The Flixbus office was crowded with 20 people, and more queuing out of the door. Meanwhile the Eurolines office next door was completely empty.

 

[duesselmartin]

looking at it from Düsseldorf, it seems they are still busy towards eastern Europe.
I remember taking Eurolines from Limerick to London in the early 1990s, I think using a Bus Eireann coach.

 

[Polrail]

Flixbus has just entered an agreement with PolskiBus. PolskiBus services will fun under the Flixbus brand.

 

[Mwanesh]

I think Flixbus has taken over the Eurolines Eastern section .If Flixbus has partnered with Polskibus its Souter again he owns it through Highland Investments

 

[dutchflyer]

OUI(formerIDbus) also has nearly since its start a AMS-LON service, by day and overnight.
In fact I often have used €lines coaches to travel to UK/LON and in the past it was usually BOVO (NL) or NatEx (GB), but since about 2 yrs ago they changed over to Polish coaches+drivers, continuing on to PL after a long break.
As I see it one may interpret this in 2 ways: either NatEx was driven out from €ls as its too expensive or they withdrea and formed another west-euro coalition before this was done.
Many more countries have de facto left €ls, f.e. Blaguss in Austria and Volanbusz from Hungary. Its coaches still show the Veolia signs, even though Veolia is to be wound up and has sold many of its bus-holdings to others (here in NL to Connexxion=TransDEV).

 

[radamfi]

Eurolines have revamped their website. Instead of a different website for each country, there is a uniform multi-lingual website.

Their ticket agency in London is now Sindbad, by Green Line coach station.

https://www.eurolines.eu/new-outlet-opening-london

 

[radamfi]

National Express are offering journeys off the Ouibus network. For example,

London to Frankfurt by Deutsche Touring and Gumdrop.

London to Prague changing at Frankfurt onto Eurolines.

 

[Bletchleyite]

They (Eurolines) seem to have partnered with these guys, who are Transdev owned: https://www.isilines.com

 

[radamfi]

They (Eurolines) seem to have partnered with these guys, who are Transdev owned: https://www.isilines.com

Transdev own the Eurolines brand in France and before Isilines started, they operated domestic services within France under the Eurolines name.

There is a Isilines/Eurolines route map on the Isilines website, but it is presumably wrong now as they no longer offer through services beyond London.

http://news.eurolinespro.fr/isiline...87.739656512.1516740536-2051966096.1516740536

 

[route101]

Whats the longest service from Victoria these days?

 

[radamfi]

If you book Amsterdam to London on the OUIBUS site, it says the service is operated by National Express.

 

[Gt86]

Seems now that the London to France, Belgium and Netherlands services are being shared between ouibus and national express

Looks like a bit of sorting out of the websites is needed though... Ouibus selling tickets for Nat Ex at 3 times the cost on the Nat Ex website or suggesting a change in Bruge to get to Lille. Nat Ex selling tickets labelled as provided by Ouibus at similarly extortionate prices that aren't on the Ouibus website

Overall even more reason for people to use Flixbus...at least then the price you're being asked to pay is clear!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Transdev own the Eurolines brand in France and before Isilines started, they operated domestic services within France under the Eurolines name.

There is a Isilines/Eurolines route map on the Isilines website, but it is presumably wrong now as they no longer offer through services beyond London.

http://news.eurolinespro.fr/isiline...87.739656512.1516740536-2051966096.1516740536

Does anyone else read that as the rather unfortunate "ISIL lines"?

Perhaps not a triumph of branding.

 

[dutchflyer]

Whats the longest service from Victoria these days?

There are (still) coaches to Romania/Bulgaria and to Estonia-(via DE-PL-LV etc.), though these tend to leave from that adjacent road where the Green Line also stops. Check yourself what is furthest away.

 

[route101]

There are (still) coaches to Romania/Bulgaria and to Estonia-(via DE-PL-LV etc.), though these tend to leave from that adjacent road where the Green Line also stops. Check yourself what is furthest away.

Yeah , these for workers it seemed . Didnt realise one went to the baltics , thought you changed coach in Germany . Apparently there was a coach to Kiev at one point.

 

[embers25]

Yeah , these for workers it seemed . Didnt realise one went to the baltics , thought you changed coach in Germany . Apparently there was a coach to Kiev at one point.

I thought the Estonian one involved a change in Warsaw or Germany, maybe I'm wrong. Riga has direct though.