Flixbus Discussion

Blindtraveler · 12 Jun 2022

To be honest I've never yet entered the flixbus world as it doesn't on the surface anyway appear to present me with anything that's not already being done by somebody else. Why should I choose them? What is the unique selling point? I really wish that somebody else would have another go at a proper sleeper coach service with a lie flat bed. I know all the reasons for not doing one but what I would absolutely use it if it existed. So why should I try it? Flixbus that is

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johncrossley · 12 Jun 2022

Blindtraveler said:
To be honest I've never yet entered the flixbus world as it doesn't on the surface anyway appear to present me with anything that's not already being done by somebody else. Why should I choose them? What is the unique selling point?

They let you buy the adjacent seat for a modest surcharge.

markymark2000 · 12 Jun 2022

JonathanH said:
Is that really a serious proposition?

I still don't think their current operation is presented in a manner that suggests a well run operation. Both their 2359 departures from Victoria (to Bradford and Manchester) hadn't arrived when I left on the National Express 465 at 2359 last night.

Running a handful of services on primarily the same routes as National Express and Megabus doesn't give the impression of an operation that is going to become dominant.

Having said that, the splitting of the 2359 departures (with one to Manchester via Birmingham, Warrington, Liverpool and Manchester and one to Bradford via Leicester, Nottingham, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Leeds) suggests loadings are increasing although they don't run every night.

(I concede that my interest in coaches is mainly about overnight services and they may be making more inroads in daytime business.)

That is their own aim, I haven't made that up.

From what I am hearing from drivers, services can be very busy. A number of full or very busy buses plodding about.

Blindtraveler said:
To be honest I've never yet entered the flixbus world as it doesn't on the surface anyway appear to present me with anything that's not already being done by somebody else. Why should I choose them? What is the unique selling point? I really wish that somebody else would have another go at a proper sleeper coach service with a lie flat bed. I know all the reasons for not doing one but what I would absolutely use it if it existed. So why should I try it? Flixbus that is

I think the reasons for Flixbus are just price at the moment and they do run some services at different times and to some different places to the big firms. For example, Warrington has 1 Megabus to London, That's it. Flixbus offer 1 return trip to Birmingham and London. Northampton to London is 1 hour quicker with Flixbus over NatEx.

If you need to be somewhere at a certain time then you may not want to sit waiting for a Megabus in 4 hours if Flixbus is going first in 2 hours. I guess otherwise, it's very trip specific but some of the buses are higher quality than National Express and certainly Megabus. As I say, it's dependant though on the company you get running the service.

py_megapixel · 12 Jun 2022

Are Flix (or their contractors) finally operating all services with PSVAR-spec vehicles, as required by law?

Blindtraveler · 12 Jun 2022

Thanks for the replies above. Certainly the route network or rather the bits of it that I would be likely to make you solve a sparks about as much enthusiasm as a wet Sunday afternoon but the the seat next to you for a nominal charge absolutely 100-percent appeals, I've never particularly liked having someone I don't know at very close proximity for a lengthy amount of time but even less so since the pandemic, yes I know I'll get shot down in flames for that comment but it's just how I feel. And given that personal space is at a premium on coach journeys as it is this is a welcome product

Deerfold · 12 Jun 2022

johncrossley said:
I see Flixbus having the biggest coach network in the UK by acquisition. That's what they've done in other countries.

Who do you think they're going to buy?

markymark2000 · 12 Jun 2022

py_megapixel said:
Are Flix (or their contractors) finally operating all services with PSVAR-spec vehicles, as required by law?

Yes. Almost all vehicles are PSVAR. I think they are all contracted as PSVAR but I do believe that there was a recent incident where it seems a PSVAR was swapped for a non PSVAR.

johncrossley · 12 Jun 2022

Deerfold said:
Who do you think they're going to buy?

To achieve their goal they would have to buy National Express, as that is the bigger player. It would follow the same pattern as in other countries. They seem to always start off organically and then take over the biggest player in that country. They merged with Meinfernbus to become the biggest in Germany. They started running their own routes in France then bought out Transdev's coaches. Similar in the US with Greyhound.

Blindtraveler said:
yes I know I'll get shot down in flames for that comment but it's just how I feel.

For me, that's the main reason why I go with Flixbus. I don't think that is controversial at all. It is similar in concept to going first class on the train.

Jordan Adam · 12 Jun 2022

markymark2000 said:
Yes. Almost all vehicles are PSVAR. I think they are all contracted as PSVAR but I do believe that there was a recent incident where it seems a PSVAR was swapped for a non PSVAR.

When Flixbus first started a significant number of the vehicles were Non-PSVAR. In particular the Vanhools which had been bought specifically for the services!

Note the lack of Wheelchair lift among other things:

Flixbus

YJ19BBK Portsmouth Interchange, Hampshire.

flic.kr

Following some negative press from disability groups the vehicles were taken off and upgraded to PSVAR standard as is the legal requirement. It's good that they responded, but this situation should never have happened in the first place.

markymark2000 · 12 Jun 2022

Jordan Adam said:
When Flixbus first started a significant number of the vehicles were Non-PSVAR. In particular the Vanhools which had been bought specifically for the services!

Note the lack of Wheelchair lift among other things:

Flixbus

YJ19BBK Portsmouth Interchange, Hampshire.

flic.kr

Following some negative press from disability groups the vehicles were taken off and upgraded to PSVAR standard as is the legal requirement. It's good that they responded, but this situation should never have happened in the first place.

That was back when BM Coaches/Your Partner in Journey ran things.

It's actually on the operator to provide PSVAR vehicles, not Flixbus to request it. UK operators should know the rules.

Now it's run by slightly better operators. As I say, all vehicles should be PSVAR now and the only instances I know of non PSVAR is where it has been swapped and is not a regular scheduled duty.

route101 · 13 Jun 2022

Blindtraveler said:
To be honest I've never yet entered the flixbus world as it doesn't on the surface anyway appear to present me with anything that's not already being done by somebody else. Why should I choose them? What is the unique selling point? I really wish that somebody else would have another go at a proper sleeper coach service with a lie flat bed. I know all the reasons for not doing one but what I would absolutely use it if it existed. So why should I try it? Flixbus that is

Recently I only choose Flixbus to try them out as they are new to the market. The option to buy the next to you is a big attraction for the longer trips. I don't see much take up of that option on the three services I have used.

Bletchleyite · 13 Jun 2022

route101 said:
Recently I only choose Flixbus to try them out as they are new to the market. The option to buy the next to you is a big attraction for the longer trips. I don't see much take up of that option on the three services I have used.

Probably because coach travel is very much the budget option, so the main selling point is low price, so few will choose to add extras.

cambsy · 14 Jun 2022

I've looked at doing Flixbus from Exeter to London. The times and stops they make are unattractive to me, as it takes too long to London. I have noticed with Flixbus, that they do tend to stop a lot on their services, compared to National Express etc, which no doubt must be putting off quite few end to end travellers. Journey times are slow, though this means they get more point to point travellers.

Is this stopping a lot strategy, paying off for Flixbus, or is it losing them customers to National Express?

route101 · 14 Jun 2022

cambsy said:
I've looked at doing Flixbus from Exeter to London. The times and stops they make are unattractive to me, as it takes too long to London. I have noticed with Flixbus, that they do tend to stop a lot on their services, compared to National Express etc, which no doubt must be putting off quite few end to end travellers. Journey times are slow, though this means they get more point to point travellers.

Is this stopping a lot strategy, paying off for Flixbus, or is it losing them customers to National Express?

I noticed when I travelled Glasgow to London on the day service I was one of the few people that done the whole route. Most people got off and on at Manchester.

Blindtraveler · 15 Jun 2022

I should imagine that any public transport alternative between Scotland and Manchester that doesn't involve a TransPennine express train at the moment is in high demand given the aforementioned truly terrible efforts at running a service, usually 50% of it cancelled every day.

route101 · 19 Jun 2022

I was looking through timetables and there is a direct Manchester to Paris coach that goes overnight.

JonathanH · 19 Jun 2022

route101 said:
I was looking through timetables and there is a direct Manchester to Paris coach that goes overnight.

Yes, took me a while to find a date it was running. That is a somewhat interesting routeing though, not even going through Victoria Coach Station.

Presumably M6 - A14 - M11 (with other links in between).

Wed, 6 Jul
Duration: 14:35 hrs

18:15
Manchester (Stand G - Shudehill Interchange)
6 stops
20:20
Birmingham
5 mins
22:25
Cambridge (Trumpington Park and Ride)
5 mins
23:30
London Stratford (Coach Station)
10 mins
23:55
London Greenwich
4 mins
02:10
Dover (DFDS Ferry)
90 mins
06:10
Calais (DFDS Ferry)
5 mins
09:50
Paris (Bercy Seine)

Seems to have a different departure time on different days of the week. Manchester to Cambridge tickets are available.

Manchester to Greenwich via Birmingham and Cambridge looks like quite an interesting journey to do.

route101 · 19 Jun 2022

JonathanH said:
Yes, took me a while to find a date it was running. That is a somewhat interesting routeing though, not even going through Victoria Coach Station.

Presumably M6 - A14 - M11 (with other links in between).

Seems to have a different departure time on different days of the week. Manchester to Cambridge tickets are available.

Manchester to Greenwich via Birmingham and Cambridge looks like quite an interesting journey to do.

I guess its the balance of still serving London and making the journey a little shorter by going via the A14/M11 route. Funny this route has started and a few weeks back someone asked the Flixbus driver at Manchester if they were starting Manchester to Paris!

I don't think there will be much takers for the full route.+

markymark2000 · 19 Jun 2022

Not sure if anyone is interested but I have created a Google Sheets which shows the Flixbus UK timetable with services correct as of August 2022. I've done it this far ahead as there is an expansion that starts 28th July so didn't want to make a timetable that was only valid for a few weeks.

To use, just use the drop down box to select your route and day. If someone else is also making the changes, you can go to the other worksheet (at the bottom). It's the same information but it was the only way that I could make it work with 2 people could make changes simultaneously.

Flixbus UK Public Timetable

TimetableView FLIXBUS UK TIMETABLE,Correct timetables as of 21st Oct 2023,BER,Berrys Coaches,MGE BOU,Boudens,NPT To use, please pick the route/timetable that you wish to see and then the day that you wish to see the timetable for. You can only use the 2 drop down boxes, everything else will erro...

docs.google.com

Please note the timetable can take around 5 seconds to show changes.

miklcct · 22 Jun 2022

I did my first FlixBus trips on the last Sunday. My booking was on 023 departing 08:30 Finchley Road arriving 10:50 Birmingham, returning on the 020 15:15 back to Finchley Road.

In the morning, the 023 bus to Manchester didn't show up, and only a 001 to Newcastle turned up and the driver told us to get on that and make a transfer at Watford Gap Services to Birmingham and Manchester. The bus was lightly loaded and the 023 bus was waiting for us at the services.

On the return, the 020 bus was heavily loaded. It happened that my friends were also booked on that same bus back to Finchley Road so we travelled together.

The bus went on time in both directions and I recommend taking it if there isn't a suitable railway connection. The only minus is that it doesn't have a stop at Brent Cross though, which will be much more useful for north London travellers.

Wolfie · 22 Jun 2022

miklcct said:
I did my first FlixBus trips on the last Sunday. My booking was on 023 departing 08:30 Finchley Road arriving 10:50 Birmingham, returning on the 020 15:15 back to Finchley Road.

In the morning, the 023 bus to Manchester didn't show up, and only a 001 to Newcastle turned up and the driver told us to get on that and make a transfer at Watford Gap Services to Birmingham and Manchester. The bus was lightly loaded and the 023 bus was waiting for us at the services.

On the return, the 020 bus was heavily loaded. It happened that my friends were also booked on that same bus back to Finchley Road so we travelled together.

The bus went on time in both directions and I recommend taking it if there isn't a suitable railway connection. The only minus is that it doesn't have a stop at Brent Cross though, which will be much more useful for north London travellers.

Finchley Road has very good transport connections.

JonathanH · 22 Jun 2022

miklcct said:
The only minus is that it doesn't have a stop at Brent Cross though, which will be much more useful for north London travellers.

Have coaches ever stopped at Brent Cross? I'm not sure that the bus station there is ideally set up for coaches and it represents more of a detour than stopping at Finchley Road.

Wolfie · 22 Jun 2022

JonathanH said:
Have coaches ever stopped at Brent Cross? I'm not sure that the bus station there is ideally set up for coaches and it represents more of a detour than stopping at Finchley Road.

In my experience it's always been Finchley Road or Golders Green.

markymark2000 · 22 Jun 2022

JonathanH said:
Have coaches ever stopped at Brent Cross? I'm not sure that the bus station there is ideally set up for coaches and it represents more of a detour than stopping at Finchley Road.

The only ones which use Brent Cross is the Green Line services and they use the flyover, not the bus station so there is no diversion.

It's not the easiest to access though by foot or other public transport (where you'd have to walk to the flyover and cross over in some cases to get to the stop).

Could be worth a trial but I don't think Greenline gets many people from it. It's just a convenient stop for the domestic hours 15 mile between stops rule.

Deerfold · 22 Jun 2022

JonathanH said:
Have coaches ever stopped at Brent Cross? I'm not sure that the bus station there is ideally set up for coaches and it represents more of a detour than stopping at Finchley Road.

Greenline 757 stops there. Other Greenline coaches have, too.

Blindtraveler · 22 Jun 2022

Finchley road is a fabulous interchange with a lot of potential except for the fact that for passengers with a lot of luggage or reduced mobility it's a nightmare due to a very hard and busy to crossroads and a subway with lots of stairs as an alternative. Less relevant but still partly so, the last twice I've passed through the station the passenger lift has been out of order

miklcct · 22 Jun 2022

markymark2000 said:
The only ones which use Brent Cross is the Green Line services and they use the flyover, not the bus station so there is no diversion.

It's not the easiest to access though by foot or other public transport (where you'd have to walk to the flyover and cross over in some cases to get to the stop).

Could be worth a trial but I don't think Greenline gets many people from it. It's just a convenient stop for the domestic hours 15 mile between stops rule.

I hope that every long distance coach should have a stop immediately before and after the motorway for the purpose of interchanging with local services without making a detour, which means Brent Cross here.

The coach I took actually passed within 1.5 km within my home but unfortunately there was no chance to get off before it passed that point. Meanwhile, the Green Line bus, which I'll use next month to the airport, has stops near Cricklewood Lane and Brent Cross between Finchley Road and the motorway, and Brent Cross is promoted as a shopping destination for Luton residents.

The transport connection between my home Cricklewood and Finchley Road is not great, with journey planner suggesting a change at Kilburn to be the fastest as the only bus route connecting these two places (C11) is rubbish. As a result on that day I walked to Willesden Green to take the tube to stay well under the Oyster cap.

Stan Drews · 23 Jun 2022

miklcct said:
I hope that every long distance coach should have a stop immediately before and after the motorway for the purpose of interchanging with local services without making a detour, which means Brent Cross here.

The coach I took actually passed within 1.5 km within my home but unfortunately there was no chance to get off before it passed that point. Meanwhile, the Green Line bus, which I'll use next month to the airport, has stops near Cricklewood Lane and Brent Cross between Finchley Road and the motorway, and Brent Cross is promoted as a shopping destination for Luton residents.

The transport connection between my home Cricklewood and Finchley Road is not great, with journey planner suggesting a change at Kilburn to be the fastest as the only bus route connecting these two places (C11) is rubbish. As a result on that day I walked to Willesden Green to take the tube to stay well under the Oyster cap.

I once lived in a house with a railway line at the end of the garden. The train drivers would never stop for me though, so I always had to make the long trek to the nearest station!

johncrossley · 23 Jun 2022

miklcct said:
I hope that every long distance coach should have a stop immediately before and after the motorway for the purpose of interchanging with local services without making a detour, which means Brent Cross here.

The coach I took actually passed within 1.5 km within my home but unfortunately there was no chance to get off before it passed that point. Meanwhile, the Green Line bus, which I'll use next month to the airport, has stops near Cricklewood Lane and Brent Cross between Finchley Road and the motorway, and Brent Cross is promoted as a shopping destination for Luton residents.

The transport connection between my home Cricklewood and Finchley Road is not great, with journey planner suggesting a change at Kilburn to be the fastest as the only bus route connecting these two places (C11) is rubbish. As a result on that day I walked to Willesden Green to take the tube to stay well under the Oyster cap.

This is fairly similar to what they do for Northern Ireland's Goldline services. They have a lot of stops near the motorway. But their rail network is quite sparse so coaches play a significant role in public transport there. In England there is nearly always a faster rail service.

markymark2000 · 23 Jun 2022

johncrossley said:
This is fairly similar to what they do for Northern Ireland's Goldline services. They have a lot of stops near the motorway. But their rail network is quite sparse so coaches play a significant role in public transport there. In England there is nearly always a faster rail service.

Also much of Scotland's Citylink network is similar.

Granted I don't think every single diversion is needed but Brent Cross is on the way and northbound, the only cost is time penalty loading any passengers.

Southbound though I guess it can cause issues if luggage isn't separated it could cause quite a dilemma. I think it's also not popular with passengers stopping too often.

It's a balance. For some routes where it's worthy of a 'day trip' like Leicester yes, that may work but Glasgows would be wasted I think.

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