jamesontheroad
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Scottish Citylink are chasing after Scotrail's first class passengers with a new brand of service between Glasgow and Aberdeen and Inverness. There'll be three round-trips a day, with roughly comparable journey times. Free wifi, snacks and hostess service; fares from £4.50 one way.
The bus, on the other hand, looks naff as freshly polished Cheshire bling, and the specially designed tartan fabric for the service sounds horrendous. Strangely, for a "first class" bus service, Citylink haven't done what I would have thought to be an obvious premium distinction, and gone for 2+1 seating... many premium intercity bus lines in other countries have made the simple sacrifice of seats and it is the one thing that can really appeal to long distance passengers.
Thoughts? Press release follows:
The bus, on the other hand, looks naff as freshly polished Cheshire bling, and the specially designed tartan fabric for the service sounds horrendous. Strangely, for a "first class" bus service, Citylink haven't done what I would have thought to be an obvious premium distinction, and gone for 2+1 seating... many premium intercity bus lines in other countries have made the simple sacrifice of seats and it is the one thing that can really appeal to long distance passengers.
Thoughts? Press release follows:
Citylink launches new Gold service.
5th July 2010
Scottish Citylink has launched a new luxury express coach service, offering passengers the chance to enjoy a first class rail-style journey at economy prices.
Fast, state-of the art air-conditioned coaches will match journey times by train, offer bargain fares from just £4*, as well as free wi-fi and at-seat refreshments.
The brand new Citylink Gold services will link Glasgow-Aberdeen and Glasgow-Aviemore-Inverness with six services a day on each route.
The 14-metre luxury coaches, which can carry 54 passengers, are equipped with leather seats, mahogany table trays, a servery and toilet. They also feature some of the greenest engines in Europe with low carbon emissions.
Coach attendants will give passengers the first-class at-seat rail-style service, providing free hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, snacks and fresh fruit.
Journey times between Glasgow and Aberdeen are less than two hours and 40minutes, while services between Inverness and Glasgow will take as little as three hours and 23minutes.
Citylink Gold is the latest offering from Scottish Citylink - a joint venture between Stagecoach and international transport group ComfortDelGro.
Launching the new services, Stagecoach Group Chief Executive Brian Souter said: “We are offering a fast, first-class rail-style express coach service at economy prices. With such a great package, it really makes no sense to take the car and it really marks a new era for coach travel.”
Jaspal Singh, CEO of ComfortDelGro UK and Ireland, added: “Citylink Gold will provide passengers with more than just a journey it’s a great value, comfortable and modern service which I hope will encourage more people to choose coach travel as their preferred mode of transport.”
The new Citylink Gold brand also has its own tartan, which was designed and manufactured by The House of Edgar, based in Perth.
Bookings can now be made for the new services, which begin on 12 July, at www.citylinkgold.co.uk
For further information on Citylink Gold visit www.citylinkgold.co.uk
* Reservations may be subject to a 50p booking fee.