I remember I got the sleeper service from Glasgow to London for £1 back in 2012.
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Megabus Discussion
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Presumably because it was thought that the £1 fare message was a powerful marketing tool to get people to the website. The booking fee was 'per basket transaction', so if you bought two tickets (or 10 tickets) you only paid the one booking fee.
I think this was due to a Trading Standards 'rule' introduced that at least ?20% of the inventory had to be available at the 'headline' price. Clearly this was uneconomic so advertising of the £1 fare was dropped. Some were still available, but with the marketing message no longer being available there was little point in retaining them.
317 forever
Established Member
That is a route I was wanting to use in January, and noticed withdrawn.
Even some more established routes were having services restricted to a selection of profitable journeys. So, timings to London and a daytrip to Leeds did not suit me, even though I felt like using Megabus for a change.
Statto
Established Member
Some of the Megabus times are quite daft,.
Theirs only one Megabus service a day Liverpool - London, the service arrives in London 01.35, that would put off a lot of people from using Megabus.
The M84 Glasgow - Portsmouth, one service a day in each direction, the northbound service arrives in Edinburgh at 23.50, & arrives in Glasgow 01.05, again that would put a lot of people off from using the service if they're traveling to, & have to make a connection (whether train bus or coach) in Scotland.
Theirs only one Megabus service a day Liverpool - London, the service arrives in London 01.35, that would put off a lot of people from using Megabus.
The M84 Glasgow - Portsmouth, one service a day in each direction, the northbound service arrives in Edinburgh at 23.50, & arrives in Glasgow 01.05, again that would put a lot of people off from using the service if they're traveling to, & have to make a connection (whether train bus or coach) in Scotland.
Mitchell Hurd
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An arrival at 01:35 in London??? How ridiculous!
Definitely agree about that M84, particularly as the only time you'd get a comfort stop would be if the toilets out of use.
The M84 terminating at Edinburgh would have been ok albeit arriving at nearly midnight but running to Glasgow isn't really sensible for 2 reasons...
1. From Manchester via Leeds, the North East and Edinburgh would takes just over 8 hours (via the M6 would have been much better).
2. There's 900's 24/7 from Edinburgh to Glasgow.
If a similar route comes back then from Manchester it should run direct to Glasgow or make a stop via say Preston or Carlisle (big cities). It would have then allowed say 2 comfort stops on that M84 at least.
joieman
Member
And some of the stops got placed in frankly daft places too.
The stop in Loughborough is on the A512 near the bottom end of Loughborough University, a relatively isolated place lacking of potential passenger amenities on a section of the road that has only one local bus per hour each way. Combine that with awkward timetables, and it's little wonder that I can't remember the last time I saw a Megabus!
Statto
Established Member
Not just that but one of the Swansea services, the M44 arrives in London 03.30.
Their is an M87 Liverpool - Norwich which has one through service in each direction, but has short to & from Birmingham, the Birmingham arrival is Midnight from Norwich & 02.30 from Liverpool
If Megabus bosses are wondering why the services are failing, then look at the departure & arrival times as well as the stopping locations, late night, & overnight arrivals (& departures) as well as stop locations put loads off from potentially using the service.
Their is an M87 Liverpool - Norwich which has one through service in each direction, but has short to & from Birmingham, the Birmingham arrival is Midnight from Norwich & 02.30 from Liverpool
If Megabus bosses are wondering why the services are failing, then look at the departure & arrival times as well as the stopping locations, late night, & overnight arrivals (& departures) as well as stop locations put loads off from potentially using the service.
The M84 replaced a far more suitable M17 service which ran overnight one way to Southampton from Glasgow and a day service Northbound. I had to laugh at 8 hours Glasgow to Manchester when I looked!
There is a London to Glasgow service that leaves London at 7pm and gets into Glasgow at 0425, almost an overnight service. There was one I took which got into Glasgow after 2. I guess these services are busy until Manchester.
To be fair that 4:25 at Glasgow does carry on to Aberdeen, it's just inputted in some data sets incorrectly such that that doesn't show up.
The M84 on the other hand was rather ridiculous, often upwards of two hours late by the time it got to Oxford southbound.
DaveHarries
Established Member
I wonder if passenger numbers are falling on all the routes. I have used Megabus from Birmingham on a few occasions and always found it to be quite busy. I also hope the Plymouth Falcon, previously operated by Stagecoach South West from their depot at Plymouth, continues to exist and isn't replaced with a route that you have to book to use. I have used the Falcon end-to-end and again it has proved to be quite busy, probably due in part to the fact that booking isn't a requirement but also I think the 24hr operation and the airport link attract some good numbers on that route. I once had a late job to Launceston and had to get back to Bristol which saw me getting the 9pm Plymouth to Bristol and we left Plymouth with about 30 on board.
Dave
Article from Route One mentions it will still be running, and as previous posts have eluded to, they're now running interdecks on it. I'd imagine they'd still run it as a stage carriage route.
Ah I see. I forgot they extended a service back up to Aberdeen but renamed it the M9.
With control based in Glasgow.The Rugby network team gone there is no one south in England and Wales who can plan .Its a shambles the proper team who had experience in express work have all left.Loadings are ok only that its Public relations talk to justify cutbacks .
Took the 0405 Megabus from Glasgow to Manchester yesterday. This is operated by MacLeans. A single driver takes it from Glasgow to Johnstonebridge services, except the relief driver did not show. Waited half an hour there and for some reason the two relief drivers were at Gretna services. The original driver was not amused and says it not the first time the relief drivers "forget" to relieve. Not sure why they need a relief driver and hour down the road, would it be better to double man from Glasgow?
It’s probably something to do with the two drivers’ driving hours
Could be Thandi. I seen the M82 at Manchester around 3pm heading to Leeds. The timetable said it heads to Newcastle. The bus had already been debranded.
Scotrail88
Member
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Is there a list of services going and changing next week?
Supposed to be services in a England but there is cross border routes also going such as Berwick to London and the Glas - Portsmouth
Supposed to be services in a England but there is cross border routes also going such as Berwick to London and the Glas - Portsmouth
Berwick to London technically ain’t cross border but alas, that’s being withdrawn
voidwxrranty
Member
already gone Ewan. finished on Monday.
Ah right. That will explain why I saw YT72GOK back in Glasgow this morning aha
voidwxrranty
Member
aye. EFR is back too (12427)
Mitchell Hurd
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That's crazy considering how well it was used when I used it. On the 20/10/24 it was practically (if not completely) fully seated upstairs on the M84 northbound (went from Oxford to Leeds). HSK 655 it was.
The M9/M11 cross border services will still call at Shudehill if I'm not mistaken. No idea what is planned for the office. Maybe Flixbus will take it over?
Is McLeans still running the MX11 non stop London-Glasgow and vv,as McLeans coaches are not the best, and looking use the Volvo Double Deckers as they decent brand new coaches. On the Megabus site its showing operated by Megabus or Scottish Citylink. which services London-Scotland are Volvo Double Deckers?.
WelshBluebird
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Not sure if this is anything but in the last month or two I've noticed more tweets from Megabus about severe delays (e.g. delays of 90 mins or longer) than I used to. Not sure if this is just the Twitter algorithm showing it to me more, or my brain trying to see patterns, but at least what I'm seeing does somewhat give the impression they have already given up even before the services actually dissapear in the next day or two. It really does make me question how long the remaining services will last!
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Realistically aside from the Welsh services it's just a budget sales channel for Citylink now, so I share your concern. Did Citylink buy indefinite rights to the brand, or do they need to pay on an ongoing basis to use it?