The big revenue drop is in premium passenegrs - medium / long distance commuters and business travel. The marginal revenue cost for these was very, very good up to the point you needed to buy more infrastructure.
I see. So commuting within London zones 1-6 I assume is shorter than medium distance ?. And I recall reading that London commuting is (was pre Covid) dwarfed by the ridership on Londons busses anyway.
So are you saying commuting from outside the M25 (and further) to London is hit ?.
Thats not really true. Id much rather use a non stop overnight Megabus from London to Glasgow than the dazzling bright seated sleeper that stops at every lamp post or waste half a day on a day train. Theres lots of instances where the coach is more practical and to be honest somecases where they are now more comfortable.
A coach is a lot cheaper than rail day or night. Except when LNWR do a good deal to Crewe. A coach is not quite as nice as intercity but really not worth the extra. Especially if you end up on a rail replacement bus having paid a rail fare. The coach is quicker than the train if you end up on a bus going round the houses !. Maybe the train fare should be reduced when engineering work (etc) takes effect.
Would have to be a Sleeper berth or nothing for me. Never have understood overnight seating as it sounds so grim.
I suppose it was years sleeping on commuter trains then discovering I could sleep solidly for nine hours on a plane that led me to consider coaches. Not possible for everyone I agree. But then even the day coaches I use are nicer than a plane and nicer/comparable to non-intercity trains BUT cheaper.
Buses are awful to travel on though. I'll use over a train over a car, because it's fast quiet and efficient, but not a bus rattling and smashing it's way round the houses at 25mph.
See below.
There would be scope for both buses serving every stop and going straight down the A303 and A30 stopping only at the main towns.
Yes, see below.
If you had a car.
But to return to the theme, why should the taxpayer subsidise a second transport infrastructure between Salisbury and Exeter? Wouldn't the money be better spent improving the A303 and alleviating the traffic? Honiton-Exeter is already a high-quality dual carriageway.
Perhaps a coach doing a single stop in each town centre * then busses feeding (integrated transport I know !).
* = In some cases the railway station may well be nowhere near the town centre.