UK Bus ‘Sleepers’

[Buzby]

I’ve just seen a YouTube video of a ‘sleeper’ (pod) coach that runs from Osaka to Tokyo in around 10 hours. It looked incredible, and apart from Stagecoach dabbling in a bunk bed version many years ago before abandoning it, made me wonder if any other company has tried this for travel, either wholly within the UK or to Europe. Are you aware of any services, and who runs it?

Whilst I don’t think the UK market would go for bunks, those pods in a 1 + 2 formation on the deck looked really comfy!

 

[GusB]

I’ve just seen a YouTube video of a ‘sleeper’ (pod) coach that runs from Osaka to Tokyo in around 10 hours. It looked incredible, and apart from Stagecoach dabbling in a bunk bed version many years ago before abandoning it, made me wonder if any other company has tried this for travel, either wholly within the UK or to Europe. Are you aware of any services, and who runs it?

Whilst I don’t think the UK market would go for bunks, those pods in a 1 + 2 formation on the deck looked really comfy!

Could you post the link to the video, please?

 

[Buzby]

Could you post the link to the video, please?

Just ignore his food fetish!

 

[Flying Snail]

None in Europe, certainly not for scheduled routes anyway.

Only a handful of European coach operators have any sort of premium seat offering, Lux Express for example: higher spec 2+1 seats though not lie-flat pods.

Seating options in Lux Express buses

See different seating options in Lux Express buses.

luxexpress.eu

The problem with offering this sort of product is the same as any premium bus/coach service, it costs more to provide so you need a large enough base of customers willing to pay the premium. In general in this part of the world coach travel is viewed as the lowest option, only considered by those who are looking for budget options.

Edit: there are a number of different styles of sleeper coaches in Japan, some with completely private areas in 1+1 layout.

 

[GusB]

Having watched the video, it certainly seems like an interesting experience. The sleep pod looks comfy enough, but I'm not sure if I like the idea of not having a toilet on board for a 10 hour journey, even though there are rest stops. I assume that at least one of those stops would be used as a driver changeover point. The lighting seemed rather bright too, although these may have been dimmed later on in the journey, perhaps once everyone had been picked up.

It might seem like a funny thing to say, but it was nice to hear a coach with a manual gearbox for a change!

 

[Tetchytyke]

The problem with offering this sort of product is the same as any premium bus/coach service, it costs more to provide so you need a large enough base of customers willing to pay the premium

Stagecoach experimented with a sleeper service using the MegabusGold brand from Scotland to London, first using bendy-coaches and then Astromegas. Stagecoach couldn't persuade enough people to pay enough of a premium to make it financially viable, and it ended in 2017.

Megabus Gold dual-purpose sleeper/day coaches to end - routeone

Almost exactly four years after launch of Megabus Gold, Stagecoach has announced that the ground-breaking service will cease on 21 May 2017.

www.route-one.net

 

[Buzby]

Brian Souter loaned the last of the Van Hool double deckers to the Glasgow Vintage group. Incredible beasts, but really cramped bunks which is why I believe the pods are the way forward as it is less ‘oppressive’ for passengers. I was surprised it was claimed to be profitable only if 40 (out of 48 berths) were occupied. That would have been unsustainable by any company Year round.

(copyright is retained by myself.)

 

[notverydeep]

In the winter of 1984 into 1985 my family went skiing in the French resort of La Plagne, to get there and back we travelled on a UK registered coach to and from Bayswater London. This had a curious arrangement where the seats converted into bunks where you laid parallel to the direction of travel, there were two levels - a bottom and top bunk. I was not particularly into identifying road vehicle types back then (aged 15), so I can't recall the type of coach or operator. The bunks were converted to a seating configuration for the daylight part of the journey, converted by the driver at a service station. I spent most of the journey back in the jump seat - the bunks were not particularly comfortable! From memory, there was a change over to a 'bottom ender' driver, who got paid very little, but got to spend the week in the resort...

Some years later, I would end up (fairly briefly) Operations Manager of the now defunct Brents Luxury Coach Hire limited of Watford, but despite that experience, apart from a ride on a 12 seat 'full' 12m coach with Business Class like reclining seats in Mexico in 1994, I have never encountered a reference to anything like this since!

 

[Bletchleyite]

In the winter of 1984 into 1985 my family went skiing in the French resort of La Plagne, to get there and back we travelled on a UK registered coach to and from Bayswater London. This had a curious arrangement where the seats converted into bunks where you laid parallel to the direction of travel, there were two levels - a bottom and top bunk. I was not particularly into identifying road vehicle types back then (aged 15), so I can't recall the type of coach or operator. The bunks were converted to a seating configuration for the daylight part of the journey, converted by the driver at a service station. I spent most of the journey back in the jump seat - the bunks were not particularly comfortable! From memory, there was a change over to a 'bottom ender' driver, who got paid very little, but got to spend the week in the resort...

Some years later, I would end up (fairly briefly) Operations Manager of the now defunct Brents Luxury Coach Hire limited of Watford, but despite that experience, apart from a ride on a 12 seat 'full' 12m coach with Business Class like reclining seats in Mexico in 1994, I have never encountered a reference to anything like this since!

Megabus had some (Stagecoach operated) that were used on London-Scotland services in the mid 2000s. They were very comfortable, but it just didn't sell (the market is mostly price sensitive) and so the service didn't last. I used it once and slept quite well, though.

Edit: as per Post 6.

 

[notverydeep]

Megabus had some (Stagecoach operated) that were used on London-Scotland services in the mid 2000s. They were very comfortable, but it just didn't sell (the market is mostly price sensitive) and so the service didn't last. I used it once and slept quite well, though.

Edit: as per Post 6.

I wondered how similar that was, but can't play the video at work!

 

[route101]

I remember using the Megabus sleeper from Glasgow to London around 2012. It was the original bendy coach. I recall the bunks were stacked 3 high and there was a set of seats at the front. I remember paying £1 for it.