They were checking tickets those leaving the coach at Heathrow last time i used NEX, although this was a couple of years before covid (i haven't used NEX since), & on an overnight coach were the destination was London Victoria, they might not check tickets coaches were the destination is Heathrow/Gatwick.
It was yellow. But it’s always been Nat ex policy anything to do with brakes, steering or anything else that could quickly turn nasty is immediately off the road until rectified. Not anymore…
Amans has the contract for the 101 @ 0855 (Fri) 0920 (Sat-Mon) ex-Plymouth and 1615 (Thu-Mon) ex-Birmingham since October, currently until April. They do not appear to have an NX-liveried or trackable vehicle, however.
Thanks. I know some companies see yellow / orange as a run till end of duty warning but best practice says get it off the road immediately.
Why do you want to see Nat Ex "Killed"? They're cheaper than Flixbus in my city, more frequent and with better legroom
They deserve it. They’ve taken staff and customers for granted too long, simply because there was no viable coach competition. That’s changed. In ways they never could have imagined. They’re falling apart and running around like ants frantically trying to save their backsides.
Which is how the 216 came about if I'm not mistaken.
I presume you are referring to Leicester based on your profile, but it's worth noting that Leicester is far more competitive for NatEx because it's such a strong corridor that they want to keep hold of. If they don't compete and try to hold on to Leicester and Bristol corridors, NatEx might as well give up now.
I don't think Megabus was a strong competitor a lot of the time though. They tended to be the bargain basement option, generally had fewer journeys than NatEx, and served far fewer destinations. Megabus also tended to focus on cross country links rather than London stuff. I don't remember Megabus ever competing against NatEx with 11 buses per day between London and Nottingham, or 11 coaches per day between London and Leicester City Centre, or 22 coaches per day between Bristol and London. Yes Megabus was there, but I don't think they often were a major competitor.
I cant speak for the others, but Megabus absolutely were a major competitor on the bristol to london route. To claim otherwise is nuts. The coaches were always rammed and NatEx actively put their prices up for a short period of time when Megabus pulled out (though quickly realised doing that too much would give Flix the market so have calmed down again now).
Megabus were a competitor to NExp but self evidently only on routes they both operated. Most customers of Nexp only travel on one or two routes.
I didn't think Megabus was that big on the Bristol to London corridor? Though I am basing off what I can remember of their services.
Which seemed to be very few. Or where they did both operate routes, Megabus tended to run much less frequently. Not so much giving NatEx a run for their money like Flixbus is doing.
They had a service every hour pretty much, I preferred the Plaxton Elite Interdecks on the M10 to the Levante 2's of NX at the time. Plus when my local route in Bristol started/ended on The Horsefair the stop was more convenient.
I won’t miss them. Baring in mind I’m talking purely from an employee perspective. Not a customer. I’ve never used a scheduled coach for travel on all my life even though I could for free. Neither do I intend to.
That comment concerns me greatly. If you wont use them then it begs the question why should customers? It also shows a lack of confidence in your colleagues and the company you work for.
I won’t use them purely for the fact I have a car that can do any coach journey at least three times as fast, direct and I don’t have to share cabin space with some of the dregs we get on board. I’m not even taking into account the worsening service provided by national express and my “colleagues”.
Why do you feel it has worsened though? Just feels like you have a personal bias against them. I didn't enjoy my time at NX in 2018/2019, I'll be 100% honest with you. But if I let that cloud my judgement of the overall service then I'd simply never use any coach of any kind again to get anywhere. NX has better fares than Flixbus I have found which is why I tend to use them more often than not.
You sound like you should not be working for them.When i am not happy with my employer i walk .I dont work in a place i am not happy .Mind you i have worked for all 3 operators .
When there is a high chance of a 12 year redundancy package. I think not. I’m hanging on for now.
I've never used Megabus, they've pulled out of my city. I use National Express primarily as they're cheaper, have more services and better legroom. I use Flix sometimes and the seat reservation and booking fees add to the cost, but they've been ok on the odd 2-3 hour journey i've done with them. London - Scotland i'd pick National Express due the legroom.
Yes, Leicester and - thanks to that competition - we have multiple services with cheap fares
Flixbus Yutongs are the worse for legroom out of them, seats are not uncomfortable though. National Express seat is more comfortable and legroom better, perhaps a better chance of a seat free next to you. Megabus double deck coaches are pretty comfortable.
To be fair, these are the buy onboard fares which most people don't pay. There will also be increased costs associated with operating on Christmas day.
