Ember: Electric coach service

[SoloSR334022]

Considering AWC do roaring trade on this route in both directions - stopping at Carlisle wouldn’t make any sense!

Not via Hawick they don't!

 

[Buzby]

Not via Hawick they don't!

The most recent study showed that the prospect of a Waverley route extension being beneficial to the local population was minimal. As an enhancement to network resilience it is without question, but the financial numbers weren’t there to justify it. As for Ember, the most direct is the A701 and that won’t benefit Hawick. Indeed, taking tourist travel out the calculation I really doubt many would wish to go to Carlisle (and from there, I would assume they would prefer to go to Newcastle rather than Edinburgh (even at £2)!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Luckily there's a whole lot of potential in a country to the south of Scotland...

Is there? As per the discussion on the NatEx thread, going up against Flix is an incredibly risky pursuit. If they try it it could be their undoing. NatEx's increasing woes prove there isn't really a premium coach market (as that market just goes to the budget end of rail - WMT, Chiltern, Lumo, Northern and Advances bought well in advance) and that's the only way they could go - they aren't going to be able to undercut Flix's model which has won everywhere it has competed and looks likely to in the UK as well.

The one thing they might manage to do is an "international" service to London (as demand is quite high and provision quite low - Flix's fares on this are close to rail fare level and are often actually higher than the seated Sleeper overnight) but that would presumably need a charging stop?

Scotland is a very, very different coach market to England. That Ember works there doesn't mean it would work in England. The one other place it could work (possibly) is Wales (due to its similarly underdeveloped rail network), but they seem to be going the other way of fully regulating so unless they were to bid for Traws/Taith routes it might be a short lived venture, and the small local coach companies that typically do that work probably have far lower overheads.

 

[KrisEK]

Ember's barely scratched the central belt yet, there's plenty of room for expansion still. I still have fingers crossed for an East Kilbride to Edinburgh service, possibly as part of either an Ayr to Edinburgh route or a Glasgow Airport to Edinburgh route.

 

[CMBS]

Ember's barely scratched the central belt yet, there's plenty of room for expansion still. I still have fingers crossed for an East Kilbride to Edinburgh service, possibly as part of either an Ayr to Edinburgh route or a Glasgow Airport to Edinburgh route.

A combined X16 and 904 via Wishaw and Livingston would be interesting.

 

[Parebunks]

Is there? As per the discussion on the NatEx thread, going up against Flix is an incredibly risky pursuit. If they try it it could be their undoing. NatEx's increasing woes prove there isn't really a premium coach market (as that market just goes to the budget end of rail - WMT, Chiltern, Lumo, Northern and Advances bought well in advance) and that's the only way they could go - they aren't going to be able to undercut Flix's model which has won everywhere it has competed and looks likely to in the UK as well.

The one thing they might manage to do is an "international" service to London (as demand is quite high and provision quite low - Flix's fares on this are close to rail fare level and are often actually higher than the seated Sleeper overnight) but that would presumably need a charging stop?

Scotland is a very, very different coach market to England. That Ember works there doesn't mean it would work in England. The one other place it could work (possibly) is Wales (due to its similarly underdeveloped rail network), but they seem to be going the other way of fully regulating so unless they were to bid for Traws/Taith routes it might be a short lived venture, and the small local coach companies that typically do that work probably have far lower overheads.

I wonder if Ember's model is sufficiently distinct from Flix that there could be an opening for them? Whilst there is some similarity with NX in terms of positioning themselves as a slightly more premium offering, NX's route planning model is essentially identical to Flix with non-stop intercity routes. Ember's model of more intermediate stops (when prebooked) could be a slight niche for them - e.g. rather than non-stop London to Birmingham there could be pre-bookable stops at Hillingdon, Wycombe Coachway, Wheatley services, Banbury, Warwick, the University of Warwick and Birmingham Airport. There would of course be something of a time penalty, but still seems like something Ember could at least try.

I would be surprised if they expanded far into England any time soon though - Glasgow to Manchester and Edinburgh to Newcastle maybe, but it does still feel like they have some years left consolidating in Scotland, the central belt and south in particular.