Megabus and Eurolines 2013vs Supabus 1983.

[quarella]

Going through the loft I have found a Supabus brochure from 1983. Supabus was the forerunner to Eurolines.

Thought it would be interesting to compare times and fares. As an example I looked at London Victoria to Amsterdam.
Supabus daily service using Dover - Zeebrugge ferry.
Dep London Victoria 2000. Arr Amsterdam Central station 0940 next day

Dep Amsterdam 1850. Arr London Victoria 0720 next day.
Adult £19.00 Single. £34 Return. Youth/Child £17 single £30 rtn.

Megabus
Put in dates travelling out Wed 16/10/13 returning 23/10/13
Dep Victoria 1030 Arr Amsterdam Zeeburg P&R coach park at Zuiderzeeweg2115
Dep Victoria 2130 Arr Amsterdam 0900

Dep Amsterdam 0845 Arr Victoria 1800
Dep Amsterdam 2120 Arr Victoria 0730

When checked fare was £15 single on each trip so £30 return.

Eurolines

Dep Vic 0800 Arr Amsterdam 2100
1000 2130
1900 0700 next day
2100 0900 " "

Dep Amsterdam 0830 Arr Vic 1815
1000 2100
1930 0545 next day
2130 0730 next day

Fares are between £28 and £33 single for the same dates as Megabus making approximately £60 return.

So 30 years on using Megabus you can take the coach London to Amsterdam cheaper than you could in 1983. I assume current services use the tunnel so the journey times have not improved greatly.

 

[MK Tom]

Megabus will use either ferries or the tunnel depending on timings and other factors. It doesn't make much difference as every time I've traveled they've arrived at the port ridiculously early anyway.

 

[Class 33]

£34 in 1983 is equivalent to £97 in today's money!

Megabus £1 single fares from London(or indeed from selected other parts of the UK) to Amsterdam are very possible to purchase, providing you snap them up quick enough within a few hours of when they are made available for booking.

The overnight Megabus services usually use the ferry from my experience. Not sure about the daytime ones though.

 

[notadriver]

This is quite interesting to note 30 years of progress has not significantly decreased coach journey times and that route is a good example although on overnight services speed is perhaps not a priority?

 

[quarella]

Interesting to see that the ferry is still well used. According to Google Maps London to Amsterdam in a car can be done in approximately 6 hours. For coaches lower speed limits apply so for a true comparison between services distance and calling patterns would need to be considered. However many benefits gained from road improvements are outweighed by traffic levels.
Tachographs were not a requirement throughout the throughout the EEC till 1985. There were no speed limiters although some coaches of the early 80s did run out of puff going up hill. There is the story regarding a coach firm doing shuttles to the south of France receiving a letter from some satisfied customers praising the drivers for their skill at changing over without stopping. It can't have happened at all the firms where it is alleged to have taken place but I expect it did happen somewhere.

For the committed coach traveller the longest journey on Supabus available appears to be 3 days travelling to Helsinki for £79.00 single £137.50 rtn.

 

[MK Tom]

£34 in 1983 is equivalent to £97 in today's money!

Megabus £1 single fares from London(or indeed from selected other parts of the UK) to Amsterdam are very possible to purchase, providing you snap them up quick enough within a few hours of when they are made available for booking.

The overnight Megabus services usually use the ferry from my experience. Not sure about the daytime ones though.

Both the times I've done it overnight we used the ferry, and the one time I did it during daytime we used the tunnel.