National Express Coaches Discussion

[northernrail2009]

Can anyone help please.

A couple of weeks ago we booked to travel from Manchester to London Vic in mid April and booked 2 seats.

Yesterday we got a email from National express to say that the time had changed and that we have been moved to the new time which is fine as its only 15 minutes later and that the seats we booked at the old time have been moved to the new time.

But on the ticket on the app its still got the old time but the same ticket number as the new time so will the driver still accept the ticket on app with the old times on it?

Also to add to it i got a text again from National express say we had to go into our booking and rebook our seats but that is not what it tells us in the email i got from them yesterday(got text after the email) and when i do a dummy booking our seats are crossed out which i take it they are ours as they told us in email that we have the same seats on the new times.

Bit confused!!!!

 

[Smethwickian]

Can anyone help please.

A couple of weeks ago we booked to travel from Manchester to London Vic in mid April and booked 2 seats.

Yesterday we got a email from National express to say that the time had changed and that we have been moved to the new time which is fine as its only 15 minutes later and that the seats we booked at the old time have been moved to the new time.

But on the ticket on the app its still got the old time but the same ticket number as the new time so will the driver still accept the ticket on app with the old times on it?

Also to add to it i got a text again from National express say we had to go into our booking and rebook our seats but that is not what it tells us in the email i got from them yesterday(got text after the email) and when i do a dummy booking our seats are crossed out which i take it they are ours as they told us in email that we have the same seats on the new times.

Bit confused!!!!

The NX app is pointless because of failings like this. But you can download or print an updated ticket from My Account on the website.

 

[centraltrains]

Also to add to it i got a text again from National express say we had to go into our booking and rebook our seats but that is not what it tells us in the email i got from them yesterday(got text after the email) and when i do a dummy booking our seats are crossed out which i take it they are ours as they told us in email that we have the same seats on the new times.

Reserved seats don't automatically transfer across afaik, best to ring to double check imo

 

[James H]

Has anyone noticed NX has recently changed its ticketing structure, and now has two tiers - 'Standard' and 'Fully Flexible' - rather than the old three-tier system with 'Restricted' being the cheapest?

Opening up the possibility of changing (but not refunding) the cheapest tickets seems to be a response to Flixbus.

On my route (the 035), fares have also dropped below Flixbus (presumably a reaction to Flixbus increasing its services on the same corridor)

 

[317 forever]

Has anyone noticed NX has recently changed its ticketing structure, and now has two tiers - 'Standard' and 'Fully Flexible' - rather than the old three-tier system with 'Restricted' being the cheapest?

Opening up the possibility of changing (but not refunding) the cheapest tickets seems to be a response to Flixbus.

On my route (the 035), fares have also dropped below Flixbus (presumably a reaction to Flixbus increasing its services on the same corridor)

I thought something like that had happened with my Manchester-London trip yesterday, having travelled down on Friday night.

I booked it when the 50% sale was on, so for £11.15 instead of £22.30.

About 10 days before travelling I looked up fares out of curiosity, to see how much a new booking then could have cost. From memory it was still around £22, but I only spotted the amendable and flexible/refundable fares, not the no change no refund one I'd booked.

 

[gray1404]

The Liverpool to London 550 services have always had long journey times due to the fact they go via Birmingham. Moving forward I shall ensure I travel on services which go from Liverpool to Manchester then London (but AVOID Birmingham) as sone of these exist.

I can imagine these services getting booked up much quicker then usual now as they are coping with with both the Manchester and Liverpool passengers. Also as they carry passengers between Manchester and Liverpool this could effect those of us coming from London in terms of seat availability.

I will avoid the Liverpool - Manchester - Birmingham - London services at all costs. Due to the long journey time.

 

[Class73Electro]

I see Portsmouth has lost the independent Heathrow service again, combined with (some) 030 London Services. Going to make a slow London journey for them trips!

 

[markymark2000]

The Liverpool to London 550 services have always had long journey times due to the fact they go via Birmingham. Moving forward I shall ensure I travel on services which go from Liverpool to Manchester then London (but AVOID Birmingham) as sone of these exist.

I can imagine these services getting booked up much quicker then usual now as they are coping with with both the Manchester and Liverpool passengers. Also as they carry passengers between Manchester and Liverpool this could effect those of us coming from London in terms of seat availability.

I will avoid the Liverpool - Manchester - Birmingham - London services at all costs. Due to the long journey time.

Or..... Just use Flixbus. National Express fastest journey time is 6h 10. Flixbus has 5 journeys per day that are faster, and the only 2 that are slower, are 6h20 which works out the same or faster than National Express.

 

[route101]

I see Portsmouth has lost the independent Heathrow service again, combined with (some) 030 London Services. Going to make a slow London journey for them trips!

Are they still going via the A3 direct into London?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Mar 2026 ==

The Liverpool to London 550 services have always had long journey times due to the fact they go via Birmingham. Moving forward I shall ensure I travel on services which go from Liverpool to Manchester then London (but AVOID Birmingham) as sone of these exist.

I can imagine these services getting booked up much quicker then usual now as they are coping with with both the Manchester and Liverpool passengers. Also as they carry passengers between Manchester and Liverpool this could effect those of us coming from London in terms of seat availability.

I will avoid the Liverpool - Manchester - Birmingham - London services at all costs. Due to the long journey time.

National Express seem to be consolidating services together. Edinburgh to London overnight service 594 goes via Glasgow and the 598 was extended up from Newcastle.

 

[Class73Electro]

Are they still going via the A3 direct into London?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Mar 2026 ==

As far as I know, and from previous 030 Portsmouth - Heathrow - London its A3(M) up to the M25, then round

 

[route101]

As far as I know, and from previous 030 Portsmouth - Heathrow - London its A3(M) up to the M25, then round

I remember taking a 203 service to Heathrow, came back after covid but didnt last long. The 206 only lasted around 6 months last year.

 

[JonathanH]

The 423 has become a right state too since NatEx moved it to Selwyns. Previously it was the 421 operated by Parks Rochdale, it was double manned with a 30 min break at Digbeth and it ran pretty well. Under Selwyns the cleanliness dropped, the Wifi and VUER never used to work and it became all single manned so now you sit around Birmingham for an hour in the middle of the trip.

As I found out on the 422 on Friday night, overnight routes via Birmingham now seem to involve passengers having 30 minutes off the coach in the coach station, rather than sleeping on the coach, which isn't the most attractive thing on a night journey.

Does this 'all off the coach' approach happen anywhere else overnight?

 

[route101]

As I found out on the 422 on Friday night, overnight routes via Birmingham now seem to involve passengers having 30 minutes off the coach in the coach station, rather than sleeping on the coach, which isn't the most attractive thing on a night journey.

Does this 'all off the coach' approach happen anywhere else overnight?

The overnight Scottish routes you can remain on the coach during the break at service stations. The 422 has a lot of stops , how much sleep can you get?

 

[BULLSAREMAGIC]

On a different theme does anyone know which is the largest English or Welsh town by population not served by National Express?

 

[route101]

On a different theme does anyone know which is the largest English or Welsh town by population not served by National Express?

Peterborough perhaps for England.

 

[nick291]

Peterborough perhaps for England.

I'd probably say Yeovil for England and Wrexham/Holyhead for Wales

 

[Ewan M]

As I found out on the 422 on Friday night, overnight routes via Birmingham now seem to involve passengers having 30 minutes off the coach in the coach station, rather than sleeping on the coach, which isn't the most attractive thing on a night journey.

Does this 'all off the coach' approach happen anywhere else overnight?

Not sure of any other overnight NatEx routes that have the ‘all off the coach’ rule in place but it’s more prominent on several of the daytime routes; the 183 Glasgow-Birmingham + 591 Glasgow-London via the east have their breaks at Leeds Coach Station and all passengers are required leave the coach for the duration of said breaks.

The 590 Glasgow-London via the west takes the second of its two breaks in Birmingham and again involves passengers having to leave the coach during it though during the first one at Tebay Services, passengers are free to remain on board

 

[northernrail2009]

Reserved seats don't automatically transfer across afaik, best to ring to double check imo

Many thanks for that.

I have checked the new ticket and it does have the same seats that we had booked before they changed the times.

also as i say i did a test booking and the seats that we did book and which are on our ticket the 2 seats can not be bought.

 

[Sealink]

I have received the latest "Network Updates" for agencies.

Lots of "revised daily schedules" here are some of the "bigger" changes.

Service 120: Manchester - Manchester Airport - Birmingham
Service 121: Blackpool - Manchester - Manchester Airport - Birmingham
Revised daily schedules including an additional stop at Manchester (Moss Lane East); selected journeys on Service 120 also to serve Liverpool.

Service 410: Birmingham - Heathrow Airport - London
New service to complement existing services between Birmingham, Heathrow & London.

Service 540: Liverpool/Burnley/Rochdale - Manchester - Milton Keynes - London
Revised daily schedule incorporating Liverpool from outgoing Services 550/551; also including an additional stop at Manchester (Moss Lane East).

Service 541: (Liverpool) - Manchester - Birmingham - Milton Keynes - London
New service to complement existing services between Manchester, Birmingham & London.

Service 132: Leeds - Nottingham - Birmingham
Service 171: Liverpool - Manchester Airport - Manchester - Bradford - Leeds
Service 423: Liverpool - Chester - Birmingham - Oxford - Heathrow Airport - London
Service 550: Liverpool - Birmingham - (Heathrow Airport) - London
Service 551: Liverpool - Stoke-on-Trent - Birmingham - Heathrow Airport - London
Services withdrawn.
Birkenhead, Chester & Nantwich withdrawn from the core network.

 

[markymark2000]

On a different theme does anyone know which is the largest English or Welsh town by population not served by National Express?

I believe for Wales using the 'List of built up areas of Wales by population as of 2021 Census' list on Wikipedia it would be Barry (albeit I know that is close to Cardiff), Cwmbran (albeit somewhat close to Newport) then Wrexham.
If however you went off council area, it would be Rhondda Cynon Taff.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Airport Bus Express took over the 717 from Galloway today and are operating a pair of Mercedes Tourismos on it rather than the Levante's that Galloway were.

Not seen any photos to see if they are in NatEx livery or not.

 

[Statto]

Although i've not been on the overnight Liverpool - London since before covid, but the was always busy when i did use it, however the 423/550 are mostly replaced by the Flixbus 021/N21 service, & the N21 runs at similar times to the 423.

 

[j_walker1804]

Airport Bus Express took over the 717 from Galloway today and are operating a pair of Mercedes Tourismos on it rather than the Levante's that Galloway were.

Not seen any photos to see if they are in NatEx livery or not.

The 3 73 plates are expected to head to Scotland to Bruce Coaches to replace the 3 21 plates.

 

[coach fan]

Airport Bus Express took over the 717 from Galloway today and are operating a pair of Mercedes Tourismos on it rather than the Levante's that Galloway were.

Not seen any photos to see if they are in NatEx livery or not.

Here you go. Seen at Stansted on 01/04/2026

 

[Mwanesh]

Not sure of any other overnight NatEx routes that have the ‘all off the coach’ rule in place but it’s more prominent on several of the daytime routes; the 183 Glasgow-Birmingham + 591 Glasgow-London via the east have their breaks at Leeds Coach Station and all passengers are required leave the coach for the duration of said breaks.

The 590 Glasgow-London via the west takes the second of its two breaks in Birmingham and again involves passengers having to leave the coach during it though during the first one at Tebay Services, passengers are free to remain on board

424 has passengers off at Birmingham .30 minutes

 

[Martin1988]

Going back a bit but remember in the past going on both the old 532 between Bristol and Edinburgh and the old 324 between Bristol and Huddersfield and on both, myself and other 'through' passengers were made to leave the coach at Birmingham for the duration of the break. This was back in 2013/2014 and I've been under the impression it has been normal practise for a good while.

 

[JonathanH]

This was back in 2013/2014 and I've been under the impression it has been normal practise for a good while.

OK, but neither of those were overnight trips.

 

[Martin1988]

I get where you are coming from.

 

[Ewan M]

Going back a bit but remember in the past going on both the old 532 between Bristol and Edinburgh and the old 324 between Bristol and Huddersfield and on both, myself and other 'through' passengers were made to leave the coach at Birmingham for the duration of the break. This was back in 2013/2014 and I've been under the impression it has been normal practise for a good while.

Think it’s all down to good ol’ health and safety regulations

 

[RS465]

I’m surprised Airport Bus Express are still in operation. What work do they complete now, apart from two buses on the 717 service? I assumed they had closed down when Flibco took over the London to Stansted coach service.

I’m also surprised they’ve put logos on that Mercedes Tourismo. With the exception of the Temsa vehicles on services to Yorkshire, National Express are normally very strict in regards to vehicle specification for their routes. BV74 MZL was one of those former vehicles that Airport Bus used on the A21 and has a bare minimum spec. The seats have no extra padding or leather on them whatsoever, neither are tables provided.