Megabus
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 TOP: Megabus UK Neoplan Skyliner #50131 makes a stop Manchester on the M11 (United Kingdom) northbound to Glasgow. BOTTOM: Megabus USA MCI D4505 #58525 in New York City boards customers on the M21 to Washington, D.C. |
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| Slogan | UK: Low cost inter city bus travel US: Low cost express bus service to and from (hub city) |
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| Founded | 2003 (United Kingdom), 2006 (United States) |
| Headquarters | Perth, Scotland (United Kingdom) Chicago (United States) |
| Service area |  UK USA Canada |
| Service type | Intercity coach service |
| Routes | 20 (United Kingdom) 13 (United States) |
| Operator | UK: Stagecoach Group US: Coach USA and contractors |
| Chief executive | Brian Souter (UK) Dale Moser (US) |
| Web site | Official Web site |
Megabus is a "no-frills" intercity bus service run by the Scottish-based Stagecoach Group. The service began in the United Kingdom in August 2003 and in the United States in April 2006 (operated by subsidiary Coach USA and various other companies under contract to Coach USA).
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[edit] Service overview
In the UK, prices are advertised as starting at £1, with a 50p booking fee. In the US, fares start from $1, with a booking fee of 50 cents. Megabus follows the yield management model typically used by airlines where the lowest fares are offered to those who book early or on less popular journeys. Also mirroring the low cost airline model, the services often call at out-of-town locations therefore avoiding the need to drive through congested city centres in order to maintain punctuality, although in the United States, the locations tend to be near major transportation centers.
Tickets must be purchased in advance, the more in advance, the cheaper they are, via their website or by telephone. Passengers are simply given a reservation number which they show the driver when they board. It is not possible to buy a ticket on the bus except on a few Scottish services. Tickets can be paid for in pounds sterling, euros, or United States dollars.
The company started a price war with rivals, notably National Express and Scottish Citylink, who lowered some pre-booked tickets to £1 in Autumn 2004. However, competition with the latter operator has since ended since the two operators started to pool together services in 2005.
[edit] Scope of service
- Megabus announced, on 6 October 2004, that they have carried more than one million passengers.
- On 14 November 2005, the Megabus concept was extended to certain rail services, with the introduction of Megatrain between London Waterloo and Southampton Central, and London and Portsmouth and Southsea/Portsmouth Harbour, using a dedicated carriage on selected South West Trains services.
[edit] Expansion into U.S.
On 22 March 2006, Megabus started taking bookings for new routes in the United States, with a network of services based in Chicago with daily routes to Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, St. Louis, Ann Arbor, Columbus, Louisville, Toledo, Detroit, Kansas City and Minneapolis.
On 8 August 2007, Megabus introduced service to the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego, and the Tempe, Arizona[1][2] However, service to the Phoenix area was discontinued in January 2008 due to low ridership and service to downtown San Diego and San Ysidro was discontinued on Sunday, March 23, 2008. Service to Pittsburgh, PA was also discontinued.[citation needed] In May 2008 the company announced plans to shut down its Los Angeles hub and discontinue all related services stating “...in this case, the ridership trends aren't growing fast enough”[3]
On May 30, 2008, Megabus began service from a hub in New York City, with service to Atlantic City, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo , Philadelphia, Toronto, and Washington, D.C..
In the US, megabus's primary competitors are Greyhound Lines, owned by FirstGroup PLC, Amtrak, and a collection of discount carriers such as BoltBus, also owed by FirstGroup PLC(parent company of Greyhound), and Chinatown bus.
[edit] Proposed merger
On 13 September 2005, ComfortDelGro (the owners of Scottish Citylink) and Stagecoach announced that they were entering into a joint venture to provide express coach services within Scotland, effectively ending the competition on Megabus routes within Scotland. Under the terms of the agreement, Stagecoach would acquire 35% of Citylink, in return for certain rights to the Megabus brand in Scotland. Megabus operations in the rest of the UK remain unaffected by the deal. Despite being a minority shareholder, Stagecoach has assumed operational control of Scottish Citylink, with Stagecoach staff taking management roles within the company and Stagecoach subsidiaries replacing subcontract operators on many routes. Some Citylink services have also been sacrificed in favour of the Megabus brand where operations overlapped.
After an investigation started in March 2006, the Competition Commission has ruled that the merger is anti-competitive. Though regulators will begin consultation with the two companies to seek an appropriate remedy, it is likely that this will involve the forced divestment of some services to an independent operator.
[edit] Fleet
[edit] UK
Initially, most of the routes used buses designed for short local public transport journeys that had no toilet or luggage space, and each passenger was allowed only one bag. Toilets have been added to the fleet, enabling Megabus to eliminate toilet stops. These double decker buses are 94-seat tri-axle Leyland Olympian built for service with Hong Kong Citybus in 1990/1991. Stagecoach purchased Citybus in March 1999 but sold the company in 2003 after the group hit financial difficulties, the batch of Olympians used for Megabus remaining in Stagecoach ownership following the divestment. These powerful Cummins-engined Olympians soon became the trademark of the fleet in their dark blue livery with huge Megabus wording and logos adorning almost every available part of the bodyside. Newer 'high-frills' bendy coaches, which do have toilets and reclining seats, were used for the longer journeys between London and Scotland, but these were replaced early in 2005.
In the early days, a number of mid-life Volvo B10M coaches temporarily operated various routes, mainly in the South of England, until sufficient Olympians had been prepared for service. Gradually, most of these coaches were taken off Megabus work and used by Stagecoach elsewhere. However, the type made a reappearance at the end of 2005 when they became the mainstays on the services from London to Birmingham and London to Nottingham/Chesterfield.
In summer 2004, Stagecoach received a batch of Neoplan Skyliners for use on the Oxford Tube service. This displaced a number of 68 seat five-year-old double-deck Jonckheere-bodied MAN coaches, some of which went into service with Megabus on cross-border services and on services wholly within Scotland.
Stagecoach ordered another batch of Neoplan Skyliners in 2004, which went into service on Megabus in early 2005. These replaced the articulated coaches used on services between London and Scotland, and also Olympians on some of the other longer distance services. This meant that Olympians were mainly confined to the shorter distance routes in southern England.
In October 2006, Stagecoach announced an £11m order for 45 Volvo B12BT 15-metre coaches with Plaxton Panther coachwork for their UK Megabus operation. The three-axle coaches will be the longest rigid vehicles in the UK on their introduction to service in February 2007, and the first of their kind to be built in Britain. The 63-seat vehicles will be fully accessible, with wheelchair lifts fitted.
Currently, accessible coaches are operated on Megabus routes M6, M7, M9, M10, M20, and M90.
Vehicles are owned and maintained by various Stagecoach subsidiaries that lie within the route network. In lieu of properly branded Megabus vehicles being available, it is not unusual for Stagecoach service vehicles to deputise; these ranging from standard double deck types such as the Volvo Olympian and Dennis Trident, through to Volvo B10M single deckers or even Dennis Dart SLF midibuses. Red Stagecoach London double deckers from Leyton were often seconded to Megabus motorway work until the sale of that company to Macquarie Bank.
[edit] US
The US Megabus fleet began in Chicago with used MCI 102EL Renaissance coaches. These coaches were often repainted Coach USA coaches transferred from other Coach USA operations, and some services were served by Chicago- and Milwaukee-based Coach USA buses. In summer 2007, Coach USA updated its Chicago-based Megabus fleet with new J4500 motorcoaches. The West Coast services, based out of a hub in Los Angeles, also starting in the summer of 2007, began with all-new J4500s. In the fall of 2007, Megabus began operating Van Hool TD925 double-decker coaches out of the Chicago hub.
In May 2008, Megabus expanded to the New York City market, with a fleet of brand-new MCI D4505 coaches equipped with Wi-Fi. This expansion comes on the heels of Megabus' decision to exit California market in early June 2008.[3]
Vehicles out of the Chicago hub are owned by Coach USA and maintained at Coach USA-owned garages throughout the midwestern United States. From the Los Angeles hub, vehicles are maintained at Coach America garages, which operates buses there under contract to Coach USA. From the New York City hub, vehicles are maintained by various companies near the terminal cities, including Coach USA, that operate the services directly or under contract to Coach USA. In lieu of a Megabus-branded vehicle not being available, a differently-branded vehicle provided by Coach USA or the contractor may be substituted. In addition, two Megabus routes from New York City, both departing from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, do not use Megabus-branded vehicles, instead using Coach USA or contractor-branded vehicles.
In accordance with ADA regulations, wheelchair-accessible service is available on all lines with 48 hours advance notice. Such service cannot be booked online, but must instead be booked by contacting Megabus.com's toll-free number.
[edit] UK Routes
- See also: List of Megabus routes
Services from London to Oxford commenced on 4 August 2003, and routes from Edinburgh-Glasgow, Edinburgh-Perth and Glasgow-Dundee were added one month later. During November 2003 routes between Manchester-Liverpool and Manchester-Leeds were added, these ceased on 27 June 2004 and 3 October 2004 respectively. The most significant development of the Megabus network came on 1 March 2004 when a whole network of routes from Green Line Coach Station, a short distance from Victoria Coach Station, in London were added. Services have since moved to Victoria Coach Station in a deal with Transport for London[4] These new services served Brighton, Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Cardiff, Swansea and Birmingham.
On 28 June 2004 routes from London to Milton Keynes, Leicester, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow were added and within two months these were followed by the expansion of the Scottish routes to include Aberdeen and Inverness.
Stagecoach lost the contract to run the National Express route between Gloucester, Cheltenham and London, prompting Stagecoach to introduce Megabus between Cheltenham, Gloucester and London from 5 September 2004. The next day, Stagecoach took over the Motorvator coach service between Edinburgh and Glasgow, selling a number of seats per journey through the Megabus site (the remainder being available without booking in advance, at regular fares). This enabled Stagecoach to cancel the dedicated Megabus service between the two cities.
Routes between London and Liverpool, and London and Newcastle started on 10 October 2004. On 15 November 2004, the Oxford to London service was replaced by seats on the Oxford Tube. From 6 December 2004, the Megabus service between Cheltenham, Gloucester and London also called at Swindon.
On 31 January 2005, the Stagecoach Express service X5 between Oxford and Cambridge became part of the Megabus network, selling a number of seats per journey in the same way as the Oxford Tube and Motorvator. From 18 April 2005, Nottingham, Worthing and Winchester were added to the network (by slight extensions/modifications to existing routes), however rationalisation of the rest of the network also took place. In particular, some early morning and late evening services were withdrawn. From 13 June 2005, the Liverpool to London service called additionally at Stoke-on-Trent and a new service was introduced between Coventry and London. However, the London-Cardiff-Swansea service was withdrawn between Cardiff and Swansea.
The joint venture between Citylink and Megabus led to a co-ordination of services in Scotland. On 21 November 2005, the 900 Motorvator service was replaced by an enhanced Citylink service. However, the facility to buy seats through the Megabus website was retained. The next week, most of the faster Citylink services between Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth and Glasgow, and Inverness, Perth and Edinburgh were replaced by a more frequent, combined Megabus/Citylink service. As a consequence, passengers who previously used parallel Citylink services from the bus station in Perth town centre were required to use Broxden Park and Ride on the outskirts of the town, with little to no onward connections to the town centre. Tickets for the combined Megabus/Citylink services are available through both companies' websites, though often at conflicting prices. From 16 February 2006, the slower Citylink service between Dundee, Perth and Glasgow became available to book through the Megabus website, restoring Perth bus station to the Megabus network. The same day of the Citylink service modifications, the London to Manchester route was extended to Preston, with certain journeys extended further to Blackpool or Lancaster. This coincided with the loss of National Express work at Preston depot. The extensions to Blackpool and Lancaster were short lived, and were withdrawn in February 2006, citing low passenger numbers.
Again, following the loss of National Express contracts (this time at Rugby depot), on 5 December 2005, the London to Birmingham service was increased in frequency to every two hours. However, an additional stop was introduced at the outskirts of Coventry, with the withdrawal of the direct once a day Megabus service to Coventry city centre. One journey a day in each direction was extended to Wolverhampton. The stops in the south of Birmingham were no longer served. Further changes on this day were the doubling of the London to Nottingham service to twice a day with one journey extended to Chesterfield (which regained its Megabus service lost in April 2005) and the introduction of a new once a day service from London to Norwich.
A number of changes to routes were made on 27 March 2006. A new direct service was introduced between Ferrytoll Park & Ride in Fife, Edinburgh and London via Newcastle and Sheffield. Together with changes to the Leeds to London services meant that changes at Tibshelf services were no longer needed. In addition, many routes had timetable changes. In particular, the London to Southampton and London to Portsmouth routes became feeders to the London to Bournemouth service, meaning that passengers were required to change at Winchester. Some London to Bristol journeys were extended to Cwmbran.
The London to Norwich service was withdrawn on 14 May 2006, as were the services from London to Wolverhampton and Chesterfield.
The London to Cheltenham service introduced an extra stop at Reading on 20 November 2006.
Early in February 2007, it was announced that the service between London, Milton Keynes, Leicester and Nottingham would be withdrawn on 11 March 2007.
From 21 May 2007, services between London and Leeds were extended to include Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Newcastle.
On 1 October 2007, the London hub moved from Bulleid Way to Victoria Coach Station. [5]
[edit] U.S. and U.S.-Canada Routes
- See also: List of Megabus routes
In the United States, service is provided from three hub cities on non-connected networks: New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Except for the M25 line (which uses the owned and leased equipment of the contractor of that line), all Megabus services use primarily specially branded buses similar to the buses pictures at the top of the page.
[edit] Chicago Hub
Megabus in the U.S. began operations on 10 April 2006 with routes between Chicago and Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and St. Louis. Services also began between Indianapolis and Cincinnati. A service that was initially offered between Indianapolis and Columbus was later canceled due to low ridership.
On 11 September 2006, a stop in Toledo was added on the route operating between Chicago and Cleveland. Additional services were added on 2 April 2007: a stop in Ann Arbor along the Chicago-Detroit route, new service between Minneapolis and Milwaukee, an extension of the Chicago-Toledo-Cleveland route into Pittsburgh, an extension of the Chicago-St. Louis route into Kansas City, a re-introduction of the Chicago-Indianapolis-Columbus route, new service between Cincinnati and Columbus, and new service between Chicago and Louisville via Indianapolis.
On 13 March 2008 a stop was added in Madison, Wisconsin on the twice daily M4 Chicago-Minneapolis route. The M4A Chicago-Milwaukee-Minneapolis gained a second daily bus, although that service travels past the city, no stop is scheduled in Madison. Also added on March 13th, 2008 was a Columbia, MO stop once daily in each direction on the Chicago - St. Louis - Kansas City route. On 27 March 2008 Megabus added a new route, Chicago - Champaign - Memphis, offering 2 daily trips in each direction.
[edit] Los Angeles Hub
On 8 August 2007, Megabus opened its second US base in Los Angeles, with services operated by unaffiliated Coach America under contract. Initially services were offered in California, Arizona and Nevada. By April 2008 only the routes to the Bay Area and Las Vegas remained. Megabus has announced that cessation of service from this hub will occur on June 22, 2008 when Los Angeles-Oakland-San Francisco service is halted.[3]
[edit] New York Hub
On 30 May 2008 Megabus began East Coast operations. The cities served from New York are Atlantic City (acting as a ticket agent for Academy Bus Lines), Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Binghamton, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. Tickets are also available for trips between Binghamton, Buffalo, and Toronto.
On all routes except for the Atlantic City route, Megabus competes directly with Greyhound's BoltBus service and the NeOn service offered by Greyhound Canada.
[edit] References
- ^ George Raine. "Bargain bus company riding into Bay Area next week", San Francisco Chronicle, 2007-08-02. Retrieved on 2007-08-02.
- ^ Kerry Fehr-Snyder. "Phoenix-LA bus service for as low as $1.50", The Arizona Republic, August 2, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-02.
- ^ a b c Chang, Andrea (2008), “Megabus to halt service in L.A.”, Los Angeles Times: C3, 2008-05-17, <http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-megabus17-2008may17,0,2008552.story>. Retrieved on 18 May 2008
- ^ Stagecoach - megabus.com moves to new London hub
- ^ London services move coach station
[edit] External links
- Megabus.com
- Scottish Citylink Coaches
- BBC News Online articles [1] [2]
- Photo site of tri-axle Olympians by Megabus fan
- A UK Megabus Discussion Group
- A US Megabus Discussion Group
[edit] See also
- Coach services in the United Kingdom
- Gotobus - an independent bus ticketing website
- BoltBus - a competing service in the United States
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