megabus expands in Germany

Stagecoach owned intercity coach service, megabus.com, has introduced a further expansion of its network in Germany. The move follows the introduction of services into the country earlier this month (see B&CB 1322, 10 April 2015). Kassel, Gottingen, Hamburg and Bremen have been added to the company’s growing network in Germany, which now covers 13 locations. The number of daily services is also being doubled. Customers will travel on the company’s €5m fleet of 11 new Van Hool double deck coaches. The disability accessible vehicles are equipped with free Wi-Fi, power sockets, toilets and safety features.

During the first five days of travel (21 to 25 April) all tickets for the new services were priced at €1. Thereafter, megabus.com has confirmed that there will be €1 seats on every journey within Germany, with the average fare on its services within the country less than €7. The operator runs the new services from its operational base in Munich and a crew base in Hanover. The company’s first services to and from Germany started in October 2013 with an international route linking Cologne. In December 2014, the company expanded its operations with a route between Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Cologne and Brussels, providing both international services and domestic travel between German cities. The number of passengers using megabus.com’s coach network in Europe has increased by more than 60% in the past year as the company continues to expand. It carries over 15m passengers a year across Europe and North America.