Megabus.com’s further French expansion
Stagecoach owned megabus.com has launched its 50th domestic departure in France since the liberalisation of the coach market in the country. It has launched a further 14 domestic journeys, meaning almost 30 new domestic journey options have been introduced for customers within the past month. Prior to the liberalisation of the coach market, the company ran only one domestic journey. The latest announcement means that the company now offers more than 50 domestic journey pairings in France, with fares from €1.00. Six new locations have been added to megabus.com’s French domestic network: St Etienne, Clermont Ferrand, Bourges, Reims, Strasbourg and Metz. It is also introducing additional journeys on the existing route between Paris, Le Mans, Rennes and Nantes, and on the route between Paris, Limoges and Toulouse.
To support the latest expansion, a further seven new state-of-the-art leased Scania single deck coaches are in place to operate the new services. The announcement means that megabus.com now has a €10m fleet of 35 coaches operating its services within France. The latest new routes are being delivered from its Lyon depot, with a new crew base also being established in Tourcoing, near Lille. The company also recently opened an operating base in Bordeaux and a crew base in Nantes.
megabus.com MD, Edward Hodgson, said, ‘The decision by the French government to open up coach travel is proving to be a massive boost for the country. megabus.com is delighted to be a big part of that by offering new journey options, improving transport connections between towns and cities, cutting the cost of travel for people in France, and helping the economy by creating new jobs. We also have a strong network of international services connecting France with the UK, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain. We look forward to continuing to grow our domestic and international network in the future and welcoming more customers on board.’