NatEx Christmas demand ‘soaring’

Demand on National Express’s Christmas coach network is ‘soaring’ on routes affected by rail disruption. The operator has seen year-on-year advance bookings increase by up to a third in areas affected by rail engineering works over the Christmas period. Coach bookings from locations on the First Great Western Line (linking Cardiff and London) have increased by 33% year-on-year during engineering works that are set to disrupt train services from the end of December to early January. The South West line (between Bournemouth and London) has also increased by a third year-on-year while the trains are disrupted by engineering works from 27 December to 1 January.

National Express is planning to run more coaches than ever before this Christmas, including on Christmas Day when no trains are running. For the first time ever on 25 December, the operator will be serving Stansted Airport, as well as Heathrow, Gatwick, and 19 towns and cities from Edinburgh down to Portsmouth.