Megabus

[Justin Tyme]

Well theyve bought one of firsts main competitors in the shape of Bluebird and they have taken on first big style in south yorkshire so yes it is their style and fair play to them for improving services where first have miserably failed

Well yes, Stagecoach did buy Bluebird - an opportunity - but I don't think they've used it to up the ante with First in Manchester (unless you know differently).  Stagecoach got into South Yorkshire when they purchased the Yorkshire Traction Group, so they have massively (and very successfully) built up an existing operation, rather than started from scratch.

That said, I admire Stagecoach and I agree that it's fair play to them for improving services where First have failed - in many different parts of the UK.  The latest example is Northampton, where over time First have given them their territory on a plate.  Stagecoach seem to have played that one perfectly - no purchase, no aggressive tactics, just step in and pick up the pieces.

[PM]

Well theyve bought one of firsts main competitors in the shape of Bluebird and they have taken on first big style in south yorkshire so yes it is their style and fair play to them for improving services where first have miserably failed

Well yes, Stagecoach did buy Bluebird - an opportunity - but I don't think they've used it to up the ante with First in Manchester (unless you know differently).  Stagecoach got into South Yorkshire when they purchased the Yorkshire Traction Group, so they have massively (and very successfully) built up an existing operation, rather than started from scratch.

That said, I admire Stagecoach and I agree that it's fair play to them for improving services where First have failed - in many different parts of the UK.  The latest example is Northampton, where over time First have given them their territory on a plate.  Stagecoach seem to have played that one perfectly - no purchase, no aggressive tactics, just step in and pick up the pieces.

In fairness, stagecoach havent owned bluebird for that long and that is true about s yorkshire-an operation has been built up, same in liverpool. I admire them as well and they seem miles ahead of first-maybe first will catch up?-but its a nice quiet, cheap tactic to just wait for first to mess up an operation and then just step in!!

[dayvid]

There was a Tri-Axle Megabus Coach parked in the Bus Stop opposite the Bill & Bull Pub just past Yardley Swan with its hazard lights flashing not sure if it brokedown or was waiting there I don't think there was any passengers on it couldn't get fleet number or reg as I was passing on 4895 on the 900E at the time

Possibly dropping off a driver as one of them lives by the park by the bill & bull

[nx4737]

ere we will keep you informed about changes to megabus routes. ... Brought to you by. stagecoach group coach usa coach canada.
stagecoach group coach usa coach canada. About megabus ... 2012 Stagecoach Group PLC. Powered By ... Stagecoach Group in North Americ

2013 MERCEDES BENZ SL-CLASS

Huh?

Link doesn't work by the way.

[Kiewii]

Did I read somewhere on here that Megabus are adding some Levantes to their fleet?

It does seem to me that Megabus' fleet has been insufficient over recent years. I quite often see other operators' vehicles on hire to Megabus (not easy to identify them as there is just the "On hire to Megabus" card in the windscreen to look out for).

There have also been a few "interesting" choices of vehicles used on cross country services over recent years, including Enviro400s, Tridents and Darts!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/14218609@N02/4073347016

@Matt, Tony mentioned it here

http://wmbusphotos.com/forum/index.php?topic=3172.msg126177#msg126177

[Tony]

Did I read somewhere on here that Megabus are adding some Levantes to their fleet?

It does seem to me that Megabus' fleet has been insufficient over recent years. I quite often see other operators' vehicles on hire to Megabus (not easy to identify them as there is just the "On hire to Megabus" card in the windscreen to look out for).

There have also been a few "interesting" choices of vehicles used on cross country services over recent years, including Enviro400s, Tridents and Darts!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/14218609@N02/4073347016

Not quite sure why the Megabus fleet has been 'insufficient'. Megabus works the same as National Express, some routes are operated in-house, some are contracted out, although fewer Megabus ones are contracts than NX. If Megabus need a duplicate or to cover a breakdown then they hire in a non-liveried vehicle either from their own group, which is when you see E400s etc, or non-Megabus liveried vehicles from other operators, the ones you see with the on-hire notices. Nothing to do with having an insufficent fleet

[Tony]

Did I read somewhere on here that Megabus are adding some Levantes to their fleet?

It does seem to me that Megabus' fleet has been insufficient over recent years. I quite often see other operators' vehicles on hire to Megabus (not easy to identify them as there is just the "On hire to Megabus" card in the windscreen to look out for).

There have also been a few "interesting" choices of vehicles used on cross country services over recent years, including Enviro400s, Tridents and Darts!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/14218609@N02/4073347016

Not quite sure why the Megabus fleet has been 'insufficient'. Megabus works the same as National Express, some routes are operated in-house, some are contracted out, although fewer Megabus ones are contracts than NX. If Megabus need a duplicate or to cover a breakdown then they hire in a non-liveried vehicle either from their own group, which is when you see E400s etc, or non-Megabus liveried vehicles from other operators, the ones you see with the on-hire notices. Nothing to do with having an insufficent fleet

Can't see your logic there. Using local buses on cross country services is laughable - then again, you get what you pay for! If I were the owner of Megabus, I would want 100% of vehicles used on my services to be in corporate colours and never need to use another company's vehicle which may not offer power points, wifi, toilet etc.

In all honesty I can't see how Stagecoach make any money with Megabus as it is, charging rock bottom fares, paying their drivers well and hiring other companies' vehicles on a regular basis.

Which bit of logic can't you see? You run a service using a 48 seat coach, 90 people want to travel, you hire a duplicate in from another operator, not in livery to carry the other 42.

Similarly Coach on the way from Glasgow to Birmingham breaks down in Manchester, do you
a) get an E400 from Manchester garage to pick them up an hour after the breakdown or
b) wait for a coach from the nearest depot (Rugby) to take three hours to pick them up.

As for how do they make money, well you haven't looked at the pricing model have you? yes a small number of people get a ticket for £1 +50p booking fee, but many others on the coach will actually pay more than they would if they booked on National Express!

It is very clever marketing similar to that used by a lot of airlines. People see the £1 fare advertised and it gets them on their website, they then find the cheapest fare for their journey is say £12 so they book that, without looking at other places that could be offering the same journey for £10 (NX or even the train are sometimes cheaper than megabus) As long as regular customers get the very low fare occasionally so they know it is not a con they will keep going back and sometimes paying more than other companies for the same journey

[the trainbasher]

I know for the M37 services Freestones run them and the M6 is Hamilton Grey (using ex Oxford Bus Company coaches)

The trick to getting the £1 fare is to look towards the end of the booking windows and do it at 0001hrs because that's when new fares are added (Oxford tube, megabusplus and megatrain have shorter booking windows on Megabus.com)

I don't think I've paid more than the £3 tier on Megabus whenever I have booked (and remember using Tesco vouchers can significantly help!)

[Tony]

I know for the M37 services Freestones run them and the M6 is Hamilton Grey (using ex Oxford Bus Company coaches)

The trick to getting the £1 fare is to look towards the end of the booking windows and do it at 0001hrs because that's when new fares are added (Oxford tube, megabusplus and megatrain have shorter booking windows on Megabus.com)

I don't think I've paid more than the £3 tier on Megabus whenever I have booked (and remember using Tesco vouchers can significantly help!)

Yes, it is very easy to get cheap fares. As you say, the first seat on each journey is £1, then it increases gradually as more seats sell, depending on the route. Take Birmingham to Leeds for example, even the remainder of today's journeys are £8 or £10. At the time of posting, most journeys on Monday are £6 or below, and on Tuesday they are all £3 or £4.

With National Express, the remainder of today's journeys between Birmingham and Leeds range between £12.50 and £20.45. Even looking months in advance, the standard price for journeys between Birmingham and Leeds seems to be £13.80. So even if you book last minute with Megabus and get the highest fare, you will likely still be paying more than if you had booked in advance with National Express. I haven't got time to go through other comparable routes but I bet the results would be the same.

Now try Cardiff - London at 16:00 today
Megabus £16.00 (no coach cards available)
Nat Exp £12.99 (with a coach card £8.50)

we can all show figures one way or another, that was the first one I tried, so my point stands

[Justin Tyme]

There have also been a few "interesting" choices of vehicles used on cross country services over recent years, including Enviro400s, Tridents and Darts!

Buses could appear alot on Megabus in the early years, but I haven't seen any for about 3 years or so.

Has anyone else seen a standard Stagecoach bus on Megabus in the past year?

[Tony]

There have also been a few "interesting" choices of vehicles used on cross country services over recent years, including Enviro400s, Tridents and Darts!

Buses could appear alot on Megabus in the early years, but I haven't seen any for about 3 years or so.

Has anyone else seen a standard Stagecoach bus on Megabus in the past year?

Not on Megabus, but Oxford 15965 was on the Oxford Tube last Saturday

[Kiewii]

Not sure if this would count... https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiewii/14640750433

[the trainbasher]

Not sure if this would count... https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiewii/14640750433

Sometimes you get Citylink coaches on Megabus, X25 coaches on Citylink and Megabus coaches on Citylink

[mikestone]

There used often to be DD working on the Megabus Plus to East Midlands Parkway, but I think they had to cease using them when they started to use different connecting trains and they could no longer swop them to get back home.

[Cheese]

There have also been a few "interesting" choices of vehicles used on cross country services over recent years, including Enviro400s, Tridents and Darts!

Buses could appear alot on Megabus in the early years, but I haven't seen any for about 3 years or so.

Has anyone else seen a standard Stagecoach bus on Megabus in the past year?

Not on Megabus, but Oxford 15965 was on the Oxford Tube last Saturday

Stagecoach Oxford run a service from Carterton and Witney on a Saturday to London which seems to use Gold deckers, I wonder if this was on the SW1 service rather than the Tube?