Services from London to Oxford commenced on 4 August 2003, and from Edinburgh to Glasgow and Perth and Glasgow to Dundee were added one month later.[1][2][3] During November 2003 routes from Manchester to Liverpool and Leeds were added, but these ceased on 27 June 2004 and 3 October 2004 respectively.
On 6 September 2004, Stagecoach took over the Motorvator service between Edinburgh and Glasgow. This enabled Stagecoach to cancel the dedicated Megabus service between the two cities. On 15 November 2004, the London to Oxford service was replaced by seats on the Oxford Tube.
On 31 January 2005, Stagecoach bus route 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, but rationalisation of the rest of the network took place, with some early morning and late evening services were withdrawn. On 13 June 2005, a new service was introduced between London and Coventry. However, the London to Swansea service was withdrawn between Cardiff and Swansea.
A joint venture between Scottish Citylink and Megabus led to co-ordination of services in Scotland in 2005.
In 2006, the London to Manchester route was extended to Preston, with some journeys extended 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 The extensions to Blackpool and Lancaster were short lived, and were withdrawn in February 2006, citing low passenger numbers.
In March 2006, a direct service was introduced between Fife, Edinburgh and London via Newcastle and Sheffield.
From October 2009, M35 Cardiff to Newcastle began.[6]
In May 2011, services were introduced between London and Norwich, Leeds and Edinburgh, and London and Swansea and Pembroke Dock with through ferry fares to Rosslare Europort in Ireland. Additional journeys were added to several existing routes.[7]
From April 2012, Megabus began cross-nation services linking the UK to continental Europe, from Birmingham and London to Paris and from Leicester and London to Brussels and Amsterdam.[8] This was announced a month prior to the introduction of the services. A third route, which operates entirely outside the UK, links Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.[9][10]
In 2013, Megabus started a route between Cologne, Brussels, Gent and London.[11]
In 2014, Megabus launched a route between London, Paris, Toulouse and Barcelona. In Germany, as megabus.com GmbH, they also launched a route between Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich.[12]
On 24 June 2015, Megabus launched first intercity bus services in Italy with 22 coaches out of a depot in Bergamo.[13]
On 8 July 2015, a service commenced from Milan to London.[13]
On 29 June 2016, all operations in the European mainland, as well as those services linking London with Europe, were sold to Flixbus.[14][15] This left only domestic UK operations under the control of Stagecoach.
In October 2017, Megabus began M39 service, running from Aberystwyth to Birmingham, via Welshpool and Shrewsbury. This service is operated by Mid Wales Travel.
In March 2018, the Advertising Standards Authority banned Megabus from using adverts promising £1 fares as few seats were available at this price.[19] Megabus' response was to withdraw the £1 fares altogether, leading some passengers to note that the ASA's decision has worked to the detriment of Megabus customers.[20]
In August 2022, as part of the Stagecoach Group sale to DWS, it was agreed that Megabus' retail activities (the sale and marketing of tickets) would be sold to Scottish Citylink. An earlier proposed sale of Stagecoach to National Express would have seen Megabus sold in its entirety to ComfortDelGro. Scottish Citylink is a longstanding joint venture between Stagecoach Group and ComfortDelGro, which also took over Falcon at the same time.[21][22] Contracts to operate Megabus services are still held mainly by Stagecoach subsidiaries.
In October 2024, Megabus announced reductions in routes due to low passenger numbers.[23]
Megabusplus
Megabusplus services combined Megabus and Megatrain for through journeys. It was launched on 30 March 2009.[24]
In 2014, further Megabusplus services were launched using South West Trains services between London Waterloo and Honiton, then the following four coach routes from Honiton:[29]
Overnight sleeper services were introduced on the London to Glasgow route in 2011,[30] using Jonckheere Mistral articulated coaches with a flat bunk bed as well as a seat for each passenger.
Luxury Megabus Gold coaches were introduced from 8 July 2013 on selected sleeper services between London and Edinburgh/Aberdeen,[31] as well as some day services. This sub-brand is in line with the upmarket Stagecoach Gold and Citylink Gold brands already used by Stagecoach subsidiaries. This service ended in May 2017, due to it being consistently loss-making, and the coaches are now only used on daytime services.[32][33][34]
On 23 April 2018, Megabus, along with Stagecoach London, started operating three non-stop open top bus sight seeing routes in London under the Megasightseeing brand. Each trip on the route was approximately two hours long, and used a GPS activated pre-recorded 'guide'. The three circular routes, which ran hourly on the hour started from Tower of London, The London Eye, and Park Lane. Tickets for the service were pre-booked from the Megabus website, and cash was not accepted at the roadside, however, bookings could be made for a particular journey right up to the time of departure, subject to availability. Megasightseeing was the only non-stop sightseeing service in London.
Each sightseeing trip on the service carried up to 44 passengers. By reducing the number of bookings per trip, a top deck seat could be guaranteed, something other sightseeing operators in London are unable to offer at the present time.
For the first time since Megabus was founded, 'Sid' the Megabus mascot, was given a voice - which could be heard in the automatic commentary on the vehicles whilst they were in motion on the tour.
On 9 June 2018, a Megasightseeing bus strayed in to a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in support of the far-right leader Tommy Robinson. The bus was overtaken by protesters and a significant amount of damage occurred to the vehicle, which resulted in it needing to be towed away.[36]
In May 2021, Megasightseeing services were withdrawn and replaced by City Sightseeing services jointly operated by Stagecoach and Julià Travel on behalf of the company. The same Alexander Dennis Enviro400 vehicles that were used on the Megasightseeing service were repainted into City Sightseeing livery.
The Megabus fleet is normally easily identifiable, with the megabus.com name on the front and sides in yellow on a blue base and the Megabus logo on the left side of the coach (facing forward) and rear of the bus.
Accessible coaches are operated on routes between England and Wales, the M9 and M90 in Scotland, and the M20.[citation needed]
Vehicles are owned and maintained by various Stagecoach subsidiaries. When branded vehicles are unavailable other Stagecoach vehicles can be used or coaches hired in. Substitute vehicles used have been Dennis Trident 2 and Volvo Olympian double deckers, and Dennis Dart and Volvo B10M single deckers. Stagecoach London double deckers from Leyton garage were often seconded to Megabus until the sale of that company to Macquarie Bank. When using substitute vehicles, there may not always be an onboard toilet, and in such cases rest stops are made.
Some journeys are contracted to other operators using non-Megabus liveried vehicles, including Turners Coachways of Bristol, Tetleys of Leeds, Hamiltons of Uxbridge and Compass Royston from Stockton-on-Tees.
Initially, most routes used buses designed for short journeys that had neither toilet facilities nor luggage space, and each passenger was allowed only one bag.
To commence operations, 1990/91 built 3-axle 94 seat Alexander RH bodied Leyland Olympians were purchased from Hong Kong Citybus.[3] Stagecoach had previously owned these buses when it owned Citybus from March 1999 until June 2003.[37][38]
Three-axle Dennis Dragons were allocated to Manchester to Liverpool and Manchester to Leeds services, which ceased operations in 2004.[39]
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.[citation needed]
Newer 'high-frills' articulated coaches, with both toilets and reclining seats, were used for the longer journeys between London and Scotland, but these were replaced early in 2005.[citation needed] These coaches have since been refurbished and modified to include beds for an Overnight 'Sleeper' service between London and Glasgow started in late 2011, competing with the Caledonian Sleeper train.
In summer 2004, Stagecoach received a batch of Neoplan Skyliners for the Oxford Tube. This displaced 68-seat five-year-old double deck Jonckheere bodied MAN 24.350 HOCLNR-NL coaches, some of which were transferred to Megabus on cross-border services and on services within Scotland.
Stagecoach ordered another batch of Neoplan Skyliners, which entered service with Megabus in early 2005. These replaced the articulated coaches used between London and Scotland, and also Leyland Olympians on some other longer distance services.
In October 2006, Stagecoach ordered 45 Plaxton Panther bodied Volvo B12BT 15-metre 65 seat coaches. The three-axle coaches were 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.[40][41]
In September 2009, Megabus took delivery of four new Van Hool Astromega double-deck coaches, currently used between London and Scotland via Manchester [42]
In October 2011, Megabus started an overnight sleeper service with 24 seats and bunks, between London and Glasgow. In November 2011 it started running daily and has proved to be very popular. The coaches used were modified Volvo B10M articulated coaches with Jonckheere bodywork. Despite its popularity, Megabus withdrew this service in 2017.
In early 2013, Megabus introduced new Plaxton Elitei coaches, built upon the Volvo B11RT chassis, into the fleet, running mainly on routes M9, M20 and the 900 (on behalf of Scottish Citylink).[43][44]
In March 2010, a Megabus vehicle on an overnight service hit the body of a woman who had jumped from a bridge onto the M74 motorway. The driver failed to stop at the scene and was later suspended.[45]
In July 2012, a suspected terrorist was thought to be on board a Megabus service which was stopped by armed police on the M6 Toll motorway near Weeford, but it turned out to be a false alarm caused by smoke from an e-cigarette.[46]
In June 2013, a Megabus vehicle caught fire on the M62 motorway near Rastrick. All passengers and the driver escaped without injury.[47]
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