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Megabus sleeper coach service from Glasgow to London set to launch

08/08/2011 By Andrew Morgan Leave a Comment

Low cost coach travel provider, Megabus, look set to launch their first overnight sleeper service which will run between the cities of London and Glasgow.

The new overnight intercity route will be trialled this month, with the official launch of the new service due for September 5th.

Three specially refurbished Megabus coaches have been adapted so as to offer each passenger their own compartment which comprises of a bed with duvet, pillow and blanket, and also a reading light and curtain for privacy. In addition, Megabus will also supply each passenger with an overnight bag which contains an eye mask and also toothbrush and tooth paste.

The sleeper berths are set three to a row, with 24 berths and seats onboard each of the specially adapted Megabus coaches.

The buses will leave Glasgow and London just before midnight and will arrive in London at 7:20am, and Glasgow at 8:05am. The cost of travelling on the overnight Megabus sleeper varies between £1 -£40 plus a booking fee with the cheapest fares reserved for advance bookings. Coaches will run throughout the week.

Megabus say the decision to launch the new sleeper coach service between London and Glasgow was influenced by the demand from passengers for an overnight coach travel service between the two cities. As well as being cost effective, Megabus say the service offers a greener way to travel the 400 miles between the Scottish city and the capital.

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Calls for Oyster Card in Scotland to encourage bus and rail travel

27/07/2011 By Tracy Wilcox Leave a Comment

Transport groups in Scotland are calling for government intervention to set plans in motion to introduce smart card technology for use on public transport systems.

This smart card technology, known as the Oyster Card in London, was introduced in capital back in 2003. Since its launch, 43 million users have registered for an Oyster Card, with 8 million travellers using their card on the London bus, rail and tube network daily. Research has shown that Oyster Cards are used on 80% of all public transport journeys in London.

Transport campaigners in Scotland believe that the introduction of a similar ticketing scheme to public transport systems in cities in Scotland will help encourage commuters and travellers to get out of their cars, and onto buses and trains. By enticing people off the roads and onto public transport, campaigners believe there would be less congestion on the roads, and also reduced levels of pollution.

The flexibility of being able to get on and off different modes of public transport will be a good incentive for commuters to give bus and rail travel a go. The smart ticketing system allows registered users to top up their credit on their smart card either online with their credit or debit card, or at paying machines at stations.

Campaigners believe the Scottish government needs to get involved in order to gather all of the related organisations together to discuss the issue, and help push forward with plans for smartcard technology on Scotland’s public transport system.

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50 coaches destroyed and homes evacuated as blaze rips through coach depot in Glasgow

12/05/2011 By Louise Williams Leave a Comment

50 coaches have been destroyed and almost 200 people were evacuated in the early of hours of the morning after a blaze ripped through a coach and bus depot near Glasgow.

40 fire fighters fought the blaze after the alarm was raised at approximately 2am this morning. The depot is next to a timber yard and also a number of homes and so the emergency services took the precaution of evacuating the houses in the vicinity in case the fire spread further. Many sheltered at the local primary school, while other sought refuge with family and friends.

A number of different coach hire and bus travel companies store their vehicles at the depot including A Trip in Time and Arthur’s Coaches. An initial estimate has put the cost of damage caused by the fire at £3 million, however the figure could be higher than this once a full assessment of the site has been carried out.

Some of the local residents who were forced to flee from their homes reported hearing explosions as they woke up to find the inferno tearing through the coach depot next to their properties.

The fire has now been extinguished, however fire teams are continuing to dampen down the charred remains at the depot. Police and forensics experts are now investigating the scene for clues as to the cause of the blaze.

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Greyhound coach travel to expand into Scotland

15/12/2010 By Tracy Wilcox Leave a Comment

It’s been announced that Greyhound will launch coach travel to Glasgow, Scotland, from the start of next year.

Since the iconic American transport provider was launched over in the UK back in 2009 by the First Group, it’s been hailed as a great success. The coach travel operator offered services initially in London and the South Cost before expanding to Wales with routes between Swansea and Cardiff.

Now the ambitious transport operator has its sights set on Scotland, with a route launching between London Victoria and Glasgow on January 10th 2011 with fares starting from just £1. Should the Scottish arm of the Greyhound coach service prove a success, the company is already planning other routes within Scotland with services running to Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Despite the ultra low rate fare prices which start from just £1, with no fare costing more than £20 and also extra incentives for online bookings, Greyhound will have to compete with another budget coach hire provider, Megabus, who also run services to Scotland with fares starting from £1.

The Greyhound coaches will offer complementary newspapers, and also free WI-FI facilities if there is demand for the service. Initially there will be one daily service running from London to Glasgow and vice versa.

In keeping with the Greyhound tradition of naming coaches after women from famous American songs, the three coaches which will be launched in the New Year on the Scotland routes will be Hello Dolly, Long Tall Sally, and Suzy Baby.

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London bus ad campaign planned for Pope’s UK visit

31/08/2010 By Andrew Morgan Leave a Comment

Pope Benedict is due to visit the UK during September

A group of British Christians are planning to get their message across to Pope Benedict during his visit to the UK next month by enlisting the help of a fleet of double-decker London buses.

The advertising campaign which will see 15 London buses plastered with the words “Pope Benedict – Ordain Women Now!” has been organised by the Catholic Women’s Ordination (CWO) who’ve paid £15,000 to have their message displayed on the buses for a full four weeks.

The CWO group also plans to protest outside of Lambeth Palace during a planned meeting between the Pope and Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Pope Benedict XVI will be visiting the UK and Scotland for 4 days next month.

The campaign message will be posted on buses travelling through London city centre for maximum exposure in order to raise cause’s profile. The posters started appearing on London buses yesterday (Monday) in time for the Pope’s visit on September 16th- 19th.

Members of the CWO want to open up a discussion on the policy of the Catholic Church to only allow men to become priests. The group maintains that they are currently forbidden from discussing the issue in church halls, and other buildings associated with the Catholic Church.

Three large public gatherings are planned for the Pope’s UK visit, the largest of which is expected to be the evening vigil at Hyde Park where 80,000 people are expected to attend.

If you’re travelling to any of the three planned events in London, Birmingham or Glasgow, Coach Broker are offers top quality coach hire at a low cost rate, see the following link for more details http://www.coachbroker.co.uk/coach-hire-london.htm

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Brave Scottish coach driver vows to continue with his job despite needle attack

28/01/2010 By Andrew Morgan 1 Comment

coach driver faces agonizing wait for test results after being attacked by a passenger with a needle

A coach driver from Dumbarton, Scotland, has vowed to continue doing the job he loves, despite having recently come under attack from a passenger with a hypodermic syringe.

The 40-year-old driver, James McGowan, was behind the wheel of a McColl’s Coach when the attack took place on January 11th. The coach was en-route travelling from Glasgow to Balloch when a passenger boarded the vehicle at Redburn, Bonhill. The man demanded to be taken to the Vale, but when the driver informed him that the service didn’t stop there, he stabbed him in the hand with the needle.

Describing the moment when the unprovoked attack happened, the father-of-four said, “I didn’t see the whole thing and I didn’t see if the syringe had anything in it, but it was definitely a needle.”

Despite his order, Mr McGowan didn’t let the incident get him down, and was back in work at McColls Coaches the following morning. However he now faces an agonising 6 month wait to receive the results of his blood test. There is a chance that the needle which was used in the attack, could have been contaminated with HIV or the Hepatitis C virus.

Following the incident, the coach drive was taken to the Alexandria Hospital in Paisley where he was given jabs, and had blood tests taken.

The police are continuing to search for the suspect who attacked the McColls Coaches driver. The man has been described as white, aged between 20-25, 5ft 10inches tall, unshaven with dark/black coloured hair. He was also said to have been wearing a black bomber style jacket.

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