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General news

National Express plans 15 new routes and adds 130 coaches to fleet

Coach firm National Express has revealed plans for 15 new routes across the UK this spring.

The company said it is also adding 130 new vehicles to its fleet under “significant” investment.

The announcement follows an increase in passengers last year, with more than 16 million people travelling on its services, up by 10 million from 2021.

The Queen’s funeral, the return and growth of music festivals and events after the pandemic, and the disruption caused by the rail strikes are all believed to be contributing factors, the company said.

Ed Rickard, service delivery director for National Express UK, said: “More and more customers are turning to coach for great value, reliable and sustainable travel.

“It’s encouraging to see customers making the switch from other modes of transport and choosing our coaches.

“With our record customer satisfaction scores, they clearly like what they’ve seen, which gives us confidence that the demand is there.

“We’re expecting 2023 to be even busier as we roll out our uplift in service provision, with forecasts predicting 21 million customers travelling by coach to get them where they need to be.”