National Express adds extra capacity over Christmas period

Scheduled coach operator National Express is adding extra capacity on some of its key services to help counter any last minute rail cancellations over the festive period – including extra dates across the bank holidays.

With much of the country’s rail services significantly disrupted during the festive season, the nation’s favourite coach operator is adding more than 30,000 seats across its core network to meet increased demand for travel.

Between 22 December and 5 January National Express is expecting more than half a million passengers to travel on its services.

On Christmas Day alone, the coach operator is running over 340 journeys serving 95 locations including towns, cities and major airports across the UK.

“Huge demand”

John Boughton, Commercial Director at National Express, said: “Christmas is such an important time of year for travel and we’re seeing a huge demand for our services.

“With planned rail engineering works and last minute train cancellations right across the Christmas period, we’re proud to once again be stepping up to provide a dependable and affordable public transport service for our customers.

“We have the flexibility to add extra capacity on our busiest intercity and airport routes to help as many people as possible get home to spend the holidays with family and friends.

“Our services are great value, you’re guaranteed a comfortable seat, and most importantly, we’ll get you there. We expect to be busy and tickets are selling fast so we’re advising customers to book in advance to avoid disappointment.”

Extra capacity

National Express is adding capacity on the following key intercity and airport services:

A1 & A2: Luton Airport <> London – serving Golder’s Green, Finchley Road, St. John’s Wood, Baker Street, Paddington, Marble Arch and London Victoria
A7, A8, A9: Stansted Airport <> London – serving Stratford, Liverpool Street, Tottenham Hale, Waterloo, King’s Cross St. Pancras, Farringdon & Barbican, Southwark, Mile End, Bow, Whitechapel
040: Bristol <> London
170: Liverpool <> Leeds – serving Manchester, Manchester Airport and Leeds
201: South Wales <> Gatwick Airport – serving Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Bristol, Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport
491: Great Yarmouth <> London – serving Norwich, Thetford and London
540: Rochdale <>London – serving Oldham, Blackburn, Bolton, Manchester, Manchester Airport, Milton Keynes and London
550 & 551: Liverpool <> London – serving Chester, Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham, Birmingham Airport, Milton Keynes, Heathrow Airport and London

Promo codes

In addition to increased scheduled services, National Express is helping people travel for less this festive season with 10% off coach travel throughout December using the promo code DEC10.

The coach operator also recently announced 10,000 free child places available for travel until 6 January 2025 with the promo code FREEKIDS. Terms and conditions apply.

Customers can expect a safe and comfortable experience on board, with leather reclining seats, free Wi-Fi on selected services, USB power sockets and a generous luggage allowance of up to 20kg.

Visit www.nationalexpress.com for more information.