Thousands of UK travellers are choosing coach in response to the significant upcoming rail disruption over the Easter period with National Express reporting an 80% increase in demand on affected routes and 63% for travel between London and Milton Keynes.
The UK's largest coach operator has increased capacity on its services to cope with the levels of demand from customers whose travel plans have been derailed by rail engineering works.
From Friday 19 to Monday 22 April, those travelling between London and the Midlands, the North West of England and Scotland will be affected by work on the West Coast Main Line as part of the preparations being made for HS2; while Euston train station will be shut down completely.
John Boughton, Commercial Director at National Express, said: “This is a major disruption and will be creating a real headache for Easter travel plans.
“We predicted an increase in demand and have been planning ahead. We are well prepared to help get people to where they want to be over the Easter weekend but do encourage customers to book ahead to guarantee their seat and take advantage of great value advance fares."
London Euston, one of the UK’s busiest train stations will shut down for a further three days during the early May Bank holiday weekend from Saturday 4 to Monday 6 May.
John added: “It is clear that the demand for our service has increased substantially due to the disruption and we’re anticipating this will happen again at the beginning of May.
"Travel with National Express offers great value for money, with lots of benefits including power sockets, leather seats, air conditioning, a free entertainment app and power sockets. Plus, it's the most environmentally friendly form of public transport – generating up to five times less carbon dioxide per passenger than the average car journey.”
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