National Express to increase services for Christmas rush as lockdown ends

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Coach firm National Express is increasing its services to meet demand in the run-up to Christmas once lockdown ends on December 2.

Chris Hardy, managing director of National Express UK said: “This is still very much a limited network, equivalent to around 20% of our normal services, with a focus on major cities, towns and airports.

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"However, as England moves into regional tiers; students are encouraged to make their way home during the designated travel window and guidance is released about what we can do over Christmas, we expect demand for travel in December to grow.

“We are increasing our services in early December and then again later in the month as we get closer to Christmas. All decisions are being made in consultation with the DfT regarding the requirement for a national coach network to keep the country moving safely.”

National Express will be running services on Christmas Day.National Express will be running services on Christmas Day.
National Express will be running services on Christmas Day.

Capacity has been increased on routes that serve University locations during the student travel window between 3 and 9 December and once again, National Express will be the only national public transport network operating on Christmas Day with services every day of the festive season.

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Mr Hardy added: “There is less demand for coach travel but there is still a need. Trains will not be running on Christmas Day and planned engineering works on the railways will also reduce options.

“The flexibility of coach travel means we have the ability to safely increase capacity in line with demand and any Government guidance.”

All coaches have significant Covid-secure measures in place including enhanced cleaning, reduced capacity, wearing of face coverings, temperature screening and additional air conditioning filters.

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Anyone who has tested positive for Covid-19 so is unable to travel, can request a full refund or amend their ticket. Passengers who no longer wish to or are unable to travel as planned will also be eligible for a free ticket amendment*.

He added: “We’ve been trusted for years to get people where they need to be safely and are ready to do this once again in December.”

Full details or all services and routes are available on the National Express website www.nationalexpress.com.