National Express to suspend services again - Jan 2021

[whole diary]

[bobm]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

National Express has announced that it is suspending its entire national network of coach services from midnight on Sunday.

The firm said tighter Covid restrictions and falling passenger numbers had prompted the decision.

It added that it hoped to restart services in March.

All customers whose travel has been cancelled will be contacted and offered a free amendment or full refund, the company said.

All journeys before Monday 11 January will be completed to ensure any passengers making essential journeys are not stranded.

[broadgage]

This news rather reminds me of the book "Last Light" by Alex Scarrow.
Very cheerful story and highly recommended  as suitable lockdown reading. Bus and coach services were stopped very early in the crises.

Available on line.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=last+light+book&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=last+light+novel

No specific recommendation is made regarding that particular ebay seller, the book is available from other sellers.

[grahame]

Full email to their customers:

Dear Graham

We have been providing an important service for essential travel needs. However, with tighter restrictions and less people travelling, it is no longer appropriate to do this.

* From 23:59 on Sunday 10 January 2021 all of our coach services will be temporarily suspended with a provisional return from Monday 1 March 2021.

* With immediate effect we are no longer selling coach tickets on our website or through any sales channels for any travel before Monday 1 March 2021.

As the vaccination programme is rolled out and Government guidance changes, we will regularly review when we can restart services. Please note, the current provisional date of Monday 1 March is subject to change and we plan to be back on the road as soon as the timing is right.

If you have an upcoming journey with us we will honour a free of charge ticket amendment (for travel up until 30 September 2021) or fully refund your ticket.

Either complete our ticket amendment form before your original outward journey or apply for your refund through the online refund form. We will process all refunds within 28 days if not sooner.

If you have already contacted us about an amendment or refund, you do not need to contact us again. Our customer service team is working extremely hard to process all requests as quickly as possible. If you have any questions please visit our coronavirus FAQs^▸ (Frequently Asked Questions).

If you are travelling in the next 24 hours and wish to speak to a member of our team you can call us on 03717 818181. Our lines currently remain open 9am - 5pm, 7 days a week or contact us on Twitter @nxcare 9am - 5pm, 7 days a week. Please be advised that it may take a little longer than normal to get through.

The whole team at National Express worked incredibly hard throughout 2020 and I want to thank them for their efforts as we pause our services. We will now make sure we are ready to get back behind the wheel as soon as the nation needs us again.

Please stay safe and well and, when the time is right, we look forward to welcoming you back on board.

Chris Hardy
Managing Director
National Express UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Coach

You can find the FAQ referred to ((here}}

[TaplowGreen]

Unfortunate but probably inevitable given the circumstances - I cannot really imagine any essential (in the lockdown context) journeys being made via National Express coaches, and there is very little point in empty vehicles pootling up and down the motorways.

Hopefully they will be able to resume before too long.