26/03/2009

• Fast, integrated links from North of England to London with megabusplus.com
• Easy connections from across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire to heart of the Capital
• Major boost for region's travellers as direct air links with London are axed
• Service interchange at one of UK rail network's newest and greenest stations

Hard-pressed consumers can beat the credit crunch by bagging bargain £1* fares to and from London with a new innovative budget coach and rail service, transport giant Stagecoach Group announced today (26 March 2009).

Megabusplus.com is the first service of its kind in the UK and will offer passengers a fast, integrated journey between Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and London by comfortable coach and high-quality train, provided by East Midlands Trains.

With quick journey times from just three-and-a-half hours, the new service will be faster than existing coach links to London and even some rail services.

It is also a major boost for travellers as the last remaining direct flights between Yorkshire's Leeds-Bradford airport and London Heathrow are axed from this weekend.

Passengers using megabusplus.com will be able to travel between London's modern St Pancras Station and nine key locations in the North of England - Hull, Scunthorpe, Doncaster, Castleford, Harrogate, York, Bradford, Halifax and Huddersfield.

The first services start running from Monday (30 March 2009) but customers can start booking their trips now at www.megabusplus.com. All megabusplus.com travel during the first week of the service will cost just £1*, with regular fares after the promotion also starting from £1*.

Launching the service at London St Pancras Station, Stagecoach Group Chief Executive Brian Souter, said: "It's really tough for families across Britain at the moment and everyone is looking for ways to make their pound go further.

"Megabusplus is a real boost for people looking to travel between London and the North of England. You can get on a comfortable coach, transfer easily to a high-speed train and make the 200-mile trip to London in just three-and-a half-hours for the price of a loaf of bread.

"With no more direct flights between Yorkshire and London, there's even more reasons for leisure and business travellers to bag a mega-bargain with megabusplus.com."

Megabusplus.com will use the brand new East Midlands Parkway station as an interchange to allow passengers to move seamlessly between the coach and the train. Opened in January 2009 and situated close to the M1, East Midlands Parkway is one of the greenest stations ever built, using new technology to minimise its impact on the local environment. It comprises four platforms, with step free access, a station building with ticket office and other facilities. Staffed and managed by East Midlands Trains, the station has 850 car parking spaces.

Passengers can complete the journey to London in as little as three and a half hours - faster than any other coach service between Yorkshire and the capital. Megabusplus.com will also provide faster travel from Halifax and Huddersfield to London than is currently possible by rail.

Megabusplus operates via three routes:

• Hull-Doncaster-Scunthorpe-East Midlands Parkway-London St Pancras
• York-Harrogate-Castleford-East Midlands Parkway-London St Pancras
• Halifax-Huddersfield-Bradford-East Midlands Parkway-London St Pancras

Passengers will travel on 49-seat Volvo B10M coaches equipped with toilets and seatbelts and transfer on to East Midlands Trains' HSTs direct to London.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:
Steven Stewart, Director of Corporate Communications, Stagecoach Group
T: 01738 442111 or mobile 07764 774680
E: steven.stewart@stagecoachgroup.com

Lindsay Reid
Corporate Communications Manager, Stagecoach Group
T: 01738 442111 or mobile 07500 446896
E: lindsay.reid@stagecoachgroup.com

For information on East Midlands Trains, contact 01332 867060

NOTES TO EDITORS

• * All megabusplus.com fares are subject to a 50p booking fee.
• Stagecoach Group is a leading international public transport group, with extensive bus and rail operations in the UK, United States and Canada.
• To book seats and access timetable information, go to www.megabusplus.com.
• megabus.com in the UK provides coach travel to over 40 destinations, from Inverness to Plymouth, with fares from just £1 plus 50p booking fee. It carries around 2million passengers a year.
• Budget rail service megatrain.com offers passengers travel from as little as £1 to around 30 locations in the UK on the South West Trains, East Midlands Trains and Virgin Trains networks.
• East Midlands Trains operate high speed long distance services from London St. Pancras to Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham and regional services between Nottingham and Derby – Lincoln – Cleethorpes – Skegness, and between Derby and Crewe - Matlock and Norwich and Liverpool.