megabus.com has announced it is setting up a base in Lyon and launching a new
route linking France, Spain and Germany.
The move, which will also see the creation of more than 30 new jobs,
comes as the French Government finalises plans to modernise the
country's coach market later this year.
Two megabus.com services a day have now commenced operating in each
direction between Barcelona, Perpignan, Montpellier, Avignon, Lyon,
Mulhouse, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, Frankfurt and Cologne.
Fares on every journey start from just €1* and tickets are on sale now at www.megabus.com. According to the megabus website "For travel on the first five days of the new services (3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
June), all tickets will be priced at
€1"
Brand coaches offer free Wifi, power
sockets and a toilet. Pick-up and drop-off stops are in city centres or
near convenient transport links.
The new route will offer direct megabus.com services between France
and Germany for the first time and marks the latest expansion of the
company’s network, which now covers around 130 destinations across
Europe.
French cities Lyon, Perpignan, Montpellier, Avignon and Mulhouse are
new locations on the megabus.com network, opening up direct low-cost
connections from these destinations to Spain and Germany. Domestic
journeys will be possible in Germany, allowing people to travel between
Cologne, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Freiburg.
megabus.com uses bigger coaches
carrying up to 87 people, providing more seats than other operators.
This results in a low cost per passenger and keeps fares down.
As part of the latest expansion, megabus.com is creating 35 jobs at a
new operating base in, Belleville-sur-SaƓne, north of Lyon. Seven
vehicles will be parked, fuelled, cleaned and maintained at the base
under a partnership with local company Autocar Maisonneuve. The coaches,
which were manufactured b Van Hool, represent an
investment of more than €3million.
megabus.com Managing Director Edward Hodgson said: “Our high-quality
services are opening low-cost connections for people across Europe and
we are delighted to establish a new base in Lyon with its central
location in France.
“We are serving several locations in France for the first time. It
will give local people access to a large network of megabus.com services
across Europe and help boost tourism. We are the only coach operator
in Europe to offer €1 fares on all services across all routes.”
megabus.com, part of Stagecoach
Group in Scotland, has operated since 2003. It expanded from the UK to
North America in 2006 and has served mainland Europe since 2012.
Major destinations on the network include London, Paris, Amsterdam,
Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Toulouse, Barcelona, Brussels,
Lille, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg.
Earlier this year, megabus.com launched a Paris-Toulouse service and
also recently added Strasbourg to its network. In addition, the company
now operates a domestic network, covering 13 locations, in Germany.
megabus.com carries more than
15 million passengers a year across Europe and North America. The number
of passengers using the company’s growing coach network in Europe is up
more than 60% in the past year. The current average fare on the
megabus.com network in mainland Europe is less than €15.
Currently megabus.com operates mainly international routes in and out
of France due to “cabotage” rules which restrict coach links between
destinations wholly within the country. megabus.com supports recent
moves by the French Government to liberalise the coach market and
changes are expected to be introduced later this year.
Edward Hodgson added: “Modernising the outdated rules for coach
services in France can give a huge boost for consumers, with more choice
and lower fares. Our experience from the UK is that this benefits all
public transport, with coach services flourishing at the same time as
the country has the fastest growing rail network in Europe.”
megabus.com offers French,
German, English, Spanish and Dutch language websites. Services are
popular with families, students and tourists looking to save money on
travel and spend extra on entertainment when they arrive at their
destination.
All megabus.com drivers undertake a detailed operational and customer
service training programme. It includes route familiarisation and
driving assessments and is part of an EU standard qualification for
professional bus, coach and lorry drivers. megabus.com ensures full
compliance with relevant EU working time legislation and has stricter
maintenance standards than legal requirements as part of its commitment
to safety.