- Review Centre
- Travel
- Travel Services
- Bus Service
- National Express Coach
- Dark Willow's review
Have a picture of National Express Coach?, please send it to us.
| Reliability | 6.9/10   |
|---|---|
| Cleanliness | 7.4/10 |
| Value for Money | 6.1/10 |
| Reviewer Rating | 5.1/10 |
| Overall Rating | 5.1/10 |
By Dark Willow
on 22nd Dec 2005
| Reliability | 9/10 |
|---|---|
| Cleanliness | 6/10 |
| Value for money | 6/10 |
| Overall value | 5/10 |
 Dark Willow's recommendation | |
Simple
Good on line booking system
Guranteed Seats (unlike rail travel)
Good discount card options
No APEX tickets / Early booking discounts
Buses are often cold
Staff attitude
Some really grim terminals
I have used National Express Coaches for years on a lot of routes. Until MegaBus and the low coast airlines came, they were the cheapest way of inter city travel. They were and are very reliable and usually punctual, especially compared to train. The online booking system (eTicket) is very intuitive and very straightforward, and the discount card system is also one of the best. There is service from most local area into the major hubs, and if travelling with luggage it's the easiest way to get to the larger airports.
Now the downside. Staff attitude is generally very poor. Occasionally you get a really nice very helpful driver or ticket office clerk, but it's a luck of the draw affair. Most NX staff seem to be dismissive, impatient and often downright rude. NX pay isn't great, I know, but there is no need to take it out on the public, which given they are using a public bus probably are not millionaires themselves. This is something that really needs to be addressed.
Secondly is ther terminals. Again it's a hit and miss affair. Most of the big terminals are being refitted, and it's a hit and miss affair as to whether or not yours has been yet. Digbeth Station (Birmingham) is one of the worst. VERY run down, in a rough part of town with a tatty waiting area and dark, cold departures area. Very threatening but in reality safe enough (there is a security patrol there at night, as it's a 24 hour facility) The ticket office is tiny, over crowded and falling apart. London is modern but overcrowded and confusing, whilst Brighton simply is a wait outdoors affair with a subterranean elf sized ticket office and waiting area (tatty) next to a bus stand. Others vary between the pleasant (Southampton, almost new, and Manchester) to the all but non existent (Chichester - little more than a grimy kiosk and bus stand in main station)
The buses themselves vary. The Birmingham-London NXL shuttle is now run completely using brand new leather seated, extra legroom buses with air con. Otherwise they range from the old but fairly comfy to very new and stylish but not always comfortable. You do have a guaranteed seat, munch better than the train. All buses have a toilet, usually clean and decent. All buses are clean and serviceable on the inside. Heating and air con are variable. I've found a lot of buses to be uncomfortably cold in winter and stuffy (not hot) in summer. Most buses seem to have the heating/ac fitted properly and maintained, but the drivers don't adjust it right. Make sure to take a blanket with you! A lot of drivers also leave their window open during the journey which can make sitting toward the front on the drivers side chilly and breezy.
Frqeuency : Most towns have a NX service but it is not always frequent. Some routes only run once or twice a day. Best routes are Brighton/Gatwick/London (hourly), Brighton/Heathrow/Cambridge (hourly), Dover/London (hourly), Birmingham/London (half hourly) and Heathrow/London (half hourly). Most routes vary from two hourly to 5 or so a day. Journey times are slower than train to most places, prices are about half the on the spot trainfare for most routes. If you make more than one or two trips a year it will pay to get a discount card.
Dark Willow's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
