Megabus Sleeper service to end

[Bletchleyite]

Also remember that many of the people who might use the Megabus sleeper might also use youth hostels. I recently found one on a Saturday night for £13 the day before, and they're easy to find below £20, so that changes the equation somewhat.

Yes, I suppose the Megabus sleeper is basically a youth hostel on wheels.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Yes, I suppose the Megabus sleeper is basically a youth hostel on wheels.

FWIW, my view is that Megabus is generally aimed at those who haven't got much money whether that be students or in lower socio-economic groups. They are very price conscious so the lowest cost is perhaps the clincher so the added value element of a berth may not be an option.

On the other hand, those people with more money may well consider a flight, train or overnight accommodation.

Think the overnight sleeper coach seems to fall between two stools - they'll be some trade but clearly not enough to be viable.

 

[Bungle965]

FWIW, my view is that Megabus is generally aimed at those who haven't got much money whether that be students or in lower socio-economic groups. They are very price conscious so the lowest cost is perhaps the clincher so the added value element of a berth may not be an option.

On the other hand, those people with more money may well consider a flight, train or overnight accommodation.

Think the overnight sleeper coach seems to fall between two stools - they'll be some trade but clearly not enough to be viable.

The student market is clear by how they run a service from London to Aberystwyth University and allot of their services are as you say full of either students or those who are price conscious.
Sam

 

[quarella]

For the poster who is becoming rather indignant that some people may opt to avoid a night spent on a coach where possible, I can understand those who can't afford a hotel using the overnight service. What I am saying is that it's rather odd for those who can afford a hotel to use it just for the sake of saving a few quid at the expense of a night's sleep that will be either non-existent or absolutely crap. Still, to each their own.

There may be a multitude of other reasons such as work or family commitments which mean the overnight coach is the most suitable option for someone. Perhaps preferring the dormitory style over an unknown individual in a sleeper cabin. Previous experience of delays and cancellations to flights and trains.
I like to look out of the window when travelling but in my experience many people do seem able to sleep very well in a seated position on coaches, some within a few minutes of departure.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There may be a multitude of other reasons such as work or family commitments which mean the overnight coach is the most suitable option for someone. Perhaps preferring the dormitory style over an unknown individual in a sleeper cabin.

I certainly do agree with that view myself, and remain very disappointed that CS gave up on the flatbeds far too easily when issues presented themselves. Or didn't consider longitudinal "Kajueteliegen" as a middle-priced option. For me sharing a two-berth cabin with a stranger is too intimate.

 

[Teflon Lettuce]

I've just read an article in a back issue of Buses Magazine written when the double deck sleeper service was introduced.. very enlightening as to why the service is now being withdrawn. In the article a company spokesman was quoted as saying that break even point was 40 out of the 42 berths being occupied... very slim chances of making a profit there....

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've just read an article in a back issue of Buses Magazine written when the double deck sleeper service was introduced.. very enlightening as to why the service is now being withdrawn. In the article a company spokesman was quoted as saying that break even point was 40 out of the 42 berths being occupied... very slim chances of making a profit there....

If that's actually true, I'm amazing it lasted as long as it did.

 

[Flying Snail]

I've just read an article in a back issue of Buses Magazine written when the double deck sleeper service was introduced.. very enlightening as to why the service is now being withdrawn. In the article a company spokesman was quoted as saying that break even point was 40 out of the 42 berths being occupied... very slim chances of making a profit there....

I wonder what the break-even point was with the bendys?

Introducing a fleet of very expensive custom-builds must have pushed up the cost by a big margin.

 

[daikilo]

FWIW, my view is that Megabus is generally aimed at those who haven't got much money whether that be students or in lower socio-economic groups. They are very price conscious so the lowest cost is perhaps the clincher so the added value element of a berth may not be an option.

On the other hand, those people with more money may well consider a flight, train or overnight accommodation.

Think the overnight sleeper coach seems to fall between two stools - they'll be some trade but clearly not enough to be viable.

I think the real issue is that the business model required a day-time operation, and this just doesn't work with so few seats.

 

[overthewater]

I think the real issue is that the business model required a day-time operation, and this just doesn't work with so few seats.

How many daytime seats where there? Im sure there was at least 60.

 

[bavvo]

Were the coaches used during the day at all for day services of any kind?

 

[overthewater]

Were the coaches used during the day at all for day services of any kind?

There did.

To begin with there run London - Cardiff service? I cant remember if there was a Brum service aswell. Both now gone.

Im sure there still being used on G9 Glasgow - Aberdeen. There really Citylink gold.

 

[route101]

There did.

To begin with there run London - Cardiff service? I cant remember if there was a Brum service aswell. Both now gone.

Im sure there still being used on G9 Glasgow - Aberdeen. There really Citylink gold.

I took one from Cardiff to London. With Glasgow crew handing out barr cola to confuse welsh punnters!
Used on the Citylink Gold services between Glasgow and Aberdeen /Inverness.
The seating arrangement is all facing tables even at the front of top deck , not my favoured if travelling alone

 

[philthetube]

When I visit manchester, from London, for a weekend I always travel overnight both ways, I am lucky I can sleep well on a coach and this gives me two full days up north.

 

[ivanhoe]

It's clear now that all over Europe, sleeper trains are declining and the only potential viable markets are long distances such as London to Scotland. Even this market is very small and extremely price sensitive. It was a good concept to try and fair play to Megabus for giving it a go. As has been stated, cheaper overnight accommodation and other modal options have made the Megabus Sleeper concept non viable. The amount of traffic coming from people who suddenly have to travel is limited and people like bargains!

 

[E-Rail]

If I was being cynical, I could suggest that megabus Gold's closure is nothing to do with passenger numbers and more to do with reducing Anglo-Scottish journey options in order to prop up their doomed Virgin Trains East Coast franchise.

Stagecoach are in a very bad place currently with the loss of SWT, several TfL routes, National Express in Kent and the UK bus division in decline. None of which helps when you owe the DfT £1.1 million every day in premium payments. Still, at least the sale of Winchester bus station this month for £4 million will pay those premiums for this week.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If I was being cynical, I could suggest that megabus Gold's closure is nothing to do with passenger numbers and more to do with reducing Anglo-Scottish journey options in order to prop up their doomed Virgin Trains East Coast franchise.

I doubt that. Overnight coach travel isn't really the same market as daytime rail travel. Indeed, I think that's sort-of the reason for its failure - if you need to do it on the cheap you take the overnight seated coach, if you have more money there's the day train or the Cally. There isn't really a gap for it.

The assets weren't really being sweated, either, as the coaches weren't used during the day any more, as the all-facing seating layout was not popular (nobody likes going backwards on a bus).

 

[E-Rail]

(nobody likes going backwards on a bus).

That's very true and although slightly off topic, I was surprised to see Transdev fitting the new Coastliner B5TLs with the fad of the month seating around tables layout considering their own research from the 36 prior to the original B7TL batch's rebuild and refurbishment was that passengers didn't like facing backwards hence they re-configured the wheelarch seating to face the aisle.

I think there is a bit too much involvement from Ray Stenning these days when it comes to vehicle design. Maybe if he were to concentrate on his daytime job of liveries and branding, we wouldn't have seen the shockingly poor designs that have been applied to new vehicles recently.

 

[overthewater]

Why do people go backwards on trains but not buses?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Why do people go backwards on trains but not buses?

Possibly to do with a feel of wanting to be in control, or the ability to see out of the front?

Many people don't like going backwards on trains either, though, it's just that half the seats need to be facing each way unless you're going to have a mechanism to spin them (as you do get in some parts of the world).

Notably, I believe it's been proven a number of times that backwards-facing would be safer for aircraft, yet it's felt people wouldn't want that.

 

[PeterC]

Notably, I believe it's been proven a number of times that backwards-facing would be safer for aircraft, yet it's felt people wouldn't want that.

Military owned coaches had all passenger seats facing backwards.

 

[Dr_Intoxicated]

Why do people go backwards on trains but not buses?

For me the reason is simple I get motion sickness traveling backwards on a bus but not an a train.

I also traveled backward by air once as the some of the old BEA tridents had backward facing seats. One word nasty.

 

[cf111]

For me the reason is simple I get motion sickness traveling backwards on a bus but not an a train.

I also traveled backward by air once as the some of the old BEA tridents had backward facing seats. One word nasty.

I realise it's a world apart, but half of BA's Club World (long-haul business class) seats face backwards and I actually prefer it.

 

[AnonymousUser1]

Military owned coaches had all passenger seats facing backwards.

never seen a 'blow me up bus ' with rear facing seats, however the VC10s were rear facing and palletised seating for the AT fleet can be read facing

 

[Tetchytyke]

Why do people go backwards on trains but not buses?

Choice, mostly.

I get travel sick travelling backwards on buses because the roll, pitch and yaw is not predictable, especially away from motorways. I'm OK on trains because you don't get the same movements in the same way, and the train movements are a lot more predictable.

I don't understand the point of putting tables on buses either. Travelling backwards is nasty on a double decker, and you can't use the table for drinks because they slide off every time you go round a corner.

I'm not surprised the sleeper service is ending, coach travel is for the price conscious at the best of times, and it has to be very cheap to compete either with the Cally Sleeper or an airport hotel and the first EasyJet flight of the morning.

 

[the101]

I think there is a bit too much involvement from Ray Stenning these days when it comes to vehicle design. Maybe if he were to concentrate on his daytime job of liveries and branding, we wouldn't have seen the shockingly poor designs that have been applied to new vehicles recently.

I sometimes wonder why I bother reading this forum, but I suppose there is entertainment value at times. It is a vast over-exaggeration to describe any of the recent more extravagant internal designs as "shockingly poor" but I guess that's what some people have to do in a bid to prove the point that they're trying to make.

On the buses that Stenning has had anything to do with lately that include rear-facing seating, there are just a handful of such positions, and therefore the obvious thing to say is that if you do not like travelling on a bus when facing backwards, use one of the 60-plus seats on it that face forwards instead.

Ray does what his customers tell him to. Nothing more, nothing less. If he is involved with seating layouts (and I doubt that he is), he is doing so because he is being paid to, not because he has decided to for reasons known only to himself.

 

[PeterC]

never seen a 'blow me up bus ' with rear facing seats, however the VC10s were rear facing and palletised seating for the AT fleet can be read facing

My original post was in the past tense. What you have seen depends on how old you are. The ones that I had used were of the generation of vehicles that carried national servicemen.

 

[chubs]

I doubt that. Overnight coach travel isn't really the same market as daytime rail travel. Indeed, I think that's sort-of the reason for its failure - if you need to do it on the cheap you take the overnight seated coach, if you have more money there's the day train or the Cally. There isn't really a gap for it.

The assets weren't really being sweated, either, as the coaches weren't used during the day any more, as the all-facing seating layout was not popular (nobody likes going backwards on a bus).

When I used it I thought why pay for an overpriced ticket on an ancient train where I would have to share a berth with a stranger anyway (unless I pay even more for 1st). OK you have to share with more people but the price is much lower.

There arent a lot of routes where it makes sense to use a sleeper bus or a sleeper train in the UK though.

 

[Bletchleyite]

When I used it I thought why pay for an overpriced ticket on an ancient train where I would have to share a berth with a stranger anyway (unless I pay even more for 1st). OK you have to share with more people but the price is much lower.

I'd genuinely rather be in a dorm than share with one other stranger, personally. As I said it's a real shame CS abandoned the "middle class" flatbed seat option they were proposing. I think they were looking for an excuse not to bother.

 

[AnonymousUser1]

My original post was in the past tense. What you have seen depends on how old you are. The ones that I had used were of the generation of vehicles that carried national servicemen.

yet ironically right up until the turn of the millenium the military was also transporting troops on main roads in 'TCVs' i.e. Bedofrd / Leyland ' 4 tonners' with benches in the loadspace ...