National Express Coaches

National Express Coaches
This article is about the company responsible for most long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain and the brand it uses. For its parent company, see National Express Group.
National Express Coach
logo
image
A National Express Caetano Levante coach in the new livery. It is run by Go North East.
Founded 1972
Headquarters Birmingham, England, UK
Service area England, Wales, Scotland
Service type Intercity coach service
Hubs Birmingham,
London,
Manchester,
Glasgow,
Gatwick Airport,
Heathrow Airport,
Southampton,
Leeds,
Liverpool,
Sheffield
Operator National Express Group
Chief executive Randall E West
Web site National Express Coach
Previous National Express logo.
The pre-2003 National Express livery (essentially as inherited from the National Bus Company) on a Volvo B10M / Plaxton Premiere coach
National Express coaches waiting in the National Express stands at Leeds City bus & coach station.

National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,[1]

Most services are subcontracted to local bus and coach companies throughout England, Scotland and Wales, as specified below. The company's head office is based in Birmingham, in offices above the new Birmingham Coach Station.[2]

Contents

History

Following the Transport Act 1968, the National Bus Company (NBC) was formed and many local bus companies were nationalised. Many of these bus companies also operated coach services and these were marketed as National Express from 1972 (the actual coach services continued to be operated by the individual companies).

Coach services were de-regulated under the Transport Act 1980 and buses by the Transport Act 1985. The National Bus Company was privatised and National Express Holdings Ltd was formed in 1998 following a management buy-out; National Express Group (NEG) was formed in 1991 prior to the company being floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1992.[3] It was given a remit to acquire new businesses in the passenger transport market, National Express was as a subsidiary company.

During 2001, National Express took the decision to end the historic on-board steward/ess service. Phil White, their then MD had stated he felt they made the company look old fashioned and passengers did not need them.[citation needed]

For most of its existence, National Express Coach Division had little, if any, competition in the long distance coach market. A number of operators had attempted to compete with the company after deregulation in 1980, the largest being the British Coachways consortium, but most had given up competition by the end of the decade.[4] However, in 2003, Stagecoach Group introduced a "no-frills" service, Megabus, whose £1 fares sparked a price war with National Express in autumn 2004. The competition intensified in 2007 when Megabus transferred its London terminus from the Green Line Coach Station into the main Victoria Coach Station.

In 2007–2008, as part of the group wide restructuring and re-branding the group's rail operations were branded as 'National Express' and the coach fleet received a slightly different livery, retaining the red white and blue theme, but adoption a new lower-case logo; coaches stated appearing in the new livery from December 2007.

Routes and Brands

See also: List of National Express Coach routes

National Express offer many standard 'National Express routes across the country. In addition they run shuttle and airport services.

Shuttle Services

Many 'National Express' coach routes pass through several town centres, which increases journey times for longer journeys considerably. A smaller number of Shuttle services operate at least once an hour over faster direct routes. Shuttle services operate on the following routes:

  • 010 - London - Cambridge
  • 025 - London - Gatwick Airport - Brighton
  • 032 - London - Southampton
  • 035 - London - Bournemouth
  • 040 - London - Bristol
  • 060 - Leeds - Manchester - Liverpool
  • 070 - Sheffield - Leeds
  • 420 - London - Birmingham, Dudley and Wolverhampton

The 040 Bristol - London Shuttle continues to Burnham-on-Sea once a day in each direction, usually early morning to London and late evening from, while retaining its NXL shuttle branding. It operates with Irizar PB / Scania K124 coaches.

The 420 London - Birmingham service is operated directly by National Express from Birmingham coach station. However during 2007, along with other Birmingham based services operated by Travel West Midlands and Go West Midlands, these were franchised out to Veolia, due to the lack of space available at Birmingham's temporary coach station.

Airport services

National Express operate a number of Airport services to a number of different airports. Services include:-

  • 200 - Gatwick Airport - Heathrow Airport - Reading - Bristol
  • 201 - Gatwick Airport - Heathrow Airport - Bristol - Newport - Cardiff - Swansea
  • 202 - Heathrow Airport - Bristol - Newport - Cardiff - Swansea
  • 205 - Gatwick Airport - Heathrow Airport - Ringwood - Bournemouth - Poole
  • 206 - Gatwick Airport North Terminal - Gatwick Airport South Terminal - Chichester - Portsmouth - Portsmouth (CFT) - Fareham - Southampton - Ringwood - Bournemouth - Westbourne - Branksome - Parkstone - Poole
  • 210 - Gatwick Airport - Heathrow Airport - Banbury / Coventry - Birmingham - Wolverhampton
  • 230 - Gatwick Airport - Heathrow Airport - Milton Keynes - Leicester - Nottingham
  • 240 - Bradford - Leeds - Sheffield - Chesterfield - East Midlands Airport - Coventry - Warwick Parkway - Heathrow Airport - Gatwick Airport (Accessible Coach Service)
  • 707 - Gatwick Airport - Heathrow Airport - Hemel Hempstead - Luton Airport - Luton bus station - Milton Keynes - Northampton
  • 727 - Brighton - Gatwick Airport - Heathrow Airport - Stansted Airport - Newmarket - Thetford - Attleborough - Norwich bus station - University of East Anglia
  • 747 - Brighton - Gatwick Airport - Heathrow Airport
  • 777 - Stansted Airport - Luton Airport - Birmingham (early morning and evening services extend to/from Wolverhampton)

The Airport brand was created in 2003 when the National Express image brand was updated - it merged the former Airlink, Flightlink, Jetlink and Speedlink brands, which were confusing, especially to passengers travelling between Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

Most coaches on these services operate with the National Express Airport brand, the airport being in white inside a red box below the 'National Express' name on the side of the coach.

Vehicles on services 777 and 210 operate in standard National Express branding as these services are now operated by Veolia, and use the same pool of coaches of that operators services based in Birmingham (namely the 325, 420 and 545).

Accessible coach routes

A Ceatano Levante operating on Route 560 At Sheffield Interchange, Bound for Barnsley. The yellow strips in the doorway indicate the presence of the NX magic floor lift

National Express is introducing a new generation of coaches that feature a wheelchair lift incorporated into the passenger entrance onto the UK network . These vehicles feature a wider entrance and a completely flat floor throughout the coach to aid mobility for all. The NX Magic Floor Lift is incorporated into the passenger entrance and when deployed, the wheelchair is locked in place and the customer safely and securely uses the same standard three-point seat belt as other customers.

As of February 2010 the following services are advertised as operating with accessible vehicles:-[5]

  • A6 - Stansted Airport - Golders Green - Finchley Road - Lord's Cricket Ground - Baker Street - Marble Arch - Victoria Rail Station - London Victoria Coach Station
  • A9 - Stansted Airport - Stratford - Bow - Mile End - Whitechapel - London Liverpool Street Street Station - Shoreditch - Bethnal Green - as of 16/12/2010
  • 240 - Leeds - Sheffield - Coventry - Heathrow Airport - Gatwick Airport
  • 314 - Liverpool - Stoke - Birmingham - Coventry - Northampton - Bedford - Cambridge
  • 333 - Blackpool - Bolton - Mancs - Stoke - Bristol - Yeovil - W'mouth - Poole - B'mouth
  • 337 - Coventry - Leamington - Stratford - Cheltenham - Bristol - Exeter - Torquay - Paignton
  • 341 - Burnley - Blackburn - Bolton - Mancs - B'ham - Weston-S-M - Exeter - Torquay (not including night or seasonal services)
  • 390 - Hull (Docks) - Leeds - Manchester
  • 403 - Bath - Swindon - Chippenham - Heathrow - London (side-entry passenger lift)
  • 538 - The Midlands - Manchester Airport - Manchester - Preston - Carlisle - Scotland
  • 560 - Barnsley - Sheffield - London (not including night or seasonal services)
  • 562 - Hull - Doncaster - London
  • 591 - Edinburgh - Newcastle - London (not including night or seasonal services)
  • 737 - Oxford - High Wycombe - Luton Airport - Stansted Airport
  • 767 - Nottingham - Leicester - Luton Airport - Stansted Airport

Vehicles include reclining leather seats, air conditioning, and a large toilet. A programme of routes is currently being planned to roll out the accessible coach across the network, with the whole network being fully accessible by 2012.[5] Unfortunately, during this roll-out the operation on occasions will use vehicles without accessible features on services advertised as accessible.

Fares

A number of discount fare brands are available, including:

Coachcards

National Express offers a range of coachcards to customers which allows discounts on National Express tickets. At one point, this consisted of a Student, Young Persons, and Advantage 50 coachcards - which allowed the holder up to 30% of the price of coach tickets. This has since been rationalised with the company only offering an NX2 card (recently renamed the 16 to 25 coachcard in order to provide a clearer brand name), offering the same discount to previous Students and Young Persons cards. Since the introduction in 2004 of half price fares for the over 60's, the Advantage 50 card was scrapped, although cards are still valid until expiry. A Family coachcard is also offered, and is cheaper than the NX2 card, and allows the holder of the card to take one child free with them, in many cases the cost of the Family Coachcard is cheaper than the fare for a child.

Brit Xplorer

This is a card valid for a set period of time which allows non-UK residents (a passport of another country is needed to purchase this) travel as a standby passenger on all National Express services, the holder can opt to pay a small fee in order to reserve a seat on a specific service.

Funfares

Launched as a result of severe competition from easyBus and Megabus, funfares are cheap single fares, purchased only on the internet as an 'e-ticket', similar to low-fare airlines, thus reducing overheads. Further restrictions are put on these tickets - such as the inability to change the time on the ticket, or to travel on a different coach. Funfares were launched on Shuttle services but have since been rolled out across the network. A percentage of seats on off-peak services can be booked in this way. For a long while Funfares were priced from a highly competitive £1 a ticket, which undercut Megabus when taking into account booking charges. Subsequently though the price of Funfares increased to a less attractive minimum of £5 a single ticket with an additional booking charge[6] which means that they are often undercut by rival bus and on occasions train operators.

Multirides

For frequent travellers, packs of ten separate journeys can be bought for a saving of ten percent on regular fares on a limited number of services. Tickets are valid for up to six months and can be used in either direction of travel. These are only sold on a limited number of services.

Operations

Franchise operators

The majority of National Express services are contracted to local bus and coach companies. As part of the contract, operators who run services every day are required to use coaches in full National Express livery, although there are a few exceptions for operators who operate irregular services (for example extras laid on at weekends). There are also some occasions where an operator will use a privately hired vehicle due to lack of availability.

In addition to this, coaches from outside companies can be hired in at anytime to work "Duplicate Coaches" which can run alongside a route for all or some of it - an extremely common practice during busy periods.

Recently some of the operators who are not contracted to provide National Express liveried coaches have begun to break away from this, by using vehicles in plain white with a National Express logo on the side, and a few have also acquired coaches that are no longer in regular service on the network.

One such operator - Stagecoach - is both a National Express franchisee, and operates its own rival Megabus services.

Advertising

A television advertising campaign in the 1980s included a jingle with the slogan 'National Express Coaches go our way, we're going yours'.

Fleet

National Express and its franchises operate a number of the different vehicle types. Below is a list of some of the most common ones:

  • Caetano Levante - introduced in 2005 and designed for better disabled access
  • Scania Irizar PB - mostly used in the Midlands/Birmingham and on routes to London
  • Plaxton Paragon/Panther - most common type. Used nationwide
  • Van Hool Alizee
  • Jonckheere Mistral
  • Caetano Enigma
  • Plaxton Elite

Incidents

Since National Express started operating, there have been few road traffic accidents (RTIs) involving their coaches. Early incidents were:

26 July 1974: Three killed and over 30 injured when a double decker overturned on the M1 near Luton after swerving to avoid an earlier collision.

17 August 1983: Three killed on the M4 near Swindon when a lorry careered in to the side of a coach.

3 August 1985: One killed and 40 injured when a double decker overturned on the A1(M) in County Durham after swerving to avoid a sheep on the carriageway.[citation needed]

2007

The 2007 National Express coach crash can refer to one of at least two motorway road traffic incidents (RTIs) involving National Express Coaches in the United Kingdom in 2007. In both instances, the cause of the coach crashes were wholly attributed to the fault of the driver.

3 January 2007 incident

National Express January 2007 M4/M25 coach crash
Details
Date and time: 3 January 2007, 23:45 (GMT)
Location: M4 motorway/M25 motorway, west of London, England
Coordinates: 51°29′52.13″N 00°29′52.13″W / 51.4978139°N 0.4978139°W / 51.4978139; -0.4978139 (National Express coach accident - 3 January 2007)
Bus info: Intercity double-deck coach
Statistics
Vehicles: 1: Neoplan Skyliner N122/3L coach
Total people involved: 65
Deaths: 3
Injuries: 4 serious


Background

A Neoplan Skyliner N122/3L coach (VIN: WAGPA8ZZ364001057, 2006 model year)[7] was operating on route 592[8][9] and was heading towards Aberdeen.[8] It left London Victoria Coach Station at 22:30 (GMT),[8][9] was carrying 65 passengers,[8] and was due to arrive at Aberdeen Coach Park at 10:30 (GMT) on 4 January 2007.[8][9] The coach was due to stop en route at Heathrow Airport, Carlisle, Hamilton, Glasgow and Dundee.[8]

Crash and emergency response

The crash occurred on the motorway slip road of junction 4B connecting the westbound M4 motorway to junction 15 of the northbound (clockwise) M25 motorway,[8] at approximately the point where the slip road merges with the slip road from the eastbound M4 51°29′52.13″N 00°29′52.13″W / 51.4978139°N 0.4978139°W / 51.4978139; -0.4978139 (National Express coach accident - 3 January 2007). At this point the slip road is on a downhill gradient with a right turn with decreasing radius, necessitating a posted advisory speed limit of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h).[10]

A total of five fire appliances, twenty London ambulances, eight doctors and one specialist Fire Service unit attended the accident scene. The injured were treated at six different hospitals. It was initially reported that thirty eight passengers were taken to Hillingdon Hospital,[8] though this was subsequently clarified as 36.[9][11] Sixteen were taken to Charing Cross Hospital,[8] seven to West Middlesex Hospital in Isleworth,[8] four to St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey,[8][12] one child was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington,[8] and another child to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough.[8]

Two people were killed in the crash,[9] a 30 year old male Chinese national, Yi Di Lin,[13] and a woman named Christina Munro Toner, 76, of Monifieth, Dundee, Scotland.[9][13][14] Another passenger, John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died on 1 July 2007 from injuries sustained in the crash.[13][15]

Investigation

A Neoplan Skyliner similar to that which crashed on the motorway slip road killing three people.

The Neoplan Skyliner coach[16] was removed from the motorway for subsequent investigation.[11] The Police later confirmed that no other vehicles were involved in the accident.[11][17]

The 40 year old coach driver was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving,[9][11][17] but was released on Police bail.[18] The driver was later named by the Police as Philip Rooney, of Lanarkshire, Scotland.[13] Following Police investigations Rooney was charged with three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.[13] He was to answer charges before Reading Magistrates' Court on 31 July 2007.[13]

Aftermath

National Express Coaches had taken its remaining 11 Neoplan double-deck Skyliners off the road for safety checks.[9][11][16][18] These are all operated on behalf of National Express by Trathens Travel Services of Plymouth,[7][10][19] which is a subsidiary of Park's of Hamilton. They were relatively new at the time of the crash,[10] being delivered in October 2006. The vast majority of the National Express fleet comprises single-deck coaches, and its services were not significantly affected by the recall. It was originally reported that the coaches would be stopped where they were[9] (i.e. motorway hard shoulder), but this was corrected to that they would be stopped at their destination.[11][18]

NEOPLAN Bus GmbH announced on 5 January that all the coaches had passed their safety checks,[16] with no safety problems or defects being found,[10][16][19] and were ready to return to service "as and when the operator whishes".[16]

The driver of the coach, Philip Rooney, from Lanarkshire, initially denied all three charges of causing death by dangerous driving at a hearing at Reading Magistrates' Court.[20] Rooney was bailed to appear at Oxford Crown Court on 8 September 2008 for a committal hearing for a trial on 27 October 2008.[20] He subsequently changed his plea and admitted guilty to all three counts of causing death by dangerous driving at a hearing at the Old Bailey.[19][21] Rooney was again bailed, this time by Mr Justice Gross at the Old Bailey, until sentencing on 24 November.[21] On 26 November 2008 at Oxford Crown Court, Judge Mr Justice Gross jailed Rooney for five years.[22]

Actions of the driver

Oxford Crown Court was told that the coach driver, Rooney, was speaking to passengers on the coach via its public address system, making a "safety announcement" whilst speeding round a bend.[22] One witness described Rooney's control of the coach as: he drove like a man "possessed".[22] It was confirmed on the Court record that as a direct result of Rooneys actions, two persons died in the crash, and a further person died on 1 July 2007.[22] Furthermore, four passengers had to have limbs amputated, and many more needed to be cut from the wreckage by fire fighters using specialist cutting equipment.[22] The Court also heard that Rooney had previous speeding convictions, and that Rooney had repeatedly exceeded speed limits on this journey, as proven by tachograph evidence.[22] Rooney's manner of driving, partiularly his heavy braking, caused luggage to fall from the overhead baggage racks.[22]

Prosecuting barrister Mr Richard Latham, QC, told the Court that passengers had reported that the coach was being "driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time".[22] Prior to the coach leaving Victoria coach station, it had been delayed by half an hour; due to the luggage of one family not being able to fit on the coach, and that Rooney had to call for a taxi to transport the luggage.[22] Before the crash, after leaving Heathrow airport, one passenger described Rooneys actions as: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers".[22] The Court heard that as Rooney approached the motorway slip road sharp bend, he was driving the coach at 55 miles per hour (89 km/h), clearly exceeding the 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) speed limit.[22] The coach first clipped one crash barrier; and Rooney then lost control of the vehicle.[22] The coach then skidded sideways for some distance,[22] before hitting a second crash barrier and finally overturning.[22]

At an earlier Court hearing, it was confirmed that Rooney had five previous convictions for speeding in passenger vehicles.[22] It was also confirmed that Rooney had been disciplined in December 2004 by his employer for "tampering with a speed limiter".[22]

On sentencing Rooney, the Judge, Mr Justice Gross told Rooney and the Court: "No sentence I pass can undo the events of that day and the deaths and injuries that resulted".[22] As well as being jailed for five years, Rooney was also banned from driving for a further three years.[10][22]

3 September 2007 incident

A National Express Coach of the same model as the one involved in the crash

Background

The single-decker coach, travelling southbound on the M1 motorway, which had recently stopped at Coventry, was the National Express Coach 777 service from Birmingham to London Stansted Airport, via London Luton Airport.[23] There were 33 passengers on board at the time of the accident,[23] of the 33 on board, 30 were injured,[23] six with serious injuries.

Crash

The coach rolled on to its side after it clipped a kerb and then a lamp post and tree at the entry to a motorway slip road by the Newport Pagnell services area on the southbound M1 motorway.[23] It was ultimately confirmed that the coach driver mistook the entry to the service area for a major junction on the M1.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Milton Keynes,[23][24] Northampton[24] and the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.[23][24] One of the injured was transported to hospital by air ambulance.[23][24]

The driver of the National Express coach was arrested by Thames Valley Police in hospital for driving whilst under the influence of alcohol and dangerous driving[23][25] after being cut free from the wreckage.[25] He had earlier been breath tested at the scene of the collision.[26]

Aftermath

National Express decided not to withdraw the fleet of coaches to conduct tests. It was deemed that there were not any faults with the vehicles, leaving the cause of the crash to driver error.

National Express chief executive Richard Bowker defended the safety of their operation.[27] Speaking on BBC Radio 4s Today programme, Bowker stated they (National Express) were "obsessed" with safety.[27] Bowker went on to explain that their drivers must meet "tough standards", and pass random drink-drive tests.[27] To be even considered to drive for National Express, you have to pass very rigorous tests and the recruitment test, particularly around drugs and alcohol, is very tough, Bowker stressed.[27] Bowker continued by explaining that the drink limits for National Express are far stricter than the legal limits,[27] and that the company randomly test, and that means that it is extremely likely that you will be caught at some point.[27] Mr Bowker confirmed that National Express were fully co-operating with the police regarding this crash,[27] explaining This is now a police investigation, and obviously we need to learn the detail of this ourselves as quickly as possible.[27] Bowker insisted that it was extremely rare for National Express to have an accident like this,[27] and he concluded that travelling by coach is far, far safer than travelling by car - it was last week, it will be this week and it will be in the future.[27] However, there was no mention of how National Express allowed this particular driver to get behind the wheel of their coach whilst he was over the mandatory drink-drive limit, let alone National Express's more strict limits.

The coach driver

Two days after the crash, police were still waiting to question the coach driver.[28] The driver had sustained serious injuries, including an injured arm and cracked ribs,[28] and was being treated at Northampton General Hospital.[28] Police officers had to guard the driver in hospital, until he was declared fit enough to answer police questions.[28] The police confirmed that the slip road where the coach crashed needed to be re-surfaced due to damage caused by a diesel spill.[28] The coach driver was later released from hospital on 10 September,[29] and was also released on police bail,[29] to attend Milton Keynes police station on 1 October for further questioning.[29]

On 23 November 2007, police announced they had yet to decide whether to charge the driver.[30] The police explained that due to delays in receiving forensic evidence, the Crown Prosecution Service were not able to make a fully informed decision on whether to bring charges.[30] The 35 year old driver from West Bromwich, who had still not been named, was further bailed until 28 January 2008.[30]

On 28 January 2008, the National Express coach driver, now identified as Leslie Weinberg, 36 from West Bromwich, was officially charged with driving while under the influence of excess alcohol, and a further charge of dangerous driving.[31] He was due to appear on 12 February 2008 at Milton Keynes Magistrates' Court to answer the charges.[31] Weinburg's actions left eight people needing hospital treatment for their injuries.[31] Weinberg was subsequently fired by National Express as a result of the charge.[citation needed]

On 14 April 2008, Leslie Weinberg's actions were finally made public, via full evidence in Court of Law.[32] Appearing before Judge Christopher Tyrer at Aylesbury Crown Court,[32] Weinberg finally pleaded guilty to the two charges: driving whilst under the influence of alcohol, and dangerous driving.[32] The Court was told that Weinberg had a drink drive reading of 145 milligrams (0.0051 oz) of alcohol in 100 millilitres (3.520 imp fl oz; 3.381 US fl oz) of blood - the UK legal limit is 80 milligrams (0.0028 oz) per 100 ml.[32] The court was told that six passengers suffered serious injuries as a direct result of Weinberg's actions; with one man having an arm amputated.[32] The Judge warned Weinburg to expect a jail sentence,[32] and stated: "This is serious. The circumstances are very grave".[32] The Judge continued: "As a result of your intoxication, you completely mistook where you were. You mistook the exit of the motorway and a number of people were seriously injured".[32] The case was adjourned to seek medical reports on Wienburg, to re-appear during the week of 26 May 2008 for sentencing.[32] Judge Christopher Tyrer imposed an Interim Disqualification Order which banned Weinberg from driving, and told him: "This is way past the custody threshold, and you should make arrangements accordingly".[32]

Weinberg was sentenced on 24 June 2008.[33] On re-appearing at Aylesbury Crown Court, it became known that Weinberg had returned from holiday the day before, and chose to stay up alone all night drinking.[33] The court was told the following day, Weinburg then drove a National Express coach on a regular service from Birmingam to Stanstead Airport.[33] Whilst travelling southbound on the M1, Weinberg overtook a lorry on the approach to a motorway junction.[33] He then cut back in front of the lorry, and claimed to have mistaken the service station entry slip road for that of the actual junction exit slip road.[33] As the coach entered the slip road, its tachograph showed that the coach was travelling at 57 miles per hour (92 km/h).[33] It then hit a kerb, and passengers reported the coach 'took off'.[33] It then rolled onto its side, sliding into a lamp post and a tree.[33] It went on the court record that seven passengers suffered serious injuries, including one man who had an arm amputated.[33]

Leslie Weinberg was jailed for ten months,[33] and was fined £500.[33] Furthermore, he was disqualified from driving for four years for the guilty plea of driving with excess alcohol,[33] and had a further concurrent two year disqualification for the guilty plea of dangerous driving.[33]

2009

More recently, a collision occurred on 4 September 2009 at Gatwick Airport, when a Ford Ka collided with and ended up underneath a National Express Coach. The single occupant of the car, 34-year-old Melanie Wisden from Ely, Cardiff was crushed and killed instantly. She had just dropped a friend off at Gatwick Airport's North Terminal. The coach driver was taken to hospital and treated for shock. One coach passenger suffered a minor wrist injury. The subsequent road closures caused tailbacks stretching back as far as the M25 and beyond.[34][35][36]

See also

References

  1. ^ About National Express
  2. ^ "LSH plays integral role in £15m redevelopment of Birmingham Coach Station". LSH. http://www.lsh.co.uk/pages/news_detail.asp?id=1251. 
  3. ^ "A brief history of National Express". http://www.nationalexpress.com/coach/OurService/about.cfm. Retrieved 2010-02-05. 
  4. ^ Townsin, Alan (1992). "Coach deregulation arrives". The British Bus Story - The Early '80s: The Die is Cast. The Transport Publishing Company. pp. 22–24. ISBN 0863171702. 
  5. ^ a b "Disabled Facilities". National Express. http://www.nationalexpress.com/coach/OurService/disabled.cfm. Retrieved 2010-02-09. 
  6. ^ Funfares now from £5 http://www.nationalexpress.com/coach/offers/funfares.cfm?CFID=24562222&CFTOKEN=40951340
  7. ^ a b "LSK827 w Neoplan Skyliner N122/3L WAGPA8ZZ364001057". Dave Francis. NationalExpressCoaches.fotopic.net. 31 November 2006. http://nationalexpresscoaches.fotopic.net/p49692658.html. Retrieved 26 November 2009. 
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Two dead after M-way coach crash". BBC. BBC News. 4 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6229719.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i "National Express removes coaches". BBC. BBC News. 4 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6230837.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
  10. ^ a b c d e "November 2008 edition of Busmopolitan". Essex and District Bus News Page. Busmopolitan.org. November 2008. http://busmopolitan.org/page92.html. Retrieved 26 November 2009. 
  11. ^ a b c d e f "Coach crash firm withdraws buses". BBC. BBC News. 4 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6232673.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
  12. ^ "Couple from Skye injured in crash". BBC. BBC News. 4 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6230819.stm. Retrieved 26 November 2009. 
  13. ^ a b c d e f "Coach driver faces death charges". BBC. BBC News. 23 July 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6912263.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
  14. ^ "Scot identified as crash victim". BBC. BBC News. 4 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/6230881.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
  15. ^ "Coach crash injuries caused death". BBC. BBC News. 20 July 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6909476.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
  16. ^ a b c d e "Profile: Neoplan Skyliner". BBC. BBC News. 6 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6234017.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
  17. ^ a b "M-way death coach driver arrested". BBC. BBC News. 4 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6232721.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
  18. ^ a b c "Appeal over second crash victim". BBC. BBC News. 5 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6233333.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
  19. ^ a b c "Coach death driver pleads guilty - No safety problems". BBC. BBC News. 15 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7671652.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
  20. ^ a b "Driver denies coach death charges". BBC. BBC News. 29 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7215679.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
  21. ^ a b "Driver admits coach death charges". BBC. BBC News. 15 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7671648.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "M25 coach deaths driver is jailed". BBC. BBC News. 26 November 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7750475.stm. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
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