National Express announces 15 new coach routes across UK airports and cities - full list

National Express has announced new coach routes across several UK airports and cities. A total of 15 new coach routes have been confirmed with more plans to grow the network.

National Express has an emphasis on fast, frequent services that connect cities with towns and airports.The Queen’s funeral, the return of musical festivals and events and rail strike disruption are factors that led to a surge of customers in 2022, making way for expansion.

National Express added: “The rail strikes and soaring costs for motorists continue to have had a deepening impact on traveller behaviours, with 10 percent of rail users reported switching to coach travel for better value and reliability of service.”

Ed Rickard, Service Delivery Director for National Express UK, said: “More and more customers are turning to coach for great value, reliable and sustainable travel. It’s encouraging to see customers making the switch from other modes of transport and choosing our coaches.

“With our record customer satisfaction scores, they clearly like what they’ve seen, which gives us confidence that the demand is there. We’re expecting 2023 to be even busier as we roll out our uplift in service provision, with forecasts predicting 21 million customers travelling by coach to get them where they need to be.”

National Express, which celebrated its 50^th anniversary last year, currently operates over 550 services across the country. The company reported a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 42 in March and rated Excellent (4.4) on Trustpilot. The coach operator added that punctuality and reliability are also the best they have ever been, with 90% of services on time.

Full list of new routes

Launched on March 20

• Luton Airport - Golders Green - Finchley Road - Baker Street - Paddington - Marble Arch
• Stansted Airport - Golders Green - Finchley Road - Baker Street - Marble Arch - Paddington

Launched March 31

• Huddersfield - Bradford - Leeds - Meadowhall - Derby - Birmingham
• Grimsby - Cleethorpes - Louth - Lincoln - Newark-on-Trent - Leicester - Birmingham
• Edinburgh - Glasgow - Carlisle - Manchester - Liverpool
• Glasgow - Carlisle - Milton Keynes - London
• Edinburgh - Glasgow - Hamilton - Milton Keynes - Golders Green - London

Launching April 28

• Leicester - Nottingham - Derby
• Hull - Scunthorpe - Nottingham - London
• Grimsby - Cleethorpes - Louth - Lincoln - Nottingham - London
• Rugby - Coventry - Warwick - Heathrow Airport - London
• Penzance - Camborne - Newquay - Launceston - Okehampton - Exeter - Heathrow Airport - London
• Nottingham - Leicester - Peterborough - Cambridge - Stansted Airport

Launching May 26

• Newcastle - Durham - Darlington - Leeds - London

Launching July 14

• Poole - Bournemouth - Southampton - Fareham - Portsmouth - Chichester - Gatwick Airport