Credit crunch: Deal to get to London for a quid is just the ticket

Mar 26 2009 By Henryk Zientek

A TRANSPORT group has come up with a capital idea – fares from Huddersfield to London starting at just £1.

Bus and train operator Stagecoach today launched a new budget coach and rail service to help travellers beat the credit crunch.

Megabusplus.com is billed as the first service of its kind in the UK – offering fares from just £1 plus a 50p booking fee.

The first megabusplus.com services start running from next Monday.

Passengers using megabusplus.com will be able to travel to London’s St Pancras Station from Huddersfield and eight other locations in northern England – Hull, Scunthorpe, Doncaster, Castleford, Harrogate, York, Bradford and Halifax.

Stagecoach group chief executive Brian Souter said: "The fast, integrated journey will be by comfortable coach and high-quality train, provided by East Midlands Trains, running in and out of London St. Pancras station.

"With quick journey times from just three-and-a-half hours, the new service will be faster than existing coach links to London and even some rail services."

A statement by Stagecoach said the new service would appeal to people on a tight budget, adding: "It is also a major boost for travellers as the last remaining direct flights between Yorkshire’s Leeds-Bradford airport and London Heathrow are being axed from the end of March."

Stagecoach held a regional launch event today in Bradford, which was attended by East Midlands Trains managing director Tim Shoveller and England rugby league internationals Paul Sykes and Jamie Langley, of Bradford Bulls.