One of the UK’s biggest bus operators has cancelled all of its coach services as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
National Express says its cross-city journeys are being temporarily suspended due to a major fall in passenger numbers as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Coach services across the UK will cease from Sunday, April 5.
All of our coach services will be temporarily suspended from 23:59 on Sunday 5 April. When the time is right, we look forward to welcoming you back on board.https://t.co/gmsu38k7Ry
Stay home | Protect the NHS | Save Lives#StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/gnErjSvYr7
— National Express (@nationalexpress) April 2, 2020
Passengers who have already booked to travel are being offered the option of using their tickets on a future journey in the next 12 months, or refunds.
Chris Hardy, managing director of National Express UK, said keeping services going -even for essential travel – is “no longer viable”.
He added: “We kept a limited coach network running to be able to help those individuals with essential travel needs but it is no longer viable to continue to do this.
“Passenger numbers continue to fall as the public rightly follow government advice to avoid non-essential travel.
“The decision to temporarily suspend all services is the right one based on the current unprecedented circumstances and I hope our passengers understand this.
“It is very clear that the critical thing we must do to protect our NHS and save lives is to stay at home.
“All journeys before Monday, April 6 will be completed and we will ensure customers are not stranded but until further notice, we will not be running any services.”
He said the company is speaking to its employees – drivers, and customer service and contact centre workers – about “what this means” for them.
Mr Hardy said: “We are speaking to them about what this means and will continue to do all we can to support everyone who works in our business at this challenging time.
“We know this is a worrying time. We take the welfare of our customers and employees extremely seriously and will continue to take guidance from the government to ensure we do everything we sensibly can to keep them safe.
“When the time is right, we look forward to resuming services and welcoming customers back on board.”
Xplore Dundee’s revised timetable remains unchanged.
