Travelling through Britain – Coach
A coach is what most people would travel on when doing an escorted sight seeing tour of Europe. It is a sophisticated and luxurious bus. Coaches serve a few broad markets that encompass leisure travel, commuters and charters. Coach travel in the UK is cheaper, safer and nicer than its counterparts in many other countries of the world. They are the modern successor to the stagecoaches that linked the country before the advent of train travel.
Coaches are cheaper than travelling by train. Because they are more flexible (not requiring expensive stations) they also reach places other forms of public transport cannot. Depending on the route, coaches are quicker than trains too. As a consequence, many people commute to work using scheduled coach services that run between residential areas and places of work. School children also travel by coach in many parts of the country. Companies and other organisations charter coaches for their outings or events.
For leisure travel there are scheduled services run by various companies that reach almost every town in the UK. The most comprehensive UK coach company is National Express. Eurolines is based at Victoria Coach Station and travels to mainland Europe. Both these large companies have many smaller competitors equivalent in price and service. They just don’t go to as many destinations as the bigger players.