- This article is about the company responsible for most long distance bus and coach services in the UK and the brand it uses; for information on the owning group, see the National Express Group article.
National Express is the brand under which the majority of long distance
bus and coach service in the
United Kingdom are marketed, and also the company which manages this network and operates some of the services. Many other services are subcontracted to other local bus companies throughout the UK.
The brand and company are based in Birmingham and are themselves owned by the National Express Group, a group of diverse transport interests also including passenger rail operators and local bus operators.
History
The National Express brand was first created in 1972 by the state owned National Bus Company (NBC) to bring together the express bus and coach services operated by the various bus operating companies within the NBC group. The National Express network was largely a branding and management exercise, with services continuing to be operated by the various bus companies in the NBC group.
With the privatisation of the NBC in the 1980s, National Express was privatised through a management buy-out in 1988. In 1992, the National Express Group PLC was floated on the London Stock Exchange with a remit to acquire new businesses in the passenger transport market, and National Express became a subsidiary company within that group.
National Express has, for most of its existence, had little competition, except from the railways, with few other operators running long-distance coach services. However, in 2003 Stagecoach Group introduced a "no-frills" service, Megabus, whose UK£1 fares sparked a price war with National Express in autumn 2004.
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