THE INTERNATIONAL REPORT
vehicles to minimize costs, but as soon as the concept proved popular with the public, the company invested heavily in new and wellequipped coaches. Many of those now running in the United Kingdom are 65-seat tri-axle coaches built to just over 49 feet. There are even megabus.com services to Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. I asked Griffiths whether he envisions further opportunities to grow the business. “I believe our strategy has been the most consistent of all the major transport companies,” he says. “We have grown our businesses organically, but we also have added companies where we believe they make a good fit, and occasionally we have sold some of them.” One example was the sale of bus companies in London to an Australian bank in the summer of 2006 for around $400 million and the subsequent re-acquisition in the fall of 2010 for $80 million. Seeing that the company had been under-performing, Stagecoach saw the opportunity to buy it back and turn it around. Sleeper coaches in the U.S. A few days before our interview, Stagecoach launched the first of 10 double deck Van Hool megabusgold.com coaches built to the European maximum length of just over 49 feet. Costing around $750,000 each they feature 53 luxurious leather seats that can convert into 42 beds for overnight express services. The company says they will provide more than 1,700 beds per week on journeys ranging from 400-600 miles between London and Scotland. The group is looking at introducing megabusgold.
com and sleeper coaches to North America, but first has to ensure that vehicles could be built to comply with Buy America regulations. “North America is very important to the future of Stagecoach,” says Griffiths. “Our challenge with Megabus.com is to get Americans out of their cars and demonstrate to them that there is high quality alternative transport at really affordable prices. If we can persuade even a fraction of the car users to switch to coaches, we will be very happy.” He says in North America, there are plenty of journeys in the 400-600 mile range where sleeper coaches could be highly effective. While not as fast as airlines, there is none of the hassle of getting to and from airports, checking in an hour before departure, going through security and facing other restrictions. Furthermore, the coach can save the cost of an overnight hotel stay and the fares are very competitive. Bearing in mind that Griffiths is 47, I asked him where he saw the future for public transport – bus, coach and rail – in the next 10 to 15 years. “I am really positive about the future,” he says. “We are living in times of austerity but public transport is remarkably resilient. I hope that the economic situation will pick up here and across the Atlantic. All market research says that public transport is very important and will play a major part in reducing congestion, pollution and emissions.”
Stagecoach named company veteran Martin Griffiths as its new CEO.
Doug Jack is with Transport Resources in the United Kingdom.
The upper deck of the sleeper coach with single bunks/seats on the offside and double bunks/seats on the curbside.
The first 49-foot Van Hool double deck sleeper coach at its launch in London.
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