National Express Englands best bus?
[Music] Hi everybody and welcome back to Travel with the Dans. Taking the National Express, maybe my life is in a mess. Hi everybody, welcome to another episode of Travel with the Dans. Um I am off with National Express to Stanstead airport. Uh I’ve just taken the local bus, the Nine, to get here. Now it’s time to get down to the coach station. So come with me. Uh let’s have a go. National Express is also the local bus provider under the West Midlands Travel Brand in Birmingham. I took the bus before taking an escooter from Snow Hill down to the coach station. Well, that was pretty cool really. Uh went a lot quicker than what I thought they would. Um so, not far now from the coach station. Of course, you could walk. It’s about 15 minutes. Uh take a conventional bike or you could also uh get a bus, but the bus is about the same speed. Um also from where my bus dropped me off in Snow Hill, you could have got a train, but only every hour at this time of night. So, no good to me. So, come with me. Let’s go and see what National Express is all about. Birmingham Coach Station is a flagship coach station operated by National Express. Opened in December 2009, it underwent a 15 million pound redevelopment and is also the head office of the National Express Group, which is now known as Moico. As I was traveling late at night, a lot of the station facilities was closed. However, during the day, you can expect to find a shop, a ticket office, a Starbucks coffee shop, and also a sandwich shop. If you know, you go National Express. 24 hours a day, you can find charging points as well as vending machines, and you can also make use of the toilet facilities, but there is a charge to use this facility. Sadly, no coffee for me as a coffee machine had run out of cups. Offering 16 departure gates, the coach station is bright and airy in a welcome environment. Make sure you are aware of your luggage allowance when traveling with National Express. But for me, it was time to board our 400 service down to London, which I then connect to Stanstead airport. Today’s coach was a 6-year-old Katano Levante Mark III. Constructed out in Portugal, these coaches were specially designed for National Express, originally launched in in 2006. Okay, folks. All aboard the National Express 400 to London. At your seating area, you can expect to find a USB socket, a drop- down table, and a seat back pocket. Just above your head, you can also find fresh air vents and individual reading light. The seats on the Levante 3 are very comfortable and are made using real leather. They offer a decent level of recline. Departing slightly late, our driver introduced herself and then playing the National Express Safety CD. We’ll be stopping at Finchley Road and Marble Arch. Victoria Finchley Road, Marble Arch. Thank you. Originally known as the 420, the service between Birmingham and London has run up to every 30 minutes, being a very popular service. Back in its heyday, National Express also used to offer a hostess service, providing teas and coffees and sandwiches along the journey to make it more comfortable. Our routine today will take us out past Birmingham’s market and bull ring along the A38M and eventually out onto the M1. National Express put the safety at the forefront of their operations and information on safety can be found on your ticket. Our journey today would take around 3 hours and would get us into London for around 10 past midnight. Whilst there is no longer a hostess service, you can make use of the National Express app. It’s a useful tool for live information, frequently asked questions, as well as being able to book tickets and show your tickets on the go. Talking of tickets, My Ticket cost just £22 one way from Birmingham to Stanstead airport. The Coach Tracker is a live tool being able to see when you will arrive at your destination. You can search for your service via ticket number or enter in the service details. It also comes along with a live interactive map so you can see exactly where you are in the world. Wi-Fi was available on this service and was easy to connect to following the instructions available. [Music] Before [Music] we knew it, we’d left the bright lights of Birmingham behind and was heading towards London. National Express used to offer a service called VER where you’d be able to watch movies on demand on the coach. However, these days it’s not available and I made use of Prime TV. Okay, so here now in London, arrived 20 minutes late with the diversion. Uh it’s not too bad and could always do with killing uh a little bit of time. Uh so going to go and catch a another coach now. Sadly the journey on the way here so far not that comfortable. Very very rude people. People vaping, people playing loud music, people on the phone. It’s gone midnight. Just no respect and no respect for uh the staff either. Uh the coach drivers ask uh three times to stop vaping and pulled over. It’s not good. People let themselves down. Anyway, let’s go and get our second coach. I would be connecting to the 1:00 departure time A7 service from London Victoria through to Stanstead airport. London Victoria is a hub international coach station which was originally opened in 1932 capable of handling 76 coaches. Come work. Emergency exit. And it’s locked. Very strange Victoria coach station. Today, the station is much more modern, offering station facilities, including cafes, restaurants, as well as a 24-hour Starbucks. The second coach would also be a Levante 3, and all of National Express coaches come with toilet facilities. I couldn’t help but laugh to find that the toilet roll had been held using a seat belt extender. The toilet was clean and welcoming and better than paying 30p to use a toilet at Victoria Coach Station. I managed to fall asleep and was asleep for pretty much the whole journey. And that’s it. Welcome to London Standstead. London Stanstead is a very popular destination to get to by coach with National Express offering services frequently to London as well as regional departures to places such as Norwich, Cambridge, and Birmingham. I could have made the journey direct to Stanstead airport, but it would have cost twice the amount that I had paid, apart from some very rude people on the first coach. The National Express was a good service and a comfortable way to get through to Stanstead airport. Join me in the next episode of Travel with the Dans, where I’ll be flying with Europe’s largest lowcost carrier, Ryionaire, all the way through to Bratislava in Slovakia, [Music] where I’ll then make my way down to the riverside to complete a Danny River cruise with Twin City Liner. Cheers everybody. [Music] Thanks so much for watching and if you’re ready, we’re ready. Join us for the journey. It’s Travel with the Dans.
Hi everyone and welcome back to Travel with the Dans taking @nationalexpresscoach #nationalexpress via #london to #stanstedairport
I’ll be checking out the station facilities at Birmingham and London and share my full journey with you.
check out my last Coach travel Vlog with Flixbus:- https://youtu.be/i1pbgbTtcho
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