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The Greyhound has landed
Thursday 3 September 2009
Iconic Coach Services Set to Provide Direct Link Between the Solent and London
The UK’s largest transport operator, FirstGroup, today unveiled its Greyhound coaches that are set to provide direct, high quality, low cost services linking London with the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton from September 14. This is the first time that the iconic Greyhound brand has been brought to the UK.
The transport giant revealed ‘Barbara Ann’ from its Greyhound fleet at Gunwharf Terminal in Portsmouth today (3 September) and will unveil ‘Mrs Robinson’ at the Rose Bowl in Southampton tomorrow (4 September).
In the USA and Canada, Greyhound offers the only countrywide network of coach services. Celebrated in film and song for nearly a century, Greyhound has become the most famous bus brand in the world.
Greyhound UK will offer unrivalled product and service quality with a large range of cheap fares starting from £1, plus 50p booking fee, on www.greyhounduk.com. Onboard features will include leather seating, free wi-fi, power sockets, air-conditioning and complimentary newspapers. Greyhound coaches will have 41 seats rather than the 50 or so typically operated by other coach companies meaning 20% more leg room for customers.
Alex Warner, Managing Director of Greyhound UK, said: “Customer service will be at the heart of Greyhound UK. We will be running 22 direct services every day of the week between London and Portsmouth and 18 between London and Southampton.”
With around ten days to go before the launch of operations Greyhound UK customer demand is high. Alex Warner added: “We are particularly encouraged by the number of bookings we have received from commuters who are reserving a seat on multiple services well in advance of their journeys. We are also noticing a real demand for bookings at weekends as customers look to take advantage of sporting and entertainment events and weekends away in the Solent and London. Early signs seem to suggest that we have a real hit on our hands.”
Warner added that Portsmouth and Southampton were selected before any other British city because of their proximity to London, their large and vibrant student populations and the clear demand for direct, high quality, low cost transport services to and from London.
“Both cities epitomise a lot of what is great about British life - good nightlife, cosmopolitan, great heritage, good tourist attractions, high quality retail and sporting activities, the seaside – and have proven to be fairly resilient during this recession. Our Greyhound services will be particularly attractive to a young demographic profile that is media and technologically savvy – such as the large student populations in the cities served. In addition, commuters, day trippers and those attending sporting and other entertainment events at both ends of the routes will also be attracted by the Greyhound product, service and value proposition.”
He continued: “Our market research indicates that people are looking for direct, low cost, high quality services linking Portsmouth to London. Indeed 46% of existing rail customers and 73% of current coach customers would consider trying a new coach service based on the Greyhound product. However, we believe that significant growth will come from disaffected drivers. Research conducted by Dr Jillian Anable of Aberdeen University’s Centre for Transport Research shows that around 18% of car owners are “malcontented motorists” who find driving increasingly stressful, feel guilty when using their car unnecessarily and want to reduce their car use. We feel Greyhound offers those ‘malcontented motorists’ an attractive alternative.
“So far we are delighted with the rate of bookings and the high interest in our services. We cannot wait to get started on September 14 and demonstrate to the travelling public just what a fantastic service Greyhound will offer.”
Greyhound UK is working hard to raise awareness of its services in Portsmouth and Southampton. Going forward the company will forge partnerships with sporting attractions, work with local hospitals, link up with local hotels and the student population as well as doing promotion nights at local nightclubs. In addition Greyhound UK will work with tourist organisations on the Isle of Wight.
Greyhound Services depart from 0600 to 1800 from the Hard Interchange in Portsmouth, stopping at the City Centre (Edinburgh Road) before travelling direct to Bulleid Way, Victoria, London. Services from London to Portsmouth operate daily from 0900 to 2100. Services from Southampton depart from Southampton Town Quay from 0510 to 1810 stopping at Southampton West Quay and Southampton University before travelling direct to Bulleid Way, Victoria, London. Services from London to Southampton depart from 0845 to 2130. All services will be non-stop and take less than two hours from city to city. This will provide a journey time advantage of up to 40% over other coach operators whose services typically stop a number of times at intermediate locations, including Heathrow.
FirstGroup is Britain’s largest bus and rail operator and is already one of Britain’s biggest scheduled coach operators with over 250 vehicles operating under a variety of brand names. It purchased Greyhound in 2007 and has been operating the company in the US and Canada since then. First is evaluating plans to roll out new Greyhound UK services from 2010.
All the Greyhound UK coaches have names with the theme being women’s names from popular American songs. The coaches are called: Sweet Caroline, Proud Mary, Mrs Robinson, Good Golly Miss Molly, Barbara Ann, Billie Jean, Jolene, Peggy Sue, Mandy, Sharona and Sherry.
Picture Caption:Managing Director of Greyhound UK, Alex Warner, unveils 'Barbara Ann' in Portsmouth