AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Summary
- National Express (LON:NEX) has decided to suspend its coach services from 11:59 PM on Sunday.
- The passengers whose trips have been cancelled because of the suspension will either get full refund or will get a free of cost amendment.
The strict Covid-19 restrictions imposed by the UK Government has again put bars on travelling. Following which, the National Express Group PLC (LON:NEX) has decided to suspend its coach services from 11:59 PM on Sunday due to falling passenger numbers.
In an announcement made on Thursday, the FTSE 250 listed company said that it will be suspending all its coach services from Sunday midnight. The company has said it will make sure that all the ongoing journeys are completed before 11 January so that the passengers are not left stranded in the middle of the lockdown.
It had even suspended its coach services during the initial lockdown from April to July 2020 and has been running at lower capacity with strict coronavirus protocols in place.
(Image source: ©Kalkine Group 2020)
While the company does not know till when the new restrictions will be in place, it will regularly review the right time to restart services with the changes in government’s guidance. In the meantime, 1 March has been set as the provisional restart date for the services to resume, said National Express. However, the date is under regular review and subject to change.
The company has also announced that passengers whose upcoming travel has been interrupted will be either given a free of cost ticket amendment for travel up to 30 September or provided a full refund.
Headquartered in Birmingham, the LSE-listed group is a British multinational public transport company which is known to operate a wide range of services that includes bus, coach, train, and tram services. The group has its operations spread across several nations such as Bahrain, Canada, Europe, Germany, Ireland, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, the UK, and the UK.
National Express UK Coach’s Managing Director Chris Hardy said that the company’s decision will be reviewed regularly. The National Express has been providing an important service for essential travel needs, but it does not seem appropriate to continue to do so, with tighter restrictions in effect and plummeting passenger numbers in mind.
The employees of the transportation group will be furloughed throughout the latest suspension period. Shares of NEX were trading at GBX 258.60 on 8 January at 9:17 AM GMT.
The new set of tighter restrictions have affected the air travel industry the most. The travel bans on South African passengers and the pre-departure negative testing rule have put the travel carriers under extreme pressure. Recently, the restrictions imposed in Ireland have prompted airline Ryanair Holdings PLC (LON: RYA) to announce a significant cut in its schedule from 21 January expecting a fall in the number of passengers.
