National Express has announced that it will fully suspend its national network of scheduled coach services with effect from midnight Sunday 5 April 2020. The UK coach service has kept a limited coach service running to help those with “essential” travel needs. But, the coach service has said it “is no longer viable to continue to do this.”

Chris Hardy, managing director of National Express UK Coach, said: “Passenger numbers continue to fall as the public rightly follow government advice to avoid non-essential travel.

“The decision to temporarily suspend all services is the right one based on the current unprecedented circumstances and I hope our passengers understand this.

“It is very clear that the critical thing we must do to protect our NHS and save lives is to stay at home.

“All journeys before Monday 6 April will be completed and we will ensure customers are not stranded but until further notice, we will not be running any services.”

Those who have booked travel with the UK coach service can choose to hold the ticket and amend the journey for future travel within the next 12 months, free of charge.

Customers have also been told they “do not need to make contact until they wish to rebook.”

Passengers have also been told that a “full refund will be issued for cancelled services in line with terms and conditions” if they do not wish to amend their journey.

Mr Hardy added: “Our drivers, customer service teams, customer contact centre and the wider National Express team have been working incredibly hard to keep our services running safely and we thank them for their efforts.

“We are speaking to them about what this means and will continue to do all we can to support everyone who works in our business at this challenging time.

“We know this is a worrying time. We take the welfare of our customers and employees extremely seriously and will continue to take guidance from the Government to ensure we do everything we sensibly can to keep them safe.

“Regular updates will be provided through our website, social media channels and email alerts.

“When the time is right, we look forward to resuming services and welcoming customers back on board.”

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