STAGECOACH GROUP PLC 
By 24 Jan 2013
• New site allows passengers to buy tickets while on the move
• Key functions available including service updates and journey details
Market-leading budget coach provider megabus.com has launched a mobile version of its UK website.
The new mobile site is specifically designed to be accessed on mobile devices and offers megabus.com customers a full range of functions, making it even easier to search for journeys, book tickets, manage reservations and check for service updates.
Research by telecoms regulator Ofcom in August 2011 revealed that over a quarter of adults and nearly half of all teenagers own a smartphone. In addition, megabus.com's own statistics show that the number of people accessing its website using an iPad increased by 270% between 2011 and 2012, and the number of people using iPhones to access the megabus.com website during the same period also rose by 186%. The new mobile website supports all mobile platforms and can be viewed using any device including smartphones and tablets.
From now on, customers who visit the megabus.com UK website using a handheld device will automatically link to the mobile version of the site. Similarly, passengers who use a mobile device to visit www.megabusplus.com - the company's integrated coach-rail service - and www.megatrain.com which offers budget train journeys, will also be automatically directed to the mobile site.
Once on the mobile website, customers will be able to access service updates for all three 'mega' products as well as being able to search for journeys and buy tickets.
In addition, passengers can also access stop or station information and manage their reservations as well as linking from the mobile site to the full megabus.com website should they wish.
General Manager of megabus.com Ian Laing said: "More and more of our passengers are using mobile devices to plan their busy lives, and their travel. This mobile website makes it even easier for our customers to make travel arrangements and find out journey information while they are on the move."
In October last year, megabus.com - part of Stagecoach Group - launched a Twitter feed at @megabusuk which provides regular service updates and handles customer enquiries as well as offering promotions and competitions for passengers.
megabus.com was launched in the UK in 2003 and revolutionised coach travel by offering fares from just £1* via a simple online booking system. Almost five million passengers now use megabus.com services in the UK every year, which operate to more than 60 locations across the country.
In 2006, Stagecoach launched megabus.com in North America where it has now been used by more than 24 million passengers and serves 120 locations.
The US version of the megabus.com website also has a mobile website which has proved popular with customers in North America. In addition, a mobile version of the Stagecoach Group website - for corporate news and updates - was launched in May last year.
Further information about megabus.com services can be found at www.megabus.com
ENDS
For media enquiries, please contact: Stagecoach Group Communications on 01738 442111 or email: media@stagecoachgroup.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
*All bookings are subject to a 50pence booking fee
Stagecoach Group
• Stagecoach Group is a leading international public transport group, with extensive operations in the UK, United States and Canada. The Group employs around 35,000 people, and operates bus, coach, train, and tram services.
• Stagecoach is one of UK's biggest bus and coach operators with around 7,800 buses and coaches. Around 2.5 million passengers travel on Stagecoach's buses every day on a network stretching from south-west England to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The Group's business includes major city bus operations in London, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and Cambridge. Low-cost coach service, megabus.com, operates between around 60 towns and cities across the UK.
• Stagecoach is a major UK rail operator, running the South West Trains, Island Line and East Midlands Trains networks. It has a 49% shareholding in Virgin Rail Group, which operates the West Coast inter-city rail franchise.
• Stagecoach also operates the Supertram light rail network in Sheffield.
• In North America, Stagecoach operates around 2,900 buses and coaches in the United States and Canada. Megabus.com links around 120 key locations in North America. Stagecoach is also involved in operating commuter and transit services, contracted bus services, charters, sightseeing tours and a small number of school bus services.
|
distributed by
|
