Coach transport in the United Kingdom

[6] In 1919 Royal Blue took advantage of a rail strike to run a coach service from Bournemouth to London.

[14] The act caused considerable disruption and it received criticism - In 1931 the commissioner refused to sanction coaches operating into central London.

[12]Following the 1930 act coach operators bought, or reached agreement with competitors to share services and pool revenues.

Coach operators were required to suspend services from 1942 (during World War II) to conserve fuel.

After the Transport Act 1947 the Labour government acquired the Tilling Group and Red & White bus companies, and Scottish Motor Traction, so that a large part of the coaching industry fell under state control.

The 1950s and early 1960s were prosperous times for the industry, before foreign holidays became commonplace and car ownership spread.

The largest of these was British Coachways, a consortium of established independents formed in 1980 to compete against National Express on six routes.

In 1985, Scottish Citylink was formed to run coach services to and within Scotland - as a franchise operation, like National Express.

[27] In 1993 ten people died in a coach crash on the M2 motorway, provoking calls to make it compulsory to wear a seat belt.

[30] In Scotland, competition between Megabus and Scottish Citylink drove Stagecoach to a joint venture with ComfortDelGro in 2005 to operate both companies' coach services.

Unlike the UK rail market, which has seen massive growth since 1996, long-distance coach travel has continued to decline (from a low base).

[40] In October 2010, Philip Hammond, the transport minister, announced that the M4 bus lane would be scrapped, saying: "Nothing is more symbolic of Labour's war on the motorist".

"[42] The organisers of the 2012 Summer Olympics aimed to get 100% of people to the venues by public transport or other non-car modes (cycling/walking)[43] with around 10 per cent of spectators arriving by bus and coach.

[44] In January 2010 the South East England regional transport board criticised the current proposals[which?]

Due to road congestion and the country's geography and infrastructure, coaches cannot compete with rail travel in terms of speed.

Thus a day trip for leisure or business by coach would either give a very short time at the destination, or require a very early start or late return; many regard it as too arduous.

Coach travel is still generally cheaper than rail, but cheap advance rail tickets have narrowed the gap; for example as of 2012 both National Express Coaches and Virgin Trains offered a single off-peak ticket for around £25 between London and Manchester.

Furthermore, many coach stops (and bus stations) have few facilities (such as parking, retail outlets, information centres) compared with the railway network's infrastructure.

Finally, many politicians and governments of all parties have in recent years been champions of the developing rail network.