Sir Frederick Wood, a prominent businessman and industrialist, was asked to oversee the creation of this new business model and led the group as its chairman from 1972 to 1978.

[8] Starting in early 1990s, National Express' financial performance began to deteriorate; this led to a new management team taking over the company in July 1991 which had the backing of ECI Partners, a mid-market private equity firm.

To comply with a Monopolies & Mergers Commission ruling on it winning the ScotRail franchise, National Express sold the Scottish Citylink operation to Metroline in August 1998.

[18] In August 1999, National Express was awarded the M>Train, M>Tram and V/Line Passenger rail franchises in the Australian state of Victoria.

[21] In July 2000, Prism Rail was purchased, though which the c2c, Wales & Borders, Wessex Trains and West Anglia Great Northern franchises were added to National Express' portfolio.

[22][23] In December 2002, National Express handed in its rail franchises in Victoria, Australia, having been unable to renegotiate financial terms with the State Government.

[35] During November 2007, South East England coach operator The Kings Ferry was purchased[36] and an airport to hotel shuttle service in London branded Dot2Dot was launched.

It was intended to achieve greater recognition for all the group companies, to coincide with recent acquisitions and after current rail operations had improved in reliability to warrant association with the established express coach image.

[39] During February 2007, the Department for Transport announced that National Express, along with Arriva, First, and Virgin Rail Group, had been shortlisted to lodge bids for the InterCity East Coast franchise.

[41][42] Under the terms of its franchise agreement, National Express committed to paying a £1.4-billion premium to the Department of Transport over a time span of seven years and four months.

[43][44] On 9 December 2007, National Express East Coast commenced operations, taking over from Great North Eastern Railway.

The worker claimed that, due to reduced maintenance checks, some trains were in use with defective brakes, an allegation that was strongly denied by the company, which stated it would "never compromise on safety".

According to representatives of Durham bus drivers, fluid leaks, tyres that need to be replaced, black mould and non-functional emergency equipment are regular concerns, whilst workers continued to operate buses while sick because they cannot afford to miss a day of work and drivers are not paid for all the time they work.

[49] By 2009, National Express East Coast had come under increasing financial pressure due to various factors, including compounding rises in fuel prices and the poor economic climate of the time, commonly known as the Great Recession.

In contrast to the company's projected revenue increases during its franchise, NXEC's actual operating income (generated primarily from ticket sales) had decreased by 1 percent during the first half of 2009.

[50] According to Rail, the franchise had quickly garnered a reputation for cost-cutting and a decline in service levels, particularly in terms of the onboard catering.

[60] On 3 September 2009, National Express' largest shareholder, Spain's Cosmen family with 18.5%, and CVC Capital Partners made a takeover offer of £765 million for the company.

[72][73] In January 2015, the Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft announced that National Express had been selected to operate the Nuremberg S-Bahn system from December 2018.

[74] However, in October 2016, National Express elected to pull out, citing a delay in the ability to order new rolling stock while a challenge brought on by Deutsche Bahn was resolved, would make its bid unviable.

[95] Following the financial difficulties of Abellio GmbH, National Express was awarded an emergency contract to operate further services in North Rhine-Westphalia from February 2022 to run for two years.

[104] Rail franchises formerly operated: National Express had a 17.5% shareholding in London & Continental Railways (L&CR) from its formation in September 1994 until it was nationalised by the Government of the United Kingdom in 2009.

In a move to concentrate on bus and rail provision, Humberside was sold to Manchester Airports Group in 1999 followed by Bournemouth and East Midlands in February 2001.

After incurring large losses and being unable to renegotiate the franchise contracts, the operations were handed back to the State Government.