If Richard Branson loses the West Coast MainLine (train) franchise, who thinks it would be a good idea if he started running a bus company? I have used Virgin trains down to London a few times and have always been impressed with the service. If he got the service right on the buses, he could take over from First in areas that they withdraw from. Just an idea.
Mal
PS If it happened, I think he'd need to have a different name than Virgin. There are too many jokes just waiting to crawl out the woodwork!
That would never happen because generally Virgin just sell the brand and are a minority shareholder in the ventures.
With that approach, they're very careful about the effect it may have on their brand and bus travel just isn't how they want to be seen.
I would laugh if First sort of went into melt down and had to start selling businesses off and Virgin just happened to see a major opportunity which it certainly would be .
I do recall Stagecoach ran a feeder service from Macclesfield to Buxton with a Dart in Virgin livery a few years ago - I think that is the closest we will see to this happening. Although I do wonder whether they would try long distence routes as a thought - as a kind of higher spec National Express.
It would probably if it happened be operated by Stagecoach as Branson and Souter seem to have had a good working relationship with Virgin Trains .
Megabus takes the low end of the market
National Express take the middle end of the market
As you say St Helens Rider the upper end of the market isnt taken in that industry yet , is there room for one ?
That dart in Macclesfield in Virgin Livery now I would like to see that haha
this is not the first time i heard about this, i was told the only reason they would go into buses is so they have a bigger market under the name virgin, i for one think it would work as they have the cash so really they should give it a go
You do have to consider brand image though. So, let's look at the current Virgin brand and the main places it's utilised....
Virgin Atlantic - As a long distance airline, this is definitely a premium product. They offer high levels of service, are known for that, and you pay for it. It portrays the brand in a very high esteem.
Virgin Trains - Again, if you get on board, the interior doesn't exactly feel cheap and the first class prices certainly aren't cheap! The Pendolinos are also known as being pretty high calibre among the general public. There are certainly cheaper products on the railways so, again, I'd say it's a premium product.
Virgin Media - When you consider that you can get a freeview box and happily watch the free channels without a need for a contract, this can, yet again, be considered a premium product. When you look at the way they portray the brand in adverts and the people they get to star in the adverts, it's a pretty high class endeavour. Not cheap.
Then go from all that and look at the potential for a service bus company.... Without meaning to offend, it's not exactly the most high class thing going and it certainly wouldn't be a premium product at the end of the day. There's just no way it would work with the Virgin brand and image. However, I think the potential for high-end, long distance and, quite importantly in my opinion, premium coach workings is interesting.....
i think there is a way virgin could have high standards, leather seats and wi-fi on ALL buses not the odd few, you can also have that talking thing that says where you are and what your next stop is then theres the little things like making the bus smell nice and have a low break down record, that to me is a high standard bus service
But that's still just a 'public bus service'. I don't mean to sound at all snobby, though I probably do(!), but I just don't think you could ever consider a public bus service high class or a premium service. Just my opinion but I think it'd completely destroy the Virgin brand.