National Express bus passenger numbers to return to pre-pandemic level

The Birmingham-based public transport group says there is a continuing recovery in demand for its bus and coach services helped by low fares and the rising costs of driving for car owners.

The arrival of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this summer is also expected to further boost passenger numbers, along with recovering demand for overseas holidays helping services to airports.

The group has reported an 11 per cent rise in revenue for 2021 from £1.96 billion a year before to £2.17bn.

The pre-tax loss improved from £444.7 million in 2020 to £84.9m.

Overall passenger journeys for its bus and coach services were up 37 per cent on the year.

National Express is fully hedged on fuel prices at rates lower than 2021 and had fixed UK energy prices for three years before the current crisis.

Chief executive Ignacio Garat said: "Mobility restrictions are lifting across our markets and people are travelling again. But we cannot return to 'travel as usual' if we are going to meet the pressing needs of COP 26.

"In 2021 we launched our Evolve Strategy with a clear vision and purpose, to be the world's premier shared mobility operator, leading modal shift from cars to public transport. Modal shift is a necessity for the planet (pre-pandemic, cars generated 70 per cent of surface transport emissions in the EU) and good for our business (a one per cent modal shift from cars to buses would increase bus passenger journeys by 23 per cent). We have translated Evolve into detailed action plans in each of our businesses and we are already seeing the benefits.

"I am proud of the fact that we have set ambitious environmental targets for each of our businesses and the group overall, underpinned by solid action plans. National Express has a major role to play not only in tackling the challenge of climate change, but in driving improvements in social mobility by providing safe, reliable, affordable and accessible mobility solutions across the globe.

"I am immensely proud of how the group has responded to the continuing challenges of the pandemic and the improving performance that has resulted. I particulary want to thank our 44,500 employees who have played a critical role in helping to drive our business forward, as we continued to navigate our way through another stop-start year."

Working with Transport for West Midlands, the group has submitted the West Midlands region's bid for Bus Service Improvement Plan funding with key features including bus priority measures, sustaining low fares and ticketing innovations such as contactless capping aimed at driving the shift from cars onto buses.

National Express already has the lowest fares in England, which have helped to drive the strong recovery in passenger demand to around 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

The group has continued to invest and improve its businesses through the rollout of new technology and processes in the year. One such example is CitySwift, a timetable optimisation platform which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict journey times. This has enabled bus operations to match service provision to prevailing traffic conditions, driving both efficiency improvements and enhanced customer service.