National’s slow progress with card scheme

NATIONAL Express admitted it is making slow progress mitigating the loss of a £15m a year subsidy on senior citizen coach tickets.

The withdrawal of government support in November prompted the group to launch its own card scheme, but slow progress meant concessionary revenues were down 40 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

However, National Express said the weekly rate of card sales has doubled in recent weeks following the scheme’s extension to include airport routes.

And on a like-for-like basis, revenues across its core express network were up five per cent in the first quarter of the year, including three per cent passenger volume growth.

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