National Express, a UK based transport company, has reported selling around 10,000 of its Disabled Coachcard in its initial year.
The Coachcard was launched in October 2012, offering passengers with limited mobility a discount of around 30 percent on coach travel, and is available for a price of £10 a year. The card is not limited to the time or the day of travel, and has become a hit with the passengers that are suffering from disabilities.
The card was introduced after the UK government ended concessionary travel for disabled people.
The company accessibility manager, Mark Hollis, said, ‘We are really pleased about how successful our Disabled Coachcard has been over the last year. Ten thousand sales is a really important milestone for us. The passenger lifts are not only for passengers who use wheelchairs, as people with reduced mobility can also benefit from the lifts too.’
The company is offering improved access coaches with easy-access lifts, and intends to transform its fleet to become fully wheelchair accessible by early 2013. The coach operators also offer assistance and support for boarding and leaving the coach to customers with limited mobility.
The company has recently been awarded the Listed Company Turnaround Award, at the annual Institute for Turnaround (IFT) awards, for its transformation from being in considerable financial difficulty to strong financial health, recording profits and offering job security.
Christine Elliott, the chief executive of the Institute for Turnaround, said, ‘National Express is a shining example of a business with great potential being brought back from the brink by implementing the key skills that all of our members use time and again. Such businesses play a vital role in both the national and local economy and it is important that they are supported in their efforts to turn their businesses around.’
