Swebus Express AB, trading as just Swebus between 2009 and 2018, was one of Sweden's largest long distance coach operators. Swebus had a "seat guarantee" for journeys bought at least 24 hours before departure, meaning it promised to bring in the necessary extra coaches in case of extensive booking on a departure.
 | |
 A Scania OmniExpress in Swebus livery in 2010 | |
| Parent | Flixbus |
|---|---|
| Commenced operation | 21 April 1997 |
| Ceased operation | 27 August 2018 |
| Headquarters | Solna, Stockholm |
| Service area | Sweden |
| Service type | Intercity coach service |
| Destinations | 150 |
| Website | www |
Swebus Express' was focused in southern Sweden, with Uppsala and Stockholm in the north, Norrköping, Linköping and Kalmar on the east coast. Malmö and Blekinge in the south and Helsingborg, Halmstad and Gothenburg on the west coast and Jönköping in the middle, and some lines extended to Oslo in Norway and Copenhagen in Denmark. It also offered tickets to Germany via Eurolines and the Czech Republic via Bohemian Lines.
On 2 May 2018 Nobina AB sold Swebus to Flixbus.[1] All buses have been rebranded to Flixbus and the Swebus name is no longer in use.
History
editAfter Swebus was acquired by Stagecoach in October 1996, Swebus' long distance routes were branded as Swebus Express from 21 April 1997.[2] In the beginning it had the same livery as Stagecoach, just with a different logo.[3] A large marketing campaign between April and August, which included free return tickets, led to some routes quintuple their passenger rates in the period. This again led to Swebus ordering 65 14.7-metres coaches to be bodied by Van Hool on Volvo B10M-70B chassis and two Neoplan Megaliner.[4]
On 1 January 1999 the long-distance coach market in Sweden was deregulated, which led to several new Swebus Express routes, including Stockholm - Uppsala - Gävle, Växjö - Jönköping, Västervik - Jönköping, Växjö - Malmö and Kalmar - Karlskrona - Hässleholm - Helsingborg from 25 January 1999.[5]
Swebus was sold to Concordia Bus in late 1999, with the orange stripe from the Stagecoach livery removed, and later the blue and red stripes were softened at the "Z" section. In 2001/2002,[citation needed] Swebus Express was made into a separate operating company, named Swebus Express AB.
Swebus AB was renamed Nobina Sverige AB in December 2009, and Swebus Express started trading as just Swebus, and also received a new logo and an all-white livery.
On 2 May 2018 the company was acquired by FlixBus, and in September 2018 the brand name ceased to be used.
Routes
editFormer routes
editSome routes were season-specific.[6]
| Number | Route | Notes and history |
|---|---|---|
| 820 | Copenhagen-Kastrup Airport-Malmö-Gothenburg-Oslo | Formerly also known as E6-Expressen |
| 830 | Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport-Jönköping-Stockholm-Arlanda Airport | |
| 832 | Uppsala-Arlanda Airport-Stockholm-Jönköping-Malmö | |
| 835 | Uppsala-Stockholm-Kalmar-(Öland) | |
| 855 | Stockholm-Liljeholmen-Vadstena-Jönköping | |
| 857 | Jönköping-Vimmerby-Västervik-Oskarshamn | |
| 866 | Örebro-Västerås-Enköping-Arlanda Airport | Airport transfer |
| 888 | Stockholm-Örebro-Karlstad-Oslo | Formerly 845 |
| 899 | Stockholm-Västerås |
Partner routes
edit| Number | Route | Notes and history |
|---|---|---|
| 901 902 |
Copenhagen-Berlin/Hamburg |
|
| 920 | Stockholm-Malmö-Prague-Brno |
|
| 940 | Stockholm-Östersund/Funäsdalen |
|
| 950 | Stockholm-Umeå/Sollefteå |
|
| 991 | Stockholm-Borlänge-Mora |
|
Former routes
editThis list is not complete.[7]
| Number | Route | Notes and history |
|---|---|---|
| 800 | Göteborg-Karlstad-Falun-Gävle | |
| 831 777 |
Göteborg-Jönköping-Linköping-Stockholm | |
| 833 | Stockholm-Jönköping-Malmö | |
| 838 | Örebro-Karlsborg-Skövde-Uddevalla | |
| 839 | Jönköping-Skövde-Mariestad-Karlstad | |
| 840 | Örebro-Motala-Jönköping | |
| 842 | Örebro-Eskilstuna-Stockholm | |
| 843 | Örebro-Karlskoga-Kristinehamn-Karlstad | |
| 846 | Stockholm-Enköping-Västerås | |
| 849 | Köpenhamn-Malmö-Göteborg | Now part of line 820 |
| 855 | Skänninge-Vadstena-Motala-Stockholm | |
| 856 | Uppsala-Västerås-Örebro | |
| 862 | Halmstad-Jönköping | |
| 865 | Uddevala-Mariestad-Örebro | |
| 874 | Uppsala-Västerås-Örebro | |
| 890 | Mora-Borlänge-Falun-Stockholm | |
| 892 | Stockholm-Uppsala-Falun-Borlänge | |
| 897 | Gävle-Uppsala-Stockholm |
References
edit- ^ "Swebus säljs till FlixBus – Nobina ger upp". 2 May 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ^ "Årsredovisning 1/1 1996 — 30/4 1997" [Annual Report] (in Swedish). Swebus AB. 1997. Archived from the original on 15 October 1997. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "Två Swebus Express-vagnar som numera är historia" [Two Swebus Express coaches that are now history]. Bussnack (in Swedish). 1 December 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "Årsredovisning 1/5 1997 — 30/4 1998" [Annual Report] (in Swedish). Swebus AB. 1998. Archived from the original on 2 February 1999. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "Årsredovisning 1/5 1998 — 30/4 1999" [Annual Report] (PDF) (in Swedish). Swebus AB. 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2000. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "Tidtabeller" [Timetables] (in Swedish). Swebus Express. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "Tidtabeller" [Timetables] (in Swedish). Swebus Express. 14 August 2000. Archived from the original on 19 September 2000. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
External links
edit
Media related to Swebus Express at Wikimedia Commons