STAGECOACH chief executive Sir Brian Souter is to start running double-decker Megabus sleeper coaches from a number of Scottish cities to London within the next year after a pilot service sold out most nights of the week.
A 24-bed single-decker sleeper bus started operating on the Glasgow to London route in September.
Sir Brian has now asked Belgian company Van Hool to build a far larger 15-metre double-decker coach.
Early designs suggest this will have 48 seats and tables for use during the day, which convert into 43 bunks on night services.
The coaches, each of which is likely to cost around £400,000, will be introduced first to Scotland. They will be rolled out to its new cross-channel service if a trial of a seated coach service to the continent, which launched yesterday, is a success.
Sir Brian told The Herald: "We will test the new coaches in Scotland. We already know we can sell 24 seats a night."
Operating with 24 beds only allows Stagecoach to break even and Sir Brian said it always intended to bring in more lucrative double-deckers if the service proved popular.
Megabus's first cross-channel European services left London yesterday morning at 9.30am.
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