Yahoo Finance ‘Operation Chris Rea’: National Express to drive students home for Christmas
National Express is to spearhead the mass repatriation of university students in time for Christmas by laying on hundreds of Covid-secure coaches.
The operator is in talks with universities as part of an evacuation initiative - dubbed “Operation Chris Rea” after the singer behind Driving Home for Christmas - to get more than a million youngsters home to their loved ones over the festive season.
The Department for Education has announced a “student travel window” between Dec 3 and Dec 9 to minimise the spread of coronavirus as undergraduates return to stay with their families.
This exodus is to be staggered following a mass on-campus testing programme announced by ministers on Tuesday. Students testing positive for Covid will need to self-isolate for 10 days.
Teaching will move online from Dec 9 in England and Dec 3 in Wales in a bid to minimise mixing.
National Express is racing to gauge the level of demand from universities and finalise special routes ahead of the second lockdown in England coming to an end on Dec 2. It is thought students would pay for a ticket home and each coach would stop off at several city centre locations.
The scheme is proving popular with universities with high numbers of international students, and special services could be run to airports to ensure there is enough time for them to clear any additional checks required to fly.
Chris Hardy, managing director of National Express UK Coach: “Organising a million students to travel home within one week poses a significant logistical challenge for universities and because coach travel is so flexible, we can help.
“We’re increasing capacity on our normal routes that serve university locations as well as speaking with universities to help them put on special services.
“We have the ability to quickly put hundreds of vehicles and drivers on the road and the expertise and technology to organise the booking and safe movement of students in line with the need for staggered departure dates set by universities.”
