Archive News 2009
Update: 16 December 2009
Early Afternoon Departures on 24, 31 December
Don't stay at work any longer than you need to on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
We have special early afternoon departures at 13.00 and 15.00 on Thursday 24 December and Thursday 31 December to whizz you back home in time to put your feet up and grab a glass of sherry before the celebrations begin.
Full details on our Timetables, Routes and Map page.
Update: 16 December 2009
Christmas and New Year Commuter Timetable
We run a skeleton service over Christmas and the New Year as our commuter numbers fall over the festive season.
You'll find full details of our Christmas and New Year schedules on our Timetables, Routes and Map page.
Traffic is often so light that it takes only 40 minutes to get from the last pickup in Gravesend to the Embankment.
Our Office Hours also change over the Christmas and New Year period.
If you have any questions about the new schedule, please don't hesitate to call us on 01474 322002.
Normal services will resume on Monday 4 January 2010.
Update: 19 November 2009
Network Rail saves money by coach
Coach hire is usually considerably cheaper than the train.
The BBC reports that Network Rail is transporting 200 staff by coach from Reading to Coventry for a conference because of the high cost of train tickets. Apparently they don't get a discount from the train operating companies.
It's an excellent example of choosing the best transport method for the required itinerary. Sometimes the train might be better, and at other times, as here, hiring luxury coaches is by far the better business decision.
In this case, according to the BBC, buying train tickets for all the staff would have cost £135 each, a total of £27,000, whereas a local coach hire company quoted £2,400, or £12 per person.
The total saving for Network Rail, by avoiding travelling on their own railway, is more than £24,000.
Bear this in mind the next time you send a group of people to a conference or exhibition. You can save a lot of money by hiring a coach. Or, for the price of sending a few people by train you can send a lot more people by coach.
Update: 27 October 2009
Book your Christmas party coach now
Book early for your Christmas Party.
The shops are full of Christmas crackers and fairy lights already, and there's 'only' two months left before the big day!
How much warning do we need to buy our Christmas crackers? Surely not two months?
But booking a coach for your Christmas party does benefit from advance planning, however. The sooner you book, the sooner you can finalise all your arrangements and let everyone know the details. There's nothing worse than a last minute panic as your plans fall apart.
So don't delay, book today! Call us on 01474 322002 and we'll give you a great quote.
Update: 23 September 2009
Planning a Spring wedding?
Avoid travel trauma and hire a coach for your wedding guests.
If you're planning a Spring Wedding, now is the time to sort out your guest transportation.
You can do things the old way and allow scores of guests to converge haphazardly on the church, register office and reception venue under their own steam.
Or you can do things the clever way, and provide a luxury Redwing private coach service from a convenient central meeting point (for example a railway station or a car park) to the ceremony, then on to the reception and back to the meeting point.
The advantages are numerous: everyone arrives in the right place at the right time. No one gets lost. Parking is not a problem. Drink-driving is avoided and there is invariably a happy, party atmosphere amongst the passengers.
Give us a call on 01474 322002 and we'll happily discuss all the possibilities in detail, and help you plan for the big day.
Update: 24 August 2009
Organise a Christmas Shopping Trip to France by Coach
Buy French Camembert cheese and other delicacies on your shopping trip to France.
Christmas items are already appearing in supermarkets and shops. That means it's time to start planning your Christmas Shopping Trip to France with your group.
A shopping trip to France by coach is the perfect way to stock up on high quality, value for money foods, delicacies, wines, beers and spirits. By shopping carefully it's possible to recoup the travel costs with the savings achieved.
All you have to do is organise a group of people and then hire your own private luxury coach from Reliance Travel. Family and friends are a good start. Then ask your friends to ask their families and friends, and your family to ask their friends, who will then ask their families... and so on. Filling a 48 seater coach is not as hard as it sounds!
As you're hiring the coach it's up to you how much you ask your guests to contribute. Perhaps, as organiser, you might decide that you deserve to go free of charge!
We'll make all the arrangements, offer advice and suggest itineraries, but don't leave it too late. Give us a call on 01474 322002 to find out how little it will cost you.
Update: 24 August 2009
10 Good Reasons to Commute with Reliance
Reason Number 4: a choice of London pick up/drop off points.
Reason Number 4: Choice of London pick up/drop off points
We get you closer to your destination, with a number of pick up/drop off points between Canary Wharf, the City and the West End.
Find out more reasons to commute with Reliance Travel on our 10 Good Reasons page.
Update: 24 July 2009
Theatre Trips with door to door transport
A luxury Reliance Travel coach.
Seeing a play or a show at the theatre is always enjoyable. But the journey there and back is often a nightmare. Driving there yourself and getting lost, not being able to park, not being able to have a glass of wine or a gin and tonic. Trying to meet up with friends with frantic text messages. Or being at the mercy of train timetables, bus routes or the London Underground.
It's all so different when you travel by private coach! Your group travels together. It's fun, it's sociable. Everyone arrives at the right place at the right time. No one gets lost. No one is late. No drink-driving concerns. We deliver you right to the theatre door. We collect you again at a time and place of your choosing and take you all home again.
What could be better? And it probably costs less than you think. All you need to do is find enough people to make it worthwhile. Give us a call on 01474 322002 and find out the cost for your date and destination. If you haven't hired a coach before we'll happily give you all the advice and help you need to organise a perfect evening out.
Update: 24 June 2009
The joys of air conditioning
Avoid this kind of situation! All Reliance coaches have sophisticated Climate Control Air Conditioning systems.
Now the Summer heatwave has finally arrived, people of a certain age will remember the days when coaches didn't have sophisticated Climate Control Air Conditioning systems.
It got hot in those old coaches as the sun beat down on their huge, single-glazed, untinted panoramic windows.
With no air conditioning, the summer ventilation option consisted of spring-loaded push-up windows in the roof above the central gangway.
But nowadays you don't have to suffer. Our modern coaches have double-glazed, tinted windows which offer excellent thermal insulation. And sophisticated climate control systems mean that everyone now travels in considerable comfort, whatever the conditions outside.
If you haven't travelled by coach for a while you'll be impressed by how comfortable it is nowadays. Perhaps it's time to give it a try? Things have changed!
Update: 21 May 2009
Do you run a club or association?
If you run a club or association have you considered the benefits of hiring your own private luxury coach for days out, meetings, sports fixtures and other similar events?
Hiring your own coach is surprisingly economical and easy to do. Don't worry if you haven't organised this type of thing before. Just give us a call on 01474 322002 and we'll be delighted to give you all the help and advice you need to plan your trip.
People often assume that hiring a coach will be 'too expensive'. But if it's 'too expensive' why do you see so many other groups like yours roaring around the country in luxury coaches? The answer, of course, is that it's probably not as expensive as you imagined!
Once you start using our coaches you'll find it opens up all kinds of possibilities for future trips and exciting events that you might not have considered before. Call us on 01474 322002 for the answers to all your questions, including 'How much does it cost?'.
Update: 20 April 2009
10 Good Reasons to Commute with Reliance:
Reason Number 8: a clean environment.
Reason Number 8: Clean environment
No beer cans and litter strewn all over our seats and floor. Our coaches are clean and fresh every day and you can see through the windows. A clean, comfortable environment makes your journey far more pleasant.
Find out more reasons to commute with Reliance Travel in our Commuter section.
Update: 19 March 2009
Getting married? Create order out of chaos!
Luxury coach transfers for your wedding guests create order out of chaos.
If you're getting married this year, now's the time to sort out the logistics.
You can plan it the old way, with scores of guests converging haphazardly on the church, register office and reception venue under their own steam. Or you can plan it the clever way, and provide a luxury private air-conditioned coach service from a convenient central meeting point to the ceremony, then on to the reception and back to the meeting point.
There are so many advantages: everyone arrives in the right place at the right time. No one gets lost. Parking problems are eliminated. Drink-driving is avoided and there is always a happy, party atmosphere amongst the passengers.
Think about it from your guests' perspective. It's no fun turning up at a remote country church in the middle of nowhere and discovering there's only parking for five cars! Town centres, with treacherous one way systems and draconian parking restrictions can be even worse. Then there's the mad dash from the church to the reception with more map-reading trauma and parking nightmares. Be nice to your guests - hire a luxury, air-conditioned coach for them.
By choosing your central meeting point carefully - near a railway station with a public car park, for example - you can make your wedding easily accessible not only to car drivers, but also to guests who don't own cars, or guests who wisely choose not to drink and drive.
Make sure your guests remember your wedding with a smile, not a shudder. Give us a call on 01474 322002 to find out more.
Update: 11 February 2009
Relocating to Gravesend?
Commute with minimum stress with Reliance Travel.
If you're relocating to Gravesend or the surrounding area but your work still takes you to London, make sure you consider our luxury commuter coach service between Gravesend and London.
Moving to the relative peace and quiet of the Gravesend area offers many lifestyle advantages, but if you still have to travel to London every day you might as well do it in the least stressful way possible.
What are your options? Clearly, they are the train, the car and our luxury commuter coach. Each method has its fans, but when you sit down and carefully compare the alternatives, we think you'll realise that our commuter coach service has several significant advantages.
Take a look at our Commuting section for full details about our commuter service, including prices, detailed schedules and 10 Good Reasons To Commute With Reliance Travel. Then put us to the test for a couple of weeks and see how it suits you!
If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact us on 01474 322002.
Update: 27 January 2009
No standing when you commute with Reliance
You won't feel like this on a Reliance commuter coach!
When you commute on one of Reliance Travel's luxury coaches you are guaranteed a seat.
Unlike the trains, standing is not allowed. So once you sit down, you stay sitting down for the entire journey. There's no risk of having to give up your seat to someone in greater need, as often happens on crowded trains.
And because the aisles are not packed with standing commuters, coughing and sniffling and reading your paper over your shoulder, the environment is quieter and less stressful than the train.
That's why we have such a loyal following of clued-up commuters who wouldn't travel any other way.
Isn't it time you made the switch from train to coach?
Try out our service for a week or two and see what you think. You can buy Single tickets or books of 10 Singles direct from the coach driver. For Weekly, Monthly and longer period tickets please contact our office. Full details in our Commuting section, or call our office on 01474 322002.
Update: 27 January 2009
Theatres, Cinemas, Exhibitions...
You name it, we'll take you there. The best way for a group of people to travel to plays, musicals, film premieres, art exhibitions, trade exhibitions, consumer exhibitions or any other type of exhibition is by coach.
You all travel together and you all arrive together at the right place at the right time. Door to door. What could be better?
Why struggle with trains, cars and taxis? A coach almost certainly costs less than you think, too! Find out how little your next trip will cost by calling Reliance Travel on 01474 322002.
