National Express will announce today that it is breaking into the London commuter coach market with the £8 million acquisition of Kings Ferry, a family-run business that transports commuters from the Medway towns to the City of London.

The announcement, on the same day as the group launches its dot2dot airport transfer service in the capital, underlines National Express’s determination to develop new markets in public transport. The service is based on “shared-ride” companies in the United States and is targeted at the business and leisure traveller.

National Express has spent about £3 million on developing the business, which was founded on Hotelink, which National Express bought in June. Its 11-seat premium Volkswagen people carriers charge £22 one-way from Central London to the airport and can be booked online at dot2dot. com or through travel agents, airlines and other partners.

Kings Ferry provides National Express with an entry into the London commuter coach market. The company ferries 1,300 commuters a day into the City and West End and holds several contracts with key customers, including the BBC and KLM, the Dutch airline.

Founded 40 years ago by Peter O’Neill, Kings Ferry has a fleet of 75 buses and employs more than 110 people. It generated operating profits of £700,000 on turnover of about £10 million last year.

Richard Bowker, the National Express chief executive, said: “These two initiatives underline our commitment to develop new options for our customers that make travel simpler, more sustainable and cost-effective.

“We think that coach travel is going to become much more important for urban markets in the future because of congestion and because it is much more environmentally friendly.”

Car travel generates the highest greenhouse gas emissions for urban travel, with an average of 150g of CO2 per passenger kilometre.

In contrast, coaches generate just 29g of CO2 per passenger kilometre, a significant improvement even on trains, which generate between 50g and 75g.

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive