In Japan, a lot of people travel between Tokyo and Osaka everyday. Shinkansen (bullet trains) and airlines have been engaging in a fierce competition for many years to gain more passengers. Recently, long-distance coaches seem to have joined the competition. According to the news, a few long-distance bus companies started offering new services, and then these services have successfully captured the hearts and minds of people, especially women.
Women tend to hesitate to take long-distance coaches by themselves because men sitting next to them sometimes bother them. Some women feel uncomfortable with sitting next to men even if the men are harmless. In order to attract more female passengers, female-only couches and those with seats installed three deep (no passengers have a seat next to them, please see the picture) has become popular in the past several years. A few months ago, coaches with new type of seats installed appeared on the route between Tokyo and Osaka. Even though the fare is more expensive, the coaches have already gained the popularly. The coaches enable you to secure a private space and to enjoy movies and games on a small private screen (click here) like you can do that on flights. Other than that, following coaches have become more popular on major routes like between Tokyo and Osaka.
-Coaches for businessmen/women (click here)
-Coaches with conformable, luxury seats installed (click here)
-Overnight buses with luxury seats that enable passengers to have a good night's sleep (click here)
As for the competitive route between Tokyo and Osaka, for example, even the most expensive buses are cheaper than Shinkansens and airplanes. It's good for us to have more choices. However, I can't help but wonder if some companies will force their employees to travel by the luxury overnight buses to cut down costs.
In your country, do long-distance coaches with luxury seats exist ?
