from THE OXFORD BUS PAGE
News from:
 Oxford, High Wycombe & surrounding areas

updated Sunday, 3rd March 2002
the next update will be on Sunday 10th March 2002

  Issue nr. 188

Please note that any comments made in this news page are those of the Editors' and in no way constitute 
any official points of view from the bus companies mentioned,  or indeed any other official body. 
As a news page we reserve the right to make valid comments as seen from an editorial point of view.

Visit the Archive Pages going back to 1998

Your reports are welcome at malcolmhc@aol.com

Welcome to Issue 188, which this week sees news of the temporary coach station at The Oxpens whilst repairs are carried out at Gloucester Green in Oxford.

Services commenced using The Oxpens last Monday and so far things seem to have gone very well. Saturday was a very sunny day, especially in the morning and I took the chance to visit the Oxpens to see how things were going. The first and very obvious advantage was the fact that there is a car park right alongside. This meant that people meeting or seeing off passengers were able to park very easily. Indeed the car park was quite empty and unlike that one near to Gloucester Green. Temporary Portakabins were in place to act as booking office, waiting room and toilet facilities. A shuttle bus was providing free transport between Gloucester Green and The Oxpens and it seemed well loaded when I saw it.

As can be seen from the picture above, the whole situation seemed to be one of space and comfort. Of course if it had been raining maybe ones impressions would have been quite different. One can also imagine that the cafes around Gloucester Green are missing the business generated by the coach station.

Indeed one can get an impression of the situation at Gloucester Green from the photo above and there was a ghostly calm about the place. The shuttle bus was backing into the entrance, loading and then returning to The Oxpens.

Although services, provided by the council and carried out by Stagecoach, were operated from Monday by Vario 374, after only a few days Stagecoach drafted in a fairly new Solo from Warwick, nr 613 and this is seen above loading at Gloucester Green.

An article appeared in Coach & Bus Week (Thursday 28Feb) regarding plans by  The Traffic Commissioners plan to introduce a five minute rule from April 2nd 2002 with proposals which include the following:  Buses should run no more than ONE minute early or FIVE minutes late; The performance target should be 95%; Principal timing points should not be more than TEN minutes apart. This should produce some interesting results, especially in a city like Oxford where , whilst early running is definitely not on, late running is almost inevitable. The traffic situations, such as occurred a few weeks ago meant that on that day 95% was not remotely possible. I am sure we will all watch developments with interest.

Steve Annells writes to mention that "The new White Horse Leisure Centre on Audlett Drive in Abingdon is to be served initially by a free bus service from Abingdon town centre for which Whites Coaches have won the contract. The District Council built into the Leisure Centre contract a requirement for it to be served by bus. I understand they're working on a town circular service which would also take in the sports centre at Tilsley Park, but there are a number of things which have to be sorted out, not least an operator."

Well on to the company news in our area.

News of the local companies - 3rd March 2002

Arriva serving The Shires & Essex

Another report in the local paper seemingly backed up the stories of last week. A reporter of that paper had travelled on a journey last Sunday using FOUR buses. His outward journey was late, the driver didn't have change for a fiver and the buses were dirty. On the return he was impressed by his first bus which was on time, clean and comfortable. It turned out to be Carousel and not Arriva!!!! however his last trip home, by Arriva, was comfortable and ON TIME. From my editorial I wonder how Arriva will manage when the "five minute rule" comes in?

Nigel Peach wrote last week of an Olympian at Wycombe saying " Unusual working lunchtime on Tuesday 19th was Lynx 3076 (E970 PME) (the oldest in Wycombe) on the 328 to Reading. It has replacement panels on the near side of varying degrees of colour including Wycombe Bus blue! (unless it's a primer paint). It vies with Olympian 5379 for the "Scruffy Bus" award! "

Well Nigel, I've a photo of 3076 for you and surprise regarding 5379. Look at the photos below.

Lynx 3076 with the patchwork coloured panels as mentioned by Nigel.

Old buses don't die, they go away to be repainted!!!!
5379 seems to be on route proving mission to lay on a Sunday service from Reading to Ongar?

Seems Aylesbury is also having blind trouble. The driver told me that the blind did not work
and had been reported several times. 5160 leaves Oxford Rail Station bound for ?

The current Wycombe - Newlands Bus Station allocation is:

Olympians        5074, 5076, 5379, 5822-35
Lynx                3070, 3076, 3344, 3345, 3806/8-10 (3807 is wfu)
Dart SLF          3821-27 
Dart                 3098, 3633, 3634, 3361,  3811-20
Mercedes         2224
Volvo B6           3127, 3138, 3243
Volvo B10B       3841-4, 3853-5
Scania              3144, 3145, 3146, 3158, 3163, 3169

5827 is still around proving Wycombe Bus did exist, 5829 has actually gone away for a full Arriva style refurbishment and will be followed by 5827.

Pete Brown writes "Walking to the bus stop this morning a 9.8m Dennis Dart with Wright Handybus body passed me on the 324 heading towards Aylesbury. As this is usually an Aylesbury allocated working I presume this new arrival is allocated to Aylesbury. Its registration was K496JVX and it had a split windscreen much like the Wycombe Handybuses did before they were refurbished by COMS.

Also spotted outside the RGS on Monday morning was G129YEV which was the Travelwise livery Olympian based at Cressex. This is now in full Arriva corporate livery which means now that all four of the ex. Ensign Olympians have now been painted. I wonder if one of the two ex COMS Olympians currently being repainted will return in a Travelwise livery? "

Mike Penn writes "On another subject I saw Arriva The Shires Dart 3098 (H245 MUK) in Luton today freshly painted into Arriva corporate livery. This is the one that was in High Wycombe recently in advertising livery for Dunstable's White Lion retail park.

Newman Morgan writes "I would like to nominate Arriva serving the Shires as the most publicity shy operator. Today I have been to Stevenage, Hitchin and Luton. It is three or four years since I have ventured into these towns (other than driving by or through) and I endeavoured to get local Arriva timetables. The office at Stevenage bus station has gone but a piece of detection work found most local timetables available at the adjacent Council Offices. This also offered the local Herts book. In Hitchin I wandered the town looking for an Arriva or a Council office and found neither. Herts. bus stop publicity just mentions their Traveline number. Upon leaving the town, I drove past the Arriva depot and just managed to see a sign depicting 'reception and information'. The depot is some way from the town centre. I later found the library and tourist information centre, also some way from the town centre, but it was closed.
In Luton I headed for the bus station and to my surprise found the bus station travel office boarded up. No Arriva notices as to an alternative but a National Express notice sent me looking for the new tourist information office in St George's Square. Once in the tourist office, tucked away in a corner was a carousel featuring Arriva (and Lutonian) leaflets. Only about 50% of Luton services were available and none for Dunstable nor Luton-Dunstable services. I scouted around the square looking on bus shelters for possible clues to another information centre but to no avail.
On my way home I passed the new Arriva depot and did not see any directions to a travel office. This is of course some way out of Luton centre on the (old) Dunstable Road. I did think about scouting around Dunstable but decided against it.

In Aylesbury, Arriva information is rarely in abundance at the Arriva 'office' in the bus station with usually more availability at the travel agent in Kingsbury Square. I have noticed in High Wycombe that if one asks for any more than 3 leaflets one is greeted with a huff and a puff.

In Amersham, Arriva info is available only during the summer months when the tourist hut is open in the Tesco car park in Old Amersham. Info may be available in Amersham-On-The-Hill, I am not sure. Garston garage will usually offer the local Herts book which may well be out of date, and little else. Hemel Bus Station is good though!

I appreciate that Arriva are slowly putting local bus times on their website ( http://www.arriva.co.uk ) but if I had arrived as a stranger at Luton wanting to get to Dunstable (31) or Harpenden (321) I would have taken a cab.

As this is the same Arriva operation that recently won an award as best operator, or something similar, I assume they have slipped a long way from the top of pile recently."

It may seem to many that I am having a real go at Arriva by including so much of what you write but I do feel that they have a long way to go to improve services. Destination blinds seem unimportant in the grand scheme of things, whatever they may be. I did think it was the law that a bus should show where it is going. Maybe I'm wrong? Certainly Wycombe seems to have a plentiful supply of timetables but I notice that virtually ALL local bus stops proclaim Wycombe Bus Company to be the operator to expect!!!!!

First Beeline 216 works a Sunday duty on the 74 from High Wycombe.
This bus is in Barbie 2 livery.

Reports have been made about the third Solo for Grayline, Bicester.
Here we see OV51OOC, complete with wheel trims, working a local service.

Still looking good, despite the awful super rear ad, ex CCS 325 leaves High Wycombe
bound for Oxford, today Sunday.

Volvo 802 is seen working a 16 road duty on the Abingdon Road last Saturday.

One of my correspondents writes that "The A34 was closed for a while tonight between Green Road and the Risinghurst turn due to a lorry shedding its load of metal bits. The section was closed for about an hour with all coached and 400's being diverted round the internal road past McDonalds

Also for about half an hour us on 15's had to be diverted round past the Churchill due to some idiot deciding to travel on the wrong side of the road and go head on with another car at Valentia Road junction. Apparently the offending car driver had to be shovelled of the road.

Oh and 611 received quite substantial near side damage the other night on its way back from Abingdon where its bus lane joins the bus lane from Park and Ride at the bottom of Abingdon Road when a gent decided that he could go the wrong way down a bus only road to cut the corner. He has been charged with careless driving. having 4 bald tyres, no tax or MOT and his car has been written off.

Volvo B7 800 has now left Oxford but coach 57 has returned from Plaxtons. Presently Trident 104 is away for bodywork and 28 is still away for toilet fit.

Motts

Mike Penn writes "On your Oxford web page this week you mentioned Motts OJD 226R. Herewith a photograph of it at the Showbus bus rally at Woburn Abbey on July 3rd 1988. This was the year that the rally was moved to July in the hope of getting better weather. As you can see it didn't work! Motts acquired this bus in December 1982 so they kept it for a few years.

Red Rose, Aylesbury.

Pete Brown wrote - Also after last weeks question about who will have the first '02' registration in the area i expect it will be Red Rose whose new dart MPD which has been delivered but is just waiting till 1st March to enter service with its new select '02' registration! Incidentally, this bus is to be painted Gold for the Queens Golden Jubilee and hopefully in time for when she visits Aylesbury this year.

Did this bus enter service and if so, in what livery?

Stagecoach in Warwick

Keith Wood writes "One bit of news this week - as previously reported Leamington Olympians have had their electronic destination displays altered to Upper / Lower case instead of just Upper case. This has now spread to B10M's. 230 has had this done and also has had an overall Rear Advert painted despite still being in Stripes ! Strange that !"

Rob Williams writes "....a couple of transfers are Rugby Dart/Dash 104/5 to Banbury along with Leamington Merc 488, all presumably to replace the Volvo B10Ms transferred to Oxford. Also in Banbury all of the Volvo B6s that we saw and Merc 362 were in the new livery (the only B6 we didn't see was 854 (I think...)).

National 721 has been transferred to Oxford for Driver Training duties.

Solo 613 is transferred to Oxford for the Oxpens shuttle.

Stagecoach in Oxford

Ralph Adams writes to note - SiW Olympian 961 (B961ODU) was at Horspath today with the fleet number 502. Presumably staying with SiO for a while?

A study in backs. Coach 53 in the middle of the three Tubes has a new "Park Royal" advert.
The others in the picture are 45 and 36 with Swanbrooks UJI1761 leaving to the right.

Mike Farthing write that "In our local Parish Newsletter "Chinnor Parish Pump" (Issue 164 February 2002) there was an interesting feature on proposed changes at junction 6 of the M40.

Apparently Chinnor Parish Council have written to Lewknor Parish Council and Oxfordshire County Council expressing approval of proposed changes to junction 6 of the M40 and the B4009. They consider the scheme involving roundabouts and bus stops would make the B4009 a lot safer. It is also
proposed that small buses would go around villages, including Chinnor picking up travellers who use the Oxford Tube buses from junction 6.

Thames Travel.

Thames Travel 151 operates a late morning 105 service from Oxford to Wallingford.
It is seen passing through Nuneham Courtenay in bright spring sunshine.

PHOTO CORNER
If you have a digital camera and wish to submit photos for this page please send them to the me at 
malcolmhc@aol.com

Steve Annells sent this picture of the Abingdon Minicoaches Iveco running
the Moretons and Astons Shuttle service 141.  Rather smart!

If you wish to be included on a mailing list where I will advise of any mid week news please
let me know on malcolmhc@aol.com

I welcome your photos for inclusion on this page.
malcolmhc@aol.com

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