Oxford, High Wycombe & surrounding areas

updated Sunday 11th March 2001
(corrected 12 Mar re Great Milton depot)
the next update will be on Sunday 18th March 2001

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.

Problems with the pictures ! - sometimes it seems that the pictures do not load.
I have found a solution which does work normally - 
RIGHT CLICK ON THE PICTURE AND THEN CLICK ON "SHOW PICTURE"
Good luck !

Wycombe Wanderers - a day to remember!

Part of the 20 strong fleet of coaches taking Wycombe Wanderers supporters to 
Filbert Lane, Leicester for the FA Cup Semi Final last Saturday.
Little did many realise that these same supporters would be returning home that evening
having seen their team defeat Leicester City 2-1.

One of the biggest surprises in football occurred on Saturday last when High Wycombe was well and truly placed on the map as its local team won an away fixture at Leicester 2-1.  Not surprisingly a fleet of coaches ferried supporters to Leicester and, although a rainy morning, I was on hand to get some shots of the coaches involved. It seemed that the whole of Motts fleet was there, though I did see a Premiere on the M40 later that morning, not involved in the Leicester trip. Two other coach companies were involved, these being Fosters of Aylesbury and Woottons. All the coaches used were well turned out and made a fine sight as they left Adams Park.

Woottens latest Iveco, X644GJU arrives at Adams Park to load up. It is followed by one of
two ex Redwing Volvo/Plaxton Premieres also used. 

One now waits to see where the next game is to be played, this time against Liverpool on Sunday 8th April. Who knows I might get to go along. 

Oxford was as usual busy on Saturday and it was interesting to see how nice Magdalen Street West looks now that the works are finished and buses are able to pick up easily at their stops again. It was however interesting to note that on Friday evening, when I did a couple of trips on 2 road, I was pulling out from my stop at the above point when a taxi tried to force his way past me. There was no room and he was obliged to let me out. (Interesting that the Highway code says "Let buses pull out" !!!!) The taxi , a local Oxford one, then rushed past me on the nearside as I pulled up at the red traffic signal and, totally ignoring the red light, sped off in the Summertown direction. If anyone had been crossing the road from my right they would have undoubtedly met with a serious accident and possible death. Why is it that other drivers, not HGV I hasten to add, seem to delight in forcing buses back. One person against up to FIFTY or so , what can one say !

The resurfaced road with new bus stops at Magdalen Street West.

Company reports - to 11th March 2001

Arriva serving the Shires & Essex.

Arriva Dart 3833, ex Oxford Bus 503, picks up at Stokenchurch Kings Arms last Saturday
on the 340 service to High Wycombe. This is usually an Olympian duty.

A recent repaint at Wycombe (Newlands) is Dart SLF 3826, with 3841 (621) away for its repaint this week. It seems that most Darts will be replaced by large buses in April. It is expected that more Lynxs will join the Wycombe allocation.

Airlinks - Jetlink - Cambridge Coach

The Jetlink 757/767 services through Stokenchurch still see a variety of coaches. Saturday and Sunday saw this Burtons Excalibur, R90BCL, working a morning duty between the two University cities. However it was noticeable that most other duties were worked by ex CCS coaches including 320, 324 and 325. It is this latter coach which has an awful purple super rear advert for Luton Airport. Its not Luton I dislike, more the colour!

Oxford Bus Company (City of Oxford Motor Services)

News of the week is that the withdrawn Darts have found a new home and will join Metrobus of Orpington. They would appear to be under repaint at Oxford and as such paint work on the Olympians has been suspended until this other work is completed. The March 1 issue of Coach and Bus Week has an article saying that Metrobus will start services in Crawley from March 31st, Arriva locally having announced its intention to withdraw all services, having issued redundancy notices to its Crawley staff. Go-Ahead will thus gain a presence in this area. 

Coaches 50, 51 and 54 left Oxford last week for the short journey to Enstone where they have indeed joined the fleet of Worths. It seems that 53 and 55 will join Swanbrooks very shortly since delivery of the remaining three Excaliburs, 25, 27 and 28 is due for Monday of the coming week. Dear old 59 is also due to leave the fleet next week and will journey across the water to Ireland where it will join its sister, ex 60. The remains of 56 will also go to the same buyer.

On Friday evening I put in a couple of hours on 2 road, 2B and 2C to be precise. This is quite a pleasant duty and it was some time since I had been to Kidlington Airport, somewhat differing from Heathrow, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and even Malmo!  The 2B, 2C and 2D all serve Oxford Rail Station and a later shot of 647 sows the new buildings going up opposite the Rail Station.

My evening was completed with a round trip on 5 road with freshly repainted ( just out of the paint shop in fact) Volvo 656 in place of the more usual B10BLE. 656 is seen below at the Rail Station by which time it had really gone dark..

Some work is continuing on the Olympian fleet as it is readied for the summer season and the influx of students. 220 and 224 are seen below. 220 has been repainted and is undergoing heavy maintenance, whilst 224 was having a steam clean last Saturday morning.

My Saturday duty, again on X90s, provided me this week with nr 15 for both trips. This coach presently carries Airport branding and is due to receive multi purpose Express branding next week. The lack of 50, 51 and 54 has caused the use of airport branded coaches this last week, with even 22 making some trips to Victoria. Certainly on Saturday 9 and 15 were on X90s. It did need care at stops to get up and tell intending passengers that we were operating an X90 service. Some regulars did note that the coach, 15, was more comfortable than the usual coach. (44, 50 or 59) .

Stagecoach in Oxford.  

The picture above by Neil Gow shows 794, a Dart which used to carry Blackbird Flyer branding operating route 1 last Saturday. There have been cases of Mercedes operating again on the 1. It seems that there is a shortage of M A N s to cover all the duties.

Repainted Volvo Olympian 520 alluded me once again although I spent nearly an hour around the route waiting for it to show up.

News of the week for Stagecoach is the expected arrival of another demonstrator. This time it is to be the Ikarus low floor M A N X83AAK, presently with Stagecoach in Manchester. CBW says it will move to Oxford in April. It is on trial with the Stagecoach group and was exhibited at last years IAA Exhibition in Frankfurt. The Dart SPD 100 left Oxford some weeks ago.

  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

Neil Gow sent this delightful shot of the COMS outstation in Great Milton. It was taken in 1983
and shows two Bristol REs which were ex Bristol City. 
The Depot was "Great Milton" and had an allocation of 3 Vehicles during the late 1970s 
but finished up with 2 at closure in the mid to late 80s. 
(This correct my original caption when first posted - History supplied by Vic Gacowski)

What would they make of this on the Barton or Blackbird Leys Estates?
Another shot of the delightful electric tram buses in Malmo, this time in an estate.

A fitting tribute to a favorite coach, dear old 59, seen as she speeds past Stokenchurch, 
today Sunday on her way to Oxford. It seems that by this time next week, she will be
on the west cost of Ireland. I, for one, will sadly miss her.

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