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

Visit the Archive Pages going back to 1998

Your reports are welcome at malcolmhc@aol.com

updated Sunday 16th September 2001
the next update will be on Monday 24th September 2001
(it's Showbus next weekend)

   Issue nr. 163  

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 !

Welcome to issue 163, which includes updated information on our local Stagecoach fleet plus reports and news from readers.

The week has been more than marred by events in New York and Washington and local news has been pushed into the background for probably sometime to come. One can only imagine the feelings of those most involved and from this news page, I am sure everyone joins me, in wishing well to those bereaved and in any way affected. Share prices were affected badly which may mean problems for many companies in the months to come. One could imagine that oil prices may well be affected and costs in general face upward spirals. Whatever the outcome in the coming weeks, one must agree with commentators that things will never be quite the same again. I was forcibly reminded of events on seeing a long military convoy approaching Oxford just after midnight on Saturday bound for wherever but a stark reminder of our world today.  

A major news item reported in the local press in High Wycombe is the probable scuppering of the plan to redevelop the area around Newlands Bus Station including the present site occupied by Tesco. Withdrawal by the major investor in the project seems to mean that a new bus station is now further away than ever. I will keep you posted on events as they occur.

On a happier note tourists in Oxford were enjoying a welcome respite on Saturday with open top buses services carrying good loads of people seeing the sights in the city. As can be seen in the picture, Atlantean OTO549M had a good load when pausing in New Road on Saturday afternoon. The sun, now past its summer solstice was casting longer shadows when the photo was taken.

Another project which seems to have been put on hold, is the resurfacing of Gloucester Green. This bus station seems to lack the space required for modern operations and my picture below shows the confusion which often occurs. The open topper had seemingly failed to note that the Jetlink was waiting for a departing Stagecoach bus. Such problems often result in drivers behaving less than professionally and the mixture of pedestrians and buses, frequently mixed in with cars setting down or picking up, has to be seen to be believed. Whilst there is a council official who checks on cars entering the area against the rules, he is not always on hand and problems do occur. One can imagine that in the event of a fatality, something WILL be done to resolve the situation.

A number of you have taken up the point about the new registration system, introduced on September 1st. I am including your comments below but would make a few observations of my own as well.

Having thought that maybe the second of the area letters would be used linked to the time of the year, i.e. RX from Reading at this time, whilst maybe RA or RB in the next period, I have now seen several RE registrations this last week, suggesting that the system is even more random and haphazard than anyone can imagine. Additionally the last three grouping of letters are also totally random, thereby creating less or more interest depending upon the observer. Where bus companies have a batch of buses there is no continuity as I witnessed in a batch of Tellings Golden Miller Darts running into Staines on route 203 from Hounslow. The batch seen by so far are:

414 - RX51FGG
415 - RX51FGK
416 - RX51FGJ
417 - RX51FGM
419 - RX51FGO

Maybe I'm a cynic but I think remembering registrations will become almost impossible as the years go by. Just imagine reporting a new fleet of 60 or 80 buses, plus think or the room for mistakes. I wonder how long it will be before changes are made to offer bus and truck operators a "number" system such as 414 - RX 51 414, which would also have the added advantage of identifying an HGV or PSV from private cars. Indeed why would any PSV or truck operator buy registrations anymore. A notable loss of revenue to our beloved government, who I will bet never gave this one any thought.

And so on to comments from readers. Nigel Peach wrote to say "Regarding the new number plates I too am puzzled at the seemingly illogical issue of the second letter. Surely it would be logical to start with OA51AAA & then work through. I have seen some "second letters" in the first half of the alphabet - indeed, our company has taken delivery of a vehicle on contract hire which is KF51 XSY. I saw what I thought was RI51 xxx the other day. Then I realised it was an older R151 xxx!  It'll be particularly confusing until we all get used to it & even when we do I'm not convinced we won't still be confused! - Regards Nigel " (The Dept. says that following consultation the public said letters were easier to remember than numbers. Ed.).

Paul Reeve wrote to say, "I was reading your latest news page, where you were wondering about the new number plate system.  I believe that the second letter is allocated to a small area - the first one is O for Oxfordshire and surrounding areas, and the second is more local. (This is slight conjecture based on a story that said that Liverpool football fans were outraged at the number plates for Liverpool reading MU, M being for Manchester and surround incl Merseyside and the U being just for Liverpool).  I am pretty sure that the two halves of the year are done by number, 00 to 49 for one half and 50-99 for the other half. Sincerely, Paul Reeve"  (Paul, You are correct , the numbers relate to the year and part thereof of issue. Ed.)

Do let me have your thoughts, is anyone impressed by or does anyone like the new system? What are your thoughts about people buying the new plates, because it seems after making a very clear law about the way plates are displayed, the DVLC is contacting people to buy plates which make a name, using the 51 as SI. This would seemingly encourage people to break the law. Or, just maybe, new plate sales have dropped? I have L100MHC, I like 100, I have had it on three cars now. I certainly would not buy OU51MHC because it does not stand out as well. I venture to suggest many others will feel the same. I am also sure that Oxford Bus will not buy plates with O?51??? and may well revert to some older plates for new coaches. Equally in times of cost cutting they may well drop the idea altogether and put up with uninteresting, hard to remember letter plates. And at nearly £500 a time who can blame them. I await your thoughts with interest.

On another interesting subject, SUPER REAR ADs, I have seen the ultimate in "ugh" , as this picture below shows. N90SLK, now owned by Airlinks and running between Brighton and London VCS, carries this gaudy ad for Seeboard. Apart that from a distance, one thinks one is following a truck, how does this encourage car drivers to use the coach? I was no great lover of advertising on coach rears but at least such adverts might encourage car drivers and their passengers, to use the coach. As you will see below The Oxford Tube has now joined the band wagon with Super Rears for Liquorice Allsorts. Still, I suppose the revenue cannot be ignored. 

Newman Morgan wrote regarding Bendi-buses. Of course we have had two experiences with these types in Oxford. One was by COMS in 1980 when they had them on the 5 and Park&Ride services and latterly when Stagecoach tried coaches out on Tube services. Newman says "Hi, just like to say how much I enjoy reading the Oxford Bus Pages every week. Although I live in Bicester I am travelling regularly and your pages do keep me up to date with the news. I grew up in High Wycombe but it was in the days of the Thames Valley Traction Company / Alder Valley and London Transport Country Area / London Country. Oh, how times have changed! 

Picking up on the e-mail from Alan Balam in Issue Nr. 162, First Group are to evaluate 6 Bendi-buses on LT Route 207 between Shepherds Bush and Hayes (not running into Uxbridge). These will be operated from Greenford and will be in addition to the usual d/d 207 and 607 services. The vehicles concerned are, I understand, coming off service with First Glasgow and may be ultimately destined for First Southampton.

The trial on First London's Route 207 is, I understand, to establish whether or not bendi-buses can operate successfully on high passenger density routes in London. If they are successful I guess 207 and other high density routes could be converted to bendi-bus operation at some stage. I believe it is the desire of Transport for London to at least trial bendi-buses in London."

The problems with bendi-buses in Oxford is the narrow streets but it seems we may get some for the Guided busway mentioned last week.

  FROM THE DRIVING SEAT  
A weekly commentary on your Editors favourite pastime.

Bicycles and buses are the subject of a new brochure under preparation and this last week provided me with some experience of the dangers of the two forms of transport. I spent a pleasant couple of hours on a rush hour 300 duty. Leaving Peartree one travels down the Woodstock Road, where the council has gone to the trouble of providing cycle lanes to segregate traffic from cycles and vice versa. Great, but why don't the cyclists use the track provided. The tracks are normally provided where there is also a bus lane but not always. On the Woodstock Road Oxford bound the bus lane is really needed in the rush hour. This speeds up the progress, of the Park & Ride passengers especially, into the city centre. Of course, what happens is that some cyclists for reasons not entirely clear, use the bus lane, thereby removing the advantage. Having spoken to a cyclist, his comment is that the cycle lanes are more dangerous than the roadway. So why on earth then did the council invest so much money in cycle lanes. Perhaps someone can put forward an answer or again let me have your comments.

This week I must also comment on Motorway breakdowns. I was surprised to see passengers from the coach of a local operator, milling around their broken down vehicle on the hard-shoulder of the M40, one day last week. Apart from the obvious danger to those passengers, I wonder who would be liable if there was a fatality to one of the aforementioned passengers. The driver, the company or the driver of the vehicle causing the fatality. With insurance companies facing such dramatic cost increases, I suggest the buck passing could get quite frantic. Perhaps a reader can enlighten me on this point. My own though is that if, for some reason passengers have to leave the coach, they should get behind the crash barriers. Under no circumstances should they go in front or behind the coach. I suppose we will have to await a big fatality before someone does something about this point. My picture below was taken at junction 13 on the M25 and shows the problem of passengers leaving a coach and standing behind the crash barrier, before anyone says the obvious!!!! I suppose the passengers should stay inside the coach.- A really knotty problem huh? - especially since the driver may have to walk to a M-way phone if he doesn't have a radio or his mobile phone is out of area which they often are on the motorway.

Another point of interest for me is how wheels can improve or detract from the general appearance of a vehicle. coaches, especially, are enhanced by nice wheel trims and clean wheels. I think this point is well illustrated by the Rail Air coach shown below. (T706TLD) pausing at Heathrow's Terminal 4. The lack of wheel trims make the coach look very poor. The "Barbie" livery is not helped by the seemingly unfinished lower stripe, which fades out as if the result of an unfinished crash repair. The dirty trimless wheels make for a poor looking job altogether. I am always impressed by the turnout of the Oxford Express coaches, often receiving comments from other drivers about how well the fleet looks.

News from the companies - 16th September 2001

Airlinks

Looking through UK Bus Photo News last week I came across this picture of one of the Jetlink DAFs far away in Norwich. I felt it was of interest, only to show how far these coaches are going from their home in Cambridge. The photo page carries lots of interest and if you haven't visited the page why not do so. The address is:  http://www.egroups.com/group/UK-Bus-Photo/   - Oh! and when you've looked don't forget to come back to The Oxford Bus Page. Thanks to Grahame Bressey for letting me use his picture.

Arriva serving The Shires & Essex

Arriva 5823 is back from repaint. Sadly it will be sometime before it reappears in service.
It has a serious bout of floor rot on the upper deck which will need repair before it can be sent out on duty.
These "coaches" have had a chequered life and have carried many liveries.

Saturday afternoon saw this Mercedes off Aylesbury Depot working into Oxford on the 260.
The location is close to where the proposed new bus station is to be built. This was reported
on in the News Page for 4th June 2000.
http://www.oocities.org/MotorCity/Downs/6995/archiveindex/040600.html

Olympian 5822 is still in service in its advertising livery whilst 5824 has now gone for repaint.

Mike Penn noted as follows: Two more repaints into Arriva livery noted today: Dart/Carlyle 3093 (H925 LOX) and Volvo B6/Alexander ex Arriva Scotland West 3241 (M841 DDS) formerly in advertising livery.  VR 5033 (SNV 933W) made a rare appearance in normal service on the 27 today. These notes relate to Aylesbury based buses.

Nigel Peach wrote to say "Saw Lincoln Road (still blue & yellow)5070 A143 DPE on the 306 this morning. It's the first Cressex bus I've seen working an old Wycombebus route for some time."

Carousel Buses, High Wycombe

Ex West Midlands 2296 and LT M758 at rest in the yard at Wycombe.

Ex West Midland GOG235W minus much of its roof which is being donated to M1432.
As the yard was closed, I could not get any closer for the picture.

Martyn Pearce writes to note that " I've seen from your web site that you have mentioned Carousel Buses of High Wycombe a number of times. As I work part-time on a regular basis for Carousel/Abbey Coaches if you have any questions about the company I'd be happy to answer them for you. At the moment the Carousel fleet stands at 5 MCW Metrobuses; Ex-West Midlands 2296 and ex-LT M598, M758, M1386 and soon to re-enter service M1432. M1432 was the London General showbus with coach-type seats which was damaged by them recently in Southend. We have removed parts from the ex-London Traveller West Midlands Metrobus GOG235W (which was bought from West Kent Buses for spares) to repair M1432. 2235 is now in a very sorry-state with half its roof removed and is likely to be scrapped fairly soon. It is only of limited use as it is Rolls Royce powered - all the others are Gardner engined. As you have mentioned M183 was also broken for spares a year or so ago by Carousel.  

Two bus routes are operated - the 400 Bucks County Council service from High Wycombe to Bourne End via Flackwell Heath (nearly always with 2296) and the number 1 (commercial service) from High Wycombe also to Bourne End but via Wooburn Green. Several school routes are also operated both commercial and under contract to BCC. As you have noticed a large amount of weekend rail replacement in and around London is covered. 

Carousel Buses Ltd is owned by two people, one of whom also owns Abbey Coaches hence the Legal Lettering and also the shared depot. 

Regards, Martyn Pearce"

Many thanks to Martyn and I am sure we look forward to his continuing reports.

Charlton Services.

Ex Oxford Optare Metrorider 783 is back in service after an absence. At least I had not seen
this bus for several weeks. It is seen in Speedwell Street last Saturday afternoon.

City of Oxford Motor Services (The Oxford Bus Company)

Lower case destination displays are now appearing on most of the fleet.
This requires a re-programming of the Hannover displays on buses such as 814 above.

Visiting Brighton& Hove Volvo/Plaxton Excalibur 502 rests in Cowley Road Garage
last Saturday. This coach has a toilet and servery, something not seen on Oxford's coaches.

Trident 119 filled in for an Olympian on a 5 road relief last Friday morning.
These buses are unable to show 5 on their front blinds and so 500 was displayed.

News of next years coach orders are eagerly awaited by many people. Rumours abound and I will not join in any speculation, save to say that from what I have heard, a radical departure from the current types may be expected. I will keep you updated as and when official news is released. What is known is that coaches 41-44, 57 and 58 are due for replacement. The 40 batch are not very popular at Oxford, since due to their weight (they are heavier than the other Volvo coaches) they often prove sluggish on hills and getting away from stops. The cab layout is also different from any other coach in the fleet and as with any odd man out, disliked by most drivers. However I did note one driver commenting that in bad weather they are better than the lighter Plaxtons for holding the road.

Progress on the new trainer buses proceeds apace with C66HOM nearly ready, apart from re-fitting the interior. I think the first one should enter service from October 1st but that is only my guess. This will herald the end of the long serving Leopards, the sounds of which can be heard some distance away. The exhausts are quite memorable!

I was delighted to receive a note from David Root, the founder of this page and now resident in Southport, mentioning an interesting picture. David says, "Here's a coincidence - shortly after receiving your email I randomly stumbled across an Oxford Olympian in exile! It's 203 with Brylaine in Lincolnshire, here's the link with picture. http://www.leytransport.i12.com/bry.htm"

Thanks David. 

Stagecoach Group

Tube 42 turns from Castle Street into Old Greyfriars Street on its way to London.
Most of the Tubes , if not all, now have the new Stagecoach Logos. They still look smart and
the overall appearance  has been improved with wheel trims which do not "abandon ship"
during a journey to the capital.

Stagecoach in Banbury  

Keith Wood writes to say "Leyland Nationals 621 / 627 had left Nuneaton by Thursday night. Anyone know of their whereabouts please let me know ! Rugby Leyland National 606 has been renumbered 706 over the weekend to make way for Optare solos 601-615. Nuneaton 602 / 605 will probably become 702 / 705 (not confirmed). Both were operational on Thursday evening. Optare Solos 603 (no route branding) and 604  KX51CSF ("66" route branding) were inside Rugby depot on Friday morning. Volvo B10M 218 and Olympian 546 were receiving mechanical attention at Rugby depot on Friday morning. This morning saw freshly repainted SiW Volvo B10M 221 R221 CRW working from Rugby Depot. Also Rugby Leyland National 622 has been renumbered 722. Is this to make way for more Optare Solos ?  We are currently expecting 15 but could this swell to 22 or more ?  (601-622) Anyone know ?"

Thanks to Keith for his report and his questions can be answered through this page.

The latest Period 5 fleet list for SC in Banbury and Rugby can be seen by clicking on this link but you do need Adobe Acrobat reader to view same.

Stagecoach in Oxford

Oxford Tube 35 now extols the virtues of Bassetts Allsorts. Dare I say that ....
- no on second thoughts better not.

Tracey writes to update us from Chippy (Chipping Norton).

"NEWS FROM CHIPPY

Bus 410 was swopped for 356 on the evening of September 5th for repairs at Witney Garage. Witney services the minibuses out-stationed at Chippy. A double decker, 514, is now based at Chippy and also the other bus should be a Lance.

The double decker goes to Stratford twice and is used on a school run to Alcester. Schools route 26 - and back from Stratford as a school bus to Shipston-on-Stour and Oxford.

The Lances have a habit of over heating in the summer when driven at speed H i.e. on the Bicester's. That's why they are no longer on that route. One of them is now on route 3 and does not overheat. (Saw it on Saturday but sorry no picture yet. Ed.)

Thanks to Tracey for her continued updates, they are much appreciated.

I much appreciate the help of Stagecoach in providing the Period 5 allocation for Oxford which is most useful. One can see what has been repainted in the new livery. A couple of late amendments to the list are 373 and 831. 831 has lost its Rose Hill livery and now is in new corporate colours.

Period 5 fleet list. you will need Adobe Acrobat to view.

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

Eavesway EOS 544TRF which is the team coach for Wigan Athletic FC.
It was seen at the Kings Arms, Stokenchurch on Saturday morning prior to the match
with Wycombe Wanderers. Wycombe won but I'm sure it had nothing to with
the Wigan stop in Stokenchurch.

Selwyns DAF/Van Hool Y469HUA operating the National Express 303 to Southsea.
It is seen entering Oxford last Saturday afternoon.

An interesting comparison with a very similar Van Hool from Jetlink parked next but one
to the Selwyns Van Hool. Y314HUA waits next but one to Y469HUA.
The livery on the Jetlink makes it look very different.

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

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