Oxford, High Wycombe & surrounding areas

updated Monday 25th December 2000
The next update will be on Sunday 31st December 2000

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 !

A very happy Christmas to all my readers !

As promised yesterday a full update is appearing today. Turkey and all the trimmings are gone and a feeling of well being purveys ! A short trip into High Wycombe this morning revealed nothing at all in this PSV line but a trip to the Arriva/Wycombe Bus Newlands Bus Station saw all the fleet in residence as taken over from WBC. The only missing member was Olympian 225, now 5825 and under work for MOT at Oxford. This bus can be seen in the pictures below and does indeed, look very smart.

Arriva serving The Shires & Essex Olympian 5825
ex Wycombe Bus 225, E225CFC.
Freshly repainted and under MOT preparation at Cowley Road works of Oxford Bus.
This bus will return to Wycombe on 6th January 2001.

Floods in the Oxford area caused severe problems last week and the week before. As mentioned in a previous edition of this page, Oxford 35 road services were much delayed and diverted as a result. The floods have been well captured for us by Vic Gacowski, who took the shot below during the height of the flooding near Templeton College. 

Whilst much of the 35 route was passable with care, the wake of the buses
passing caused waters to flood into local houses and as such the route had
to be diverted away from the flooded roads.

As the trains also had to be diverted various local companies
provided buses and coaches for rail replacement services.
Here we see a Weavaway Scania/East Lancs Cityzen R19CES 
called  "Mutley" on such a service. Photo by Vic Gacowski.

The Christmas rush brought chaos to Gloucester Green coach station last Saturday. On one departure alone, National Express had SEVEN dupes and each coach had to pick up in Oxford !  Needless to say the extra vehicles trying to use what is an already over utilised facility caused a total standstill. The council official who is normally kept busy booking offending private cars, had to book coaches for using the coach station, a somewhat bizarre situation. Indeed the 1530 Oxford express to Heathrow was unable to use it's allocated stand which was blocked by a National service unloading, this coach having waited outside the coach station for so long , it's passengers were on the verge of mutiny. One wonders why the council official responsible for planning activities in Gloucester Green did not gets things better organised at the outset. It must have been obvious that National Express would operate additional coaches. What is certain is that passengers were most dissatisfied and critical of National Express, Oxford City Council and anyone in general who would listen. Equally the existing operators, other than National Express, had to forgo paid for facilities in order to accommodate this large extra movement. Once again Gloucester Green failed to meet demand for the passenger. Most strange in a city so keen on keeping out the private motorist and supporting services such as Park & Ride.

A National Express service to Poole uses the layover bays for its stop at Gloucester Green
whilst elderly passengers make their way across the operating area, many were
confused and worried at the changes to stop and the lack of National Express staff to handle the
considerable extra traffic.

A Birmingham service operated by Hills of Wolverhampton, with a Volvo/Caetano Enigma W317SBC
loads passengers on bay 11 and takes up bay 12 in the process. The Stagecoach 66 service to Swindon
 had to use bay 2 instead causing further problems to arriving services for Bicester.

On 347 service to Cambridge, Dartline Volvo LIL9017, from Exeter leaves Gloucester Green.

Company reports - to 25th December 2000

Airlinks/Jetlink (Cambridge Coach)

Having said how poor the external condition of coaches operating into Oxford was, I must note a marked improvement this week. Also less coaches in other liveries, with ex CCS 322, 323, 324 and 325 noted over the weekend.

Arriva serving the Shires & Essex.

As mentioned above ex Wycombe Leyland Olympian 225 is back from repaint as 5825. It is currently as Oxford undergoing pre MOT work and is expected to return to Wycombe on 6th January 2001. The renumbering details are to hand thanks to Dave Stewart and can be noted as follows:

Lynx 301-305 to become 3806-3810
Darts 521-530 to become 3811-3820
Dart SLFs 421-427 to become 3821-3827
ex Oxford Darts 503 and 504 to become 3833 and 3834 (503 is still carrying full Oxford vinyls and 504 still has an Oxford vinyl on the rear  - 25/12)
Volvos 621-627 to become 3841-44/53-55  (there is some doubt as to the actual numbers as the official advice gives out of sequence numbering - watch out)
Mercs 720/711/724/716/727 to become 2820/1/4/6/7 and 703 and 704 to become 2829/31
Olympian 240-242 to become 5822-24 ( this will fit nicely with their registrations D822-824UTF and of course these are on their 4th owner)
Olympians 225-235 to become 5825 to 5835.

Thus all the buses have an 8 in the fleet numbers making them easily identifiable as ex Wycombe buses in the future.

A visit to Newlands Bus Station today revealed NO renumbering as yet plus 422 with Wycombe bus vinyls and 504 with Oxford on the rear and of course 503 still in full Oxford vinyl livery. Nothing seems to have changed in the last week.

Although most buses and the outside sign proclaim Arriva, the sign over the workshops on Christmas Day
hangs on to the past with Wycombe Bus ! A security guard with two Rotweilers was most interested in my activities !!!

The news under the Wycombe Bus Company will of course now cease and all relevant information will appear under the Arriva heading. 

Oxford Bus Company (City of Oxford Motor Services)

A quiet end to the year saw little major activity, except as mentioned above Cowley Road works is host to Arriva 5825  ex Oxford 225 !

My duty last Saturday should have produced Volvo coach 59 for my two journeys to London once again. However this was not to be as poor old 59 had developed engine problems before leaving the garage earlier in the day. My substitute was nr 6, one the pleasant Excaliburs. This was late in from Victoria, being subject to serious delays at VCS due to the enormous number of extra coaches. someone said there were 800 extra coaches operating National Express services on Saturday.Nr 6 is also a good coach and on the M40 Stokenchurch hill also maintained a minimum of 55 mph. 

Friday night enabled me to sample the delights of 5 road with four round trips to the city. My steed was the newest Volvo B10BLE 821 which performed well. I was also able to get a nice night shot at the Rail Station plus a free coffee from the Station Coffee stall. Seemingly a Christmas gesture for people "working" at or with the Station !!

Volvo 821 seen at Oxford Rail Station on the E card last Friday evening.

Thursday 21st saw no less than FIVE ex London Volvos on 4 road, being 644, 647, 648, 650 and 653 , this type now being seen on 2 and 22 roads more often. In fact 22 road had  645 and 656 plus Plaxton 639. The Plaxton type 601-643 are unable to show the new 22 destination and carry a board in the front window instead ! 2C and 2D roads now have a Volvo allocation rather than the Darts of a few months ago. In fact the only guaranteed road for the older Darts now is the Greater Leys 5/5A. 

Stagecoach Oxford.  

Olympian 516 appeared on route 1 on Saturday, the second week in a row. 

Stagecoach Oxford buses and Oxford Tube coaches found great difficulty in using Gloucester Green last Saturday due to the large number of additional coaches operating National Express services. Unusually Tube 51, operating the X50, had to take its break in Magdalene Street East as a result.

  PHOTO CORNER
If anyone has a digital camera and wishes to submit photos for this page please send them to the above email.

Ex Wycombe 521 showing its Lakes livery. One wonders how Arriva will tackle this one, to become 3811.

Ex Wycombe Leyland Olympian 241 to be 5823, seen in New Road, Stokenchurch on a foggy Christmas Eve morning.

Ex Oxford Tube coach 22, J456FSR, now with Stagecoach Perth.
It was in Victoria on Saturday evening, freshly repainted, ready to operate the overnight 588 service to Perth.
The driver did not seem to impressed with his steed after his 400 mile journey south !
The coach still had full National Express seating, just as it left Oxford.

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