Oxford, High Wycombe & surrounding areas

updated Sunday 26th November 2000
The next update will be on Sunday 3rd 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 !

The pattern as before with the mid week spent in Malmo, Sweden and a Saturday duty on the Oxford express, this week to Heathrow and Gatwick.

I thought you might be interested in another glimpse of the Skanetrafiken Volvo artics, this time one from the rear. One cannot but help wonder how such buses would manage on the Blackbird Leys route with all the corners and parked cars. 

The engines of these buses are in the rear portion and I was wondering if it was possible to change trailers ?

T

On to local news, once again apologies for those not interested in buses other than those in the local area. The weather continued its pattern of heavy rain, as with previous Saturdays. It seems that the first trip I make out of Oxford is always with heavy rain and last Saturday was no exception ! On my way into the city I glimpsed ex Oxford Bus 783, a Metrorider, now with Charlton Services. more of this later, since I made time on Sunday to visit the depot in Charlton-on-Otmoor. Holders really do have an interesting fleet including many Leylands. 

Traffic was heavy in the city as many people start to do their Christmas shopping, less than a month to go to the big day plus I will then be entering my fourth year as Editor of The Oxford Bus Page. So much has happened in the intervening years and the face of Oxford has changed quite a bit. Morse is no more and the last episode screened just over a week ago finished the series with much coverage of Stagecoach Oxford. I am told that the reason we did not see any Oxford Tubes, was because they were so large, they obscured the light from the shot where a Volvo/Plaxton Paladin arrives from Bicester in Gloucester Green Coach Station. 

Saturday also proved interesting when an S reg Olympian of Stagecoach United Counties broke down in Gloucester Green and had to rescued by a tow truck. Confusion ensued whilst the offending bus was removed and the Jetlink 1710 service to Cambridge was seen on Bay 8 reserved for Stagecoach services to Witney !! I just missed a picture of the departure on suspended tow of the Olympian. 

Much discussion is under way between the Oxford express drivers and their management regarding rest facilities at Gloucester Green and a staff notice is even posted on the glass by Bay 6 departure stand telling everyone, including the public in general of this matter. What is plainly obvious is that Gloucester Green is lacking in facilities for not only staff but also passengers. On Saturday the public toilets were closed , due to flooding, the nearest alternatives being in Market Street or St Giles. One old lady was seen trying every door nearby in vain looking for a toilet. Is it 2000 one wonders, certainly the actual toilets themselves are rudimentary in the extreme, even when open !!!!! Also are were really living in an era when the government is "really trying" to encourage the public to use public transport ? Someone in authority should sample the delights of Gloucester Green on a windy and very wet winter day and see if they are encouraged to use public transport. Well enough of my weekly moan, on to the buses.

Company reports - to 26th November 2000

Airlinks/Jetlink (Cambridge Coach)

Another almost 24 hour service is the 757/767 to Cambridge from Oxford. I include two photos of either end of the day with coaches running through Stokenchurch.

310 approaching the village centre on a mid morning journey to Cambridge during November 2000

K200SAS pauses at The Kings Arms Stokenchurch late one evening on its way to Cambridge on the 767

Charlton Services.

An interesting Sunday brought a short visit to the garage of Charlton Services and the chance to see two ex Oxford buses now in service. The Metrorider 783 is the latest to join this fleet and it was also nice to see Olympian 217 still hard at work. A return visit will be made when the days get better but a few shots are included to wet the appetite.

Coincidentally both the above buses were at one time green, being City Nippers and Park & Ride buses

Classic Coaches, High Wycombe.

A diversion via Thame on the way home on Sunday allowed the opportunity to get an update on the Classic depot and Kingsey. nothing seemed to have changed and the buses much the same as my last visit some 3 months ago.

Oxford Bus Company (City of Oxford Motor Services)

Volvo coach nr 59 is now back in service and put in a full days work on the X90. It has had some work done to bring it up to standard but lack full livery. since it is only due to be in service for 4 months, one can understand the company not wishing to spend too much money on full repaints etc.

Volvo 59 is seen on the pumps at Cowley Road after its first days work on returning to service.
This coach is replacing 56, accident damaged, for a period of 4 months. Oxford express vinyls have
been fixed front and rear but it lacks normal lettering on the sides. 

It appears that an operator in Surrey or Hampshire has had a problem with fire damage and as a result much travelled Olympian 214 has been sent to help along with sister 222.  I hope to have fuller details early this coming week. The other Olympians are delicensed as noted earlier and it seems 223 is not sold after all. 

One item of note is that the ex London Volvos are now infrequent performers on 4 road, once the exclusive haunt of this batch of buses. Allocations now see these buses on 2 and 22 roads although Vic Gacowski did see one on X3s recently. Indeed it is interesting to note current allocations and a typical Saturday saw the fleet allocated as follows.

2/A - 655, 645, 633,606, 643, 601, 632, 656, 602, 629, 608, 610, 634, 653, 651 and 603.
2C/D - 644,652 & 604          22 - 647, 648 & 649
X3 - 120, 616, 617, 618 & 619 (ALL ROUTE BRANDED BUSES)
4 - 637, 636, 638, 630, 640, 642, 631, 635 & 641
5 - 810, 806, 802, 809, 807, 803, 811, 808, 804, 805 & 812        5A/B    512 & 519
6 - 401, 406 & 402        12 - DOES NOT RUN ON SATURDAYS
13 - 407, 409, 404, 517, 403 & 408     15 - 801, 821, 818, 816 & 820     16 - 814 & 819
35 - 615, 607, 628, 614, 611 & 612
300 - 110,119,102,112, 108, 103, 105, 113, 116 & 109
400 - 104, 118, 115, 106, 107, 111, 117 & 101

An interesting point about the allocations above is that with only one exception the correct buses are allocated to the designated routes. The exception is 517 on the 13, it should be an SLF Dart. Also of note is the grouping of buses by fleet number to a route, often 611-615 and 628 are allocated to the 35. Of course breakdowns and traffic delays can result in changes during the day but the foregoing was for the morning period. First buses to leave the garage are two Park & rides at 0458 and the coaches fully start at 0335 for the 4am Gatwick. Last buses in to garage are around 1230 with the last Abingdon returning. 

Some of you have expressed an interest in allocations, duty cards and rostering in general and I hope the foregoing is of interest. I hope to complete an overview of the nightly allocation system shortly and subject to approval will bring you a feature on this aspect of the life of Oxford Bus. It is not as easy as one might imagine and the time into garage, parking location and engineering requirements all affect which bus or coach does which duty. The express services are also interesting because traffic delays often mean substituting coaches on duties other than those to which they have been allocated.

Stagecoach Oxford.  

The Tube has been facing problems in trying to keep the wheel trims on the coaches. It must be most annoying for the company that the trims seem to fall off so easily, expensive too !!!   Here 53 has lost all nearside trims somewhat detracting from an otherwise smart looking coach.

  PHOTO CORNER
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