The page for enthusiasts in the Oxford Chilterns Area - News from you and news for you - pictures too  ~~~~   The page for enthusiasts in the Oxford Chilterns Area - News from you and news for you - pictures too  ~~~~   The page for enthusiasts in the Oxford Chilterns Area - News from you and news for you - pictures too  

Issue 192
(OBP-407)

Sunday 3rd September 2006
next update week ending 16th September 2006

Visit the "OXFORD & CHILTERN BUS PAGE " Archives from October 2002

Visit the "OXFORD BUS PAGE" Archive 1998 - 2002

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.

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

To see the pictures full size just click on the small one

This week will, I am afraid, be a rather short News Page as time is limited. However I hope that what we have is of interest.

Roadworks in and around Oxford

Roadworks in and around the city have again caused delays and often diversion  of coach services. The work on the High Street is almost finished for the section from Carfax to Alfred Street and work on the Magdalen Bridge is due to start in the near future. The expected two way working on the road from Green Road to Thornhill started last Wednesday and has, from time to tie, resulted in long tail backs of inbound traffic to Oxford. The various coach operators with services into Oxford - OBC, National Express and The Oxford Tube have all, from time to time, diverted inbound via Stadhampton however outbound services with the exception of National Express been using the normal line of route. much to my surprise I came across a National Express 737 service using the B4015 road from Nuneham Courtney to Chiselhampton, a rather long way round to set out on the journey to Stansted Airport. This was last Thursday 31st August.

It is also expected that work will start on the Magdalen Bridge part of the main eastbound road into Oxford City centre. Coupled with other work on the High Street this is also set to cause significant delays to bus and coach services.

Oxford Bus increases fares

Further to my comments in an earlier issue Oxford Bus will increase many fares from Sunday September 10th. However whilst the fares on the London service will now match those of The Oxford Tube a number of fares are not increasing. The city 70p single fare remains the same and importantly the park and ride fares from all locations into the city will also remain unchanged. This will hopefully encourage greater use of these important services.

Some three years ago a flat fare was introduced on the then service 15, now marketed as City 15. The flat fare was used on a trial basis to see if such a system could work on the OBC network in Oxford. The company says that whilst the fare remained at £1 it did assist boarding times but with an increase to £1.30 a negative effect was felt. As a result the flat fare scheme is being removed and the route will now fall into line with other city services.

An increase in fares is also taking place on the "Airline" services with the period return to Gatwick now going up to £28.

Also a change is taking place to the zone fares which have been in place since 1994 and with the reduction in the number of "country" services it was felt that changes were needed.

Full details of the changes can be found on the company web site :- http://www.oxfordbus.co.uk/index.shtml

World Rowing Championships - more from Stephen Le Bras

Stephen writes "the Olympian 426 from the Ensign fleet should have read P426UUG with fleet number 126.

Green RML2428 turned up in Windsor today on a day excursion! It is operated by Dean Sullivan's company and returned home around 2.30pm."

Developments in and around Luton by Glenn Knight

Glenn ahs written sending some pictures and saying "Malcolm here is a photo of NCP Luton Airport new addition it is AE06 VPW an M.A.N 14.22 MCV eVolution currently in white and permanently on Staff Cap Parks at Luton Airport."

Glenn also sent some pictures of Stagecoach Bedford buses which carry new branding for routes called after planets. Full details of the routes can be found at the following link :- http://www.stagecoachbus.com/bedford/news_2224.html

The pictures by Glenn are Volvo Olympian P537 EFL in new Jupiter livery seen in Dunstable

L244 SDY in Saturn livery seen at Galaxy in Luton.

and finally a Dart in Mars livery.

I was most interested to see the shift from route numbers to route names which is also used to limited extent in Northampton. I think this is a first and marks a significant shift in branding styles.

Glenn also sent another picture saying "...here is a photo of BX54 ECY, a Bedfordshire County Council Mercedes Benz 411CDI currently with Grant Palmer of Dunstable seen in Leighton Buzzard on the new Grant Palmer 37 Service."

DVD s by Robin Clare

The full details of DVDs available from Robin Clare may be found at his web site :- http://www.robinclare.co.uk/

Amersham Running Day 2006 - 1st October

Peter Cartwright writes "Time is passing very quickly and the Amersham Running Day is now less than 1 month away. I know a number of you wish to participate but please can you confirm your attendance please as schedules will need to be compiled this coming week."

Please reply to my new e-mail address: pcartwright@buckscc.gov.uk.


Again my thanks to all my contributors, both old and new.

Malcolm Crowe - Sunday 3rd September 2006

Visit the "OXFORD & CHILTERN BUS PAGE " Archives from October 2002 to date

News of the local companies – 3rd September 2006

I received a very nice picture from John Bristow of a Wycombe depot Scania nr 3146 seen passing through Henley on the 329 last week.


Picture by John Bristow


Richard Sharman sent this picture of ex Reading Optare 703 under preparation at Stratford upon Avon.

The company web site says that Volvo B10B 603 is now back from the North East but is under preparation for use by Diamond Bus in the Midlands. Indeed that company will now be known as Go West Midlands. Indeed you can read all about the changes which also affect the Oxford Bus Company at the following link :- http://www.go-ahead.com/news/press/releases2006/2006-24-08.html

In addition Volvo B10B 612 is also with Go West Midlands. Lynx training bus 971 C63HOM is to go to Robin Bennett for preservation.


Ken Baker sent this nice shot of Trident 106 on the 400 service to Seacourt.


Another Ken Baker shot, this time of coach 24 on the x70 Airline service seen at Carfax whilst the roadworks were in progress last week.

Ralph Adams writes regarding the new housing development on the old Cowley Road garage site saying "the main road through the housing development is Reliance Way and I have just notice that 13 houses facing Saunders Road but accessible only from Reliance Way is named as Weymann Terrace"  How very appropriate.

Andy Churchill writes "An interesting observation to note in Kidlington on 29/08/2006 was the appearance of refurbished Volvo B10BLE 807(T807 CBW) on a 2A working into the village at approx 18.40 seen on the Oxford road at Garden City."  If I read the latest fleet list correctly only 801-804 are City 5 branded and the latest refurbs, 805-807 are unbranded for general use.

Heyfordian Coaches


Richard Sharman took this picture of one of the Jonckheere Volvos which has been reregistered recently.
It is now 4078NU but was T725UOS

Red Rose, Aylesbury


John Bristow took this picture of Solo $$03 BUS on the 124 service in Henley on 26th August 2006.

Marcus Lapthorn writes "....interesting additions to the 66 services between Swindon/Oxford take effect from Tues 29 August. The extra buses will run on weekdays only on the following journeys": 

dep Swindon 0640 and 0945 and 1545.

dep Oxford 0815 and 1115 and 1715.

Rob Williams writes re mention of Darts last week saying "The situation with the Darts seems to have become muddled. 

32626 was temporarily reinstated from reserve at Banbury on 17th August for use on training duties at Oxford.

Proper training bus 20401 arrived on loan from Leamington on 24th August to oust the Dart.

32625/6 are both being reinstated to Witney this weekend for use on Tuesday 29th whilst two Witney B10Ms and one Oxford B10M (possibly 20012) are taken on SWT rail replacement work. Stagecoach in Oxfordshire will be replacing the trains between Havant and Haslemere on this day, with the vehicles staying at Portsmouth depot the night before (tonight). Other parts of Stagecoach will be covering other lines, generally with each area/division assigned a different route."


Last week's picture was taken again the sun but this one is altogether much better.
Volvo B10M-55 20401 with an Alexander P type body came from Lancashire originally.


Ken Baker took this picture of our 18053 on the X46 in Torquay last week.


Ken Baker also took this picture of sister bus 18052 on a U1 working in Oxford's Queen Street last week.


One time Warwickshire Olympian 14943 is now in Exeter. Picture by Nick Rice.


The same Olympian this time taken by Derrick Cuff near Princetown on the same day.

News reached me last week of the preservation of one time Oxford Tube Leyland Tiger B405UOD. Terry Partridge is much involved in this preservation and the coach is now at Winkleigh in Devon where the West Of England collection is housed.

 
B405UOD on its way from its last operator in the West Midlands to Exeter and Winkleigh.
Pictures by Terry Partridge.


Ian Kirby took this evocative shot of B405UOD in Oxford Tube days at Gloucester Green.

How nice it would be to see B405UOD returned to Tube livery especially since 2008 sees the 21st birthday of The Oxford Tube.


John Bristow sent this picture of long Dart 251 on the 139 service from Henley to Wallingford. Date - 26th August 2006.

Worths Coaches


Worths recently purchased this ex Arriva decker as mentioned in an earlier edition of these pages.
Preparation for entry into service is now well advanced and it should be on the road in time for the new school year.
Picture by Richard Sharman

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

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HISTORY IN PICTURES AND WORDS

If you have any pictures or historical memories and wish to submit them for this page please send them to the me at 
malcolmhc@aol.com

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Coming events & models

Duxford - Showbus - 24th September 2006.  http://www.showbus.co.uk/

Running Day as advised by Peter Cartwright, Running Day Organiser  Amersham & District Motorbus Society 

Sunday 1 October 2006 - the 18th Running Day at Amersham.

As route 724 is 40 years old this year, apart from the feeders, I want to schedule a service between Watford and High Wycombe via Amersham - the original route south of Watford. This will be 29 years to the day since MA Garage took over duties from HE - High Wycombe Garage which closed the previous day, 30 September 1977.

This year should see the brand new bus station at High Wycombe open by this date and this would be the ideal place to terminate. More on this Running Day in due course.

It is hoped to celebrate 40 years since RMLs took over route 363 Totteridge - Holtspur in February 1966. Weather permitting it is hoped to have RML/RMLs running over the route on Sunday 19 February. Likewise a month later to run over the full length of Route 347 Hemel - Uxbridge which received RMLs on 20 March 1966. Anyone else interested in joining us?

Please feel free to contact me by phone 01494 437750 or by e-mail - Peter_Cartwright@wycombe.gov.uk - or post at 54 Guinions Road, HIGH WYCOMBE, HP13 7NX.

Latest Citaro models revealed

Dave Rogers sent the following press release.

CREATIVE MASTER NORTHCORD - PRESS RELEASE 

Mercedes-Benz Citaro - ukbus 5004 Arriva Manchester  -  ukbus 5007 Oxford Bus

 

Creative Master Northcord Limited is proud to release two brand new liveries on its well known Mercedes-Benz Citaro casting. Both models have received significant, yet different, modifications to the tooling in order to represent, as close to 100% accuracy as possible, the real buses on the roads. 

ukbus 5004 represents fleet number Arriva North West’s 2851 (CX55 EAA). This Mercedes Citaro is one of three such vehicles with dedicated route branding for service 700 and with the destination set to Manchester. The model features a redesigned interior layout that includes the reduced seating capacity and luggage racks. 

Starting on 29th October 2005, Arriva North West’s service 700 runs from Manchester’s Piccadilly Railway Station to Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport. For the service, 3 Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses were purchased and numbered 2851-3. They were painted in the same style and colours as the Scania OmniCity buses that already operated between John Lennon and Liverpool city centre. 

ukbus 5007 represents fleet number 830 (X13 OXF) of Oxford Bus Company. 830 entered service in December 2003, to upgrade the X3 & X13 Oxford – Abingdon services. The bus was painted in a new and distinctive livery designed by Best Impressions. 

ukbus 5007 features the smooth, curved windscreen with the destination display set behind the windscreen glass rather than the protruding destination found on the Park & Ride Citaros in the fleet. This feature is one of the standard specifications on other Citaros that the Go-Ahead Group has purchased. 

Mercedes-Benz Citaro ukbus 5004 and 5007 models are each a one-piece casting whose clean lines accentuate the square-mounted, double-glazed windows and the livery application on which all logos and lettering are clearly legible. Another main feature on both models is the extensive portrayal of handrails. The headlight / indicator units at the front and indicator / tail light units at the rear are made of individual components to look more realistic.

 

The brand new single-door Mercedes-Benz Citaro bus models will be distributed by John Ayrey Die-Casts Limited (UK), Porte Publishing Company (Japan) and Concorde Hobby Shop (HK) respectively. The ukbus 5004 and 5007 models are limited to 1700 pieces worldwide respectively. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Model Buses for Sale
prices revised with immediate effect

I have a revised deal on Models for your readers...

Each of the following models are available for the following price : 

Each Model = £10.00

Postage is £4.00 regardless of the number of models.

UKBUS 1014 - CREATIVE MASTER OXFORD P&R TRIDENT

UKBUS 5002 - CREATIVE MASTER OXFORD P&R CITARO

 

UKBUS 2012 - CREATIVE MASTER BROOKES BUS TRIDENT

 

CORGI ORIGINAL OMNIBUS OXFORD ESPRESS EXCALIBUR

Once again this offer is only available by emailing me direct at modelsmk@aol.com

More models are for sale on my eBay store, http://www.modelsmk.co.uk/shop

Thanks!    James

Would readers who respond to the above please quote my site when doing so.

 

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

Visit the "OXFORD BUS PAGE" Archive 1998 - 2002

Visit the "OXFORD & CHILTERN BUS PAGE " Archives from October 2002 to date

Links

These are three most interesting sites which I do recommend

Bus Zone Logo (2421 bytes)

Mike Penn's photo page with much from Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire as well as Buckinghamshire

Chris Lowe's Photo page - mainly North West UK

The Oxford Bus Museum


Ray Jackson Art

A web site which has paintings of buses.
Nice present for a Christmas or Birthday wish list !!

http://www.rayjacksonart.co.uk/index.htm
 

 


Stagecoach Handbook for 2006
from British Bus Publishing

http://www.britishbuspublishing.co.uk/

The latest handbook from BBF was on sale at Cobham and was the ever popular Stagecoach edition now in its 13th year.
It includes all the latest takeovers and as ever is invaluable
in keeping track of this now very large fleet.

As in earlier editions it includes the 2006 new bus orders.

Links

Bus Services in Buckinghamshire

Bus services in Oxfordshire

Where are the Chilterns?

Visit this informative site through the link below.

back to home page
Map showing the Chilterns Hills beginning in Oxfordshire in the Thames Valley and stretching north-east through Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire to Hitchin in Hertfordshire. The highest points are over 250m. There are various water courses running from the Chilterns to the South East.

Visit the "OXFORD BUS PAGE" Archive 1998 - 2002

Visit the "OXFORD & CHILTERN BUS PAGE " Archives from October 2002