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 119
(OBP-334)
Sunday 13th March 2005
next update week ending 19th March 2005

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

An appointment in Reading gave me the opportunity to photograph the local bus scene there. I was pleasantly surprised to find 12 new Scanias at work on the 4, 5 and 6 routes from the station and you can see a selection of these buses in the pictures in this week's report.

I liked the livery very much and found it a refreshing change from those now considered to be "modern". I was also pleased to meet up with correspondent Stephen Le Bras, who had come to Reading especially to see the new buses. The only incongruous thing was that the interiors did not seem to match the exterior paint work but maybe there is a reason?

The lettering on the front seats for elderly and disabled was, I felt, a very useful addition.
The blue however did not seem to match the exterior green and beige scheme.

The picture below gives a good impression of the rear of the vehicles and shows a bright image against a rather dull building.

On a general note one of my readers commented last week that the photo captions were in a font too small to read and so this week I have corrected this matter.

Abingdon Road works cause headaches for local bus companies in Oxford.

The local bus companies in Oxford are facing all kinds of problems as a result of the new roadworks on the Abingdon Road. Delays, significant ones at peak times, are resulting in one company having to put additional resources into the routes affected. Local residents, especially the elderly are complaining about the lack of reliable services and there seems no answer to the problem other than to "sit it out" until the autumn when work is completed. Indeed for the next few months it can only get worse.

On the subject of roadworks, it was interesting to spend a half hour having a meal in a cafe on the corner of George Street yesterday and watch the blatant abuse with which car drivers and cyclists ignored the "NO ENTRY" signs off Worcester Street, opened specifically for buses. Also George Street is one way at present with a lot of signs and yet even a City council rubbish truck totally ignored the one way and one can wait for the crash on the corner which seems inevitable if this is not addressed.

Another factor is the little loves, probably the worse for drink, who knock over the rather splendid barriers in George Street which mark the footpath and road way boundary, leaving a trail of problems for drivers using George Street. In fact it is extremely difficult to get a long coach out of Gloucester Green at present without kerbing the back end and barriers lying in the road do nothing to help. The turn into Beaumont Street where the traffic lights are phased to allow traffic to proceed straight ahead and not turn left cause all sorts of problems. I did notice a police van on Saturday evening ignore the red left turn light and go into Beaumont Street against the pedestrian green. Not a very good advert of driving by example I felt.

A small local operator on the 63 - Village Carrier

I've noticed this operator on a few occasions waiting in Castle Street where the service 63 seems to originate. I had opportunity to catch the bus in question on camera last week and the result appears above. I do not have any further details of the operation but feel sure one of you will inform us in due course.

Bus Users Meeting held on Friday 11th March.

There was a meeting of the local Bus Users last Friday, this used to be the NFBU - National Federation of Bus Users and a number of interesting issues were raised. A full report will be published in due course but one item was of significant interest.

It seems that there is a voice amongst local officials on the City Council that suggests maybe the move of the long distance coach services to an out of city location would help traffic congestion in the city centre.

Concern was expressed by several parties and in particular it was felt that the London services would be greatly harmed by such a move. Their success has been the "hop on - hop off" nature of the services where one can board at a convenient local stop and be returned after a day in London to the same location on ones homeward journey. If, for example, one had to make ones way to a terminus at Thornhill the ease of using the coach to London would be lost. The service would suffer and we would lose a truly unique service level which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. There are up to 12 services an hour on a Saturday morning, spread between the two operators and these are almost always fully used on Saturday morning. Let us just consider the handling of around 750 passengers an hour at Thornhill, even with improved facilities. many more people would come by car quickly swallowing up the additional capacity recently provided. And.... What about the junction for exit and arrival, the phasing is at present far from ideal.

I finally wonder what the very many visitors from London to the city would feel about being dumped at Thornhill and then having to change to another bus for the journey into the city. Many of these people are foreign visitors who have little command of the English language and enjoy the fact that they can travel to the heart of the city for the day out without having to make any changes.

I would be most interested to hear your comments on this matter.

PSV Circle

Ken MacKenzie, Oxfordshire Other Sub Editor PSV Circle writes asking "does anyone in the group know the start and finish of the loaned Enviro 300???"  (Now I think this is when it was with Thames Travel but I am unaware of how long it will be with Oxford Bus. Ed.)

Ken goes on to say "also a BMC unregistered was parked in their yard on 10th Feb. Again does anyone know the arrival and departure of this vehicle? or any other information regarding this vehicle?" (This was looked at by Thames Transit but did not meet with much enthusiasm for all accounts. It left almost as quickly as it had come Ed.)

Finally Ken says "Any sightings of new arrival or departures or anything of interest regarding Oxfordshire other operators I would be most grateful to receive as I now cover the county for the PSV Circle other operators."

Forthcoming events.

Now on to this week's News and photos. Thank you to everyone who has contributed this week.

Malcolm Crowe - Sunday 13th March 2005

Back in Oxford Ross notes "... today (Friday) the following were all observed:

Not much to report on the Tube this week but I liked the picture below showing one of our tubes and new Megabus 50132 in London.