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 136
(OBP-351)
Wednesday 13th July 2005
next update week ending 22nd July 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

What a tragic time it was last week. I was heading for London with the 0800hrs departure from Gloucester Green and after switching to our London radio control at Lewknor began to get snippets about it appearing that the London underground was having problems and their passengers were spilling on to the street at each of their station entrances which we pass.

Little could one appreciate what was actually happening and as I approached the Shepherd's Bush stop I could see enormous queues of people waiting for the local buses. Having dropped several people for that stop I found more than a dozen intending passengers who asked if we stopped at Marble Arch or Victoria. Of course I was only too prepared to help and as we do have single fares for this section of The Oxford Tube route boarded some very thankful people. Traffic was very heavy going up Bayswater but this was more due to two separate lorries unloading scaffolding, one in the bus lane just before Marble Arch than what was to come.

However when we got to the Marble Arch the Edgware Road was closed off by police and there were a great number of emergency vehicles and police cars and vans rushing in various directions. Having dropped the Marble Arch passengers I then made my way down to Victoria where things seemed a little quieter.

I dropped nearly all remaining passengers at our Victoria train station stop and then finalised my inbound journey at our stop in Buckingham Palace Road at just after 1000hrs. Here drivers normally slip coaches and pick up a later service. I was however scheduled to park up for the day at Notting Hill coach park but this was not to be. A colleague operated back to Oxford with my coach and this was to be the last but one service until around 1500hrs that afternoon.

I was then detailed to assist the controller as it gradually became clear that something very serious was going on in London. The first impact to us was to find that none of our mobile phones worked and whilst we had radio contact with inbound coaches our contact with Oxford control is normally by mobile phone.  I was asked to go to a land line to call our headquarters in Oxford and advise the current situation.

The police is transpired had asked us not to load any coaches for the return services to Oxford until further notice. Thus all inbound services from 1000hrs until 1200hrs were held at Victoria and we ended up with 12 coaches ready to return to Oxford immediately we were cleared so to do by the police.

Part of the line up of Oxford Tube Neoplans held in London until services could resume in the afternoon of the 7th July.
As the picture shows there was little other traffic as all bus services had stopped and there were few taxis either.

There was an eerie silence about the area broken from time to time by police and emergency vehicles passing by, no London buses and after some little time no other traffic apart from the odd taxi and car. Quite a few people were making their way to various destinations on foot and we gradually gained quite a queue of intending passengers who besides wanting Oxford also wanted Swindon, Reading, Birmingham and even Manchester.

We kept them advised as best we could and most seemed understanding and in reasonable humour. Victoria Coach Station was eventually closed and Green Line Coach Station also had no operations. Most Green Line services from the north of London were stopping short at Baker Street and services to Southend were also absent from Victoria. At one point it seemed as if the Oxford Tube was the only bus or coach in sight.

There was a heightened sense of concern and any suspect packages were immediately brought to the attention of the police. Everyone met matters with a stoicism reminiscent of long off war time days in London.

The police attend an incident near the Tube coach stop in Buckingham Palace Road.
This an the picture above were kindly provided by Gwyn Gardiner.

The Oxford Mail on Monday reported that a fleet of coaches had been sent to London by Oxford Bus for their Oxford espress service when the restrictions were lifted by the police around 1400hrs on the Thursday afternoon. Those X90 coaches at Victoria in the morning had left VCS as the police seemed to intend to close the coach station.

The heightened state of security has brought several problems to bus and coach services, even in Oxford when the city centre was seemingly closed for a short period last night, 12th July and the rail station was closed for a period on Monday.

The picture above shows the Oxford Rail Station closed off by police on Monday.
Photo by Rob Williams

Rob writes "The X3 and 5 were terminating in Castle Street, whilst City Sightseeing were using their stop in Park End Street outside Staples. I didn't see what any of the others doing, apart from an X5 travelling along Park End Street towards GG."

Double Decker loses roof at Little Kimble.

Dennis Troughton was on hand to record a double deck bus which had unfortunately tried to get under the rail bridge at Little Kimble. The accident happened on 5th July and caused some traffic diversions whilst matters were resolved. One wonders if this bus will be repaired in view of its age.

 
The bus and the bridge involved. Picture by Dennis Troughton - 5th July 2005

Silverstone F1 and Stagecoach involvement.

Vince Dallimore took this picture on the A4260 to Banbury last Sunday morning when a convoy of Stagecoach in Oxford buses
were heading towards Hinton in the Hedges to take up Park & Ride duties for the F1 event at Silverstone.

Around 275 buses provided by Stagecoach last Sunday to handle the Park and Ride services for this year's Formula 1 British Grand Prix. Three specific service were run, these being from Hinton in the Hedges airfield near Brackley, Towcester Racecourse and Sixfields Stadium at Northampton. The buses carried an appropriate colour coded letter back and front and the fleet was spread between the three sites. Some race goers were around as early as 0400 and services ran until 1100 from each site to ensure those using the Park & ride services were fully catered for.

Stagecoach in Oxfordshire provided buses from their operating area, with a large fleet of Tridents from Witney depot joined by nearly every decker from Oxford depot that could be mustered. Buses noted were Brookes Tridents 18051-4, 18195-9 and Olympians 16518-23, 25 and 26. All these buses were sued on the Hinton-Silverstone service.

Witney Trident 18128 is seen arriving at Silverstone and joining the Hinton queue of some 80 buses used on that service.
The H sign can be seen in the nearside lower front window.

The largest group of buses used were from Stagecoach East but there were also buses from as far away as Chesterfield and I also not "Nessy" F100NES now numbered 14000 in use. I have put a selection of photos below which give some idea of the size and scope of this event from a bus point of view.

   

 
A selection of pictures taken in the bus parking area at Silverstone.

 
A few pictures taken at Hinton in the Hedges on Sunday morning.

If you pass your cursor over each picture you will find its title on your bottom bar on your screen.

The day was a great success unless you were supporting Jensen Button whose 5th was not what had been hoped for. It must be said that this was a considerable undertaken for those who managed the supply of buses from Stagecoach and it also provided a unique opportunity for anyone especially interested in the Stagecoach fleet.

More on the Rail Replacement services following the tunnel collapse at Gerrards Cross on the Chiltern Line.

I have received a number of pictures from a readers showing various buses being used to ferry rail passengers from High Wycombe. Again if you put your cursor on the thumbnail you will get a title in the bottom bar on your screen. This will also reveal who provided each picture.

Seemingly it will be a number of weeks before normal services can be resumed.

Following a recent picture on this subject Andy Churchill writes "Malcolm, the Leyland Leopard that was taken by Gavin Francis actually belonged to Essex coach company Fargo of Braintree and is an ex-Associated Coachways 1980 vintage Plaxton Supreme1v C57F and it certainly looked in superb condition for a 25 year old !".

Accident closes the M40 yet again.

Tuesday 12th July saw yet another closure of the M40 due to an accident. In recent weeks there hardly seems to be a day goes by without another accident.

Last evening a car seemingly somersaulted along the M40 Oxford bound between junctions 5 and 6 and the M40 was closed for a couple of hours to resolve the situation. coaches from London heading towards Oxford who got caught up in the delays were running up to an hour late when leaving the M40 at junction 5. Those more lucky ones were able to leave the M40 at High Wycombe and I saw several X90s and Oxford Tubes coming through Stokenchurch. On one occasion an Oxford Tube leaving the motorway at junction 5 was faced with another which had come through West Wycombe on the "old road" and they both joined the A40 in convoy towards Lewknor. The light had almost gone by this time and sadly a picture was not practical.

Some idea of the congestion and delay can be seen in this picture where an X90 has just come through the village
turning right on to the A40 towards Lewknor followed by a long line of traffic which has come off the M40.

This picture shows traffic already past the junction 5 turn off being turned back up the on-slip road
to then turn left and join the long queue of traffic heading down the A40 towards Lewknor.
The railway carriage seen on the low loader was the second of the day for me as I had seen a similar coach
earlier in the day heading towards Oxford. However this earlier was partly burnt out.

Bus stop changes in our area

I note that the bus stop at Hillingdon - Oxford bound - has been resited nearer to the London end of the location. This has been need as the original stop was on a corner of a service road used as a rabbit run by motorists wishing to turn into Long Lane and avoid the traffic lights. Also the company style flags have been removed and a standard TfL style stop put up instead.

The only thing missing is somewhere for passengers to shelter in inclement weather.

Another interesting fact is that the bus stop for the Tube and X90 at Hillingdon station has been removed and so far not replaced.

Dutch buses in Cuba

Although outside our area, I did include a picture of a Dutch bus in Cuba a while ago (News Page 19th December 2004, and received a message from a Dutch reader this week. Edgar Kapp writes "I came across that bus in Cuba on your website and yes, it was a Dutch bus. There's loads of Dutch buses in Cuba, even with the Dutch registration still on them and stickers that say they're looking for drivers (in Dutch). It appears the Dutch government donates a lot of buses that are out of service in Holland."

Bus pollution causes concern in Oxford

Last week's Oxford times reports that bus companies operating in Oxford could face stringent controls after being held responsible for most of the city centre's traffic pollution. A report says that restricting access to bus priority routes such as High St and George St could cut nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions by 58%.

Nigel Eggleton of Oxford Bus made a strong case for buses when he stated that "whilst buses may cause some pollution in the city centre, they cause much less pollution than the number of cars need to get the equivalent number of people into the city centre by car".

One waits with interest to see how this matter develops.

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Now on to this week's News and photos. Thank you to everyone who has contributed this week. M6y apologies for the delay in publishing this week's page but I hope it will have been worth waiting for.

Malcolm Crowe - Wednesday 13th July 2005

Once the pride of the Speedlink fleet D2, P222SAs is now on more humble duties, seen here
working on a 757 into Oxford last Friday.

Although the latest edition of The National Express handbook by British Bus Publishing states
that Volvo B12M 7087 is FCU 100, it is in fact or tin FCU 190.
It is seen here entering George Street, Oxford on a 304 service to Weymouth last Friday.

Pearces

Pearces maintain a very smart fleet of coaches for work around Oxfordshire. Here we see one of their Plaxton Prismas OU04KMY, now only about a year old. It is passing Christ Church in St Aldates.

Last week we pictured a couple of Banbury buses in Carlisle. Their stay will be short lived as a brand new fleet of Darts is entering service. Ken MacKenzie, Oxfordshire Other Operators Sub Editor - for PSV Circle. sent this picture of 34717 prior to its entry in to service.

Ex "Oxford" Trident in Manchester

Last December, I think, we had several Manchester Tridents on loan prior to the 18195-99 batch of Brookes Bus Tridents. Chris Lowe sent this picture of one of those Tridents now firmly established in service in Manchester. It is seen on the high frequency 192 route.

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