Other Arriva pictures.

From Gavin Francis.

A very unusual appearance on November 2nd was when P&R 3702 worked a Line 40 service to Thame and back.
It is seen here in Stokenchurch on the return journey.

We have mentioned that the P&R fleet has been reduced by one with 3703 now repainted into inter-urban livery.
3701 and 3702 are now in plain green and these buses are seen above earlier this week.

Dart 3413 is mentioned above as being destined for pastures new. Well, so far, it hasn't moved away from Wycombe.
Gavin's first picture shows it working at Stansted back in 2008.

Still based at Luton, as a spare for the 757, 4365 is seen in London on the 757 on December 17th 2010.

Steve Doel from Calne in Wiltshire writes "I'm an enthusiast who also enjoys driving buses & coaches - I get quite a buzz from a day behind the wheel as it is so different from my day job.
 
Recently I have been doing some driving on the Oxford Tour for City Sightseeing Oxford, and I bet you can guess which of their fleet is a firm favourite? Yes, I'm always happiest with a day on their classic Atlantean - 928, GJZ 9573 (OSF 928M), Alexander bodied new to Edinburgh City Transport
 
Winter is truly with us now and hardly the time for taking an open top tour you might think, but Oxford always seems to have plenty of visitors. I came in last Sunday (bitterly cold) and imagine my surprise & delight to be allocated the Atlantean fresh back into service following a couple of months off the road where it has been re-panelled along the lower decks and also a replacement gearbox fitted. Now restored to fine health I had a cracking day!
 
928, despite being some 37 years old is a delight to drive. Not fast (but who needs speed on a city tour?), the steering and brakes are great, but the best bit is the sound of the engine & pneumocyclic gearbox
 
Enclosed are a couple of photos I took of 928 whilst out working last weekend"

Andrew Morgan writes that a Centrebus Leeds MCV EVOLUTION MAN 14.220 was in Stevenage bus station on 11th December. It was on lay-over and he does not know if it is transferred to Stevenage depot or the ex-Trustybus depot in Harlow because as it has luggage racks it could have been on the 700 to Stansted airport.

Glenn Knight sent a picture from Stevenage of Centrebus AF53EUW, an M A N 14.220/MCV Stirling which is ex-deCourcey, Coventry 533.

Mark Priest sent this picture from Ripley's scrap yard in Barnsley taken on December 13th.

Pictures from Gavin Francis

Over the past few weeks the Park & ride 400 has seen a variety of buses including some of the new Scanias.
Indeed one of these double decks has also worked the X2 Didcot/Abingdon service

Here is Scania 231 on 4 road showing Oxford City on the blind, no mistaking that!

Dennis Dart N772 RVK ex-Stagecoach United Counties 32772 seen in Hemel Hempstead Riverside on 14/12/2010 waiting to depart for service 352 to Watford.
Picture by Glenn Knight

MORE BUSES OVER CHRISTMAS

Stagecoach is running more buses than ever before over Christmas and New Year, and there’s a special gift for passengers.

Following the success of last years Christmas Day service on route 1 between the City Centre and Blackbird Leys, Stagecoach will be running hourly services on three main bus routes in the city as well as the Oxford Tube.

The services running include:

1 - Blackbird Leys to Oxford
7A - Kidlington to Oxford
7C - Barton to Oxford
Oxford Tube - Oxford to London

Last year just over a hundred people travelled on route 1 and Stagecoach expect more people to use the services this year, making it easier for people to visit friends and family as well as attending church and other places of worship.

Stagecoach looks for drivers to work over Christmas by asking for volunteers, the names are then put into a hat and pulled at random. Stagecoach says that drivers are more than happy to work and there have been plenty of volunteers.

Stagecoach spokesman Chris Child said “We have regularly run the Oxford Tube on Christmas day with a special diversion via Heathrow Airport and after running route 1 last year we know there is demand to travel”

“These links will be invaluable to many people and allow them to visit loved ones”

Stagecoach is also running more buses this year over the festive period including its popular S5 service between Oxford and Bicester Village on Boxing Day to allow customers to get an early start at the January Sales.

~~~~~

Vic Gackowski writes "I note reference is made in the latest issue to the Chippy based vehicle on the S1. This is indeed a booked move as Gavin Francis indicates. Chipping Norton Outstation Card N1 works the 0600  from Chipping Norton West Street to Oxford Station arriving at 0717. It then runs Dead to Witney Thorney Leys Roundabout to work the 0755 S1 to Oxford George Street where it arrives at 0908. It then drops back on to S3 work by returning to the station to work the 1010 to Charlbury. 

Improvements o frequency on the S3 in the peaks from November 14th has resulted in an extra card being introduced on to the route. Chipping Norton Outstation still work the bulk of services with cards N1 to N7 but the new card , N8, works out of Oxford Depot. It is booked for a low floor Enviro double deck to match the others on the route but, due to availability issues I am told, is currently formed by a single deck Enviro. This card is largely self contained on the additional morning and evening workings as far as Old Woodstock only but has one trip to Chipping Norton on the 1240 from Oxford Station and the 1354 back. 

Just to add that Chipping Norton N1 also does a similar move in the afternoons. After arriving at Oxford Station at 1605 off the 1454 ex Chipping Norton it runs dead to George Street where it works the 1625 S1 Departure to Witney Thorney Leys and the 1725 return. It then works the 1835 S3 service from Gloucester Green to Chipping Norton West St."

Chris Maxfield writes "on the last page you say its unusual to see a Dart on 14's. Its not anymore, the service is booked to use Darts. M A N's substitute when Dart's are not available."

Pictures from Gavin Francis

Since the 7A/B went over to Hybrids the Enviro 300s have been primarily deployed on the Wantage and Rose Hill routes.

Another picture of the Solo with 488 branding which was on temporary loan to Oxford.

Astromega 50214, the coach involved in the problem on the M40 on August bank holiday Monday is expected back from Van Hool in the next week or so.

More trouble on the 66 route! 

When I was driving to Oxford on the evening of Friday 18 Dec at about 1825, I saw that another double decker that had been on the 66 route that day, was parked up in a lay-by at the Buckland turning. It had been on its way back to Swindon and had presumably broken down. It was in complete darkness, other than hazard lights flashing, so I do not know which fleet number it was. I do not know whether or not passengers were still on the bus.

Marcus Lapthorn

Stephen Le Bras writes "Reports of a Streetlite demonstrator being used on the 142 service (Tues/Wed) appeared to be wide of the mark as Solo 109 was working the 142 service today (Wednesday). However, patience paid off as what should appear behind John Lewis around 11.40 but a white Streetlite "out of service" registration BRZ9662."

~~~~~~~~

On Saturday evening 11th December an Oxford tube service was the subject of an accident at junction 7 of the M40. This matter was widely reported in the national and local press, TV and radio and I do not feel the need to enlarge any further at this time. Suffice to say that our thoughts must be with the passengers and driver involved with whom we sympathise and give best wishes.

The coach involved was 50226.

National Express continues strong progress
 

Shares in public transport operator National Express (NEX) were up over 6% last Friday as the company announced continued strong progress in the fourth quarter and expected to finish the year ahead of current market expectations.

The FTSE 250 constituent said all parts of the business had performed well, with good revenue in UK Coach, Rail and North America. Margin recovery for UK Bus was also well ahead of plans and a strong margin was coupled with a return to intercity revenue growth in operations in Spain.

In an update on the business recovery plan launched in summer 2010 for UK bus, National Express said its West Midlands business had returned to underlying revenue growth, up 1.5% since July and was on track to deliver industry average margins in 2010, well ahead of schedule.

The company has boosted capacity and modernised the fleet, particularly on high frequency routes in the West Midlands, and has reduced network mileage by 4% since July also.

UK Coach has continued to trade well with underlying revenue of 3% in the year to date and the airports business has renewed its five year contract with BAA to operate Heathrow Central Bus Station. This part of the company is also expanding, with a new coach station opened in Milton Keynes this month.

The firm said it expected to see significant gains from the UK coach programme in the medium term and did not anticipate a material impact coming from the cessation of the current government funded senior citizen concessionary fare scheme in 2011.

UK Rail delivered even stronger revenue growth, with underlying revenue 7% higher in the fourth quarter. The firm said its East Anglia franchise has been extended to October 2011 and added that it hoped to bid for both a short contract extension and the remodelled longer term franchise.

In its Spanish operations, National Express said the Alsa business continued to perform strongly and conditions in the domestic coach market have shown improvement. Underlying revenue growth was a more subdued 1% in the fourth quarter, but intercity revenue was up year-on-year for the first time since 2008.

The company added that it did not think the impact of the current austerity measures on subsidised urban services had been marked. It said the pressure was on public funding of other modes of transport and so Alsa remains well placed to extend its presence into the domestic market.

Finally, the revenue generated by the North American business has grown 6% year-on-year since the start of the new school year in September. Demand in existing contracts and field trips has been broadly maintained and there has been a successful start up of over 1,600 new routes. Due to $30 million of annualised cost savings, the group said normalised operating profit in 2010 would be 50% higher than in 2009.

The next focus is to improve underperforming contracts, to deliver further cost savings and to improve fleet management.

Dean Finch, National Express group chief executive, said: "2010 has been a year of tremendous progress for National Express. This is now a much improved business, back on sound footing and with a strengthened management team."

Milton Keynes Coachway transformed 

I look forward to pictures from this new facility.

Hybrid Bus launch in Reading: Monday December 6th 2010 

RH Transport Services take over three Stagecoach routes in West Oxfordshire  -  by Mike Bennett 

Chippenham by Marcus Lapthorn

I visited Chippenham on Tues 14 Dec and attach a few shots of activity around the bus station. When I lived in Chippenham between 1990-1994 the buses arrived and departed from the same geographical area, but there was not a proper bus station. It was very much a down at heel area but the bus station that I saw today is much more impressive with about 8 different departure/arrival bays. Amazingly the car park that used to occupy most of the site has been abolished and the whole area given over to buses!

Mike Bennett answers a question from John Marsh 

In answer to your friend trying to put some detail to his family tree, the chassis of the bus was by Milnes-Daimler, a very popular make at the time, but I am not sure whether it is the 16hp or the 24hp model.  By the date of your photo it had acquired a charabanc body, having previously been a double-deck vehicle belonging to the GWR, as seen in the photo revealed by clicking on the following URL. 

http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=slough&f=generic_objectrecord.htm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&%3Dcms_con_core_identifier=sl-sl-2046_doubledeckbus-i-00-000.tif&t=sl-sl-firstbuses&s=KXJVd2FaS6k

The details show the bus is registered AF65, with fleet no. 6, so I am guessing that it is still owned by the GWR as a charabanc, because it still has the same fleet number, and the driver seems to be wearing the same style of uniform.  The photo is credited to 1904, and the registration is in the first series issued by Cornwall from January 1904.

The link below gives more details of the GWR bus services on the Wikipedia website.  The photo of AF84 shows a single-deck bus more in keeping with the type used on ordinary bus routes, whereas your photo shows a vehicle type that was used for excursions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GWR_road_motor_services

Are you sure that the charabanc had come from Launceston to Lands End?  As you say, it is a very long way, in excess of 75 miles. Does the slip board on the dash panel not say Penzance to Lands' End via Sennen, a much more likely journey on the roads of that time.  Also consider the reliability of the vehicles then - not good.

More details can be found in the book "Road Vehicles of the Great Western Railway" by Philip Kelly.  This book is from 1973 - I have a copy, but can I find it when I need it?