Editorial - issue 99

Welcome to the new look OCBP. I have made it easier for readers to refer to those items which interest them most, rather than scroll down a seemingly never ending page!

I have grouped, where appropriate, companies under the same ownership such as Go-Ahead and Stagecoach.

I hope you like the new look?

The introduction of new and replacement vehicles proceeds apace and the end of the year should see some further new double decks for Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and some significant changes to the Oxford Bus fleet. Oxford Bus also expect further demonstrator coaches which should provide additional interest.

One of the most significant events for this issue is the re-introduction of double deck coaches by National Express. These are the first since January 2007 when the Skyliners then in use were withdrawn following a serious accident on the M4-M25 junction near Heathrow. The first services were on the A1 from London to Luton and the 509 from London to Cardiff on Monday October 31st.


Brand new CD04 is being made ready to operate the 0700 departure to Luton on day 1, October 31st - picture by Malcolm Crowe.

The nights are drawing in now and by the time this issue is published we will be in British Winter Time! Photography is not easy in these darker days and it is either too dull or too bright (winter sun low in the sky) for reasonable pictures. However I am sure contributors we overcome these difficulties and continue to produce very nice results.

Gordon Scott continues to provide some excellent pictures, keeping us up to date with happenings north of the border. His record of coaching developments are especially useful as seen below.


Stagecoach Bluebird 54064 - SV59CGZ once with Buchan Link branding now has express Jet Connect route X24 branding
seen on October 12th by Gordon Scott.

Gavin Francis has been on a two weeks trip to Florida and during his visit found a dealership in the area with a large stock of second hand coaches. These included quite a large number of Astromegas until recently owned and operated by Megabus USA.


Seen on October 14th the dealership was quite full of Astromegas once operated by Megabus.com

Closer to home several interesting developments have taken place with changes caused by the loss of tendered services in Oxfordshire.

A significant development is that following the extension of Chiltern Trains into Oxford's main station, the 500 service will now be extended via Oxford Airport to Woodstock bringing the return of Oxford Bus Company services to that town last served by them nearly twenty years ago when they operated the X50 service with Duple and Plaxton bodied Leyland Tigers!

Stagecoach have just registered new services from between Oxford and Woodstock given service number 7/N7 effective from 03-Jan-2017.

This also means another area of competition between Oxford Bus and Stagecoach!

Through the Thames Travel operation, a new express service to Harwell Campus from Oxford has been started and is showing loadings sufficient to justify a double deck vehicle. This seems in competition with Stagecoach who operate the slower 34 service between the two same points.

Another improved service is that of the Red Rose 275 High Wycombe-Oxford service, which now boasts a much better bus featuring WiFi and leather seats. This bus is one of three made available following the demise of GHA Services and the bus in question once worked service 88 from Altrincham to Knutsford via Mobberly. It would have passed the house where lived as a teenager and now passes the house where I live as a Septuagenarian in Stokenchurch. Life is full of coincidences!

  
Photos by Nick Cherry ands Gavin Francis.

Late news is of the arrival of four double decks at Oxford Bus, and other than they are ex London WVL 242-245 no further details are as yet available. This is in addition to news from LOTS that eight MEC class Citaros of Go-Ahead London, made available by the arrival of new BYD Electric single decks, are to move to Oxford. Again no other details of routes or allocation is as yet to hand.

Another coincidence is that of the three ex Scania-E400s from Stagecoach in Oxfordshire which moved to West Scotland, have now emerged with Cumbernauld branding and one is seen below working the X25 to Abronhill from Glasgow. The coincidence is that some of the ex Oxford tube Astromegas did for a time operate this same route when first transferred and then moved to Megabus Cwmbran and may often be seen in London passing members of the present tube fleet.

Gordon Scott writes "I was in Glasgow today and caught up with one of your ex Stagecoach Oxford Alexander Dennis Scania Enviro 400 15995 - YN64 ZSZ one of three I here and are based with Stagecoach West Scotland Cumbernauld depot seen working X25 route leaving Buchanan Bus Station.


Stagecoach West Scotland's 15995 on an X25 working leaving Glasgow on October 26th as seen by Gordon Scott.

Finally the first week of November saw significant activity in the arrivals point of Victoria Coach Station with large numbers of police in and around the Sammy's Garage. A sterile area with scanners had been established in the passenger arrival area and it appeared that all coaches arriving from ~European origins were being checked and passengers screened. This was a larger operation than I had seen before.


The operation actually started on the Monday and coaches from France are seen waiting their turn to go into Sammy's.
Other coaches such as the M11 arriving were redirected to VCS departures for unloading.

 
The police had their own "bus" which was parked outside Sammy's. Pictures by Gavin Francis taken on October 31st.

 

Well this completes our first new style Editorial and you can follow the menu on the left to see more in this issue.