Issue nr 294
Thursday March 28th, 2024

Past Issues : https://www.oxford-chiltern-bus-page.co.uk/

From the Editor

Much of interest in this issue including a record of the ex Oxford Bus Volvo Hybrids now working in north Manchester out of Queens Road and Oldham depots.

More electric buses for Oxford (OBC and SCO) continue delivery, with five of the Stagecoach ones now present and into the 740's for Oxford Bus.

There is a comprehensive report from Barking Running Day and updated news from Showbus 2024.

We report on significant timetable changes by Arriva in Aylesbury an d High Wycombe.

In this issue

Arriva bus services axed in Bucks and new routes created

ADL’s Enviro400EV and Enviro100EV driven with new efficiency figures

Bicester Village shuttle gets new electric bus

Government announces £143m ZEBRA 2 funding allocations

Variety for the T15 – 24th March 2024

Barking Running Day - 23rd March 2024

Charlton Service for sale

OXFORD BUS Briefing from Richard Sharman

Latest from TfGM and ex Oxford Bus Hybrids

Grayson's throughput of oxford Oxford Bus Electroliners

Readers Write - Martin Isles, Nigel Peach and James Freeman

Buses in the Landscape

Coach visitors to Oxford

Fleet News & Development

Numerous pictures for our operators

Electroliners for Oxford Bus continue deliveries

TIMETABLE IMPROVEMENTS ANNOUNCED BY READING BUSES

Readers visits to outside our area.

A moment in time with Jack Cooper in Edinburgh

Arriva bus services axed in Bucks and new routes created

Changes to Bus Services in Buckinghamshire May 2024 | Arriva Bus UK

Changes to Bus Services in Buckinghamshire May 2024
From 19th May 2024

We will be making some changes to our services from 19 May in the area, details of which are below:

Service 2 will operate every 20 minutes during the daytime between High Wycombe & Booker. The evening service is unaffected.

Service 4 will be withdrawn. This service is supported by Buckinghamshire County Council and they are looking into finding a replacement operator to run this service.

Service 5 will be withdrawn and replaced by service 7, which is detailed below.

Service 7 will change its routeing to run along Kingsmead Road replacing service 5. London Road in Wycombe Marsh will no longer be served by route 7.

The combination of Services 6 and 7 will provide a 30 minute service between High Wycombe and Bourne End throughout the daytime.

Service 10 will operate every 30 minutes between High Wycombe & Downley. The evening service is to be unaffected.

Service 12 will operate every 20 minutes between High Wycombe & Micklefield. The evening journeys will return to their previous routeing - serving St Hugh's Avenue towards Micklefield only.

Service X7 will operate every 30 minutes between Aylesbury & Oxford. Service X8 short journeys will be withdrawn

Service X9 will operate every 30 minutes between High Wycombe & Aylesbury.

There will also be some minor changes to timetable on service 6/6A, 11, 13 and 800/850

These changes to service will help us to improve punctuality and reliability of your buses in the area.

ADL’s Enviro400EV and Enviro100EV driven with new efficiency figures

News - routeone (route-one.net)

80001 at Stagecoach's Horspath Road on March 21st by Andy Churchill
delivered on that day completing the first five for SC Oxford.

Bicester Village shuttle gets new electric bus

Oxford Bus Company (OBC) has unveiled a new Wrightbus GB Kite Electroliner single-decker for its Bicester Village Station-Bicester North shuttle service.

Thee 38-seater will have a range of up to 200 miles per day on a single charge.

The service, which is jointly funded by Value Retail PLC and Chiltern Railways, runs 364 days per year, whenever the Bicester Village designer shopping destination is open. OBC recently won a three-year extension of the operating contract it has held since 2020.

Luke Marion, Oxford Bus Company Managing Director, says: “It is fantastic to see our relationship with Bicester Village and Chiltern Railways go from strength to strength based on shared values and a commitment to providing joined-up, sustainable travel solutions. The investment in launching an electric vehicle into the shuttle service is another exciting step forward in the partnership for the greater benefit of visitors to Bicester Village and the wider community.”

Zach Bailey, Regional Growth Manager at Chiltern Railways, adds: “We’re delighted that the Oxford Bus Company will be operating a zero-emission electric bus connecting Bicester North and Bicester Village stations.This builds on the recent introduction of recycled vegetable oil to our fleet, which now fuels our locomotive hauled trains instead of diesel and is another step in the right direction as we look to decarbonise and modernise our operations. We are committed to improving integrated travel links between our stations and key destinations as leisure travel continues to grow across the network.”

The news follows launch of an £82.5 million project led by Oxfordshire County Council, OBC and Stagecoach to bring 159 electric buses to the city.

491 seen at Bicester in March 21st.

Government announces £143m ZEBRA 2 funding allocations
Apply for zero emission bus funding (ZEBRA 2) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Operators and local authorities have detailed how they will use the £143 million in Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme (ZEBRA2) funding which was announced earlier today.

A total of 955 buses will be part-funded after 25 successful single or joint bids from local authorities were named. The first £40 million will be prioritised for local authorities defined as “rural” *.

Stagecoach, which welcomed Transport Secretary Mark Harper to its Cheltenham depot as he publicised the second-round ZEBRA funding allocations, is involved in 11 new projects deploying 367 electric buses.

Sam Greer, Stagecoach Chief Operating Officer, says: “We welcome this allocation of funding to local authorities for investment in new zero-emission buses. This support gives renewed confidence to the whole supply chain and will unlock significant private sector investment into new, clean vehicles.

“This is a really positive step forward in helping to reduce carbon emissions and deliver cleaner air, building on the funding already made available to support bus services in England through the £2 fare cap. We look forward to working with our local authority partners to deliver our shared ambitions for thriving bus services that support local communities.”

Devon is among nine rural local authorities that were successful, thanks to co-operation with Stagecoach. The 41 new buses will be serve in Exeter and out of Barnstaple.

Rural areas will be well served by new zero-emission buses in and near the Peak District, courtesy of Stagecoach’s link-up with Derbyshire County Council. The 39 double-deckers and 18 singe-deckers will operate from the Chesterfield depot.

Liverpool City Region has revealed that the 58 Stagecoach new buses destined for its area will serve the 17, 19, 14 and 20/21 bus routes between Kirkby, Tower Hill, Northwood and Liverpool city centre.

Go-Ahead and its subsidiaries will add 201 zero-emission buses via ZEBRA2. The operator will contribute £62 million, adding to the £44 million from government and £6 million from local authorities.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper launching the ZEBRA 2 allocations at Stagecoach Cheltenham

Go South West’s Plymouth CityBus, and Go Cornwall Bus operators will share 50 buses thanks to £28.5m of investment. Further along the coast, Southern Vectis and Salisbury Reds will add 45 zero-emission buses to their fleets. The operator’s Metrobus will fleet in Crawley will be boosted by 43 vehicles, while 16 will go to Brighton & Hove Buses. Newly acquired Pulham’s Coaches will receive 15 buses at its Bourton-on-the-Water depot. Thanks to a joint bid between Hull City and East Riding of Yorkshire Council, East Yorkshire Buses will introduce 21 zero-emission buses.

Martin Dowling

This is an article confirming that Reading has got Zebra funding for 24 electric buses for routes 17 and 21. Full details in this link:

https://media.reading.gov.uk/news/council-secures-gbp-4-7m-funding-for-towns-first-battery-electric-bus-fleet?fbclid=IwAR22f3uSm5RJHQZ0AIGSFsRiZ62roLCJvSvIU_t89U1Gtm8Tpa_f5XT1yxg

Variety for the T15 – 24th March 2024
by Gavin Francis and pictures by Nigel Eadon-Clarke

Tourist Route T15 again paid host to two visiting buses on Sunday March 25^th.

Red RT 624 and Greenline RT 3232 from Ensigns had a busy weekend as the previous day they had both worked Route 145 at the Barking Garage Running Day.

RT 624 is shown at The Strand and Tower Hill

RT 3232 is shown at St. Pauls and Tower Hill

Many thanks to Nigel Eadon-Clarke for supplying the pictures.

Barking Running Day - 23rd March 2024 by Gavin Francis
All pictures are either by myself or Nigel Eadon-Clarke (NEC)

On Saturday 23^rd March a Running Day and Garage Open Day was held at Barking to celebrate the 100^th Anniversary of the garage opening. A wide variety of buses spanning 6 decades were in use from approximately 09.00 until 20.30.

Two routes were operated:

Route 62 Barking to Chadwell Heath

Buses in use on the route were RT 113, RT 1798, RT 3254, RM 5, RM 848, RM 1397, RM 1527, RML 2760, T 1064
and former Stagecoach Tridents 18214 and 18453 and with Nu-Venture TAL 268.

Route 145 Dagenham to Redbridge Station

Buses in use on the route were G 351, RT 1 (NEC), RT 624 (NEC), RT 714, RT 1658, RT 1790, RT 2177,
RT 3232, RT 3871, RT 3933, RT 4424, RT 4779 (NEC), RTL 554 (NEC), RTL 1076, RTW 75 (NEC), RTW 467 (NEC), DMS 1
RT 714 still carries some of the branding when it was used as a tour bus on Prince Edward Island, Canada

Ensign 192

RT 624 is parked in the garage yard at Barking. It was of course the last RT in normal passenger service on 7^th April 1979 on Route 62.
My picture shows it about to enter the garage on that day.

There was also a display of buses inside the garage along with sales stands. Newly unveiled on the day was Stagecoach E40H 12400 painted in 1933 red/white/black and silver and named East London Ambassador.

Located inside the garage were Stagecoach 10301, 11589, 11606, 12400, 18499 and 10139.
Also on display were DMS 550, RML 2440, RF 539, RT 1702, STL 2377, T21, T22 and T 747

Stagecoach 66034 a new MCV Volvo BZL EV (NEC)

Overall a well organized event which was supported by large crowds whose donations should provide a good sum for the charity Macmillan

My thanks to Gavin and Nigel for a most comprehensive article. Ed.

CHARLTON SERVICES, CHARLTON-ON-OTMOOR
Workshops & Storage Totaling 3,007 sq ft set on 0.6 Acres

Peter Leyman

Charlton services have put there property on the market, not sure if they are looking for a another operator to buy them out or they are calling it a day because of rising cost? Link is below

https://whitecommercial.co.uk/property/charlton-services-high-street-charlton-on-otmoor-kidlington-ox5-2uq/

OXFORD BUS Briefing from Richard Sharman

All the Park & Ride routes are seeing an increasing number of new electric buses on them, with the 300 being the latest. As can be seen, the new green livery makes a huge impact over the old livery, and will no doubt help car drivers switch modes with this more attractive offering....and the big increase of on street parking costs in the city, which are due to rise to £15.20 for 2 hours!. 210324

Service 300 has been suffering a diversion at the Pear Tree end for a good number of weeks now, due to the ongoing roadworks whilst the new Oxford North area is created.

As Oxford continues to grow outwards, we are seeing vast areas of green fields being built on, and the triangle that sat between the A40/44 and A34 is the latest to be covered in concrete, with new homes, offices and Research and Development labs.

Whilst this is all very exciting and will eventually bring 4,500 jobs to the area, the developers didn't seem to have think the extremely busy stretch of road between Wolvercote and Pear Tree roundabouts was worth completing quickly, so the work has been going on for months and for a number of weeks the old slip road and traffic lights for buses to turn into the Park & Ride site coming from the city were removed, meaning they now have to sit in the traffic and go around Pear Tree to reach the site.

Some of the work that has actually been done links up with the A34/44 Interchange work, meaning a new bus lane now runs from Yarnton to Pear Tree, and once open, will extend up to Wolvercote roundabout. New bus stops have also been installed on the A44 outside the Park & Ride site for passing services.

Details on the new development can be found here: https://www.oxfordnorth.com/

Oxford Bus 108

Oxfordshire County Council funded 108 service operates between Oxford and Bicester via a very rural route that goes over the M40. It is seeing an increasing number of passengers as villagers become more aware of it.

972 is seen travelling through the village of Stanton St. John whilst operating a lunchtime journey to Bicester.
If you were to travel end to end, the journey would take1hr 10mins.

SCMcr 13176 the first of the Oxford Hybrids (352) in service on March 24th by Brian Lomas

Currently during each week there are pictures of the new Oxford Electroliner fleet passing through this company. Allan Hollis provides pictures of this throughput. Ed.

Martin Isles writes "I emailed you back in October letting you know before anyone else that SHOWBUS was making a comeback this year at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre on September 29^th.

Several things have fallen into place since then so I thought I would bring you up to date at this time, which is the usual time of year that SHOWBUS invitations are sent out. I have been very impressed with the enthusiasm and capabilities of the Railway Centre’s team. They have a lot of experience in staging great family days out over many years and the venue is well resourced with plenty of activities to engage visitors if SHOWBUS and the SHOWBUS TRADERS VILLAGE are not enough for you! It promises to be a great day out.

Some of you may know that the Railway Centre has staged an annual bus rally in late May, filling their car park with around thirty buses, that event will not be taking place this year, being replaced by SHOWBUS in September. The Centre now have a new arena on site and other spaces to accommodate a display the size of SHOWBUS.

The Railway Centre also has an online entry form which you can access via showbus.com/display which is an improvement on our old entry forms, but if you wish to enter the same bus as last year you can simply reply to this email with “same again please”. As the form has been online since last year we already have well over 40 amazing entries. Check them out at showbus.com/entry/entry2024.htm

As mentioned last time there will be the opportunity for suitably insured buses to take visitors on tours of the local countryside to Waddesdon Manor and Claydon House.

Another attraction and activity will celebrate the 70^th anniversary of the Routemaster with a parade of these buses from Aylesbury to arrive at the Railway Centre around noon.

In addition to the bus service to bring visitors from Aylesbury with bus connections from Oxford, High Wycombe, Watford and train connections from Marylebone, we are planning an hourly service from the Railway Centre to Bicester Shopping Centre so members of your party can enjoy some retail therapy. It will also offer an opportunity for those travelling by bus from Milton Keynes, or train via Bicester North to get to SHOWBUS.

On 22nd March at Cressex, 4212, out of service for a while, and 4749, withdrawn some months ago, and... RML2335! I
know that High Wycombe has been receiving more double deckers, but this is a surprise! Look forward to seeing it in service!!

RML2335 and Arriva 2325. I like the fact that the fleet numbers are very similar!!

Seems to be a shortage from the Hemel correspondences as I miss my former hometowns movements if anyone has any pics they can share?

Birmingham International KV22WFE and Readybus RD23BUS at Redbridge on March 24th.

Well, I wonder what readers have to say aout the lead article in this issue regarding service changes? Ed.

At the 2012 Olympics this was Gavin's steed when ULSTERBUS 1022 is seen at WEMBLEY ARENA on July 30th 2012.

Recently these buses have appeared working the branded 8 but here is 686 with an 11X on March 21st.

Engineering Support van 1900 has gained the registration R5OXF seen on March 21st.

This may have been the first time that a Park & Ride StreetDeck has worked the 11 with 675.

Lots of electric buses here today including a trio of the new Oxford City Tour, 194, 195 & 196

Electroliners read off and confirmed present were as listed below plus registration BJ73WXX fleet nr 734

28 has now gained branding for the Airline. 29 is now the only coach not to have branding on it.

Little update. The second Elite i we acquired (70) X90WAY is now R70PUL as of today 27/03

Variety from Charles, I think PDF567 is his usual coach however he did collect 972 to replace 98l8 during its M O T.

George Candelin seen at the depot seen at the Thames Travel depot on March 26th.

Gavin Francis with a selection taken on March 10th in Baker Street, Swiss Cottage and Golders Green

Changes designed to increase frequencies, improve punctuality and reliability as well as provide better late-night train connections are announced today by Reading Buses.

The April 15 improvements are for jet black 1, orange 13/14, purple 17 and yellow 26. A few other routes see minor changes.

The headline change is that purple 17 will have even more buses with an increase in frequency to up to every eight minutes during peak times.

Buses will also run up to every nine minutes during the rest of the day on weekdays and on Saturdays, and up to every 10 minutes on Sundays. This increase in frequency, seven days a week, reflects the busy nature of this route and is designed to help customers travel in comfort.

Other good news is that there will be more buses during peak periods on jet black 1, and changes to help improve punctuality on this popular route between Reading and Newbury. Buses will run every 30 minutes throughout the day, with extra resources allocated to add more resilience to the timetable.

The new timetable for orange 13/14 will also see more buses during peak periods and changes to departure times to help improve reliability. In the evenings an extra orange 14 journey will run at 5.10 pm from Reading Station.

To help connect with late night trains from London, overnight buses on yellow 26 will leave Reading Station five minutes later.

The Newbury & District 1a/1c departure times are changing by five minutes to maintain an even service with jet black 1 between Thatcham and Newbury.

An afternoon journey on sky blue 16 will see a small change in departure times and school day afternoon journeys on routes 89 and 91 are being re-timed to remove the current need to wait for the timetable mid-route.

Said Robert Williams, Reading Buses Chief Executive Officer: ”It is with great pleasure that we introduce more buses onto the network following continued growth in patronage. Most of these routes will see improved bus lanes in the coming months too.

“We are committed to providing a best in class service that includes identifying routes that need more buses for capacity, but also those that require more resources to help with the resilience of the timetable in the face of traffic congestion.

“It is particularly gratifying to see purple 17 increase to run up to every eight minutes – it is, of course, our flagship route and by far the most popular in the town. We hope that by adding more buses it encourages even more people to leave their car at home.

“The route sees plenty of traffic on sections without bus lanes and yet a full bus can take over 2km of cars off the road.”

The rest of the changes are also a positive, Robert explained: “The other changes are all as a result of responding to the situation on the ground, no matter how small. Where there are difficulties with congestion, or even heavy loadings, we are looking at ways that we can invest back into the services to make them even more attractive to encourage more people to use them.”

Not a regular for the 40, E15RRT pauses at The Kings Arms, Stokenchurch on March 26th.

Yesterday marked the first complete operation by Stagecoach to Aylesbury Parkway. Buses from Oxford Portsmouth Winchester Bristol and two from Oxford Tube.

Just to let you know that EV 80001 (SK73CZE) has arrive today 21/03/24 so now we finally have the first five and it has the Electro livery .

Nearing the end of its life in Oxford 12008 is often the only one of three remaining in service as seen on March 25th.

Just reading this week's briefing. I was surprised to see in the Overseas Interlude the photograph of GO Transit 8315 and the comment. Not the best of pictures as I had the building shadow in the foreground but his bus is one of the 268 ADL Enviro500 SuperLo buses operated at 12 feet 9 inches high. These are the only d/d buses now operated by GO Transit.

We visited it for the first time at the end of last year! Thought you might like to see these Chaserider Buses at Cannock bus station! They have an odd selection. Probably changed a lot since the 70's.

Please find attached some pics from Durham taken within the space of a couple of days and the weather really changed! Photos are that of mixed ex London Buses now in service entering the new Durham bus station.

A selection of photos from my trip to Sheffield on Tuesday. There's a particular focus on the trams because today (21st March) is the last day of Stagecoach running the trams. Bus photos showcase some of the selection from First and Stagecoach, along with local operators TM Travel and Hulley's of Baslow. All photos are from Sheffield City Centre except for the photo of tram 122 and First 37518, which were taken at Middlewood P&R and Castleton Bus Station respectively.

13175	OE62 ZRD	97	08:35	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2		Bee Network	R3 OXF
13176	OE62 ZRF	135	08:25	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2		Bee Network	R1 OXF
13177	OE62 ZRG	98	08:35	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2		Bee Network	R2 OXF
13178	OE62 ZRJ	33	07:36	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2	city	Bee Network	R4 OXF
13179	OE62 ZRK	100	08:28	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2	city	Bee Network	R6 OXF
13180	OE62 ZRL	409	08:40	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2	city	Bee Network	R7 OXF
13181	OE62 ZRN	100	08:38	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2	city	Bee Network	R5 OXF
13182	OE62 ZRO	S350	07:30	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2	city	Bee Network	R9 OXF
13183	OE62 ZRP	S350	07:13	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2		Bee Network	J1 OXF
13184	OE62 ZRR	S84	07:46	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2		Bee Network	R11 OXF
13185	OE62 ZRT	348	08:39	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2		Bee Network	K1 OXF
13187	OE62 ZRV	17	08:58	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2		Bee Network	M1 OXF
13188	OE62 ZRX	794	07:33	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2		Bee Network	V14 OXF
13189	OE62 ZRY	348	08:40	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2		Bee Network	V15 OXF
13190	OE62 ZRZ	59	08:50	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2		Bee Network	V16 OXF
13191	OE62 ZSD	836	07:26	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2	Pride	Bee Network	V17 OXF
13192	OE62 ZSF	893	07:36	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2		Bee Network	N1 OXF
13193	OE62 ZSG	84	25 Mar	Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2		Bee Network	Y25 OXF

740	Wright Streetdeck Electroliner	H44/26F
741	Wright Streetdeck Electroliner	H44/26F
743	Wright Streetdeck Electroliner	H44/26F
744	Wright Streetdeck Electroliner	H44/26F
745	Wright Streetdeck Electroliner	H44/26F
746	Wright Streetdeck Electroliner	H44/26F
747	Wright Streetdeck Electroliner	H44/26F

965	BD09 ZWA
966	BD09 ZWG

Government announces £143m ZEBRA 2 funding allocations

Government announces £143m ZEBRA 2 funding allocations Apply for zero emission bus funding (ZEBRA 2) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Government announces £143m ZEBRA 2 funding allocations
Apply for zero emission bus funding (ZEBRA 2) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)