Issue nr 300
Thursday May 16th, 2024
Past Issues : https://www.oxford-chiltern-bus-page.co.uk/
From the Editor
My week off has fired with renewed enthusiasm and this issue has much of interest for all. Two readers celebrate issue 300.
Gavin Francis writes
"I know when you get to a
special number edition of OCBP you like to have pictures of that route number.
These make interesting memories for the various 300 routes.
Grahame Wareham
I don't think COMS or OBC ever had a proper 300 in a batch of new vehicles.
The final view of 300 SN60BXW in Oxford prior to departure to Plymouth.
and then transferred to OBC following the TT takeover as it was found
unsuited to the routes for which it was purchased.
Also another picture of 300 at The Plain in Oxford a few weeks prior
carrying its cherished registration mark R12OXF.
It was renumbered to keep the original ADL E400H BAE Hybrids in one
batch.
which became OBC 952 in 1993, so I have attached a picture of that if it
is of any interest.
A further surprise as I write this issue is news of Arriva's proposed closure of Aylesbury and High Wycombe depots from late July 2024.
This issue has over 200 pictures and a lot to interest readers.
In this issue
Arriva propose the closure of Aylesbury and High Wycombe depots from late July 2024
Go Ahead step forward to cover services
A40 road closure in the centre of High Wycombe
Cotswolds with Tony Gaze
Eastern National converted ten of their 1953 Bristol KWS5G buses to open top
Super Loop and n eleven hour visit by Jack Cooper
RISBOROUGH AREA COMMUNITY BUS,
First Day of New Service to Chinnor by Peter Edgar
Milton Keynes update from Thomas Walker-Werth
Readers Write
Buses in the Landscape
Coach visitors in Oxfordshire
Fleet News & Developments
Buses on loan to SC West for the Cheltenham Races
London Operations
Some interesting memories from Andrew Dyer
Gordon Scott and the new Stagecoach Volvo 9700DD's
Adrian Small on the South Coast
Paul Hawkins from Skegness, Lincoln and Belfast
James Allum from Durham
We have taken the difficult decision to begin consultation with our colleagues on the proposed closure of our Aylesbury and High Wycombe depots. Despite extensive efforts to turn the situation around, including making network changes to better reflect local demand, both sites continue to be loss-making.
There will be no immediate impact on services and we will work with local authority partners to explore ways to minimise the impact, should we withdraw services.
We will keep our customers and our employees updated throughout this period.
If the closures go ahead, Arriva will no longer operate the following services:
o X7/X8 –
Aylesbury to Oxford
o X9/X90 –
Aylesbury to High Wycombe
o 2 –
High Wycombe to Booker
o 3 –
High Wycombe to Castlefield
o 4 –
High Wycombe to Lane End
o 5/5a –
High Wycombe to Bourne End
o 6/6a –
High Wycombe to Bourne End
o 7/7a –
High Wycombe to Bourne End and Maidenhead
o 10 –
High Wycombe to Downley
o 11 –
High Wycombe to Penn
o 12 –
High Wycombe to Micklefield
o 13 –
High Wycombe to Totteridge
o 800/850/X80 –
High Wycombe to Henley on Thames and Reading
o X9/90 –
Aylesbury to High Wycombe.
If the closures go ahead, the X5 (Aylesbury to Hemel Hempstead) would continue to operate running from our Hemel Hempstead depot instead.
Carousel Buses – response to closure of Arriva High Wycombe
Today Wed 15th May 2024
"We understand that local people may well be worried that the bus services they rely on across Wycombe and south Bucks will be impacted by this sad news - but they need not be concerned,” said Luke Marion, Carousel Buses Managing Director. “I can reassure them that Carousel is ready to step in, to ensure bus users can still get to where they need to go. If Arriva does proceed with its plans to close the High Wycombe depot, we plan to immediately provide a service on current Arriva routes 2, 3, 5/5a, 6/6a, 7/7a, 10, 11, 12, 13, 800, 850 and X80, from the date of the closure. As already announced, we are also already taking over the operation of service 4 from 19th May 2024, and our sister company Oxford Bus Company will be commencing a new service 280, following the route of the current Arriva X7 service between Oxford and Thame, from 1st July 2024. Therefore, we will ensure that Wycombe and the surrounding area will be covered by a very similar level of bus services to today - albeit with different coloured buses running the routes. We will be working hard over the coming months to plan the new services.”
Carousel’s parent company, Go-Ahead, is no stranger to saving the day when services have been withdrawn by fellow operators. In 2022, another of its companies, Morebus, worked tirelessly to ensure people in Bournemouth and Poole continued to enjoy comprehensive bus services - following the collapse of Bournemouth Transport Ltd (Yellow Buses). And in February 2023, the team at another Go-Ahead company, Bluestar.
Carousel Buses will introduce a new service 4, serving Lane End up
to every 30 minutes
and replacing services 8/X8/28/28A and Arriva service 4 from 19th
May 2024
Buckinghamshire Council have entered into a contract with Carousel Buses to provide a new service to Lane End. Service 4 will be combined with the Park and Ride service, replacing the existing services 4, 8/X8 and 28/28A and run between Lane End, Booker, Cressex and the town centre. The good news for Lane End residents is that this service will now run every 30 minutes and provide new direct links to Handy Cross Coachway and Castle Street for the Railway Station.
Buses on service 4 will operate from High Wycombe via Wycombe General Hospital direct to the Coachway, before continuing to Cressex Industrial Estate, Booker Asda, Wycombe Air Park and Lane End. Service 4 will have the same route all day around Cressex to create a consistent service. Buses will no longer serve Wheeler End, New Road in Stokenchurch or Cadmore End.
A map of new service 4 is available here, and the new timetable is available here.
For passengers travelling from Sands on the existing Arriva service 4, High Wycombe PickMeUp will continue to provide a Demand Responsive Transport service to Hillbottom Road and Lane End Road.
Oxford Bus Company – response to closure of Arriva Aylesbury
We are pleased to announce that we will be stepping in to assist Arriva customers with the launch of a new 280 service between Oxford, Headington, Wheatley and Thame. This service will operate every 30 minutes and will commence operation from 1st July 2024. The timetable for the new service will be posted here as soon as possible.
Well, the wheel is turnin g full circle, I seem to remember the 280 was originally a COMS service !!! Ed.
I have read several responses on vario/us web pages which describe contributors views on the subject. You may wish to add comments for the OCBP. Ed.
A40 road closure in Wycombe
Gavin Francis recorded some pictures of the A40 road closure in High Wycombe which caused buses leaving The Eden Bus Station westbound to use Desboro' Avenue in recent days.
Cotswold happenings by Tony Gaze
Spent most of the day in
Witney today. Travelled by S2 from Cheltenham. First time by bus since the days
of Swanbrook!
Stagecoach returning to depot in Witney
Pulhams JJ22BUS on Route R and a 'sunnier' shot of 375 on the 99
Not sure who the owner of the Versa (YJ13HHU) is as PCL
Travel are based in Prudhoe (North East)!
Not sure what the Troopers Lodge (Stow on the Wold) was
doing in Cheltenham as it was there when I got off the S2.
Variety in Witney.
Eastern National converted ten of their 1953 Bristol KWS5G buses to open top
by Michael Penn
Some additional information on the Eastern National
Bristol KSW open toppers.
Eastern National converted ten of their 1953 Bristol
KWS5G buses to open top in 1965 and 1966. These were fleet numbers 2378-87 (WNO
474/5/8/82/3/79-81/4/5), some of which had been new to Westcliff-on-Sea.
They were originally low bridge but as part of their conversion to open top they
were rebuilt to high bridge configuration. They replaced an equal number
of Leyland PD1s with various makes of body and were used at Clacton and
Southend from the 1966 summer season onwards. Two of them (WNO 481/2) were
sold to Eastern Counties in 1968 but a number of them had long lives with
Eastern National, being retained as heritage vehicles.
Photographs
WNO 478 was the first of them to be sold for
preservation, this being in December 1971. It is seen on Canvey Island in
October 2008.
WNO 479 with Eastern National in Southend in June 1976.
The infamous low bridge (carrying the pier over the esplanade) can be seen in
the background.
WNO 480 with Town & Country of Corringham at the
Southend bus rally in June 2006.
WNO 481, after its European tour, found further work
with other operators. Here it is seen with Tricentrol Coaches of Dunstable
at the Epsom Derby in June 1978.
WNO 481 is seen here with White of St Albans at the
Radlett bus rally in July 1989.
WNO 482 is seen with Abel of Watton, Norfolk at the
Norwich bus rally in September 1982. The rebuilt upper deck looks a little
odd!
WNO 484 is seen with Eastern National at Chelmsford bus
station in July 1963 in original condition, clearly to low bridge specification.
WNO 484 is seen with South Wales at the Port Talbot bus
rally in June 1989.
WNO 484 in United Welsh livery, now preserved is seen at
the Barry Island bus rally in June 2013
11 hours to do the loop by Jack Cooper
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/buses/superloop
On Thursday 9th I had
completed the London Superloop, a great day out seeing different parts of London
I have never been to before. Photos are of buses I had travelled on, however
most were quickly taken on my phone so not up to my usual quality.
In total it had taken 11 hours to do the loop
anticlockwise, starting and finishing at Heathrow Central Bus Station. The 11
hours is including breaks, and I'd imagine it'll take less time to do at the
weekend than during the week.
So if you want something to occupy 11 hours this summer here's a suggestion. Ed.
The travels of Nigel Eadon-Clarke
Llandudno Festival of Transport
Keighley Bus Museum – First open day after recent
acquisition of the site
RISBOROUGH AREA COMMUNITY BUS, First Day of New Service to Chinnor by Peter Edgar
Today May 8th 2024 saw the
first journey into the village of Chinnor by the Risborough Area Community Bus.
At the moment the service
only operates 2 journeys on Wednesdays and Fridays and as far as I know on a
trial basis. The service is acting as a sort of replacement for the redline
service that was withdrawn earlier in the year, but by no means as regular as
this service operated five days a week and provided a good link to Princes
Risborough Station with regular trains to London, Oxford and Birmingham.
Hopefully if well supported it may become a more regular service, but as they
say, time will tell.
Taken in Chinnor on May 8th.
Aylesbury Rail Replacement by Derek Taylor
Here's a few pictures from Aylesbury station on the Chiltern rail replacement to Beaconsfield on Sunday the 5th of may Stagecoach have now programmed the blind displays to enable various potential Terminator stations can be shown Stagecoach Oxford and Kettering were supported by:
Imperial Coachways and transpora.
the
Stagecoach buses were 36927 11135 10671 and the newly painted 10779 were on the
service.
Milton Keynes update from Thomas Walker-Werth
Hope these are of interest! I've simplified the name of my website since I last contributed—if people would like to check out more photos, they can find me at www.mktom.smugmug.com.
Milton Keynes update
Firstly, route 89 was taken over by Arriva. This route has a long history,
originally being a Stagecoach route from Northampton to Milton Keynes via
Blisworth, Towcester, and Stony Stratford. That went in 2019 (after Stagecoach
briefly tried an "X89" express version to no effect). Britannia Bus (formerly
Meridian) took over, running the route as the 89 between Towcester and MK via a
collection of south Northamptonshire villages plus Stony and Wolverton (with a
daily X89 extension to Northampton). They also struggled to make it pay, and
gave it up in March, by which time it was down to a few journeys from
Potterspury into CMK. The new Arriva version is essentially a school service to
from CMK to Deanshanger in the morning and back in the afternoon, running on the
Britannia route via Wolverton, and open to the public. I include one photo each
from Wolverton and Stony Stratford.
Secondly, MK depot's two Enviro 400 double deckers have left, to be replaced
with six Optare Olympus bodied Volvos, of which two are now in service. These
are, I am told, meant for route X6 (the former X60 to Aylesbury, which now
confusingly shares its number with Stagecoach's MK-Northampton route), but
they've only been out on routes 3 and 5/6 so far. I caught up with 4101
(YJ57BEU) at Bletchley today, and include a comparison photo I took of it in
Wakefield in 2020 when it was 1801. I also include a photo taken last month of
one of the outgoing Enviro 400s, which were nos. 4400/4401.
Lastly, we have had a few interesting appearances on Red Rose route 100 in recent weeks. This is an express competitor to Arriva's X4 and X6 (ex 150 and X60)—express insofar as it's less slow than those circuitous routes, although it too takes a few detours compared to the 2007-2012 version of route 100.
Red Rose amy be involved in the future when Arriva closes in Aylesbury. Ed.
This article is a great contribution to the page as it contains suitable text as well. Thank you. Ed.
Artful Dodger questions ?
What number was the 6C school service before it became the 6C?
Why was it that certain journeys used to start from the garage as the 2E in the
days when OBC had their depot on Cowley Rd?
Brian Hawkins classic London buses.
Recently I joined another bus society that deals with
classic London buses.
As I believe in sharing
information, I thought that I would share it with you. Click on the link below,
or type into your address bar Friends of Classic London Buses of the Fifties.
Hope readers find it interesting and join the society.
James Allum re Arriva and a question
On another note for the page. Arriva is yet again letting Hemel down. Plenty of buses about in the town but only two buses out on the 2’s again at this time of the morning.
I can understand one but two is simply
not right when the vr throughout the day is four !!
Maybe someone from Arriva who views this page maybe able to shed light on my
this is ?
Peter Davidson
Unidentified language in Andrew Webb article
The unidentified language Andrew refers to is Nepalese
and is shown on all Stagecoach Aldershot buses out of service. This is as well
as in English since there many Nepalese staff and drivers working for the
company from the large population of Nepalese in the town and many of those do
not speak English so I guess that it’s a gesture to help them. They do however
ride the buses where destinations are obviously all in English.
The picture of 10767 from issue 299.
Mark Turner re Arriva in Hemel
As From 2nd June, Arriva Hemel Depot will not be running route 328 from Abbots
Langley to Mount Vernon Hospital. Instead the Route will be taken over by
Aylesbury based Red Rose on the same route as Arriva are running it at present &
Arriva have been letting passengers down
Tony Bungay
I expect you have heard already, the still stunning despite being
predictable for at least 2 years, closure of Aylesbury and High Wycombe
garages.
There is quite a thread on UK Rail Forum and also Bucks Free Press. While I hate having been a harbinger of doom in the past at times, I did state that the future of Aylesbury and High Wycombe was looking less certain, when Arriva transferred the fairly new Enviro 200MMC vehicles away a couple of years ago. It all seemed to follow the pattern of Guildford, Cannock. Macclesfield.
For Aylesbury I felt the final nail was September last year with the
withdrawal from it's last Aylesbury town service and the transfer of what
was then the 150 to Milton Keynes. The remaining three services were too
small for a garage the size of Aylesbury, and two are heavily over bussed.
The staff have probably seen this coming for some time and have had to
soldier on with increasingly older and less reliable vehicles.
A very unpleasant situation with which to contend, it is probably correct to
state, that every viewer of your news page will wish the staff well and hope
some form of employment will become open to them.
I'm sure many will agree with Tony and indeed wish all staff involved at the company good luck for the future. Ed.
This week some excellen pictures which are much appreciated. Ed.
Graham Gough
I had the pleasure of travelling from Oxford to Watlington yesterday on OBS Service 11, with a sunny return ride aboard 683.
Pictured here negotiating Watlington's narrow High Street bringing the 1535 departure from Oxford.
Lewis Nagle
609 with Flightline 102 along the Thames on May 5th.
Tony Bungay
While i did not get much opportunity for many Bus Photos, got this one which I
think qualifies for Bus in Landscape.
Stagecoach Enviro in Lakes Livery. prepares to work Service 516 back to
Ambleside along the Langdale Valley.
Coach visitors to Oxfordshire
David Beynon
Pictures taken in Beaumont Street
Two from St. Giles this morning 8/5
|
and one from Rewley
Road yesterday.
Fleet News and developments
Gavin Francis visited Hemel and High Wycombe on May 7th.
On diversion in High Wycombe due A40 road closure.
Seen in Desboro' Avenue 2325, 2951, 3029, 4210 and 5459.
5459 in The Eden Bus Station working staff bus
duties.
Jack Cooper
5465 with an X7 in New Road on May 11th.
Michael Penn
Arriva The Shires
Two Wright StreetLites have
received the blue/purple Connect Herts livery, similar to that used on Centrebus
vehicles on services 390 and 907 at Stevenage. These are 3652 and 3659 (LK
14 FTA/FTO) and are intended for routes 321 and 721 although they also appear on
other routes.
Twelve East Lancs “Olympus”
bodied Volvo B9TLs have been received from Arriva Midlands although they were
new to Arriva Yorkshire West. Six are for Luton and six for Milton Keynes.
The Luton ones are intended mainly for school services although no doubt they
will appear on other routes, particularly during school holidays. In
service so far are 4107-10 (YJ 08 EEH/M/N/P).
Gavin Francis visited Hemel on May 7th.
584 seen in Hemel with a 46 to Luton.
Michael Penn
Centrebus
Two Alexander Dennis E20Ds have been received from
Universitybus. These are 493/5 (YX 66 WGV/WGY).
Gavin Francis visited Hemel, Chesham and Wycombe on May 7th.
891 in Hemel. Gavin said how good these buses are.
878 in Chesham.
On diversion in High Wycombe due A40 road closure.
Unusually in Desboro' Avenue 404 and 409.
Lewis Anthony
609 on the 102 in Wycombe Bus Station. Looks brilliant on May 8th.
Sunlight didn’t make for the best photo opportunity, but 514 in High Wycombe on the 275 to Oxford,
From June, only one departure in each direction will serve here as the route is cut to Chinnor.
