Issue nr 343
Sunday, April 13th 2025
Past Issues : https://www.oxford-chiltern-bus-page.co.uk/
From the Editor
I am always pleased to receive your contributions and this week was no exception for quantity !
As a result I have had to pend a number of contributions until the next issue which will be on Easter Monday.
This issue is delayed due to my wife being unwell, sorry !
In this issue
South East Bus Festival at Detling
Carousel's new Chesham services
Silvertown Tunnel opening
Grahame Wareham's recollections of COMS 343
OBC renumbering by Richard Sharman
Around MK with Thomas Walker-Werth
Readers Write with answers to previous questions
Fleet News & Developments
Carousel fleet renumbered & a new livery
New livery for red eagle
Gordon Scott from Inverness
Nick Ross in The Orkneys
Andy Millwood from Redditch
DETLING
with pictures from Nigel Eadon-Clarke
Such a wealth and variety of vehicles from far and wide. Ed.
Carousel Buses - Keeping the people of Buckinghamshire moving
Carousel Buses will be operating services 71, 72, 72A, 73, 73A, 73S, 77, 78, 79, 149, 177, 190 and 194 from April 6th 2025.
These services will be operated on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council and will largely follow the services operated by Red Rose until now.
There will be some minor changes to routeing and a map of the new network around Chesham can be found here.
New timetables can be found by clicking on the relevant service below:
71 Chesham - Hilltop Estate - Whelpley Hill
72/72A/73/73A/73S Chesham - Chesham Moor - Quill Hall - Amersham -
Coleshill
77/177/190 Chesham - Chartridge - Great Missenden
78/79 Chesham - Great Hivings
149/194 Chesham - Great Hivings - St Leonards - Cholesbury - Hawridge -
Chesham
Pictures from Hazel Richardson showing the three buses working the new services.
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100% wheelchair accessible fleet and driver training
The company has introduced easy access buses across the whole fleet, with changes made to the interior layout of all vehicles to try and accommodate as many different customers’ needs as possible. Every driver also receives Disability Awareness Training. We welcome the testing of wheelchairs and scooters at our depot for those who wish to do so - simply get in touch with us and we'll do our best to accommodate you. You can find out more about the specifications of our buses by looking at our Wheelchair Guidance page.
Silvertown Tunnel Opened April 7th 2025
Pictures are by myself
Gavin
Francis
or Nigel Eadon-Clarke (NEC) or Stephen Day (SD) where indicated.
On Monday 7th
April after 13 years of construction and £2.2 billion of costs the
Silvertown Tunnel was opened. Running from Greenwich in the south to
Newham in the north this 1 mile long tunnel runs close to the existing
Blackwall Tunnel. It is the first new Thames road crossing in 60 years
and also for the first time users will have to pay a toll to use both
tunnels.
It
also allowed the last of the original Superloop routes SL4 to commence
running from Grove Park in the south to Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf
in the north.
Unlike
the other Superloop routes it is not limited stop as the normal stops
are served. It becomes non-stop basically where it passes through the
tunnel.
I went
by train to the start at Grove Park Station where quite a large crowd of
photographers had gathered. The service is operated by Go-Ahead EBD
class BYD B11E02 electric double deckers operated from their Henley Road
depot.
EBD 72, EBD 55 and 2 pictures of EBD 56 at Grove Park Station
I then boarded one of the buses and along with many other enthusiasts
took a ride along the route and alighted at East India DLR Station.
The station stop is used as the driver changeover point for both the SL4
and fellow Go-Ahead route D3 so there are always quite a few members of
staff there.
The bus stop panel gives details of the new service.
EBD 74, EBD 59, EBD 62 and EBD 64 pass by the DLR Station.
.jpg)
The northern terminus is at Westferry
Circus, Canary Wharf
where EBD
71 stands. (NEC)
It was then onto the DLR and just
two
stops along to Royal Victoria
Station.
Another new service to start the same day was SCS (Silvertown Cycle
Shuttle).
This service is designed to carry cycle users through the tunnel and runs from the DLR station to North Greenwich, Millenium Way. It is operated by Stagecoach from their West Ham depot and uses BYD E200EV single deck buses which have been branded with a special livery. 64202 and 64205 are 2 of the 5 buses branded for the service.
Some of the seats have been removed from the interior to accommodate the
cycles and straps are fitted to help secure them.
There is a poster
showing how the bikes should be stored when on board (SD).
The bus stop
shows it is for cyclists use only but I am sure I saw people boarding
without bikes.
Then it was back on the DLR and go further east to the last station at Beckton. Another route to use the Silvertown Tunnel is the 129. It runs from Lewisham and previously terminated at North Greenwich but it is now extended through the tunnel to Gallions Reach. Like the SL4 is uses the same EBD class buses and is operated from Henley Road Garage.
EBD 77, EBD 78 and EBD 85 pass through Becton Bus Station on their way
to Lewisham.
.jpg)
EBD 91 stands at the northern end of the Rte 129 at Gallions Reach.(NEC)
For at least the first year fares on both the SL4, SCS and the 108 which
runs through the parallel Blackwall Tunnel will be free to all pax but
they will still need to touch in with their Oyster or contactless cards.
A fascinating report. Ed.
O&CBP Issue 343
H343 MWL977 1948 AEC Regent II with Weymann H30/26R body, renumbered H877 in
1952. Withdrawn 2/60 and sold to PVD (dealer) Dunchurch H877 was sold to Crump
Pinner for use on Pinewood Studio's courtesy bus duties and lasted there until
July 1962 when it was sold on to D.A.Davies (Homeworthy Ltd) as a non-PSV the
following month where it lasted until May 1967,
343 343TJO 1964 AEC Renown 3B3RA with Park Royal H38/27F lowheight forward
entrance body.343 was originally allocated to Oxford Cowley Road Garage and
operated mainly on route 2, In 1970 after being converted for Country OMO use it
was transferred to Witney depot until OMO operation of half-cabs ceased in 1974.
It was then back to its original haunts on 2 road until that route went fully
OMO in 1974 so it was transferred to 1 road, 343 was withdrawn in August 1976
and sold to Paul Sykes Organisation Barnsley under the at the time NBC 'resale
for PSV use' embargo which led to it being scrapped by A,Barraclough Carlton
Barnsley straight away, At the time this embargo led to thirty perfectly
serviceable buses, some of which had not long been repainted and retrimmed,
going for scrap money, which was a crying waste!
An interesting chronology of these buses. Ed
Oxford Bus renumbering by Richard Sharman
Oxford Bus Company had been slowly moving over to the
new National fleet numbering system in recent months, with new or secondhand
additions to the fleet carrying the 5 digit number on entry into the fleet.
But it would now appear that all existing fleet members
are now also having their fleet numbers changed, with quite a few appearing on
Wednesday the 9th of April, on a number of different vehicle types
A freshly numbered GB Kite Electroliner sports its new
80493 vinyls.
As with any fleet renumbering exercise, it's not
something that can always be done in one night,
which is good as it allows the
opportunity to photograph both versions side by side. 668 is seen passing 80676.
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is still hanging on at COMS,
so
much so that 80846 was in the first batch to have its fleet number amended.
An early recipient of the National numbering system was
E400 80951,
which still carries its NXWM 480 fleet number on the rear and the
former fleet names refusing to disappear!
E200
80515 is another example that has been carrying its new number for a few weeks
now.
The pink Brand the Bus Electroliner has also had the new
fleet numbers fitted, which in this case is the top n/s rear.
Levante 3A 80064 represents the coach sequence carrying
the new number from new.
80777 is seen sporting its new number in the sun.
A nice record of the changes. Ed.
Around MK with Thomas Walker-Werth
K1-branded Z&S Enviro 200 way off route in Winslow on the 50 to Milton Keynes on
Saturday
Z&S's newly repainted Enviro 400 parked near St. Paul's School a few days
earlier
Arriva's normally 33/X33-dedicated short-wheelbase
Streetlites on the 8 on Sunday.
s always, readers can
see more on my Smugmug
site:
https://mktom.smugmug.com/2025/April-2025/UK-Bus-Other-Transport-April-2025
Alexander
Congratulations on your latest update, as always it was A pleasure to read.
Please pass on my thanks to David Ive for his image of route 281. I'm surprised
that it was operated by Aylesbury Bus, an operator I've never heard of, as I
thought it would of been operated by the same companies as the 280. It certainly
is of interest. Please be aware that Sanjay Baker's picture under OBC doesn't
show 80538 turning onto Speedwell Street after finishing the 1250 275 from
Chinnor the way his other one does.
Andrew Dyer
Thanks for another good
issue. You asked for comments on the new Stagecoach livery and as a former
Director I guess I should be careful what I say!! It seems horribly drab to me
and the “we’ve got you” strapline very weak. I wonder if the senior management
really believe all the PR hype in their press release. When it was launched in
2000, the new “beachball” livery was really fresh and modern. I find it very sad
that 25 years later , the company seems to be taking a step back.
Another separate sobering
thought is that I must be getting old!! This month is 50 years since I passed my
PSV test with Charlton-on-Otmoor Services. Attached a couple of pics….
The first of MCY 407, the
bus I passed my test in. The oldest surviving Regent V, which did ten years in
service at Charlton and is now preserved in the South Wales Bus Museum in
Swansea.
The second pic is just a lovely scene in the village street outside Charlton’s
garage taken in about 1964. Two ex-London Transport RTs, HLX 215 and 310 (RT 398
and RT 493) are facing in opposite directions. Poking its nose out of the
company yard is PWX 333, a Plaxton bodied Commer Avenger TS3 newly acquired from
Hebble in Yorkshire and not yet painted into fleet colours. Photographer
unknown.
My thanks to Matt Cooper and Derek Taylor for their responses to my query. I especially liked Matt Cooper's pics of old timetables.
I came across this excellent news page a few years ago
and now look forward to it every week.
I enjoy the Readers Write section and wondered what
others think of the new Carousel Country livery.
I really like the new style winged circle fleet name but
sadly it is only used on the rear window, with Country in large letters on the
sides of the vehicles, it’s also a shame that the original Carousel fleet name
style is used above the entrance door and above the drivers window, I have also
noticed that on all Country and One branded vehicles the offside fleet name
above the drivers window has Carousel followed by the winged logo which looks
odd as it is usually the other way round.
I think the new winged circle logo would have looked
great on the sides of vehicles and the same logo featuring the red kite used on
the Flightline vehicles would have looked fantastic.
442 in Lane End
513 in Maidenhead
889 & 608 at Eden Bus Station
A few weeks ago you had a section on long out of date
bus stop flags, I thought your readers might be interested in the one I came
across a couple of years ago.
It was an original 1970s flag on a concrete post, there
had been many stickers added to the bottom part of it over the years but you
could still see a small strip of faded red underneath with Alder Valley and the
NBC double N logo.
On one side one of the later stickers had peeled off
revealing an almost perfect Forest Ride logo, this was a real surprise as the
stop was near to where I live in Lane End and I know that all those years ago
the name for this area was Chiltern Link.
The flag and concrete post were in great condition, a
rare survivor as can be seen from the picture.
I thought these items might be of interest.
You do a really great job producing the page every week.
In answer to your question, yes I think a Stokenchurch -
Lane End - Marlow service would definitely work.
Last week I managed to get a couple of pictures of the
Nottingham City Transport E200 MMCs now with Carousel, they were on route 34 in
Lane End which might be of interest to you.
.
Regarding the photo of the GWR
sleeper train in the latest OCBP it was working a training/test run from Reading
depot to Euston and return with a reversal at Milton Keynes Central.
These are being run on several occasions at the moment in preparation for diversions of the sleeper service to Euston via this route in 2026 when both the line into Paddington will be closed for major works concerning the new station at Old Oak Common and the route from Acton to Willesden will be unavailable due to electrification work.
As you know, among other things, GWR stands for ‘Great Way Round’!
Coach visitors to Oxfordshire
James Freeman
BV25MHO is Grange Travel on a QPR footballers coach
Fleet News and developments
Grahame Wareham reports for the current scheme of things
OBC Carousel
452
YX69NVJ ADL E20D MMC has now received
Carousel Countrybus livery repaint at Bartco Cassington.
OBC TT
914 OU08HGO Scania N230 Omnicity
scrapped at PVS Carlton Barnsley 31/3/2025 (leaving 912 as the sole
representative of the original Thames Travel fleet upon takeover in 2011).
OBC Carousel
859
YF56OXF Mercedes Citaro 0530
scrapped at PVS Carlton Barnsley 2/4/25
OBC
941
LX05EZP Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini 2
scrapped at PVS Carlton Barnsley 7/4/25
Vikki Lee caught 941 heading for
Barnsley along the A34 on April 8th.
Neil Boxford-faulkner
Pictures of Excelsior Volvo 9700 number 5 parked up in
Cowley house today, April 12th,
the language school season has started down on the south
coast, so it will probably become a regular thing over the summer,
and please
pass on my thanks to Oxford bus company for allowing us to park up for the day.
Gavin Francis
Unusual for the 33 - 982 is seen at Totteridge on
April 9th.
Football Special 80222 in Eden Bus Station on
April 12th.
80472 is seen at Totteridge on April 9th.
80697 at rest in Eden Bus Station on April 12th.
Nigel Peach catches deckers for the operator.
Conveniently for me it was working the 36
in Flackwell Heath on its way to Bourne End.
I notice that it has been
renumbered 80229. I'm disappointed that the new fleet numbers are much smaller,
making them more difficult to read!
Going in the opposite direction to High Wycombe is sister 230 (not yet
renumbered).
I wonder why this and some of the other Scanias have not had their
Didcot Connections branding removed.
It is now over eight months since they
transferred to Carousel!
That said, Carousel are giving a much better bus
service to the people of High Wycombe than the previous operator!
Stuart Harvey with a selection of recent changes
80215 with its new number and back in service leaving on the 850
80824 on route 37 to Windsor
80541 now complete with Carousel names
982 on Route 33
441 now as 80441.
889 now was 80889
229 back out in service as 80229.
221 now as 80221
889 now with a red lower front presumably following accident damage repairs.
Chesham on April 11th.
Two of the white leased buses 80596 and 80597 operating the newly won on tender
local services
Peter Edgar with his aelection
A selection of photographs of Carousel vehicles (and publicity) that are operating on the BOROUGH BUS services in the Maidenhead area.
I understand that vehicles will eventually be in a purple livery,
I guess
the recently acquired Enviro 200 MMC from Nottingham are probably the ones along
with some for Windsor which I am told will be in a blue livery. Photographs were
taken in Frascati Way, Maidenhead 09/04/2025.
photos of one of Carousel’s recently acquired Enviro 200 MMC in allover white livery. 80595 photographed in Morton Village on service 117 Watlington - Thame.
Carousel 80595 at Morton War Memorial, Morton Village, Thame, Oxfordshire.
Jack Cooper
57 has gained Oxford logos.
Tim Raffield
80846 HF55OXF in Abingdon on the 35 to Oxford this afternoon.
April 3rd.This was the first picture of a renumbered Oxford group bus I had seen. Ed.
Taj Khan
New livery for red eagle
Stuart Harvey
Red Eagle YY15 GDK operating service 354 from
Berkhamsted
Sanjay Baker
\
Redline Buses LK55 KKH seen on an X20 run to
Oxford this evening, April 8th.
Four of the five new eVoRas arrived last week with the fifth due in the coming week.
Ciaran Bird
ex Oxford Enviro200s for you.
36926 is seen at the
Charlton Road turning circle in Brentry. 36927 is seen at Broadmead in Bristol
City Centre.
Ex Oxford ADL
Enviro200 36927 (SN63 MXZ) on the 13 from Bristol
to Shirehampton.
Andrew Churchill
Here is last but not least E400EV 80055 (SK74BDZ) seen in the beautiful April
sunshine
at Horspath Road depot Oxford on the 11/04/2025
George Candelin
Just a couple of the new buses at Horspath 'outstation'; will they standardise the position of the Fleet numbers on these? Some are as on these two but others are low down below the windscreen and all are offset so they are difficult to see from across the road.
James Freeman
New 80054 seen with a 600 on April 9th.
Richard Sharman
80054 is seen on its first day in revenue earning
service on the 600 on the 9th of April.
Sanjay Baker
New EV 80054 on the Staff Bus runs this evening,
April 8th.
George Candelin
50444 seems to have had an oopsie on the windscreen
54208 at Horspath in April 2025.
Sanjay Baker
Newly repainted 50453 in Oxford on April 8th.
Gordon Scott
Inverness Bus Station of
Stagecoach Highland
Scania MOBI People Explorer - 59003 - SG72 BLZ.
ADL 200 Enviro 200 - 26128 - X25 SBS.
Nick Ross
Stagecoach Orkney Volvo passing along the causeway near St Margerets Hope with an X1
for Stromness on April 3rd 2025
Stagecoach Orkney 21374 outside the Ferry terminal at Stromness with an X1
service to Kirkwall and St Margerets Hope on April 3rd 2025
A Stagecoach Orkney Optare
at Kirkwall bus station on April 2nd 2025
Andy Millwood
A few DIAMOND buses at Redditch including the old livery
and a Stagecoach
11223,the only one that operates to Stratford-on-Avon