Issue nr 355
Wednesday, July 9th 2025

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

Newman Morgan with varous comments

It is many months since I last corresponded with you. I always enjoy reading each week’s OCBP and admire your efforts and dedication. Being on the wrong side of 70 I retired last year and will provide more contributions from time to time.  

It was the Formula 1 British Grand Prix weekend from last Thursday 3rd July until Sunday 6th July at Silverstone. This year Silverstone expanded their Park & Ride services to include Bicester Heritage and Oxford Parkway, also a new P&R from Coventry railway station. Other P&R services ran from Northampton and Sixfields P&R which is close to J15A of the M1 at Northampton, from Milton Keynes and Banbury railway stations and from Turweston and Hinton-in-the-Hedges airfields which are short distance east and west of Brackley respectively.  

Tickets for these services had to be purchased in advance and no alcohol or glass bottles were permitted on the buses, the same rules that apply inside the Silverstone circuit. 

Services from all P&Rs ran half hourly inbound to Silverstone from 10.30am to 4.30pm on the Thursday, 6.30am to 6.30pm on the Friday, 6.30am to 2pm on the Saturday and 5.30am to 2pm on the Sunday.. The return services to all destinations departed Silverstone from 4.30pm to 11pm on all days except Sunday when last departures were at 10.30pm.  

On Friday afternoon whilst driving through town, the town being Bicester where I live, I passed Thames Travel’s 80904 heading to Silverstone in the direction of Bicester Heritage having come from Oxford Parkway.  

On Saturday I had to go to Buckingham and as I was approaching the entrance to Bicester Heritage Brighton & Hove 427 BF12KXD and Swindon’s Bus Company 1279 BX09PGY exited the site. From reviewing ukbuses 427 is a Wright Eclipse Gemini Volvo B9 and 1279 is an Enviro400 originally with National Express West Midlands. 427 was in The Regency Route livery for service on the Brighton to Tunbridge Wells route.  

On the way back from Buckingham I glanced into the Heritage P&R site where there was a Stagecoach Enviro and another Swindon’s Bus Company Gemini awaiting passengers. 

On Sunday the rain had stopped by lunchtime so on the spur of the moment I decided to head along the A43 and park in a lay-by between Brackley and Silverstone to take some photos. Driving up to Baynards Green to join the A43 I noticed 8 double deckers ahead of me. As I overtook these on the A43 it became apparent that 6 were from Carousel. These were 80208, 80217, 80222, 80223 and Flightline 80612 and 80613. One of the four earlier vehicles had City branding. These were all empty of passengers therefore likely moving to Silverstone for the return journeys that commenced at 4.30pm. Also in the convoy was Oxford Bus 80790 which was displaying route M40 and had come from Oxford Parkway via Bicester Heritage. The remaining vehicle was First Bus 33858 SL14DFD, an Enviro 400 from First’s Worcester depot. Further research informed that this bus was new to First Games Transport for shuttle services to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.  

Whilst approaching Brackley on Sunday torrential heavy rain started which was for a prolonged period to the extent that the A43 started turning into a river in places. When parking in a lay-by I could hardly see out of the windscreen let alone get out and take some photos. I went on to Silverstone and re-joined the A43 to head home.  

On the way back I saw Oxford Bus 80746 heading to Silverstone, an unidentified Thames Travel or maybe if any haven’t been repainted, a green liveried former City 6 heading to Silverstone and a Plymouth Citybus Dartline also heading to Silverstone. I was on the section of the A43 that the P&Rs from Turweston and Hinton in the Hedges would travel as well as those from Oxford Parkway and Bicester.  

Having again researched ukbuses the Plymouth bus was likely to be one of Scania OmniDekkas 6002 YN04GKD or 6007 YN04GKK as these appear to be the only two double deckers with the Dartline fleet name.  

I also passed Swindon’s Bus Company 1275 BX09PEO that had just left the Heritage site on the last journey of the day to Silverstone. Like 1279 this is an Enviro 400 previously with National Express West Midlands. There would be several more buses on the P&R services from Oxford Parkway, Bicester and the two sites close to Brackley and it would have been interesting to see if these were mostly Go-Ahead vehicles or from other operators. 

I don’t know if there is a MotoGP at Silverstone this year. Last year I was in Towcester on the day and the shuttle service to Milton Keynes was operated by First Leicester mostly using Wright Electroliners.  

Silverstone are entering into discussions with the government over the provision of a railway station closer to the circuit. The West Coast Main Line passes close to Towcester on the Northampton side of the town although currently the nearest stations are Northampton and Milton Keynes.  

Apologies for not having any photos of the Silverstone P&R buses thanks to the awful weather. 

Toby J France  

I’ve enjoyed Keith Briant’s photos from the Nuneaton area in this week’s issue, it’s nice seeing our buses at work now we don’t have the same presence in the Chilterns.  The captions to Keith’s photos are also really interesting, and I’m looking forward to having a ride about on the new Stagecoach EV fleet in Warwickshire over the summer. 

St Nicholas Park is actually served by Arriva 7-days per week, our 158 picking this up on Sundays in lieu of our number 7 service while the Stagecoach 148 diverts via Weddington and Shanklin Drive on Sundays in lieu of their number 3.  We introduced this as part of the Qualifying Agreement for these services, as it made sense to give consistency on which operator served each of the unique sections of route. 

The depot that was re-acquired by Arriva in 2013 following the end of the Centrebus Holdings joint venture was actually at Jacknell Road, and had initially been acquired in 1990 by Midland Fox along with the business of NWP Travel.  The move to Goose Lane came in (I think) December 2013, notice having already been served to Centrebus Holdings that the landlord was looking to redevelop the Jacknell Road site. 

The Pulsar 2s that were refurbished for the 158 actually entered service prior to the Stagecoach Gold vehicles on what was, at that point, the 48 and later 48L before becoming 148 as part of the Qualifying Agreement between the two operators.  I think the original Stagecoach Gold livery looked fantastic on the Enviro 200 MMCs for this corridor, the later ‘school bus yellow’ livery rather less so.  It’s interesting that the Yutongs have been delivered in the standard version of Stagecoach corporate livery rather then the yellow or green versions, or indeed the new dark blue scheme; regardless of the exterior colour the interior spec with lighter weight high-back seats is much better suited to the stop/start nature of the Coventry section of the 148, the very chunky seats in the E200s always feeling a bit claustrophobic to me. 

Cheers 

Toby J France FCILT, FCIHT, CMgr MCMI  Head of Commercial - Midlands  Arriva UK Bus

  Coach Visitors to Oxfordshire 

Banbury with James Freeman

   

Rail mreplacement on July 6th. 

     Fleet News and developments   

 

Gavin Francis

Looks like Harlequin have another ex-UNO bus.Former 285 YN07MCF was in Binders Yard Saturday. When it was with UNO it was registered C14UNO and by coincidence I photographed it at the same location in 2021 

   

I am pleased to include information on recent deliveries. Ed.

Luke Marion

Currently we have the following MCV / Volvo deckers with us, four of these are out on the Grand Prix duties today with the fifth hopefully joining them from tomorrow. Four arrived with us yesterday, July 2nd, and the fifth (80991) earlier today, July 3rd

BU25 ZHK    80987

BU25 ZHL    80988

BU25 ZHM    80989

BU25 ZHN    80990

BU25 ZHO    80991 

Five further vehicles are en route to us currently and these will be 

BU25 ZHP    80992

BU25 ZHR    80993

BU25 ZHT    80994

BU25 ZHW    80995

U25 ZHX    80996 

The new ADL200s for September don't have registrations allocated yet so I will have to come back to you on those nearer the time.

Pulhams ones are of the 12.8m variety (the Thames ones are 12.0m) and the details of these are as follows: 

GL25 BUS - 80985

GB25 BUS - 80986

H60/38F

James Freeman was at Cowley Road and caught up with the new arrivals.

   

Gavin Francis pictureview of current operations in Amersham and Wycombe - early July 2025.

      
     
     
   

Stokenchurch on July 3rd.

   

 

 

 

Harry Jones

Nice little outing this afternoon, July 2nd, down to Southampton with a couple other drivers to pick up two of Thames Travels new Tri Axle Volvos. It was a pleasure to be one of the first drivers to drive these more or less fresh off the boat. These will eventually be on our X40s with a River Rapids livery.

     
     
     
   

Quite an investment for Thames Travel (GA). Ed

 
including Courtney, Newbury & District & Thames Valley

Reading Buses and Berkshire Youth are celebrating a record-breaking amount raised at the bus company’s 2025 Open Day.  

After holding their annual charity Open Day, in aid of Berkshire Youth, on Sunday 29 June, Reading Buses announced that they smashed last year’s record-breaking total – a whopping £12,868, beating their total from 2024 which was also over £12,000.  

The day was opened by the The Mayor of Reading, Cllr Alice Mpofu-Coles, who cut the ribbon to start the day and joyfully welcomed the very long queue of waiting guests with high-fives as they entered. Several local Councillors attended as did local MP Matt Rodda.  

In spite of temperatures soaring to over 30 degrees C, hundreds of visitors piled through the gates to take part in behind-the-scenes tours, rides through the bus wash, and other fun activities. It was also the first opportunity to see one of the town’s forthcoming electric buses, adorned with the climate stripes as a statement of the company’s intent to raise awareness of environmental issues and encourage bus usage. 

Said Robert Williams, Reading Buses Chief Executive Officer; “We were absolutely delighted to beat last year’s record total. The hot weather meant that people possibly didn’t stay as long as normal, but the engagement with our stalls, food and games was incredible.” 

The Open Day not only featured depot tours and rides through the bus wash, but visitors could get their names on the front of a bus, wander round current and vintage buses, and sit in the drivers’ seat. There were activities such as a coconut shy and skittles, as well as lots of Reading Buses merchandise to buy. A new mocktails stall, offering alcohol-free cocktails, suggested and lead by driver Venkat was very well received and a great additional fundraiser selling over 200! 

Said Robert; “It was an amazing day with our volunteers working tirelessly in the heat to provide a great family day out for people. I would like to thank each and every one of them for their efforts. We made sure all our volunteers had access to plenty of water and sun cream, or even a mocktail!” 

The company’s Charity of the Year, to whom the money from this goes, were also in attendance with their own stall. Sponsorships from key suppliers to the bus company helped to ensure that all the money raised could do directly to charity. British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis were title sponsor for the whole event, Bus & Coach World sponsored the barbecue, Dawson Group sponsored the volunteer raffle, Michelin provided a raffle prize, Power Fleet sponsored the face painting, Ticketer contributed towards the cakes, and Velociti contributed towards the tea and coffee. 

The company were also very pleased to welcome The Barberettes choir, featuring Commercial Manager Gemma Redson, who sang a couple of sets to entertain everybody. Former driver and proprietor of Dolphin Catering, Randolph Bancroft provided the barbecue, and the master compere was David Sheppard, who people will have recognised as the voice of the buses announcing the next stops.

Gavin Francis

red eagle YX09AFJ with the 331 in Wycombe on July 7th. 

Gavin Francis in Aylesbury on July 4th

   

Nick Ross

Red Eagle Enviro 200 GX57BXH passes beside the lime trees of Ivinghoe with the 1200 Dunstable Aylesbury service 61 on July 4th 2025. 

 

Gavin Francis in Aylesbury on July 4th

      
     
   
Serving the 130.

Gavin Francis

Y29RRT in the village on July 5th running with a card whichm said the bus was KB07OXF !!!!!!

 

Gavin Francis in Aylesbury on July 4th

     
     

A current update with Red Rose in Aylesbury. 

Dave & Deric

Stagecoach West Fleet Card for Period 2 (20/06/2025). 

These are the changes we have found for Period 2. There are no changes affecting Oxford (Thames Transit) depots this time.  

Transfers	15982	Cheltenham	To	Stroud
	36080	Cheltenham	To	Stroud
To Reserve	48174	Stroud	To	Reserve
For Disposal	18313	Reserve	To	For Disposal

some changes over the summer when Stagecoach no longer operate the Cirencester College services (Go Ahead take over from September, a joint Pulhams and Swindon Bus operation) and there are September service changes planned for Cheltenham.

80052 is back in service, today - July 9th

 

Gavin Francis in Aylesbury on July 4th

 

 

  London operations 

Andrew Webb

White Fox have updated their long running advert.  First London's BCE47019 carries the campaign as it rounds Marble Arch on 5 July.

 

The same location is the setting for stablemate OME46014 which carries this Pop Art inspired version of the Chiquita bananas advert.  It was operating route 23 curtailed to Marble Arch owing to road closures for the annual Pride parade. 

 

Recent heatwaves means that central heating systems are seeing little use, although now is a good time to get them serviced ready for the colder months of winter. 

This is one of the services advertised on Transport UK's LT704 at Kennington Road on 5 July.   

The annual Pride parade took place in London on 5 July. 

 As well as being the UK's largest celebration of LGBTQ+ culture it also holds much of interest for bus enthusiasts.  This year 24 buses took part in the parade. 

Exactly half of the buses were from the Routemaster family, typified by RMC1464.  Now operated by The London Bus Company, it is seen on Whitehall after the parade. 

North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham both used buses in the parade.  Arsenal's entry was this heavily rebuilt MCW Metrobus which started life as KJW296W with West Midlands Travel in 1981.  It also spent time locally with Carousel in High Wycombe.

 

Tottenham used this Yutong TCe12 from the fleet of Grange Travel in Kent.  The cherished number plate includes a subtly humorous reference to its battery power.  Both are seen on Whitehall after the parade.

This pair of open top Ayats Volvos started life with Bath Bus Company in 2005.  It is unclear who now owns each, but both appeared in the Pride Parade. 

 
EU05VBL was hired by London Metropolitan University and wrapped in this striking reflective colour scheme.  It is seen before the parade on Park Lane. 

 
The same location is the setting for the offside of sister EU05VBO which was hired by Sky.  
After the parade it is seen in Whitehall showing off a 'patio' door on the nearside.

Orbit Coaches of Leicester sent a trio of vehicles to the parade, arriving together at Park Lane. 

DSX78L is an Alexander AL Atlantean which started life as BFS44L with Lothian in Edinburgh. 

 
Olympian P411SWC is another bus to have started life in a capital city - Dublin, where it started life as RA320 in the Dublin Bus fleet.

 
LRV731 is an East Lancs bodied decker and was the third vehicle from Orbit.  The cherished plate masks its previous history.

Gavin Francis

Nigel Eadon-Clarke has supplied these pictures of RML 2404 Paw Patrol the latest Brigits Afternoon Tea Tour which started Tuesday July 1st.