From the Editor

Another interesting issue  with more on local fleets than in recent weeks

Also note changes in Go-Ahead services revealed.

In this issue

Oxford Bus new directors

20 years of Arriva in MK part 4 by Matt Cooper

Grahame Wareham remembers COMS 379

Museum of Transport, Manchester visited by Dave Allen

Rail Replacement in Oxford by Peter Edgar

Go Ahead Oxford service updates

Fleet News & Developments

London Operations

 

Oxford Bus Group promotes Shaun Ritchie and Glenn De Sousa to director roles

Shaun Ritchie and Glenn De Sousa have moved up the career ladder to become Operations Director and Commercial Director respectively at Oxford Bus Group

Oxford Bus Group has promoted an ex-driver and former intern to director positions.

Shaun Ritchie (pictured right), who started out as a driver, will become Operations Director, while Glenn De Sousa (pictured left) marks a career progression from trainee to Commercial Director.

Mr Ritchie will move from Head of Operations at the Go-Ahead-owned Group, which comprises Oxford Bus Company, Thames Travel, Carousel Buses, Pearces Coaches, and Pulhams.

He took to the wheel with Go North East in 2006 and, after moves up the career ladder, joined the Oxford team in 2018 as Express Services Manager before becoming Operations Manager.

The operator notes he was significantly involved in the growth of Carousel Buses after it took over Arriva’s network in Buckinghamshire, the integration of Pearces Coaches and in the electrification of the Oxford depot.

“In the 20 years I’ve worked at Go-Ahead, I’ve seen how the business operates from various perspectives,” Mr Ritchie says. “As a driver, I understood the fundamentals of excellent customer service, and from there, coming to Oxford has allowed me to take on a more overarching role.

“There are strong opportunities for career progression at Go-Ahead, and it’s been a brilliant journey so far and I’m looking forward to continuing to deliver operational excellence across our network.”

Mr De Sousa joined Go-Ahead in 2019 after completing a Transport Management course.

Following a rapid progression within the business, he was made Head of Commercial in 2024.

He was also key in the Oxford depot electrification process and expansion of Carousel Buses, and is credited with several improvements to the network through Bus Service Improvement Plan funding.

Mr De Sousa says: “I’m delighted to take the next step in my career and thank my colleagues for their support and guidance throughout. It’s an exciting time at Oxford Bus Group and I’m looking forward to helping continue to improve our network and service for our customers.”

Luke Marion, Managing Director of Oxford Bus Group, adds: “I’d like to congratulate Shaun and Glenn on these thoroughly deserved promotions, having both played instrumental roles in the growth of the company in recent years.

“As a business, we are committed to developing talent, investing in colleagues and providing clear pathways for career development and progression.

“Shaun and Glenn are excellent examples of what can be achieved when support is aligned with hard work and dedication, which Shaun and Glenn have in abundance.”

20 years of Arriva in MK (Part 4) by Matt Cooper 

Here is the final part of the MK Metro/Arriva in MK 20 year anniversary. It has been a bit more wordy then planned, I have been known to go on a bit in person as well as in emails!  Apologies some of the photos are a tad ropey, old digital camera or old scanner in use then. 

 

400 - We next visit Central Bus Station (CBS) a facility opened in 1983 and the envy of many towns and cities. Its location is adjacent to the railway station, which opened the previous year, and whose location was dictated by the line of the 'permanent way'. Unfortunately both are located approximately a mile from the central shopping centre, in most cases the destination for rail and bus passengers. Planners wished for the flagship shopping complex to be situated in a commanding location on higher ground putting the bus station especially on the 'back foot' from day one. 18 DIRO (drive in reverse off) bays and 5 DIDO (drive in drive out) bays featured along with passenger facilities on the lower floor and staff and administrative functions located on the first floor. The planned 350 departures per day were never met and by the time of this 19 April 2000 view the upper floor was a nightclub, staff and passengers shared the lower facilities and the travel shop had closed. The through bays on Elder Gate were used for crew changes and only a handful of journeys were advertised as departing from the bus station. The general ambience of the place was marred by skateboarders outside and the heavy mist of cigarrette smoke on the inside! 

 

401 - MK Metro vehicles on crew changes as CBS in 2004. Today the building is a grade 2 listed stucture, which has at lease seen some of the original features resotred and its appearance improved. No buses use the site which the majority of which is now a car park (!) Skateboarders occupy one end and have outlived the buses! 

 

402 - MK Council funded a free Christmas P&R service in 1999 from two sites (The Bowl and MK Coachway) with First Northampton awarded the contract. It was very well used and at weekends the usual single deck Volvo B6s transferred from First Capital Citybus were substituted with double deck vehicles from the native fleet. On 4 December 1999 East Lancs-bodied Volvo Citybus 102 (D102 XNV) had called at CBS before commencing its days work. This wasn't a stop on the route, the driver calling in to use the limited facilities on offer! The vehicle was one of two that were once pride of Northampton's coaching fleet. 

 

403 - More logically bus stops were located in front of the railway station making connections more simple for passengers. MK Metro's preferred minibus was the Plaxton Beaver 2-bodied Mercedes-Benz 810 or 814D with nineteen delivered new and joined by several similar examples acquired second hand. These were brighter and more roomy then the more elderly Mercedes-Benz minibus types they replaced. 119 (R119 DNV) passes the entrance to MK Central station on 19 September 1999. 

 

404 - At the same location the following day Stagecoach United Counties 164 (6253 VC, N46 MJO) Berkhof-bodied Volvo B10M was operating route VT99, a rail link between Luton Airport, Luton and MK in conjuction with Virgin Trains (49% owned by Stagecoach) The coach was one of several former Oxford Tube vehicles to join UC for this route and the X5 (Oxford-Cambridge) which also served MK Central. The livery was the similar to that carried on the trains and drivers could issue rail tickets on the coach. Also note the Evening Standard van behind wearing the distinctive chevron livery. These were once commonplace across London and with a large percentage of MK's population originating from the capital there was a need for the daily newspaper to be distributed around the new city. 

 

405 - As mentioned earlier the appeal of CBS wasn't felt by bus or coach operations with the latter requiring a substantial diversion from the nearby M1 motorway. Over 3 miles in distance with 12 roundabouts to contend with to get to CBS and 13 to get back to the motorway!  Most coaches at that time were fitted with a manual gearbox, or at best semi-automatic transmission making heavy work for the driver before they contend with the luggage! The solution was MK Coachway, a facility opened in 1989 adjacent to M1 junction 14. It was certainly more appealing for operators to use even if the facilities contained within it were somewhat basic. Durham Travel's Plaxton Premiere-bodied Volvo B10M 056 (P56 XNL) calls in on 27 December 1999 whilst working a Newcastle to Victoria service. 

 

406 - The site has since been modernised with a much brighter and larger facility in use. It is located on the site of the former P&R car park at Brook Furlong where in December 1999 First Northampton were running a festive P&R service numbered 200. MK Metro would provide year-round facilities soon after. The caravan and portacabin were in use by on-site 24 hour security at that time. 

 

407 - Back to MK Metro, double deckers in the fleet were few in number. Three Alexander RV-bodied Volvo Citybuses were in use during the mid 00s the trio originating with Grey-Green in London. They were from a larger batch used on the prestigious route 24 in the capital and had been rendered surplus when subsequent owners Arriva London lost the tender for the route. They would all pass back into Arriva ownership but on 9 July 2005 224 (F124 PHM) was still independeltly owned. Their duties centred on schools work. 

 

408 - A legend in the fleet was 'PAX', a 1968 Leyland Titan PD3/4 with Massey lowbridge bodywork new to Bedwas & Machen UDC. It became no.30 with Stevensons and remained with Julian Peddle's subsequent operations. It had received a full interior refurbishment and mainly used on driver training duties. It could be seen on rail replacement work circa 2000 at a time when anything could turn up on such work! Unfortunately,during my time at MK Metro it was out of use so I didn't get the chance to drive it. Today it is in the careful ownership of the Cardiff Transport Preservation Group. 

500 - So to Arriva The Shires who prior to the 2006 MK Metro take over had more operations to and from the city then within it. This included the X66 to Luton, once fearcely contested with Buffalo Travel and Stagecoach United Counties. 5086 (F636 LMJ) was operating the service in CMK on 27 October 1999. One of only three of the Alexander RL-bodied Leyland Olympian batches new to L&D it would see a rather unusual subsequent life after Arriva as a static bar within the grounds of a pub near Barnstable!  

 

501 - For a time Aylesbury depot operated a batch of Plaxton Prestige-bodied DAFs on 'line 100'. This was the 'express' between MK and Aylesbury with the 150 taking a more meandering route. On 7 May 2008 unbranded 3446 (R206 VPU) heads past MK Central for its home town. The vehicles had previously been used on Green Line service 724 between Harlow and Heathrow. 

 

502 - A route between the city and Kingston had been operated for a number of years by Luton depot. On 15 September 1999 Alexander AM-bodied Mercedes-Benz 709D 2226 (M454 HPG) was waiting time at MK Central. The bus was new to the Southern Counties division. The The glass fronted office space is now home to numerous retail outlets. 

503 - Blending in amongst the other UVG and Caetano-bodied Dennis Dart SLFs was HX51 LSO. 3526 was originally MK Metro 51 and new to the company in 2001, the first to be registered under the 'new' system. On 7 May 2008 it was loading opposite The Point Cinema on Lower Nineth Street, displaying its route number on paper stuck to the dash and advertising for driver recruitment. On that subject, with all the changes of ownership over the years any driver with 20 years service today would have started with Arriva, 25 years service MK Metro and 30 + years service under Stagecoach ownership or Cambus Holdings. There was a noticable gap in the drivers seniority list around 1986/1987 with many drivers departing as a result of the influx of minibuses. A steady stream of drivers followed in subsequent years. 

 

504 - Initially MK Metro was kept as a separate unit and retained its own colour schemes. In fact several more were added along with route branding. Vehicles acquired would also receive the former yellow and blue livery over Arriva corporate schemes including 3398 (L118 YVK) a Northern Counties Paladin-bodied Dennis Dart new to Kentish Bus and transferred from Arriva Southern Counties. At the same location and date as the previous picture the bus resembled the two similar vehicles once owned by Motts Yellow Bus operations, that pair fitted with Volvo B6 chassis, and could once be seen in the city on evening tendered route 4E. 

 

Lastly, I must mention John Costick who was Personnel Manager and staff detailer for many years. I had the pleasure of working with John during 2005 introducing a new computer system which dealt with staff rostering, work allocation etc. He was a very knowledgable man who worked for MK Metro and its predecessors since moving to the area in the 1970s when there were numerous incentives to move to the new city. He had transferred through National Bus having previously worked with Eastern Counties at Ely depot. His precision to detail and regimented way work working was great for me to learn from and we got to know each other very well during my time at MK. I understand he passed away recently and know he will be greatly missed by family and work colleagues alike. I took this picture of him, not sure why, soon after moving to the 'van centre' from the main depot at Wolverton. The training department were based in the adjoining office but that was the only convienence. The need to visit both depot sites on a daily basis was necessary and staff had to make a journey to visit the office should they have a query etc. Cheers John, it was a pleasure to work with you. 

Thank you Malcolm for putting up with the instalments of this article! I got a tad carried away with the pictures and captions but hope they represent a past era of MK area bus operation now that Arriva The Shires have been the city's major bus operator for 20 years. 

A delightful series of articles which I have appreciated very much. Ed. 

Grahame Wareham remembers COMS 379

      

L379  OFC379  1950 AEC Regent III 9612A with Park Ryal L26/26R low-bridge body. In 1952 L379 was renumbered to L155.L155 was sold to TPE,Macclesfield(dlr) in November 1963 and resold to Theobalds of Long Melford in October 1964. L155 ended up as a towing vehicle for Blackwells (dealer) of Earls Colne in 1970 and is presumed scrapped by them when its use came to an end.

     
   

379 KFC379G Daimler Fleetline CRG6LX  with Northern Counties H41/31F low-height body. Part of an initial batch of ten these were used on conventional conductor operated duties, mainly 2 road for the first few months of their lives and then sere subject to ticket machine trials with motorised equipment pending agreement to be used as full OMO double decker's. Once the second batch of similar but dual-doored vehicles arrived the following year 379 and its sisters migrated to country depots, Aylesbury depot becoming 379's home  for a number of years until transfer back to Oxford for the final service years before withdrawal. On withdrawal 379 along with 375-78, & 380 were transferred to NBC special projects and was converted by Midland Red's Carlyle Works into hospitality units promoting PHAB a charity based on childrens welfare in the Wales area based at Bristol & later Newport . After use as an  NBC Area Exhibition Unit in Wales & The Marches it was donated as a playbus to a Bristol based  charity. 379 was later sent for scrap to T.Wigley (dealer), Carlton, Barnsley by June 1990. 

I have added a further picture I have of 378 GHJ378L with Kimes (omitted when I sent the main text). 

 

Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester

visited by Dave Allen

     
       
     
   

These photos evoke memories as I have ridden on between the '40s and '80. Ed.s

Rail Replacement in Oxford by Peter Edgar

Attached are a few photos of some of the coaches being used at Oxford for the week long rail replacement service to Didcot Parkway and Banbury. 

A selection of the many coaches operating on the week long rail replacement service between Oxford and Didcot Parkway and Banbury.

     
     

A very varied selection of operators. Ed. 

Service updates

Service Changes from 22nd February 2026

Pulhams PDF567 at Bourton on the Water school 19-1-26


Pulhams GL25BUS Volvo MCV 3 Axle on 801 service at Stow on the Wold,
l had just had a ride on it from Bourton,the first time l had seen one of these on 801 as normally on school duties.


Pulhams Elite i R40PUL at Chipping Norton,29-1-26.Ex Oxford Bus X90 & Airline services.

Stagecoach 80052 near Wootton turn on diversion.5-1-26


Stagecoach 15832 at Stonesfield


Stagecoach 80039 at Charlbury 7-1-26


Stagecoach 80023 at Oxford Parkway 23-1-26 on 800 s.


Stagecoach 80031 at Oxford Airport on 800 service.


Stagecoach 15991 at Stonesfield 28-1-26.