Editorial
This is a significant page as it marks a great change to the bus and coach services in the UK. More detail is hereunder.
Now we are into the critical period with many items to record following the significant reduction in services by all the bus operators with coach services also limited. The M40 Motorway by my house is eerily quiet, it seems strange after 45 years of growing traffic noise that now it really is quiet. Most other roads are also very empty and it seems this may now go on for many months to come.
By April 2nd, in this picture from Jim Wright, taken around
1430 not very much was happening and it will be even quieter next week
as the X5 and Oxford tube cease running from Oxford!
However on the bright side, time to take stock, catch up on all those jobs that one has put off until tomorrow, the next week or the right weather!!
I have been very lucky as some people are still able to get out and take their exercise. For some this is on their local bus routes and so contributions have entirely dried up as yet!
If and when that happens I and others will start to draw on the library of stuff which came at a time when there was too much or when one never imagined "that will come in useful one day" !!
At this time of enforced "internment" you made find this link of interest showing St Giles and The Randolph live 24/7 thanks to the Oxford Internet Institute Live Feed.
Oxford Internet Institute Live Feed
You even get to see various buses passing which is nice!
More links which may be interest and pass some idle moments.
https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/united-kingdom.html
https://trafficcameras.uk/map/
Finally, as you will see below, most coach services are to be suspended from Monday, April 6th and include many in our main area. Readers have been very kind in providing pictures etc. which will add much in the coming weeks. Thank you!
The changes which took place last Monday are now seen to be taking effect with significant reduction in passenger numbers justifying the actions taken. The picture below taken on March 30th highlights the lack of services and passengers.
Taken at the same moments in time by Wayne Singleton of
Oxford Bus - Gloucester Green during the afternoon of March 30th 2020.
Worcester Street and the associated car park are deserted on March 29th in
these pictures by Gavin Francis.
These pictures give an idea of how Lock Down affects the UK in 2020.
A forlorn sight with 10667 by The Ashmolean in St. Giles and no other
traffic on March 29th by Gavin Francis.
Below is a link which will take to all the changes on Stagecoach services up and down the UK.
https://www.stagecoachbus.com/coronavirus
Also on a service more local to us.
X5 Service Update Thursday 2 April 2020
Further revised timetables will be in place from Thursday 2 April 2020; these temporary timetables will operate across Bedfordshire until further notice.
Monday – Sunday X5 buses will now only run between Cambridge and Milton Keynes Rail Station every hour between 07:30 and 19:30.
This means that the X5 will no longer operate to Oxford and the alternative will be to use the 505 Brackley-Bicester and then the S5 to Oxford.
Rugby depot on April 1st 2020.
Announced at 1100hrs on April 1st 2020.
Coronavirus Update: megabus services suspended in England and Wales but continue to run in Scotland
• megabus services suspended in England and Wales - no services from Sunday, April 5th 2020
• megabus services within Scotland and some partner services continue to run
From 23:59 on Sunday, April 5th all of our services will be temporarily suspended.
I am advised that services will cease to operate from Monday, April 6th 2020 until further notice.
One can see why the services will be withdrawn, there are few if any
customers !!
Oxford Tube services will be temporarily suspended after Sunday 5th April.
Following the Government's guidance to stay at home and stop all non-essential travel, all Oxford Tube services will be temporarily suspended after Sunday 5th April.
Despite running a revised timetable, the number of people travelling on Oxford Tube services has dropped significantly since the national government guidance was issued on non-essential travel and the difficult decision has now been taken to suspend the service until further notice.
On behalf of everyone working on the Oxford Tube we would like to thank customers for their support and understanding over what is a very challenging period and we look forward to welcoming you back in the future.
Any customers with tickets booked through Oxford Tube should contact customer services via email for a full refund - we will work as quickly as we can to reply. Please email www.oxford.enquiries@stagecoachbus.com. We can also look to extend season tickets and move them to the period when we are operating again
A summary of the current service levels operating up until Sunday is provided below (the last journeys will operate from Gloucester Green at 2015 on Sunday and London Victoria at 2245:
-
First departing coach will leave Gloucester Green at 0315 and last at 2015
-
First departing coach will leave London at 0545 and last at 2245
-
There will be an hourly service running in between
I can append details of those buses and coaches still in use and those which have been SORN for the foreseeable future. This means OBC have 90 vehicles inc. some PMU buses off the road, CSS all 13 off, Thames Travel with 27 inc. all double decks and Carousel with 15 off including all the recently acquired Citaros from Go East Anglia. You can see the details by opening the Excel worksheet below. (SORN = Statutory Off Road Notice.)
I would like to express our thanks too Phil Southall, Managing Director of Oxford Bus for this information. He also advises that at present the Airline service to Heathrow and Gatwick will continue next week.
Further service reductions - from April 6th 2020
With customer numbers now around 15% of normal
levels, we need to make one more round of reductions to minimise losses, and
maximise our chances of survival.
Most routes in Reading will go to basic hourly frequencies, apart from the
17 running every 30 minutes. Some routes, such as the Tiger 7 and Green Line
702 will be suspended entirely due to extremely low numbers. We will
continue to run services which are funded either by Reading, Wokingham and
West Berkshire Councils, or other third parties, regardless of usage, for as
long as they want them to run.
This is a difficult and uncomfortable decision and not one that we ever expected to happen, however, the steps we take now are for the long term good of the company and therefore in the best interests of us all. This should be the final changes to our services apart from anything required for the routes we run under contract.
Both pictures courtesy Robert Williams CEO.
New NHS Shuttles
I think this bus is usually on the 11 past the Berkshire Independent
Hospital.
On Tuesday we started running two shuttle services for NHS workers at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, following successful discussions around how we can assist the NHS during the current crisis. Funded by the NHS to support their shift workers, route H1 connects the RBH with Queens Road car park and the Station, and route H2 connects the RBH with the University utilising our two Bronze 11 buses and four drivers.
This welcome additional work sees two groups of key workers working together for local residents - a great good news story.
We continue to pursue other potential work for driving /customer service and maintenance roles.
Still waiting to see if they are going to continue with the Green Line services 748,755,757,758,759.
Herewith a list of what's off the road for AY HE LN & MK
James Allum
I hope to go out to
Hemel once this horrid virus has disappeared. Being on the front line as a
train dispatcher in London Euston, I can certainly notice a great deal the
low usage of train services and hope the same is going for the buses.
Just a little note
for the page, if there is anyone wanting to know the current level of
services of Buses for Hertfordshire please check the Intalink website and go
to the Coronavirus bus service link.
Mainly in Arriva land Hemel the route 2 Woodhall Farm - Town Centre - Bennetts Gate instead of being every 10 mins is running to a 30 mins service
The route 3/4 Grovehill West - Town Centre - Stoneycroft/Gadebridge is running every hour.
Further timetable changes from Sunday 29 March
Bus operator First Berkshire announced that from Sunday 29 March
services 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and X74 will operate a Sunday service 7 days a
week from. Services 12 and 13 which will be withdrawn until further
notice. The announcement comes after Government outlined strict new
measures to tackle the spread of coronavirus, including advice that
people should leave home only to exercise once a day, travel to and from
work where "absolutely necessary", shop for essential items and to
fulfil any medical or care needs. Concessionary Travel Cards can now be
used before 9.30am every day of the week. The bus operator has briefed local authorities as well as the local
Traffic Commissioner about the changes. Marc Reddy, First Berkshire's managing director said:
“With much of the
UK effectively ordered to stay at home for at least the next few weeks,
we have made the decision to move to a Sunday timetable to support those
who still need to get to and from work and get out to shops and
pharmacies for essential supplies.
Just a few weeks ago it was almost inconceivable that these
restrictions would be in place, which only underlines what a
challenging, dynamic and rapidly evolving situation the UK faces, and
which First Berkshire is monitoring and responding to day-by-day,
hour-by-hour."
Times of Old
In these times of lock down I was pleased to get a number of interesting local pictures from times past and will include a small selection each week. The contributors name is in the detail.
On August 27th 2019 a preserved Badgerline Van Hool-bodied
Volvo B10M made a stop at Oxford Rail Station to pick up enthusiasts on the
way to a bus rally.
I was lucky to be in the area at the time to picture it.
Former Stagecoach in Oxfordshire ADL Enviro200 36453 is seen at Hull depot
in May 2019, having not long been transferred to Stagecoach East Midlands.
Note the Oxford area registration - something
that no longer happens!!
James Freeman
James is younger than many of us and his contributions are rather more modern.
Skyliner 50120 is seen offloading in Queen Street having worked an inbound
X30 morning express from Wantage.
This picture taken on June 9th 2009 is of interest as it shows the graphic
use of the destination by Craig McConn of Stagecoach.
Carrying a cherished registration still used on Oxford tube, 50124 was also
a winner at Duxford in 2004, seen leaving Gloucester Green April; 28th 2009.
These were fine coaches but with a few problems such as Air Conditioning
reliability and a habit of rolling badly at speed on the motorway.
Matt Bullock
Matthew has kindly provided some older photographs with comprehensive information which is most welcome.
BUD 279 was a Bedford OB new to House, Watlington in April
1946. It served with House all its life, being withdrawn in March 1964 and
scrapped at the depot.
The view is of Reading station in 1960. The Jolly Porter in the background
was a Simonds pub and was demolished
along with Vincent’s Garage in 1972 to make way for the a previous
redevelopment of the railway station and forecourt.
The Crown on High Street, Charlton-on-Otmoor, was a Morrell’s pub and
survives today in private hands.
It’s opposite the church and just down the road
from the base of Holder’s “Charlton Services” fleet
who were the owners of Saunders-bodied AEC
Regent III KGU 239.
The bus was formerly London Transport RT1525,
new in July 1949, and was acquired by Holder in 1968, serving with them for
seven years.
Nick Ross spends time on an overbridge
Nick writes "I was on the overbridge of the Linslade Western bypass on March 20th which will probably be the last day of school till the Autumn"
Until very recently Masons of Cheddington were using former Red Kite Olympians on their Aylesbury schools - Milton Keynes runs.
By Mar 20th this
appears to have changed with ex London DAF LJ03MDY,
Scania YN08MSV (unless
this is a Marshalls bus ??)
Olympian still in Red Kite colours R172VPU
- all
heading North on the by pass on March 20th
Indeed an awful lot of Z&S, Redline and other operators run dead from Aylesbury to Bletchley/M. Keynes each day using the Linslade Western bypass morning and afternoon.
Z & S Enviro 200 LJ08CZX returns home after a day on
the 30s
Many thanks to Nick for some interesting pictures.
North of the Border with Gordon Scott
Taken on March 30th at Drum Brae with Edinburgh Lothian revised timetables for COVID19
Volvo B8L Alexander
Dennis Enviro 400 XLB 1101 - SJ19OXU on route 31.
1126 - SB19GLK on Airlink 100 route.
First East Scotland Livingston depot 47454 - SK63KKP Wright
Streetlite, ex First Bristol Bath working route X25.
Taken at Broomhouse, Edinburgh on March 31st.
Lothian route 22 normally run
by Longstone depot
using Volvo B5TL Wright Gemini 3,
due to further COVID19 route timetable changes
it is now
operated by Central depot Volvo
B9TL Wright Gemini.
311 - SN09CUH & 372 - SN11ECF.
Taken 2/4 at Ferrytoll Park & Ride.
New Stagecoach East Scotland Fife
| 23649 | YX20OFS | AD E20D SFDDPCBR9KGY27670 | AD | B??F | 3/2020 | Fife Scottish |
| 23650 | YX20OFT | AD E20D SFDDPCBR9KGY27674 | AD | B??F | 3/2020 | Fife Scottish |
| 23651 | YX20OFU | AD E20D SFDDPCBR9KGY27675 | AD | B??F | 3/2020 | Fife Scottish |
| 23652 | YX20OFV | AD E20D SFDDPCBR9KGY27671 | AD | B??F | 3/2020 | Fife Scottish |
| 23653 | YX20OFW | AD E20D SFDDPCBR9KGY27673 | AD | B??F | 3/2020 | Fife Scottish |
Five of their 65 plate E200 MMC's have moved to Stagecoach Cumbria.
Taken April 2nd at Lothian Marine depot which is now
Stored buses from sister companies East Coast Buses
Lothian Central depot 1051CE - SJ18NFA
Many thanks to Gordon for his usual interesting provision of pictures.
Fleet news and developments
Previously mentioned are the coaches for the Stansted 720 service, now with more details below:
| 7200 | BV20HRA | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001825 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7201 | BV20HRC | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001826 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7202 | BV20HRD | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001827 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7203 | BV20HRE | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001828 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7204 | BV20HRF | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001829 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7205 | BV20HRG | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001830 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7206 | BV20HRJ | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001831 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7207 | BV20HRK | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001832 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7208 | BV20HRL | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001833 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7209 | BV20HRM | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001834 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7210 | BV20HRN | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001835 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7211 | BV20HRO | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001836 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7212 | BV20HRP | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001837 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7213 | BV20HRR | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001838 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7214 | BV20HRU | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001839 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
| 7215 | BV20HRW | MB Tourismo WEB41054523001840 | MB | C??FL | /2020 | Arriva the Shires |
Details of those buses in our area of report are given under Arriva above in COVID-19 section. From that you will see that beloved 2159 from Wycombe is furloughed !!!!
Tony Bungay
I enclose the above just to illustrate how deserted roads are, at any other time this must be a Bus Drivers dream! Clear roads, no traffic jams, being able to keep to schedule.
Sapphire Enviro 400 5468 in Exchange Street Aylesbury working the 500 on
March 30th.
Heading out of town on the X60 3873 on March 30th.
April 1st and Citaro 3019 in Exchange Street Aylesbury again on the 500
3874 working a turn on Service X60 proceeds along Aylesbury High Street on
April 1st.
Apart from 3873, the other Arrive vehicles were photographed in the centre of Aylesbury about 2pm!
Many thanks to Tony for these welcome pictures.
Nick Ross
Arriva Optare 2498 awaits in vain for customers on a D1 at an equally
deserted Leighton rail station on March 27th 2020.
Still devoid of any markings other than the fleet number - 7101 is seen in
GLCS on March 30th by Gavin Francis.
If you haven't seen the Group page recently it is worth looking this for the video graphics.
Phil Southall - OBC
Rail Blockade has
largely been covered by 67 to 69. We have had one or two of them returning
for minor issues so I think 70 has been down for a stint too.
Whilst things are
quiet Wycombe Coachway seems sensible as it allows us to take the 102 off
for the foreseeable future from Heathrow.
In other news, 21 to 25
have now left the fleet permanently. They have gone to Brighton & Hove for
now to be used on rail replacement to release double deckers to go to the
new Cornwall operation from this weekend.
We are finalising the fleet plan over the next day or so as to what we will
be parking up for the duration of this crisis. I can let you have it when
done. Obviously this will be driven by claiming tax refunds from April 1st
onwards so allocation will change as the week goes on as plans are
finalised.
Do check the allocations now as there have been some changes with many buses taken off the road.
No decision on Airline yet, likely to continue for at least next week.
Schedule alterations here effective March 30th have seen a great change in the way the fleet is used. Also there is a gremlin in the ticket machines where coaches appear to working local routes. For example on April 1st coach 75 was stated on www.bustimes.org to be working the 35 to Flackwell Heath. My man in Flackwell Heath duly took his daily constitutional to witness this unusual working. And guess what?
Coach 75 duly appeared as bus 939 seen above entering Flackwell Heath
working route 35.
One wondered if this was an April Fools joke by someone in Carousel but as
this was after 12 noon the joke is on them !!!!
Picture provided by Nigel Peach taken on April 1st.
A further effort by the depot saw coaches 75 and 76 working this route on April 3rd. I wonder if this creates a problem for fuel duty rebate claims?
The regular bus since the service reductions working route 40 to Thame has been StreetLite 407 as 423 has been furloughed for the foreseeable future.
First day of the two hourly schedule to Thame sees 407 on its way back to
High Wycombe in Stokenchurch.
Photo by Gavin Francis on March 30th.
Nearing the end of the old timetable 421 is seen with a Wycombe bound 40 by
Gavin Francis on March 27th,.
This bus continues in service from March 30th but not to be seen on the 40.
Well with the significant reduction in services from March 30th "off branded route" buses are making life interesting as shown below.
Guy Watts
Brookes 610 is seen heading along Woodstock Road with a 6 road service on
March 28th.
On March 29th it was the turn of 682, the only bus on 6 road on the Sunday
hourly service.
By Tuesday, March 31st 652 was in use on 6 road as seen heading along
Woodstock Road.
Jason Kew
Red Brookes 604, Grey Brookes 612, 5 branded 653 and yellow 683 are seen
with 4 road services on March 28th.
Yellow 689 and Orange 691 are also seen with 4 road services on March 28th.
Yellow 685 is seen on 2 road services
on March 28th.
Very many thanks to Jason for a veritable rainbow of pictures from March 28th.
Gavin Francis
March 29th saw Brookes red 606 and 608 working 2 road services.
5 branded 656 is seen working X13 road services on March 29th.
Yellow 685 is seen with a 6 road service on March 30th.
Jim Wright
605 branded for 2 road is seen with a 5 and Park & Ride 672 is working 9
road in High Street on April 2nd.
Again on April 2nd, this time in Magdalen Street East,
Gavin Francis
Winter to Summer March 2020.
On Sunday, March 30th Gavin caught 34 waiting for its next duty at
Gloucester Green.
The previous day on March 29th, 35 is seen leaving for Gatwick via Heathrow
and also calling at The Coachway, High Wycombe.|
This is shown on the side blind very clearly.
Here we see 36 climbing New Road on its way to Gatwick on March 29th.
Using bus times, as we cannot just go to Handy Cross to take photos anymore,
38 is passing 37 on Handy Cross overbridge.
So, as you can see only pictures used are by people who had a legitimate
reason to be where they were taken.
Mention has been made elsewhere about coaches leaving Oxford or working on hire during the Rail Blockade at East Grinstead.
Andy Churchill
Sold to Brighton and Hove are Volvo B11R / Plaxton
Panther C44FLT 21/22/23/24/25 with 22 arriving on March 15th and 21/24/25 on
March 21st. These Are acting as cover for Brighton and Hove Scania
Omnidekka’s 685-688 which have Gone on loan to Plymouth City Bus and the
Coaches will be used on Rail Replacement Duties and are expected to remain
there for Six months and after that are destined to Move to Plymouth City
Bus once the Scania’s return to Brighton.
Matthew has provided two pictures of Airline coaches at work in Brighton and East Grinstead.
Oxford Airline now BH&D 21 at East Grinstead Station on April 1st by Matthew
Vivash.
Oxford Airline X50 branded 67 & 69 at East Grinstead on March 25th by
Matthew Vivash.
See further reference on these coaches by Phil Southall under Go Ahead above.
Fleet changes have not happened as expected due to the service reductions and one should refer to the OBC allocation list under COVID19 above to see what has transpired.
As of 216 and its sisters 215 and 217 they are not showing on www.bustimes.org as being with TT!
Jim Wright
Scania 212 heads around Carfax Corner with an arriving X2 service on April
2nd but see the next picture for a strange event!
On the very same day, 216 fully branded for Carousel but now moved to Thames
Travel with 215 and 217 is seen in St Aldates with an X32 working!!
Its last working for Carousel was a Link40 service to Stokenchurch on March
24th at 1900.
Well done to Jim for all his photos and I hope for more in the coming weeks if Stagecoach don't furlough him!
https://www.nationalexpress.com/media/2999/reduced-services-route-map-april-2020.pdf
https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/help/live-service-updates
VCS showing the departure bays in the oldest section on March 30th. Very
much quieter than usual from Gavin Francis.
I've made this extra large so that readers can see the detail of services on
March 29th. Provided by Gavin Francis.
- 801Bradford→London
- 801London→Bradford
- 802Liverpool→London
- 802London→Liverpool
- 803Gloucester→London
- 803London→Gloucester
- 804Swansea→London
- 804London→Swansea
- 805Plymouth→London
- 805London→Plymouth
- 806Poole→London
- 806London→Poole
- 807Derby→London
- 807London→Derby
- 808Wolverhampton→London
- 808London→Wolverhampton
- 809Edinburgh→London
- 809London→Edinburgh
- 810Southampton→London
- 810London→Southampton
- 811Leeds→Liverpool
- 811Liverpool→Leeds
- 812Bristol→Nottingham
- 812Nottingham→Bristol
- 813London→Great Yarmouth
- 813Great Yarmouth→London
- 814Ramsgate→London
- 814London→Ramsgate
- 815Newcastle upon Tyne→London
- 815London→Newcastle upon Tyne
- 816Ipswich→London
- 816London→Ipswich
- 817Worthing→London
- 817London→Worthing
- 818Hull→London
- 818London→Hull
- 819Coventry→Manchester
- 819Manchester→Coventry
The tables above will help to identify the current route numbers not valid after April 5th.
In line with Government advice on Covid-19, NEx have been running a reduced network for essential travel only. However, as more people rightly stay at home, they have decided to temporarily suspend all services from 23:59 on Sunday, April 5th 2020.
Well, not unsurprisingly, service fully cease after Sunday evening, 23:59 April 5th until further notice. So that 800 group services have only lasted a very short time.
Gavin Francis
One of NEx's own coaches, BK14LGC seen working an 802 service at VCS on
March 29th.
Bruce's Coaches run this Caetano tri-axle BU18OSR seen with an 809 service
at VCS on March 29th.
Go Ahead's East Yorkshire nr 4 with an 818 service
at VCS on March 29th.
NEx subsidiary Kings Ferry's EK11 BV19XPY with an 814 service
at VCS on March 27th.
One of NEx's own coaches SH192 with an 804 service heading out of
Elizabeth Street on March 30th
Another of NEx's own coaches SH244 with an 808 service heading along
Elizabeth Street on March 30th
Yet another
of NEx's own coaches SH281 with an 807 service heading reading for
loading in VCS on March 30th
For the routes refer to the table above.
Well we may not have any National Express pictures in the coming weeks so this gives some idea of how the last days were in March 2020.
As a subsidiary of NEx I have included pictures of a Kings Ferry coach on NEx duties.
No indication of what if any route this Tourismo is working or to work!
516 - BF68ZFO is seen by the old BOAC Air Terminal in Buckingham Palace Road
on March 29th by Gavin Francis.
New coaches for this operator are:
| OU20DVF | Vo B8R YV3T7U527LA199879 | Pn | C57F | 3/2020 | Pearce Private Hire, Berinsfield |
| OU20DVG | Vo B8R YV3T7U527LA199901 | Pn | C57F | 3/2020 | Pearce Private Hire, Berinsfield |
I have a couple of bus pics these two being in
service on the 882 from Gloucester to Tetbury
The bus is a 2007 Optare Solo and how
empty it was due to the coronavirus outbreak
Reading's 768 and 770 with 702 workings in GLCS
on March 30th by Gavin Francis.
The 702 ceases to operate from next week until the current problems are at
an end.
Mentioned in a previous issue these are the first of 52 for Manchester
| 11504 | SK20AUY | AD E40D | AD | H??/??F | /2020 | Greater Manchester South |
| 11505 | SK20AVB | AD E40D | AD | H??/??F | /2020 | Greater Manchester South |
| 11506 | SK20AVC | AD E40D | AD | H??/??F | /2020 | Greater Manchester South |
Many buses are being laid up during the present COVID19 crisis. I don't have any information which those buses are at present but hope to find out in the next week.
The Horspath Road depot on March 30th by Gavin Francis.
Gavin Francis
Has provided pictures from the end of March as he has not worked in April and is now furloughed.
MMC 10667 seen by the Ashmolean on March 29th.
MMC 10684 with an S3 service departs from Gloucester Green on March 29th.
MMC 10686 with an S3 service departs from Gloucester Green on March 29th.
Gold MMC 10783 with an S3 service departs from Gloucester Green on March
29th.
Jim Wright
Jim is based at Chipping Norton but has kindly taken some pictures whilst in Oxford but one on his S3 bus will interest readers..
This notice is to the notices on the tube and restricts passenger use of the
front seat downstairs.
As you will have already read above, the tube will cease operations after service on Sunday, April 5th. Gavin Francis has taken some photos last weekend which are shown below.
50284 seen ready for loading at Gloucester Green on March 30th
50276
with a London service departs from Gloucester Green on March 29th.
50275
with a London service heads up New Road on March 29th.
50273
with a London service loading at Thornhill Park & Ride on March 29th.
50276 with a sister coach behind seen in Buckingham Palace Road
on March 29th.
50284
loading in Buckingham Palace Road
on March 30th.
So these will be the last pictures for some weeks or months to come. The fleet is being laid up until further notice and the new fleet announced some weeks ago is now on the back burner.
Jim Wright
Near the end of the road, an M34 service, worked by 54280, was only
operating as far as Coventry on April 2nd.
Gavin Francis
megabus Astromega 50291 ready to work an M11
service to Aberdeen from VCS on March 29th by Gavin Francis.
The next day, March 30th, Panorama 50410 was on the same
duty making ready to leave VCS, by Gavin Francis.
Announced at 1100hrs on April 1st 2020.
Coronavirus Update: megabus services suspended in England and Wales but continue to run in Scotland
• megabus services suspended in England and Wales - no services from Sunday, April 5th 2020
• megabus services within Scotland and some partner services continue to run
Following the government’s guidance to stay at home and stop all non-essential travel, we’ve taken the tough decision to temporarily suspend our megabus services in England and Wales with no services running after Sunday 5 April. But we’ll still be continuing to run our megabus services within Scotland, please check our website for details and for other services, such as the Oxford Tube and other partner routes which may still be available.
If you're travelling on megabus services within Scotland, or other partner services that remain available at this time, we look forward to welcoming you on board.
Customers with a booked ticket to travel on our megabus services in England and Wales who have been affected by this will receive an email and be refunded. If this affects you and haven’t received an email from us in a few days, please contact our Customer Services Team on enquiries@megabus.com who will be able to look into this for you.
We’re sorry for the inconvenience this will cause you. We firmly believe that the decision to temporarily suspend services is the right one based on the current unprecedented circumstances, and I hope you understand the reasons for our decision to stop running services in England and Wales. We hope to be able to welcome you back on board very soon.
Smaller operators and London developments
Tony Bungay
The Masons vehicle was
photographed between school duties, parked up just outside Aylesbury Town
centre on March 13th.
Gavin Francis
LT's 45 and 65 with 11 services by VCS on March 30th, looking rather
deserted.
https://thetransportlibrary.co.uk/
When I had occasion to need some photographs recently I was delighted to find just what I needed on The Transport Library Web Site. The collection is significant and if you do use the site please mention the Oxford Chiltern Bus Page.
Robin who runs the site wrote to me:
"I was recently put in touch with a local transport photographic image
company called Kezlan Images. They run two sites – the Transport Library
and The Transport Treasury. Together they provide over 200,000
images to purchase with both Road and Rail transport from
the UK and overseas. I was drawn mainly to the Transport Library as this
site has a larger volume of Bus images. In particular they offer the
images from J S Cockshott, Geoffrey Morant and also several
photographers who left their collection to the Omnibus Society. Started
in 2012 the Transport Library started as a way of marketing Russell
Fell’s large collection of London Country and London Transport Images.
This collection alone numbers around 25,000 and contains a great many
shots from the local area. From there though they have picked up other
collections plus run a service for individuals and societies to market
images on their behalf in exchange for royalty payments. The site is
well worth a look as there are images from a wide variety of operators
from across the country, so there should be something for everyone.
Kezlan Images also buy transport photographic collections, and have
started to move into publishing through the Transport Treasury brand.
Currently the books they have produced are based on rail subjects, but
they hope to move into road matters in the near future.
I would note that prices are most reasonable for the photographs, especially if one take the Digital images.
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