The page for enthusiasts in the Oxford Chilterns Area - News from you and news for you - pictures too  ~~~~   The page for enthusiasts in the Oxford Chilterns Area - News from you and news for you - pictures too  ~~~~   The page for enthusiasts in the Oxford Chilterns Area - News from you and news for you - pictures too  

Issue 113
(OBP-328)
Sunday 30th January 2005
next update week ending 12th February 2005

Please note that any comments made in this news page are those of the Editors' and in no way constitute 
any official points of view from the bus companies mentioned,  or indeed any other official body. 
As a news page we reserve the right to make valid comments as seen from an editorial point of view.

If you wish to be included on a mailing list where I will advise of any mid-week news please let me know
malcolmhc@aol.com

Last week started with my birthday on Monday and continued with a number of very pleasant happenings including a visit to both Hamburg and Hannover and a bumper contribution from many of you with interesting photographs.

The very fact that so many of you contribute with notes and pictures each week does make the time spent each Sunday producing the page most worthwhile. Thank you!

We have a number of interesting topics in this week's editorial including one item, which although not bus related, I hope you will find interesting.

News was released this week about an initiative to donate buses to the trouble stricken areas from the recent tsunami disaster.

Full details of this response can be found on the following web site - http://www.asiabusresponse.co.uk

Significantly Go-Ahead have participated and The Oxford Bus Company is sending four withdrawn Darts as part of the group contribution.

The buses in question are

Dennis Dart 519 seen nearly 18 months ago when working the 5B from Greater Leys on 13th June 2003

We look forward to further details as they become available and must congratulate the group on this initiative.

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Hamburg and the Fuel Cell Citaros

One of the three fuel cell Citaros, 2372  HH-QT-132 in the parking area.

This last week I visited Hamburg and was privileged to visit the HAMBURG HOCHBAHN bus company. This company was one of the of the nine European companies chosen to participate in the trials, sponsored by the EEC, with the Mercedes Citaro-Ballard fuel cell buses.  A map of the disposition of the 27 prototype buses is shown below.

A significant factor relating to Hamburg is the fact that they have elected to produce their own hydrogen fuel.

I was told that the buses, three are allocated to HH, are now running well with few problems. Two are required for service and one is held in reserve.

A short demonstration run proved the bus to be powerful and very quiet. Emissions are limited to steam and heat from the propulsion system, a factor which would appeal to a city like Oxford which, from many areas, is expressing concern about such matters.

The bus has a driving cab layout almost identical to a normal Citaro but unlike its cousins has a flat floor throughout. The Hamburg version has three entry/exit doors and the engine is located at the rear offside producing a layout which in some ways is reminiscent of the Volvo B7. A control cabinet takes up the near side rear of the bus but is not at all intrusive.

The interior of 2372 showing the offset rear engine compartment. The buses seat 35 which is not bad considering the three door layout.

The high roof with some additional weight means that drivers need to be careful when cornering. Indeed some 20 drivers have received special training before being allowed out in service. Extracts from the well produced brochure are included with this article courtesy all the companies concerned.

2372  being refuelled.

My thanks to all those involved in the visit which I found most interesting and worthwhile.

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A tribute to route 36 with photographs by Gavin Francis.

Gavin Francis, one of our regular contributors spent much of a very cold and damp Friday catching the dying day of Routemasters on the 36. I felt that it would be sad to let this event go without mention in these pages, especially since one green RML may well have worked in High Wycombe when new. Certainly many of its sisters did.

RML2317 at Queens Park Station on 28th January 2005.

THE RM, RM1 at Kilburn Lane little showing its almost 60 years of age.

A Craven RT, 1431 with RT4421 both at Queens Park Station on the 28th January.

A personal favourite was always the RTW, even now looking so much wider than the ordinary bus.
RTW75 is seen at Vauxhall Cross Bus Station on the 28th.

....and finally in the interlude of nostalgia, RT1431 is seen from the classic position on RM1,
the nearside downstairs front seat. There will really be quite nothing like this in the future.
One can almost hear the AEC engine thumping away just in front of your feet when you look at the picture.

Many thanks to Gavin for these superb pictures which go along way to capturing the event of the final day of RMs on the 36.

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Oxford Tube Connection - Lewknor

Launch of this service is tomorrow and photographs of the service would be much appreciated.

The front of the brochure shows the vehicles to be used and some brief details.

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Hannover interlude

I know. it's not a bus but it is a M A N.

On Wednesday last week I visited Hannover and during my time at the airport a colleague had arranged for me to visit the airport fire station. Here I was shown their latest acquisition, an Austrian built tender which had an M A N 1000hbhp engine capable of taking this mammoth along the taxiways at up to 140 kph. In fact on a demonstration run we reached over 100 kph which is pretty good going for a 40 ton beast. Water is delivered from the cannon over the windscreen at a rate of 3000 litres per minute. I wasn't allowed to drive the ting but I did have an itchy right foot. The airport authority has two other similar machines.

Now on to this week's News and photos. Thank you to everyone who has contributed this week.

Malcolm Crowe - Sunday 30th January 2005

One odd thing is that it appears that you can also book through National Express tickets on the same service. Graham wrote in some detail saying "I've just been to the NX ticket office in Gatwick South Terminal and they were able to sell a through ticket to Bicester for today, there were no available journeys for tomorrow.

Indeed my mother once travelled from Oxford to Manchester via X5 and NX 540 changing at Milton Keynes.

However, I've just tried to look up routes on the NX website which would use the X5 but I can no longer find any routes using the X5 from 31 Jan, but for
travel today on 30 Jan it still permits the X5.

For example, using the NX website, for 31 Jan, Oxford to Cambridge tells you to change at Stansted but for the 30 Jan, times for the X5 are still offered.  For Bicester to London, for today you can travel via X5 and Milton Keynes (with through ticketing), but for tomorrow it is unable to find any journeys.

This would suggest that the agreement that the X5 accepts NX tickets will cease today, with Bicester disappearing from the NX network.  This would make sense as it seems unlikely that a service could accept both Megabus and NX tickets.

When you say 'this feature is also bookable after 7/3/05' do you mean it is still bookable in ticket agents, but no longer available online?

For those unaware, the X5 (Cambridge-Oxford) also appears in the NX counter guide as one of the 'third party' services, and as such through NX tickets are bookable onto this service.

This is the case even now with the frequency increased to half-hourly.

NX passengers can only board additionally at Bicester, Buckingham, MK, Bedford & St. Neots. Presumably that's pretty much all stops(??)

This feature is also bookable after 7/3/05 when the NX timetables change."

Altogether an interesting situation and one which we may return to as matters are clarified.

Certainly revised branding is now appearing on X5 coaches as shown in the picture below.

Volvo coach 52387, recently transferred from Perth, shows off the new branding now being applied to X5 vehicles.

After all the talk about coaches on the 66 last week saw fairly regular use of Dennis Darts from the 2000 batch, 33501-13. Some of this batch are branded for a service which goes to Devizes and Trowbridge. It seems strange to see the names of places on the service here in Oxford. Certainly both 33501 and 33505 have been used on this service in the past week.

33805 waits time on stand 10 at Gloucester Green last Friday when working on the 66 to Swindon from Oxford.