Editorial

The weather has been one of contrasts this week making photography far from easy. Thursday morning saw a violent storm of heavy rain and high winds which lasted for some fifteen minutes leaving roads flooded and people walking on pavements getting an unwelcome shower from passing vehicles! I wonder how many drivers appreciate that they can be prosecuted for drenching pedestrians? Sunday saw high winds and heavy hail showers with intermittent calm and sun, all within 15 minutes!!

Many of you may not go to London and I though this picture from Gavin Francis of The Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) might prove interesting.

The past few days have seen a number of welcome contributions from readers which are included in this issue. These include the visit by Gary Seamarks to Edinburgh with pictures held over from last week, a report and pictures on the Cheltenham Festival buses used on the special services, an update on Stagecoach orders for 2019-2020 from SKM plus more Paul Bateson pictures from Times Past. Also mentioned is a very useful web link where you can see many of the vehicles operating in our area with details of the route and fleet number. This link has been provided by Richard Sharman. Red Nose Day was last Friday ad Gavin Francis took the opportunity to go up to London and capture most of the vintage buses and the routes they operated. Finally Theo Freeman provides us with pictures of rail replacement coaches at Banbury last Saturday. Then of course we have all the fleet news and updates.

Oxfordshire Bus Enthusiasts Society Meetings

Don't forget the next meeting  on Tuesday 19 March when our member Richard Morgan will give us a presentation called "A Random Miscellany of Training Buses"

Gary Seamarks visits Scotland

Recently Gary Seamarks visited Scotland where he took a number of interesting pictures including one of a Plaxton eLite which started life with Stagecoach in Oxfordshire on the 737 service - now worked by Oxford Bus!

"This was not the first time I have done a Scotland by rail trip, the first three in 2015/7/8 were on Virgin Trains West Coast from Milton Keynes Central to Glasgow Central, using the 06.23 train that arrives in Glasgow just after 10.40. Twice we have done up and back the same day returning on the 18.40 ex Glasgow that’s in MK at 22.40, the other trip was an overnighter coming back on the 16.52 (last possible departure) from Edinburgh to Milton Keynes, this train operates via  the West Midlands loop so is slower not arriving MKC until 22.00, (all service to/from MK were Pendolino operated)   This time we went via the East Coast Main Line, with a connecting train from St Neots to Peterborough for the 07.48 arriving Edinburgh at 11.22 our return was on the 17.31 from Edinburgh that had started in Aberdeen, arriving at Peterborough at 21.16 for a connection to St Neots.  The Peterborough- Edinburgh services are at present Class 91 operated, with those to/from Aberdeen HST operated at present, but with new trains due this will start to change later this year.

All these trips were up on a Tuesday, with tickets purchased via either the Virgin Trains or LNER web-sites the earlier you book the better price you can get, but on average the return fare has been around £45-£70 per person.

A note on the fares on  these trains is they can vary considerably and its worth booking as far in advance as you can but be careful with fares, I looked at using the 06.23 to Edinburgh and got a fare of £161 (single) this involved a change to Trans Pennine (TPE) at Carlisle with a 20 minute connection, but a single to Glasgow was £47, and a Carlisle to Edinburgh single on TPE was £7, so by split ticketing and to avoid being stuck in Carlisle if the 06.23 was late would have saved me over £100.  The reason we have always favoured Tuesday is Mondays and Fridays are always a bit dearer for fares, Mondays can also have knock on effects from overrunning engineering work also, Saturday services tend to start a bit later and finish earlier and again engineering works is always at the back of your mind. Also think about adding a plus bus if you want to travel round the destination city, though  Lothian’s City day rider is only £4, exact fare as no change given.

The 06.23 also serves Rugby, but the 18.40 is non-stop from Warrington to MK, the 16.52 stops at Birmingham and Coventry for connections to Rugby. Car Parking is easy at MK with a multi storey for about £11.50 per day.

Both stop-overs have used the compact Easy Hotel on Princes St Edinburgh, where a small room costs about £39 per night, its compact but for a single night no issues when all you need is a bed, if you want a window its £5 extra but note no food or drink is included this also means no kettle!. For food there are plenty of places on Princes St with a McDonalds a minute’s walk away.

 On the first overnighter we purchased a Stagecoach East Scotland day ticket and travelled from Glasgow to Edinburgh via hour stops in both Dunfermline and Glenrothes, but there are plenty of options for other routes between the two cities, with 4 rail routes from Central or Queen St and a 15 minute frequency on the Citylink/Megabus route that takes just over a hour off -peak.

 Central Glasgow is well worth a full day with plenty of action in the City with First, McGills and Stagecoach as well as Buchannan Street bus/coach station with plenty of local buses also passing, Edinburgh is similar but the much more compact St Andrews Square bus station is a shadow of its former size and perhaps not worth more than a token visit, Princes St is the main area of action which is enhanced by the Trams and Open toppers. Both Cities see extra services at the peaks which will bring some different types out as well as enhanced services on others, we were out in Edinburgh well before 8am and went for breakfast after the peak had passed.

Glasgow or Edinburgh ?,  Glasgow wins hands down for Megabus/Citylink as well as West Coast Motors and First Bus, McGills and Stagecoach Scotland West, whereas Edinburgh wins on tour coaches, opentoppers,  Borders Buses and the Lothian fleets, Stagecoach Scotland East serve both cities with coaches, with the occasional National Express workings with usually Parks vehicles.

Both Cities have many  spots worth visiting, so it’s worth doing homework before you go with  a look at First’s maps for Glasgow and Lothian’s for Edinburgh as many First and McGills  routes in Glasgow pass near Central Station but not the Bus Station, in Edinburgh almost all services serve Princes St or very close to, but  services using The Mound to the Old Town cross Princes St from Hanover St near the main Tram stop its perhaps the best location for open toppers, the East End of Princes St is where Leith Walk crosses to become North Bridge and again has routes that only serve this part of Princes St, including Borders Buses routes. The far west, where our Hotel was, is perhaps the best for Stagecoach and Citylink routes as these leave Princes Street further east at Frederick St heading for St Andrews Square.  The one downer with Princes Street can be the low sun for the morning peak, even in May we were restricted to taking mostly shots of eastbound services till about 9am."

https://www.firstgroup.com/uploads/maps/City%20Centre%20Bus%20Stops%20Map%20Aug%202017_0.pdf

https://www.lothianbuses.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/City_Centre_Route_Map_181202.pdf

for Lothian Buses map, stops near locations..

Hotel                     Stop       PA

Hanover St/Mound  Stops PH MD

North Bridge / Leith Walk             Stops J#  and N#

Tours start at WT

Airbus at WA

# note the issue with Princes St is no right turns are allowed at most junctions, which means an inbound Airbus for example will drop off at  Stop PF and then runs Frederick St, George St,  Hanover St, The Mound and finally Market St to get to Stop WA, where as leaving is a simple Left turn !. ##

And so to the pictures including Stagecoach 53701 now allocated to Stagecoach East Scotland at Glenrothes.

Image locations

 


223 Princes St by Waverley Bridge

 


246 South St David St

 

 
371 The Mound


509 heading for the Airport.

 


1001  Hanover St.

 


1063 Frederick St

 


10057  Princes St Eastern end

 


Borders Buses 11117 ex Selwyns by North Bridge.

 


54132  Hanover St (but taken from Castle)

 


54507  passes Princes St Tram stop


54510 heads for its terminus in Edinburgh.


Lothian 32 BG64FXE.


Lothian 839 SK07CCD.


Lothian 873 SN57GNK on the 37 at West End.


First WEST LOTHIAN 33445 SN66WGX

 


54515   St Andrews Square Bus Station

 


LSK497  facing opposite direction

 


GH02BUS is in old town near castle.

 

Classic Edinburgh scanned 35mm images so not as hi-res as todays stuff, all the 1988-96 one are slides scanned,

 


AWG623  Princes St 14/5/88 owned by Eastern Scottish

 


B161KSC Princes St 1/2/89 (Olympian)

 


BSF765S Princes St 25/3/96

 


E301MSG Princes St 01/07/88 (Olympian)

 


LWB391P The Mound 1/7/88 (Ailsa ex SYPTE)

 


MSF124P The Mound 18/3/88 (Leopard)

 


Ex Oxford tube 50066 W66BBW seen in Princes St 21/3/06.

 


13624 - TSU639  21/3/06, hard to believe but the only Megabus Olympian I ever took !!

Many thanks to Gary Seamarks for his report and pictures, maybe one or more of you will be tempted to take a train to the north?

Cheltenham Festival 2019 showing the buses used on Race Specials by David Gray

David writes "All of the photos were buses seen on shuttles between Cheltenham Spa station and the racecourse. Buses seen were from the North-west, Newcastle, Devon and Kent!"

I was very pleased to receive these pictures as they also included buses from SC West with an excellent picture of the bus wrapped for their 25th Anniversary.


Cumbria and North Lancashire Scania 15820.

 
East Midlands 10734 and 10737 from the rear.


London's E400 19871 also helping out.


Manchester has We Love Manchester applied after the appalling bombing a few years ago, 10472 running empty.

   
Merseyside and South Lancashire Scanias 15592 and 15910 promoting a day at Blackpool !!! finally 15912 from Merseyside.


North East's 10653 adds to the variety.

 
Scania 15438, once the pride of Oxford's fleet and now with South East along with 15774.


South West's 10500 another MMC.


Host company West had a number of buses involved including 15648 in 25th Anniversary branding and fully loaded.


Probably the oldest Stagecoach bus in service is West's 18200.


One interesting bus at the Races was this cocktail bus.

On Friday 15th March Gold Cup Day, the evenings operations would have been the busiest, which in addition to the above there were at least a further 22 vehicles from the Stagecoach West allocation involved meaning that 79 buses were planned to be used! The use of the five Mercedes Sprinters from South East was a first. They operated an evening only premium price shuttle from the taxi rank at the request of the Racecourse authorities.

Now a few extra pictures from Richard Sharman who also visited Cheltenham.


Scania 15438 again, this time from the rear seen also above.


South East's 44029 from the Little and Often fleet.


South's 10953 with coastliner branding.


I am confused by 10904's work as it si branded for the 93, showing 94 and also having Race notice in the upper deck front window.
10904 was new but never used to Oxfordshire.


Finally a nearside picture of 25th Anniversary branded Scania 15648 leaning over nicely!

With thanks to Dave Russell and Deric Pemberton & SKM I can report that 57 vehicles were on loan from other Stagecoach companies for the Cheltenham Race Meeting specials.

These vehicles were provided by:

Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire: (3) 15700, 15818, 15820

Stagecoach East Midlands: (4) 10734, 10735, 10736, 10737

Stagecoach London: (4) 10110, 10111, 10112, 19871

Stagecoach Manchester: (8) 10419, 10426, 10443, 10472, 10473, 10606, 10623, 10625

Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire: (6) 15592, 15593, 15599, 15910, 15911, 15912

Stagecoach Midlands: (5) 10731, 10732, 15607, 15667, 15668

Stagecoach North East: (5) 10631, 10635, 10640, 10653, 10654

Stagecoach South: (4) 10894, 10953, 18443, 19034

Stagecoach South East: (10) 15438, 15489, 15496, 15771, 15774, 44013, 44014, 44028, 44029, 44030

Stagecoach South West: (4) 10500, 10695, 15669, 15799

Stagecoach Yorkshire: (4) 10662, 15692, 15696, 15709

A report from SKM regarding the current situation on orders for 2019-2020

Stagecoach UK Bus
The company has not made any announcement todate on its new vehicle plans for the upcoming 2019/20 financial year and we understand that some bids from regional companies for new vehicle investment are still being considered by Stagecoach Group.

Deliveries of new vehicles are currently taking place and we understand that these are from the forthcoming 2019/20 order.
ADL Enviro 400MMCs 11139-58 were delivered at the start of this year to 
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire/UK Bus.
Smart Hybrid ADL Enviro 400MMCs 11176-91 (16 vehicles) are currently being delivered to 
Stagecoach East Scotland at Aberhill.
Stagecoach North Scotland is about to take delivery of 15 Smart Hybrid ADL Enviro 400MMC double decks (11161-75). They will be allocated to Macduff depot where they will replace Volvo B9R coaches on the 35 service which links Aberdeen with Elgin and increasing capacity by 45% as well as providing easy access low floor vehicles.
Stagecoach East Midlands has also confirmed that it will be putting ten ADL Enviro 400MMCs in service at Hull this Summer.
We do not expect fleet numbers 11159/60  will be used on future vehicle deliveries, and will remain spare.
Stagecoach West Scotland has recently put 20 10.8m ADL Enviro 200MMCs (37482-37500, 37601) into service at Kilmarnock.
The longer 11.8m ADL Enviro 200MMCs will also feature in the 2019/20 order with Stagecoach East Midlands having confirmed that it will be putting 21 vehicles of the type into Hull this Summer.
There have been two coaches delivered so far to Stagecoach West Scotland at Ayr - Volvo B11RT/Plaxton elite i 54364/65.

Fuller details are, doubtless, eagerly awaited by the enthusiast fraternity. We are still wondering where 54601 and 54603 are as they were supposedly replaced at Ayr by 54364 and 54365 mentioned above?

PAUL BATESON'S PICTURES FROM TIMES PAST (please remember these pictures are COPYRIGHT)

Once again, this week, we have a number of interesting pictures from Paul taken between 1957 and 2002. He moved to Canada during this time and has travelled the world in search of British Buses Abroad.

His pictures on my page are fully approved for publication on the OCBP but they are his copyright and cannot be taken from OCBP for use elsewhere.


First Centrewest DM130 P130NLW seen at Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 on January 31st 2005. This service connected with coaches from Reading at the central area.


A wonderful picture from the '50s - LT T761 HGF851 with a 222 service.


Southdown's 27 VUF927 with a relief working at Gloucester Green on July 1st 1968.


Standerwick's 81 CRN845D was terminating at Oxford on June 8th 1970.


Thames Valley 196 668COD with an 18 service waits time at its terminus in Marlow on January 31st 1970.


Bristol Lodekka 634 OCY960 ex South Wales with a local service in Newbury on July 16th 1970.


Thames Valley coach seated 742 JRX817 with an A working to Reading from VCS on February 15th 1958.


Thames Valley 751 MBL832 a coach seated Lodekka on the B service on January 10th 1959.

Sadly no equivalent routes are available in modern times, now you have to go by train.


Thames Valley 815 SMO81 at Maidenhead with a 20 service to Bourne End on May 13th 1970.


Thames Valley S311 HMO837 downgraded from a coach with bus seats with 28 on the blind in Wycombe - September 22nd 1968.


Thames Valley S339 on a 24 service to Cookham Dean.


A well loaded AEC lowbridge of Worths Enstone being SVD676 at Gloucester Green on July 1st 1968.


Brand new Ford MBW159E on hire to South Midland at Gloucester Green on July 1st 1968

RICHARD SHARMAN ADVISES OF AN INTERESTING LINK

A website that has been running for a few months now that tracks vehicles and gives registrations or fleet numbers, vehicle type, destination and if on time or not is now also showing the majority of the Go-Ahead Group fleet. 

So you are now able to track OXFORD BUS, Swindon Bus Co vehicles etc and also see which vehicles have been on the services for the last few days. 

Other operators in our area include Reading Buses, Arriva the Shires, Stagecoach Midlands and Stagecoach East. 

New operators are being added all the time and this website will become invaluable to enthusiasts looking for certain vehicles. 

The website address is- www.bustimes.org/vehicles 

I've checked it and can see the X90s passing by my house with fleet numbers etc. plus all the airline services. It is well worth a look. Gary Seamarks also noted this some weeks ago but there was nothing in our main area.

When I checked it does indeed show a number of Arriva The Shires buses and Carousel in High Wycombe but then further away on the Link 40 this route does not always show up but was doing so at 1855 on Friday evening. No doubt this will improve as time goes on.

However I was able to note on Friday evening around 1900 that Oxford coach 81 was heading for London with Airline coach 4 in the opposite direction towards Oxford on the X90. Indeed then on Saturday coach 81 was on an Airline service. 

Gavin Francis pictured a number of buses on Red nose Day Specials in London

Gavin took various pictures of specials for Red Nose Day last Friday in London. These proved interesting even if out of our area bit sadly lacked a real impact of RED NOSE DAY!

   
Routemaster ER882 at ALDGATE on March 15th by Gavin Francis.


RM2060 heading for St Paul's in Tottenham Court Road on March 15th by Gavin Francis.

 
RM2217 at Marylebone working the 2 on March 15th by Gavin Francis.

 
RML880 at Hammersmith Bus Station on March 15th by Gavin Francis.

 
RML2305 in Tottenham Court Road on March 15th by Gavin Francis.

    
RTW467 at Hammersmith Bus Station on March 15th by Gavin Francis.

 
RTW467 at Westbourne Park on March 15th by Gavin Francis.

Banbury Rail Replacement by Theo Freeman

Theo sent a few pictures of coaches providing rail replacement from Banbury on Saturday, March 16th.


Barnes of Swindon's Irizar i6's and a Van Hool TX16 (YN18ZNS/P, YJ64FWW and YT19KUP)


Johnsons Bova Futura's (YJ11AMU and YJ10JNF)


Ridleys Plaxton Panther BF65WKJ


J.K.T. Irizars' (YN17OJF, C15JKT and C12JKT)

Fleet News

No special news this week but a few interesting pictures of the High Wycombe buses. And ! I have now got a picture of 2992 with the blind showing, at last.


StreetLite 2992 working the 32 at the Asda terminus on March 16th by Malcolm Crowe.

A couple more from the weekend by Malcolm Crowe.


A nearly empty yard at Cressex with just Solo SR 2509 and DAF deckers 6000 and 6002 on March 16th.


One wonders if this DAF, 4707, is now withdrawn or just waiting the time to get it back on the road. It's been like this for several weeks now.


Now these DAFs are withdrawn and are being cannibilised to keep others on the road, 6303 6301 6310 and 6283.


Very unusual to see is StreetLite 2326 with a 300 Aylesbury service on March 14th by Pete Cabin.
How annoying it is when the blinds don't come out properly.

It's a while now since I've seen anything other than the branded StreetLites on the X74.

Phil Southall advises on various matters as follows:

M A N 424 is long term VOR due to a failed engine, as is 422. Both should return to service soon. 

Citaro 878 is currently on loan to Thames Travel due to a vehicle shortage there. 

We have also acquired WDL1 (the unique Wrights DAF LX58CWG) from Go Ahead London and is being prepared for service at Carousel to displace a Scania DD back to Oxford, exact number TBC.

I, your Editor, have still failed to get a picture of the Solo SR now at Wycombe.

When the remaining orange 40 branded bus is missing at least one or maybe two red M A N s are in use on this route as shown in the pictures below from Gavin Francis.


On running card 40A, 420 is seen in Stokenchurch on March 11th by Gavin Francis.


421 is seen heading for Wycombe on the same day - Card 40B - by Gavin Francis.


Sunday late afternoon saw Solo 711 working back to Wycombe on March 17th by Malcolm Crowe. 

All three new coaches for National Express service 737 are on the road with 60 being the last.

58  BM68AHP  Vo B11RT YV3T2U823KA193800  Co F183043095  C??FLt  2/2019  City of Oxford 
59  BM68AHU  Vo B11RT YV3T2U827KA193802  Co   C??FLt  2/2019  City of Oxford 
60  BM68AHV  Vo B11RT YV3T2U821KA193827  Co   C??FLt  2/2019  City of Oxford 

Pictures are included below from Gavin Francis and Graham Low.


Volvo nr. 60 picks up at Stokenchurch on March 10th by Gavin Francis.

 
Nr 59 leaves Gloucester Green for Stansted on March 14th by Graham Low.


A nice sideways on shot of 60 leaving for Stansted on March 13th by Graham Low.

Phil Southall advises on various matters as follows:

Caetano two axle 53 to 55 (65 plates) are now all off service and are still at the depot being prepared for transfer to Go South Coast. They will go individually over the coming weeks. 


Working maybe its last Stansted service, 55 is seen heading through Stokenchurch on March 11th by Gavin Francis.

Our first Tourismo should be with us next week for type training but we don't expect them to enter service until around May due to Type Approval issues for the specification we require. 

Citaro 883 (from OBC) is currently on loan to Thames Travel due to a vehicle shortage there.


Oxford's 51 with a Heathrow service on March 16th by Richard Sharman.


675 entering the Station area with a 5 road service on March 15th by James Freeman.
Very unusual for a P&R bus to be working this route.


666 is seen with a 500 service on March 17th by Gavin Francis.

The final new bus for this operation, 978, which has been on loan to Carousel has now returned to Oxford for service with PMU as seen in the picture below by James Freeman.


978 now ready for PMU duties on March 8th by James Freeman.

 
977 seen at the train station on March 17th by Gavin Francis.

Phil Southall advises on various matters as follows:

878 (from Carousel) and 883 (from OBC) are currently on loan to Thames Travel due to a vehicle shortage there. 

Theo Freeman has sent three pictures of TT buses in service in early March which are included below.


Thames Travel 209 at Didcot Parkway.


Thames Travel 442 at Didcot Parkway.


Thames Travel 623 at Didcot Parkway.


Richard Sharman commented on the much improved presentation of this operator's buses now that move to Didcot has taken place.
881 is seen on an X39 working in St. Aldates on March 16th.

In the same batch as the new Oxford NEx coaches is the one featured below but operated by another Go Ahead Group company - Go North East.

7138  BM68AHA  Vo B11RT YV3T2U822KA193562  Co F183043090  C55FLt  2/2019  Go North East 
7139  BM68AHC  Vo B11RT YV3T2U828KA193565  Co F183043091  C55FLt  2/2019  Go North East 
7140  BM68AHD  Vo B11RT YV3T2U823KA193568  Co F183043092  C55FLt  2/2019  Go North East 
7141  BM68AHE  Vo B11RT YV3T2U828KA193680  Co F183043093  C55FLt  2/2019  Go North East 
7142  BM68AHF  Vo B11RT YV3T2U823KA193683  Co F183043094  C55FLt  2/2019  Go North East 



Go Northern 7138 BM68AHA with a 426 service to South Shields leaving VCS on March 11th by Gavin Francis.


Oxford's 59 from the rear at Stokenchurch on March 11th by Gavin Francis.


Chalfont of Southall's BK14LEU with a 230 service at Gatwick South Terminal on March 8th by Gavin Francis.


One of the older tri-axles from Oxford nr 56 in Stokenchurch on March 13th by Gavin Francis.


Y703TGH having completed its School Service seen at Stokenchurch on March 7th by Malcolm Crowe. 

Current allocations as at March 1st 2019

Oxford depot (95)
ADL E40D/Enviro 400 10067 10068 10069 10070 10071
ADL E40D/E400MMC 10431 10432 10433 10434 10435 10436 10437 10438 10439 10440 10441 10442 10667 10668 10669 10670 10671 10672
10673 10674 10675 10676 10677 10678 10679 10680 10681 10682 10683 10684 10685 10686 10687
ADL E400H/E400 Hybrid 12001 12002 12003 12004 12005 12006 12007 12008 12009 12010 12011 12012 12013
Scania/E400 (Gold) 15752 15753 15755 15756 15757 15758 15759 15760 15761 15762 15830 15831 15832 15833 15834 15835 15836 15837 15933 15934 15966
ADL E400MMC (Gold) 10779 10780 10781 10782 10783 10784 10785 10786 10787 10788
ADL E20D/Enviro 200 36771 36926 36927 36928 36929 36930 36931 36932 36933 36981 36982 36983 36984

Oxford tube (24)
Van Hool Astromega 50237 50261 50262 50263 50264 50265 50266 50267 50268 50269 50270 50271 50272 50273 50274 50275 50276 50277 50278 50279 50280 50282 50283 50284

Training Fleet (3)
Volvo B10M Coach 52424
Volvo B10M Bus 20933 20936
The training fleet is based at Oxford.

Reserve Fleet (2)
Dart SLF 34466 (at Oxford) 34468 (at Banbury)

Delicenced Fleet (1)
Van Hool Astromega 50281 (Oxford) (Long term repair after fire damage.)

On Loan from SC South Wales (1)
Van Hool Astromega 50237 (Oxford)

For Disposal (2)
Dart SLF 34436 (at Banbury) 34437 (at Oxford)

Banbury (24)
Scania/E300 (Gold) 28742 28743 28744 28745 28746
Dart SLF 34467 34471 34472
ADL E20D/Enviro 200 36448 36763 36764 36765 36766 36767 36768 36769 36770
ADL E20D/Enviro 200MMC 37401 37402 37403 37404 37405
Optare Solo 47735 47736

Witney (30)
Scania/E400 (Gold) 15533 15534 15535 15536 15537 15609 15610 15611 15612 15613 15614 15615 15616 15617 15618 15619 15620 15754 15838 15964 15965
ADL E20D/Enviro 200 36760 36761 36762
Optare Solo 47451 47658
Optare Solo SR 47831 47832 47833 47834

Theo Freeman sent an interesting picture of Stagecoach who have been diverting their B5 services via Stratford/Warwick road due to road works (34472 seen on the Stratford Road).


Picture by Theo Freeman.


MMC 37401 with an S4 working arriving in Oxford via St' Giles on March 16th by Richard Sharman.

A number of the withdrawn vehicles here have now been sold and a start has been made on removing them. MAN/ALX300 22329 was collected from March depot this morning.

The full list of surplus vehicles that have been purchased by Ensign Bus is:

Trident Open Top: 17078/79/99, 17274/75/76

Trident/ALX400: 17452/84, 17500/04, 17743/44/85/86/87, 18109, 18342, 18417

Trident/President: 18057/58/60

Trident/East Lancs: 18280

MAN/ALX300 22058/59/60, 22314/16/17/18/20/29/31/32/33/34/36/37/38/39/4

Optare Versa: 25268/70/71

Dart SLF/Pointer: 34419/20/27/29/30, 34526/32, 34826/79, 35103/06

Several vehicles have already been collected from depots.


Picture by SKM. This bus is included in the lists above.


Cambridge Sightseeing 17274 on March 13th by SKM. This bus is included in the lists above.


 Trident 17787 on March 13th by SKM. This bus is included in the lists above.


M A N 22334 on a 35 service to Huntingdon by SKM. This bus is included in the lists above.
This means that the numbers of M A N /ALX 300s still in service is dwindling fast, they were once a mainstay of Stagecoach.

With the fleet being upgraded with converted open top Enviro 400s, open top Trident 18477 has been transferred to Stagecoach South East to provide additional capacity to the open top fleet there.

So it appears that in spite of early comments on the success of this venture it is improving with better vehicles.

We understand that several vehicles which had been stood down for disposal here are being prepared for return to service. MAN/Enviro 200 39692 has already been allocated to Kettering and is in service whilst 39690/91 are expected to follow. Tridents 18150/53/57 are also being prepared for service.

Vehicle tracking systems are showing that Tridents 18403/10, which have been for disposal here, are seeing limited use at Northampton. MAN/Enviro 200 39691 is currently showing on tracking systems as being operational at Rugby.  

A number of people were in Oxford to witness an ex Oxford tube coach with a private hire working picking up in Beaumont Street.


Ridleys OU59AUY which was 50225 is seen heading up Hythe Bridge Street on March 16th by James Freeman.


and then picking up in Beaumont Street by Richard Sharman.

This coach was last seen on this page when Gavin and myself went to Derby to see the rail replacement services last year.  

Other operators including London


Abrar Hussain of High Wycombe's TXI1346 on a school service in Stokenchurch on March 18th by Gavin Francis.


Neales Coaches R780SOY with the same school working on March 13th by Gavin Francis.
This bus started life with Armchair in London later moving to Finglands in Manchester.


Flixbus still work into London and above is a Dutch coach 327 89-BDG-4 with an 080 service on March 11th by Gavin Francis.


M&M Coaches of High Wycombe have this delightful little coach WJI292 seen on March 13th by Gavin Francis.


Causing minor loading problems, as seen by Oxford coach 60 above, this Plaxton coach had broken down in Stokenchurch on March 13th by Gavin Francis.