Issue nr. 232
Wednesday, December 14th 2022
Issue nr. 232
Wednesday, December 14th 2022
Editorial
Again a more local issue of the Weekly Briefing with plenty of local news and pictures.
Perhaps star of the week has been the entry into service of Oxford Bus 516 replacing loaned 599 as seen below;
Seen in Castle Street in full city livery 516 on December 11th by Lewis
Hawkins.
Many other pictures appear under the company heading below.
Diamond's 250 service appears under threat and we also have a steam interlude provided by David Allen and Frank Brown
Andrew Webb and Gavin Francis provide pictures of the latest all over wraps which have appeared in London in the past week.
Once again Grahame Wareham relates the story of OBC 232 with pictures from various readers.
More contributions from outside our area wraps up this issue.
Steam Interlude
Frank Brown
The half size replica of 1898
0-4-4T Met no.1 plus two early 1900s Ashbury teak coaches positioned at Amersham
Oakfield Corner since September 2021 gained a seasonal flavour recently with
SNOW and Santa in the locomotive driving seat! The model was commissioned by
Amersham Town Council and built by the 1st
Chesham Bois Scout Group, denoting the town’s historic railway connection.
Reflecting the sudden change in the weather!
THE POLAR EXPRESS™
Train Ride at Cholsey and Wallingford Railway
- THE POLAR
EXPRESS Train Ride Chosley and Wallingford (cholseythepolarexpressride.com)
David Allen
David has provided a picture of the actual train in service reflecting the pictures of the Thames Travel link service.
Jack Cooper
Arriva serves Henley with services 800 and 850.
Christmas lights reflect in 301 working the 9 in High
Street on December 7th.
Bob Chalmers
Interesting to read that Network Rail have now changed their plans for the
closure of Botley Road Bridge next year. To most 'normal' people this was always
going to be a chaotic disaster and totally unnecessary - and here we are a month
before the 'shutdown' date and they suddenly realise this. So all the work the
bus companies are doing to re plan their timetables has been wasted. January 8th
was the planned date to the Botley Road service changes - if OBC/TT/Stagecoach
have paid out on having new timetables printed then they should send the bills
to Network Rail for total incompetence.
Toby Francis of Arriva writes in response to the comments in the last issue.
I was interested to read the musings of armchair
enthusiast and regular correspondent Peter Cartwright in Briefing 231, and his
reminiscence on the bygone era of London Country Bus Services in the days of
Network Support Grant.
A lot has changed since the days of LCBS, or even LCNW
and Wycombe Bus; putting the pandemic aside we have seen an exponential increase
in car ownership, dramatic changes in high street retail, the birth of the
internet and online shopping, and of course the fundamental shift of the
country's economy from a primarily manufacturing focus to the service
industries.
I'm not sure where the misconception comes from that somebody who 'knows nothing about the local area' sits in an office in Thurmaston and makes decisions 'by looking at on bus receipts'. None of these things are true, and I think Peter is perhaps confusing the correspondence address of the operators' licence with where that person actually works.
Fortunately ticketing technology has come on leaps and
bounds since the years Peter was a Councillor, and we can not only see exactly
how many passengers board each individual journey on a stop-by-stop basis we
also know the passenger type (ie Adult, Child, etc), what sort of ticket they're
travelling with (ie Single, Return, Day, Week, etc), the season ticket zone (ie
if they're using a multi-journey product), how they purchase their ticket (ie
cash, contactless, smartcard, direct debit, mobile ticket app, etc)... cash
taken on-bus is such a negligible part of the picture that it simply isn't
relevant to network planning in the modern age.
The availability and richness
of this data allows us to look not just at individual journeys in the way on-bus
surveys may have allowed in the past, but to aggregate data over weeks and
months and identify patterns and trends.
All of this helps to support the decision
maker on the ground in Buckinghamshire who lives and breathes their bus network
and can put the data and the local context together.
A similar approach applies to scheduling, where buses
report their position every 20 seconds and point-to-point running times can be
adjusted to reflect changing traffic conditions - such as the forthcoming
changes to the 30, 32, and 33 routes.
The 41 Great Missenden
service doesn't self-cycle and has interworked with the 48 Lane End service for
many years.
Traffic levels have changed over time to the
point that those two services won't go round in the 'magic hour' hence the
current 70 minute headway which is less than ideal.
Those who keep abreast of N&P will have seen
that the loss-making 41 was actually withdrawn back in October, and that Arriva
have kept it going in the short term thanks to financial support from
Buckinghamshire Council.
The 'new' Carousel 41 will
interwork with a slightly shortened 39 from January, giving a vehicle cycle that
works on an hourly frequency without costing an additional bus.
It also allows Arriva to get the 48 back to a
regular hourly headway, so the partnership working between the individual
operators and the Council has delivered a win-win scenario.
The gap between the last two evening journeys
on the 48 is nothing new and broadly mirrors the existing timetable, the last
journey being one of those supported by Buckinghamshire Council.
Most journeys of the 800 will
run along the A4155 between Shiplake and Play Hatch from January, missing the
narrow section of route through Binfield Heath.
Arriva don't receive any subsidy for these
villages at present, although they have partnered with Oxfordshire County
Council to continue running a limited service around commuter and shopper
movements at times matched with when people are actually boarding/alighting on
this part of the route.
The journey through to Reading should
certainly feel more direct than crawling around the lanes, and with the
timetable written to avoid buses having to pass on the village detour there
should be a reduction in the body damage inflicted to the nearside of buses on
this route.
Dead mileage is a perennial
consideration for interurban routes with the depot at one end, and there is a
balance between the cost of running these positioning trips in service (ie the
extended running time of a live journey following the normal route through
Marlow and Henley vs going non-stop along the A404 and Bath Road) and the likely
patronage.
Is there enough demand for a departure from
Wycombe before 0530 to stack up - no.
Is there demand for the 0615 bus off Reading -
undoubtedly.
Do readers have any further comments ? Ed.
Fleet News and developments
Gavin Francis
....... visited Wycombe on December 13th.
Seen heading out of Bridge Street, 2325, 2790, 3029,
4212 and 5466 on various services.
VDL/Plaxton Centro 3812, the last one in white, has ot been seen in service since November 24th suggesting it may have gone away for repaint. Ed
Jack Cooper
850 Reading bound Citaro 3016 leaves Henley over the Thames on December 5th.
Gavin Francis
...in High Wycombe on December 13th.
63313 and 69394 from Slough heading out of Bridge
Street, High Wycombe.
I understand that 215 and am advised it’s had a
complete engine rebuild and is awaiting a few final adjustments from a
specialist team.
Gavin Francis
....... visited Wycombe on December 13th.
Seen heading out of Bridge Street, 216, 241, 401,
404, 878 and 883 on various services.
Wrights Eclipse Scania 940 has returned from Thames Travel as seen at the depot.
The PMU services seem to be busy.
Mercedes Sprinters 971, 973, 975 and 976 were all
involved on December 13th.
980 is seemingly the favorite for Staff Shuttle
duties but often is employed on PMU duties from noon onwards.
Bob Chalmers
Friday lunchtime and X3 (667) and 13 (364) heading into Abingdon centre along
Ock Street with services back to Oxford.
No idea why they were being diverted.
Jack Cooper
516 had entered service today
on the 46, it is currently tracking as 599. It was delivered about 2 weeks ago
now. The registration for 516 is YX72OFP.
516 as seen by Jack in St Aldates on December 11th.
352 in Magdalen Street with a 13 road working on
December 11th.
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601, 603 and 606 in central Oxford on December 11th.
Unusual working of 6 road, Brookes 606 in Magdalen
Street West on December 9th.
671 on the 9th in St Adates and 903 seen on December
6th working t he X1 and X3.
There are now just enough Park & Ride liveried
StreetDecks for the 300 service as seen by 678 and 679.
Lewis Hawkins
Here Is 516 Making Its Appearance In Public For The First Time On City46 sighted
at Westgate On December 11th.
pignbob
Saturday was the final day for 599 in Oxford as 516 is
now out! Here is 516 seen at Westgate heading to Great Milton on the 11th
683 makes an appearance on the 4A before it becomes the
X1 and heads to Wantage.
674 back in service after getting its branding for the X1
on the 5 to Blackbird Leys.
Here it is seen at the Rail Station, Cowley Centre
and Park End Street.
Jack Cooper
Tourismo 36 seen by Westgate heading for Gatwick on
December 7th.
elite 68 in Gloucester Green on December 9th.
Jack Cooper
921 and 922 are still numbered the same. I have no idea why
someone has changed them on bustimes to a different fleet number.
The X2 on December 5th was served by 206 and 226 seen
at Didcot Parkway.
Didcot again with 227 working the X32 and 441 the 97
on December 5th.
451 turning in Broad Street with an ST1 on December
7th.
454 is seen by Didcot station entrance on December
5th.
621 is seen in St Aldates working an X2 on December
9th.
Citaro 850 and Mercedes 874 seen in Henley with the 23
service on December 5th.
Mercedes 873 seen working the 63 on December 7th.
Milton Park 907 is seen leaving Didcot Parkway for
Wantage on December 5th.
Gavin Francis
....... visited Wycombe on December 13th.
red eagle YX09FMK in The Eden Bus Station having a break.
Gavin Francis
....... visited Wycombe on December 13th.
Three Redline's working the 130 in Oxford Road.
A nice surprise was the appearance of ex Nottingham YX13BNV working the 130.
A long way to go to respond the the super rear advert !
Gavin Francis
A surprise use of Y359LCK working the 40 on December
9th.
The last time we saw this bus in Stokenchurch was on May 6th 2010 !
....... visited Wycombe on December 13th.
E19RRT arrives and departs with a 40 service in High Wycombe.
On December 14th, a change of bus, saw SF66ARW with 45 above the fuel filler
calling at Stokenchurch.
Jack Cooper
Last week Andy Churchill had mentioned the 15 new buses for Witney depot due next year, and that 11233-53 will be replaced, surely some of these mmc's will stay at Witney? If all of them were to go that would mean Witney would be seeing a decrease in PVR. It will be interesting to see where the current mmc's end up, as it seems very early on to replace them, given that the Scania's they replaced were at Witney for around 9 (maybe more) years!
Memories of Gaydon for me with 10441 in Speedwell Street having a small problem
on December 7th.
Gold 10785 working the 2 in Magdalen Street West on December 9th.
Gold 10903 out of "Chippy" with an S3 in Gloucester Green on December 6th.
The ticket machine on this bus is still not set up correctly as it shows it
working the 94 in Cheltenham !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jack Cooper
I had seen Oxford Tube 50272
for the first time this week in quite a while, I am on the understanding that
this has been away for quite a while. Unfortunately not got any photos of it
back out in service, however it is one of the few Van Hool coaches to have the
new font on the destination displays.
50446 seen in Gloucester Green on December 6th.
It is expected that these coaches will gain tube livery in
the New Year.
London operations
Andrew Webb
TfL have once again got into a festive mood with a revised version of the 'Let's do London' advert campaign being applied to several buses. These are seen on December 10th.
Arriva's HV248
is seen on 10 December carrying revellers to the hipster delights of Shoreditch.
For many families Christmas is a time to watch TV together, with a huge range of channels and streaming services meaning that there is (theoretically) more choice than ever before. Two streaming services are currently promoting themselves on London's buses.
Go Ahead's LT854 carries an advert for itvX,
the rebranded ITV Hub.
It is seen at Bank whilst, despite what the blind
says, heading for Lewisham on route 21.
This
is an NBCUniversal streaming service specialising in reality TV
including 'Below Deck' which charts the life of crews on private superyachts.
For the avoidance of doubt NBCUniversal is an American broadcasting company and
not the long-lost remnant of a state owned bus operator!
Grahame Wareham
Delivered in March 1990 232 was registered G232VWL and
was received without fleet names which were added before entry into service.
In October 1995 it had the centre exit removed and
converted to H47/30F being transferred to Wycombe Bus
232 was transferred to Arriva The Shires, and renumbered
5832 with the sale of Wycombe Bus on 13/12/2000.
Arriva Shires 5832 G232VWL 8/01 repainted in
turquoise/cream in August 2001 and allocated to Wycombe; In July 2003 it was
transferred to Aylesbury; 12/08 finally being withdrawn withdrawn from Aylesbury
in December 2008. It was then sold immediately to Ensign Bus and then Alpine,
Llandudno the same month.
Malcolm Crowe
More pictures from 229, 230 and 231.
Gavin Francis
Neil Gow
Noting there was no picture of 231 during its time in Arriva livery, I found this one
David Allen
.... found a few pictures in the archive that may be of interest as you have such a wide circulation of readers.
Taken on 2007 outside KWVR station. Preserved Bradford City buses on a
shuttle service.
Quite like the blue on the RT!!
The trolley was taken at a bus rally in Huddersfield some years
earlier.
Jack Cooper
A few comments from last weeks
page which I thought might be worth mentioning.
With regards to Bluestar taking over from First Southampton from February 2023, I have seen an article on BBC News that Bluestar are hoping to recruit 100 new drivers, and all drivers at First will be offered a job at Bluestar.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-63888010
James Allum
Thank you for putting my
article up and a massive thank you thus far to Shaun Tucker and Gavin Francis
for your help, I'm am in deep gratitude for this assistance.
Today I'm planning on
getting out and about (ice and coldness permitting) so will hopefully be able to
send some decent North East shots your way.
Chester - Le- Street in County Durham and included is a ex London President and
the more up to date North East offerings.
Pictures from James Allum taken on November 23rd 2022
Gordon Scott
New Stagecoach East Scotland
54366 to 54368
Volvo B11R Plaxton Elite 54367
- SJ72HNP seen leaving
Parks
of Hamilton HSK651 Volvo B11R Plaxton Paramount
taken at Drum
Brae