Issue nr 282
Thursday
January 4th 2024
From the Editor
Well, here we are in 2024 and reading the first issue of the year. The support I have received during the past 12 months and indeed over the past 25 years has been most rewarding as I could not have reached this point with out all of you. Thank you.all.
There are several items of lo/cal interest which I am sure readers will enjoy.
A preview of GB Kite and Electroliners for Oxford
Grahame Wareham records Oxford buses in the final month of 2023 for posterity
Just before Christmas with Tony Bungay
Oxfordshire Bus Enthusiast Society
The T15 Heritage Service London December 23rd 2023
Christmas Day at Cowley House through the fence by James Freeman
Readers Write
Buses in the Landscape
Coach visitors to Oxford
Fleet News and Developments
London Operations
Van Hool in Florida
Readers Visits outside our area
Andrew Webb spent 40 minutes in Marlborough
Ryan Butler in Doncaster
Gordon Scott reports from Edinburgh
A preview of
GB Kite and Electroliners for Oxford
by
James Brompton
A few pictures of the upcoming Electroliners.
A GB kite for Oxford bus I did see a allover
black one too for Bicester route on December 24th.
Coming to a street in Oxford soon the brand new
face lift from Wrightbus on December 24th.
Open top Electroliner for Oxford bus
The next few months should prove a spotters heaven. Ed.
Grahame Wareham records Oxford buses in the final month of 2023 for posterity
Conscious of the big
change in local bus history currently taking place I thought I'd have a
short break from vintage bus restoration and spend a few hours photographing
some of the bus types that are going to disappear from Oxford's streets.
It's not something that I have kept up with methodically over the last four
decades as I found that when you work with them all day long it was sufficient
memory in itself! However I took a ride into the city last Friday and again
braved the downpours yesterday to record a pretty fair selection of what
I considered worth photographing. I tried to vary the locations from what
you normally publish although I was also trying to keep dry................along
with Gavin Francis who I had a brief chat with. I had not seen or spoken
to Gavin for some 45 plus years when he was involved in bus preservation
at Radnage so it was good to see him again and know that he 'as a retired
busman' is still flying the flag!
Grahame's pictures certainly record the city as it was in December 2023. Ed.
Just before Christmas with Tony Bungay
Just before Christmas,
on December 23rd, I took a trip to Oxford using the X20 which overall carried
a good number of passengers, on the outward journey I also had first ride
on one of Redlines new Volvo/MCV vehicles.
As you get a very regular and large contribution of photos for Oxford, I enclose a selection I took, of which you can decide which ones may be of use.
Oxford Bus variety.
Redline variation working the X20.
Stagecoach and the one with 11747 is the first time I've seen the Cheltenham
display. Ed.
Thames Travel makes good use of these ex London
buses.
Oxfordshire Bus Enthusiast Society
We are pleased to tell you that our programme for 2024 so far is:
Wednesday 10 January
John Hammond: Cooks
of Biggleswade - a Bedfordshire Coach Operator
Wednesday 14 February
Alan Whitaker: Birch
Bros: keeping it in the family"?
Wednesday 13 March
Graham Low: Where
is that bus going? Destination displays down the years
Wednesday 14 April
Short Annual General
Meeting (the first since 2019!)
Ian Thompson: Crossley
Buses: not a Distress purchase
All meetings will be from 7 to 9 pm at the Norman Brown Room 2, Rose Hill
Community Centre, Carole's Way, Rose Hill, Oxford, OX4 4HF.
Oxford Bus Co service 3 passes the centre and services 3A and Thames Travel
service X40 pass within five minutes walk.
A bar is available after the meetings: there are snacks but no meals are served. Parking is available.
The T15 Heritage Service
London December 23rd
2023
Considering it will be nearly 60 years since the last Routemaster rolled of the production line and nearly 20 years since they ran in full time service there are still plenty of them running around the streets of London.
Nigel Eadon-Clarke was in London on 23rd December to find them operating the T15 tourist service, along with wedding hires, private hires and also as tea buses.
Nigel Eadon Clarke
A selection of Routemasters on route T15 and some
others on various private hires. Also some buses ‘after dark’.
London on the 23rd when there was a special running day on the T15.
These excellent pictures were taken by Nigel Eadon-Clarke
Christmas Day at Cowley House through the
fence
by James Freeman
OBC Christmas
s
|
I include these as they show an interesting selection at Cowley House including one of the new Electroliners. Ed.
Brian Butler regarding WeMove in Aylesbury
May I first wish you and yours best wishes for the festive season and record
my thanks for all your efforts in producing the OCBP which never fails to
be interesting and informative.
Quite by chance I have this evening I have discovered some information on
the Buckinghamshire Council website about the long awaited Aylesbury area
DRT scheme which you may consider for inclusion in the OCBP in the New Year.
Under the heading "Coming soon to the Aylesbury area - buses on demand"
the headline points are :-
-
Buckinghamshire Council is set to partner
with WeMove to launch a demand responsive bus service
in a three year trial.
-
The areas covered by the service include Aston Clinton, Weston Turville,
Halton, Hartwell, Stoke Mandeville, Bishopstone and Weedon. The service
will drop off passengers anywhere within the operational area, which
includes Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury town centre and the railway
stations at Aylesbury, Aylesbury Vale Parkway, Stoke Mandeville and
Wendover.
-
This new service is planned to start during the spring of 2024 and will
benefit residents in villages around Aylesbury by providing another
travel option to supplement existing public transport services.
We await further developments with interest.
Smart Transport Solutions | WeMove
Paul Dudfield thanks for recent response
Thank you for publishing my query on OCBP. The response published in Issue 281 was well worth waiting for. My thanks go to Paul Bateson, Grahame Wareham and Neil Gow for their input.
Jack Cooper
Considering how dark and rainy it was this morning, I never thought the sun would be out this afternoon...yet alone a nice sunset!
Lovely sky over the green this evening! January 3rd.
Nick Ross
TfL bus on Blackfriars Bridge on December 28th 2023
Coach visitors to Oxfordshire
David Beynon
These were all taken this morning, the Crosskeys was in the same place last
month so
Kassam yesterday for the visit of Cambridge Utd.
Fleet News and developments
Richard Sharman
December see's the last hurrah of service 280 before it is renumbered to
the X7, an interesting decision given the longevity of the 280 number. The
current allocation now seems to be mainly 2012 Citaro's with a couple of
2015 Enviro400s. It would seem that Redline's X20 has really picked up on
passenger numbers of late, and those new Volvo's are certainly making a
statement. It will be interesting to see how the Arriva changes work out
in the long run. 12-year old Citaro 3030 is seen traveling through Wheatley
towards the City.
Jack Cooper records the First scene in Reading on Christmas Eve.
Kevin Fuller
First Berkshire has recently received at least two Wright Streetlite max
buses from First Hampshire in Fareham and has put them into service in their
full 'Solent Rangers' livery / branding for their previous lives working
the X4 from Gosport and Portsmouth to Southampton.
I managed to catch a picture of 63305 whilst it was working a 12 service
from Burnham to Slough, on Friday 29th December.
Martin Dowling
Here is a photo of the
coach XFF283 operating RA2 Reading to Heathrow Railair service last Saturday
16th December. This is not the usual type used and I think it normally
operates the RA3 service from Watford. Looking online it was in Cornwall
with First Kernow before transferring to Slough. The usual coaches
are based at Reading Buses' Great Knollys Street depot.
Ryan Butler
Thames Travel have announced yesterday (Wednesday
27th) that they're launching a new 3X service linking Oxford Station, Redbridge
P&R and the Science Park from 8th January
More information can be found here:
https://www.oxfordbus.co.uk/trial-service-3x-oxford-science-park
520 and 521 still have not arrived with this company but remain with Thames Travel. 511 and 512 remain at Carousel.
Luke Marion - Managing Director
Body Numbers for recently received Electroliners
707 AV170
709 AV172
715 AV178
718 AV181
721 AV184
The older Volvo B5LH's have lost their cherished plates prior to leaving Oxford Bus. Ed.
Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 2
David Beynon
I note that all buses
on 3/3A route today have been re-registered, presumably
713 seen at the station with a 400 service on
December 21st.
Graham Low
Thank you for the picture. 699 is on the X40 again today and I rode on it.
It is fitted to a high specification. Attached are an external and
two internal views showing the large roof "windows" on December 28th.
All the Volvo B5LHs have been re-registered
in recent days, presumably before transfer elsewhere. I attach a view of
368.
Jack Cooper
On Boxing Day and New Years Day, Thames Travel services were worked out of Oxford Bus. This meant that OBC buses were running Thames routes. The X2 operated an amended route, via Great Western Park North instead of Milton Park.
I had ventured out on New Years Day to get some photos of the X2. The allocation was 610, 663, 673, 678, 682 and 686. I managed to get photos of all bar 686.
34 working a London Gatwick service in Gloucester
Green on December 31st.
60 working a 737 Stansted in Gloucester Green
on December 31st.
203 and 610 seen in Frideswide Square on December
18th.
Variety working 400 road in Westgate.
611 at the Rail Station
on December 18th.
703 and 704 in the
city centre on December 19th.
pignbob
Various pictures of the re-registered Volvos.
714 during its first day in service on
December 22nd.
720 during its first day in service on January
2nd.
Richard Sharman
It would seem the Electroliner's are now entering service at pace, and I
am sure the local residents on this road in Wheatley are noticing the difference
in noise levels, given that buses on a number of routes are passing every
few minutes. 704 is seen heading for the City, with the destination still
set for Wheatley Campus.
With a destination that wouldn't look out of place on the streets of Paris,
loan E200MMC 599 is seen still sporting its White Bus fleet number as it
heads towards Great Milton through Wheatley.
Charles Powell
371 and 372 in our yard on December 27th.
We’re getting at least another two as there going onto the 99 in the new
year.
Gloucestershire NHS trust has asked for a capacity increase on the 99 so that’s why it’s going to deckers.
372 working at Bicester Village on December 30th.
Our contribution for Bicester Park & Ride on December 30th.
VX69NNB at Bicester.
David Beynon
The first Pulhams was taken on Friday last the
second on 20th.
Robert Homan
Seen and hurriedly photographed working the 99
hospital route in Cheltenham town centre on January 3rd.
Graham Low
Thank you for the picture. 699 is on the X40 again today and I rode on it.
It is fitted to a high specification. Attached are an external and
two internal views showing the large roof "windows" on December 28th.
Jack Cooper
699 in Reading with interior shots on December 24th.
905 in Westgate on December 23rd.
pignbob
699 in service on December 22nd working the X40.
including Courtney, Newbury & District & Thames Valley
Jack Cooper records the scene in Reading on Christmas Eve.
Martin Dowling
New double deckers
are arriving at the moment - three to add to the Windsor and London 701/702
route and (I think six) others for the Lion 4/X4 route to Bracknell to replace
the increasingly unreliable former hybrids. One of the Lion buses
in cream base coat and no branding or fleet number came through Caversham
on trade plates this morning (22nd). Not sure of the first letters
in the registration but it ends 73PHN.
Richard Sharman
Displaying the MCV Evora-Volvo B9RLE 10.8m length is Redline's BV73 MTF, seen turning at Oxford Services whilst on the X20 towards Aylesbury with a good number of passengers.
Malcolm Crowe
Redline working the
40 as seen at Stokenchurch on December 22nd.
Seems the driver is under the impression he is
going in the opposite direction !! It is the 1035 to Wycombe.
Rizzy Khan confirmed that this bus now transferred
and owned by Red Rose.
Nick Ross
Red Rose DART workhorse HW54 BTV rests at Aylesbury
bus station after a busy day on route 9,
January 3rd 2024
Several West allocated buses are on loan to Oxford. For some reason these never show up in www.bustimes.org Ed.
George Candelin
Witney buses in Market Square on December 20th and 21st.
Jack Cooper
MMC 11243 is seen in Chipping Norton on December
23rd.
11253 seen in George Street on December 23rd.
11756 in Frideswide Square on December 18th.
West's 15356 working an Oxford route on
December 19th.
MMC 37401 retains its heritage Midland Red
livery when seen in Banbury on December 23rd.
London operations
Andrew Webb
The final two buses to gain Go Kerala adverts were LT75 and LT168.
Unlike the rest of the batch these received the same advert.
LT75 from the London United fleet illustrates the nearside as it pauses at the northern end of Park Lane on 22 December.
The offside is seen on LT168 at Camden Town later the same day. This bus is from the Abellio fleet which is in the process of being rebranded 'Transport UK' following the management buyout earlier in 2023.
LT610 is one of the first to carry the new logo as it follows LT168 through
Camden Town.
Van Hool in Florida by Gavin Francis
~
Certainly an interesting selection of vehicles from Gavin. Ed.
Reader's visits outside our area
Andrew Webb spent 40 minutes in Marlborough
Marlborough, a town of just over 9000 lies on the A4, the
original trunk route between London and Bristol, an honour now held by the
M4 which bypasses the town several miles to the north. The town is
blessed with a wide High Street along which are some fine buildings.
A 40 minute pause in the town on 29 December allowed a snapshot of the variety
of buses which often serve small towns.
Go Ahead's South Coast division are a key operator of services in and around the town, although to the casual observer it would appear that three different companies are providing services. Trunk route X5 links Swindon with Salisbury, although officially the route splits in Pewsey to circumnavigate EU driving hours rules.
Enviro 400 1543 reflects this on its destination screen as it pauses in
the town's High Street.
Heading in the opposite direction was Scania 1140, both buses carrying Salisbury
Reds branding used by Go Ahead in Wiltshire's only city.
Town services in Marlborough are provided by one bus on route 217.
Swindon's Bus Company provide the vehicle, on 29 December it was
this Enviro 200.
The timetable and seatbelts on the bus suggest that the route is linked
to a school bus route during term time.
Wiltshire was one of the pioneers of demand responsive services and is widely considered to have made a success of the concept where other local authorities have perhaps not.
The latest branding for the provision is Wiltshire Connect
as carried by this EVM Mercedes Sprinter.
On 29 December it was operating fully 'on demand' although on a regular
weekday it would also operate routes 100 and 100X to Devizes,
these having certain set timing points but also offering the flexibility
to divert on demand to more remote villages.
Owned by Wiltshire Council the bus is operated by Go Ahead South
Coast.
Stagecoach also operate to Marlborough with an equally interesting mix of
vehicles.
Route 80 links Swindon with Ludgershall, once an important military town, which lies on the Wiltshire side of the border with Hampshire.
Cascaded Scania double deckers were in use on 29 December,
the Gold 15858 having started life in Gloucester,
15973 started life branded for the Trans Wilts Express
linking Swindon with Wiltshire's county town - Trowbridge.
Both Enviro 200s joined the Stagecoach fleet when the company took over Wessex of Bristol.
36079 is about to leave for Swindon on the 48A
36378 is on route 42 bound for Calne via Avebury, location of Wiltshire's
lesser known (but arguably more impressive) stone circle.
Most definitely not a bus, but this 1905 Fiat turned more than a few heads
as its owners popped into Marlborough for a spot of shopping. It is
fitted with an Isotta Fraschini engine dating from 1917 and originally used
to power an airship! The sound and smell as it headed along the High
Street ensured that its presence was noticed. A video of the vehicle
in action elsewhere can be seen on
You Tube
I enjoy writing the
bits and pieces and enjoy the much bigger efforts you put into creating
the page each week.
Thanks to Andrew for a most informative and interesting article. Ed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan Butler in Doncaster
Doncaster, a lot has changed
in the past 10 years!
A couple of the photos have their own captions,
and all of the photos were taken on the Great North Road facing the exit
of the Bus Station apart from 37230 which was taken at the Dryden Road /
Weston Road stop in Balby, my old local bus stop.
37230 arrives at Balby's Dryden Road / Weston Road stop, on route 71.
The route has had a range of different route numbers
over the years, with the current number being the same as when I moved away
10 years ago.
The Dennis Dart seen on the X4 is operated by the relatively new to local
buses David Goodfellows Travel.
The X4 directly linking the City Centre with the now closed Doncaster Sheffield
Airport. They also operate the Thorne town service.
Arriva used to operate routes from Doncaster to Norton, Selby, South Elmsall,
Wakefield, Pontefract and, as Yorkshire Tiger, Wombwell.
Now, the only routes
Arriva operate in Doncaster are the 51 to Norton, and a few peak hour journeys
to Wakefield on route 496.
The X78 is the main flagship route that First South
Yorkshire operates, linking together the two cities of Doncaster and Sheffield
as well as Rotherham and Meadowhall Interchange. It has seen numerous branding
attempts over the years. The most recent of these is Mainline, the name
calling back to the post deregulation operator.
Stagecoach also has a large presence in Doncaster, primarily running interurban services to Worksop, Retford and Gainsborough.
This E300 is running the 22 to Worksop, despite being branded for the 19
from Worksop to Rotherham.
It seems that Stagecoach Oxfordshire isn't the only
part of Stagecoach not to keep branded buses on the correct routes!
A surprise to see was this trainer vehicle, in the standard Training livery.
I wasn't able to see whether it had the logos of all the brands it would
float between like with the ones in Slough
The brand that First uses in the City is Doncaster's Red Buses with the double deckers having a (in my opinion) cheesy slogan, with examples including "Doing it for our Jubilee City" .
Seen here, "Full steam ahead". A Gemini 2 is seen on the 41 to Scawsby and
a Streetlite in the original Olympia based version of the livery is on the
66 to Intake
I've also included a photo of the Class 180 Adelante
that I travelled on to get up to Doncaster. Although I'm one of your younger
(and maybe youngest!) contributors, being just 18, riding the Adelante brought
back memories of riding on screaming HSTs out of Kings Cross
Gordon Scott reports from Edinburgh
Parks Demo & McGill's Bright Bus Airport
Express
Parks of Hamilton ex Plaxton Panorama demo LSK 807.
Taken today repainted Citylink livery minus Logo's.
McGill,s Bright Bus Airport Express Alexander Dennis Enviro 300