Editorial
Last Tuesday evening, January 22nd, saw many delays in the county and further afield following heavy snow falls. This caused many problems for the local buses and long distance coaches.
Oxford Bus posted on twitter that a number of services were facing problems maintaining their schedules due to very heavy traffic on the M40. Around 2" of snow had fallen on the Chilterns and there were tailbacks between junctions 2 and 3. This also affected Oxford tube services in both directions. Locally High Wycombe was, for a time, gridlocked in all directions. This is in area bounded by hills and steep roads. Indeed Carousel's service 40 running from Thame to high Wycombe in the early evening was hit in the rear by a BMW and the bus appeared to have suffered damage. Interestingly since we have seen a mixture of red M A N/E200s and Solo 713.
By Thursday much of the snow had gone and roads were fine except for the real back roads.
Now the forecast for Tuesday, January 29th one week later is for even heavier snow in the south east !
Well, I hope everyone enjoys this issue and please do send your pictures for inclusion.
Climb-down on Oxford zero emission zone plans
Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council have relaxed their proposals for a Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) in the centre of the city.
Under the revised plans, an earlier mandate for a phased roll-out of zero-emission capable local buses from 2020 (dependent on work to pedestrianise a central area) has been relaxed to a consideration of measures to encourage their take-up from 2025.
Steps to incentivise adoption of zero-emission capability in other commercial vehicle classes, potentially including coaches, are under consideration for introduction from 2022.
A joint statement from the two local authorities says that this change in policy is based on data that it has collected showing that Euro 6 engines “are performing very well, particularly in buses.”
In 2017, NOx levels in the city centre decreased by 23%, although some monitored locations still exceeded the legal limit. That reduction has been attributed largely to the introduction of more Euro 6 buses.
The new proposals aspire to a requirement for Euro 6 levels of NOx emissions for local buses by 2020, with limited exemptions until 2022. A County Council decision on that plan is due soon. Phase two, from 2025, will further encourage zero-emission capable vehicles in the city centre, with hopes of a full transition to zero emission for all classes by 2035.
Walters Yard at Wheatley & ex London buses
From David Gray
The PSV Circle have detailed further information
regarding the disposal of Enviro E40D buses stored at Walter’s Limousines and
previously operated by Abellio London.
The disposals to London General were in December 2018,
the others (which I reported previously) were transferred to Big Bus in London
in November 2018.
For completeness the list of the disposals is as
follows:
9547 (SN 12 AOU) London General E43
9548 (SN 12 AOV) London General E44
9549 (SN 12 AOW) London General E45
9553 (SN 12 APF) Big Bus
9555 (SN 12 APO) Big Bus
9556 (SN 12 APU) Big Bus
9557 (SN 12 APV) London General E46
9558 (SN 12 APX) London General E47
This appears to leave 9551 (SN 12 AOY) as yet
unaccounted for.
The London General buses were shown as unallocated in December so their status is unclear. Although they have been transferred I am unsure whether they have been physically collected.
Many thanks to David Gray for that update.
News from the Midlands by Dylan Jones
Since I last contributed some big changes have occurred
in my area, with plenty of new buses now in service, and the resulted cascades.
Some are detailed below and I have thrown in some other photos of interest.
Birmingham Central and Coventry also have some of theirs in service though I
have not pictured any yet.
Firstly, here is 50 branded 6902 at Druids Heath
terminus on a 50 working.
All of 6902-6914 and 6944, of Yardley Woods' intake are
in service at time of writing though 6893-6901 and 6943 are yet to enter
service.
A vibrant green livery has been applied to the
Pensnett batch for route 9 - these are 6913-6942 although some will be for the
X10 and some unbranded ones too.
This is 6924 at Halesowen, the first to carry
this new 9 Branding, on its first day carrying it.
6125 is one of a growing number of MMCs to carry the
11 Outer Circle branding.
All of these new brandings are to the West Midlands
Bus style applied in Walsall and West Bromwich on routes 42/43 and 31/32,
but
NXWM seem to have adopted it themselves too! Pictured at Cotteridge on the
anti-clockwise circuit.
Another of the 50 branded examples, 6905 with the
iconic Selfridges building behind at Birmingham Moor Street.
Rather appropriate for your site, 732 was new to more
local operator Weavaway in Newbury.
Acquired with three others, they originally
were used in Dundee, though are now split between Pensnett and Acocks Green
depots,
for the 28 route and Land Rover Shuttles in the Solihull area.
732 is
pictured at Stourbridge having arrived on its designed 28 route from Merry Hill
Centre.
Turning 90 degrees of the previous photo, 6938 is
pictured at Stourbridge before departing on trunk route 9 to Birmingham,
prior
to any branding, which may be for the X10 when applied.
The elderly Dennis Tridents and Volvo B7TLs are now
in sharp decline.
The older Wright Gemini's formerly used on the Outer Circle
now roam on various West Bromwich routes. 4515 was the first to appear on route
48
that operates from West Bromwich to Northfield via various South Birmingham
locations, including West Heath where it is pictured.
The older Enviro 400s have become quite common on the
50 of late, whilst transfer out of the 15 plates, and introduction of more
Platinums is pending
4732 catches the low winter sun at Maypole with a Druids
Heath bound Service.
And here is sister vehicle 4734 carrying the new
livery. Pictured departing the northern most extremity of Walsall depots routes,
at Lichfield with the 10A service. Introduced as an extension of the previous
10A to Burntwood,
the route has proven successful, especially the hourly Sunday
service that is the only route into the city on said day.
With another in the background, Midland Classic now
have 7 Enviro 400s that were formerly used on Tower Transits route 30 in London.
This is 65 SN11BMZ which arrived with an X12 from Burton on Trent.
And a couple of Stagecoach Midlands for that section.
Peterborough is the northern most extremity of the
network, historically on a former United Counties Route.
This is 11136 with the
Gold X4 to Northampton.
RailAir and the missing rear end graphic - 23605 from from Julian Walker
You probably have several reports and photos - but just in case everyone thinks
someone else will e-mail it in, the rear ad. on 23605 is "Newport to New York".
And even better, I have a photo - please see attached! Taken around mid-day on Tuesday 15th January.
It is interesting that neither correspondent saw it on Friday 18th January. The
driver had problems with 23605 when I saw it on Tuesday, and eventually everyone
was transferred to the coach behind and 23605 was driven off to the Depot.
Perhaps it is the "rogue vehicle" of the batch?
Thank you for your ongoing work with the Oxford Chilterns Bus Page, I continue
to find it interesting and informative.
Apologies for it being so large but some of the printing was illegible if I left
it smaller.
click on the logo to go the web site.
There are two new fleet books from Steve Knight which will interest readers. As ever they are full of information presented clearly and with excellent colour photographs. The first book is one which will interest local readers of this page.
A6 portrait, 44 pages, laminated card cover
£6.50
Laminated card cover and illustrated in full colour throughout.
This book covers the Stagecoach West fleet and is fully updated to January 2019.
Stagecoach West currently operates around 300 buses on more than 100 different
routes across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Swindon, Herefordshire, South
Gloucestershire, Bristol and into South Wales and Oxfordshire. 740 staff are
employed with buses travelling 12.8 million miles a year and carrying around
24.2 million passengers. During 2017/18 the company used 7.1 million litres of
diesel with the fleet averaging 8.10 miles per gallon.
Stagecoach purchased Western Travel in November 1993, which included the former
National Bus Company operations of Cheltenham & Gloucester, Swindon and District
and Cheltenham District. The Ross-on-Wye operations transferred from Stagecoach
in South Wales in September 2000.
As November 2018 marked the 25thanniversary of Stagecoach ownership, two
vehicles have received commemorative 25thAnniversary liveries.
Since the publication of the last edition of the Stagecoach West Handbook, a new
depot opened in 2017 at Cheney Manor, Swindon replacing the Eastcott Road
premises.
Having started a number of routes running into Bristol in 2016, a new depot at
Patchway, North Bristol was established in 2017 at the premises of South
Gloucestershire Bus Company. Further expansion in and around Bristol occurred in
September 2018 when a number of extra routes in the Bristol area were acquired
with the takeover of a substantial part of Rotala’s Wessex Bus operations.
The book details all vehicles currently in the Stagecoach West fleet together
with details of liveries, branding and depot allocations. Details are also given
of the normal weekday allocation of vehicles to routes.
A6 portrait, 48 pages, laminated card cover
£6.50
Laminated card cover and illustrated in full colour throughout.
Produced in partnership with the Northern Group Enthusiasts Club the book is
correct to January 2019.
Go North East is the largest operator of bus services in North East England,
operating services in Tyne & Wear, County Durham and Northumberland. With
around 700 buses and 2000 staff they operate from ten different depots. Each day
175,000 journeys are made with the award-winning company.
The company can trace its history back to the formation of The Northern General
Transport Company in 1913. As a subsidiary of British Electric Traction, it and
its various subsidiary companies became part of The National Bus Company in
1969.
The company was privatised in 1987, when it was purchased by the then management
team, and christened Go-Ahead Northern. During the early 1990s through
acquisition of other operators in other areas of the country, what is know today
as the Go-Ahead Group was formed. The group has continued to expand through
acquisition and new opportunities.
The company makes extensive use of route branding and bespoke route liveries.
The Go-Ahead Group acquired East Yorkshire Motor Services in June 2018 and
placed this under the control of Go North East, although that operation remains
separate and so that fleet is not included in this book.
The book details all vehicles in the fleet with depot allocations and full
details on liveries and branding. There is also a foreword from Managing
Director Martijn Gilbert.
Readers will remember Martijn Gilbert who recently left Reading Buses for his new post in the north east!
Fleet News and developments
Firstly passengers on the 500,
though not for the first time were treated to a couple of more up market
vehicles yesterday 19th/1/19
with 6528 passing Aylesbury theatre Watford bound and the next journey in from
Watford 6529 heading for Aylesbury Bus Station.
Since last years timetable changes on this route, on 500 journeys I have seen these vehicles do not appear to have been used on it, though I did witness one on Friday 18th.
Other items you may find of interest, if you can open
them up and read them a Service 466 timetable from 1982 and if you recall my
article on London Country route 394 extensions, a copy of timetable when it was
397 in July 1939! The M – F service didn’t look a lot different to the
1970s/ 1980s, but the Saturday is and a Sunday service to!
By chance the then numbered 394 is also shown, this route is a favourite on Amersham and Districts October running day.
Following last weeks photos of two Enviro 400 MMC Sapphire
320 vehicles on the 500, yesterday 26/1/19 saw Versa 4187 working the 500 with
Watford route branding!
It is not the first time these have appeared on this route
either.
Southern Counties
Harlow has seven Citaros dating from 2006 which are branded for the 724 as seen below with 3891 entering Uxbridge on its way to Heathrow Airport. The picture is taken by Gavin Francis on January 25th.
As mentioned earlier one of the orange route branded Link 40 M A N/E200's was run into at the rear by a BMW when the weather on the Chilterns was very bad with more than 2" of lying snow on most roads.
Also one of the Chiltern Hundred's branded Solos was involved in an accident in Watford. The bus concerned was 710 working the 103.
Buses lined up in York Road, Uxbridge on January 25th seen by Gavin Francis.
502 with a 581 service in Uxbridge, York Road on January 25th seen by Gavin
Francis.
I've received an interesting picture and some comments from Hugh Jaeger who writes:
"Oxford Bus's allocation of vehicles to routes 2/2A/2B has become rather mixed.
When OBC developed route branding a few years ago, it gave this set of routes a
group of Scanias with Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodies in a pale blue livery.
But after a year or two it replaced two of them with Volvo Wright Eclipse Gemini
2's in pale blue. Then it replaced another with an ex-Brookes Enviro400 MMC in
pale blue.
However there are also frequent substitutions of
other vehicles in other liveries. In recent months an ex-Brookes Enviro400 MMC,
de-branded but still in grey, one of the 09-registered Mercedes-Benz Citaros in
scarlet that I think came from Carousel, and an
ex-Park and Ride Enviro400H in plain scarlet, have all appeared on the route on
different days. And Volvo Wright Eclipse
Gemini 2's in OBC two-tone red are a recurrent sight on the route.
Usually I take no notice. No operator's route allocation is perfect. I keep
noticing Stagecoach running Gold-branded buses on routes that are not Gold, and
standard-livery buses on Gold routes.
Then yesterday (Thursday 24 January 2019) I did a double-take and reached for my
camera when I saw a Wright StreetDeck branded for routes 8 and 9 working on
route 2A. Here for your webpage are a few photographs of it that I took as it
called at Harefields on Banbury Road in Cutteslowe, as it made a southbound run
to Oxford city centre.
691 with the 2A at Cutteslowe on January 24th by Hugh Jaeger .
Passengers tell me they love route-branded liveries. It does help them identify their bus sooner and at a greater distance. But OBC really does need to ensure it has enough buses branded for each route, and enough spare buses for substitutions that are in a livery that is not route-specific.
GWR
wrap 662 with a 5 working in St. Aldates on January 21st by Gavin Francis.
Of some interest is an advert by Ensign for ex Oxford 43 now for sale.
Citaro 880 works the X38 from St. Aldates on January
21st by Gavin Francis.
New coaches for National Express are listed below.
BF68LCC | Sca K410EB6 | Co | C59FLt | 1/2019 | Galloway,Mendlesham |
BF68LCE | Sca K410EB6 | Co | C59FLt | 1/2019 | Galloway,Mendlesham |
BF68LCG | Sca K410EB6 | Co | C59FLt | 1/2019 | Galloway,Mendlesham |
BF68LCJ | Sca K410EB6 | Co | C59FLt | 1/2019 | Galloway,Mendlesham |
BF68LCK | Sca K410EB6 | Co | C59FLt | 1/2019 | Galloway,Mendlesham |
BF68LCL | Sca K410EB6 | Co | C59FLt | 1/2019 | Galloway,Mendlesham |
BF68LCM | Sca K410EB6 | Co | C59FLt | 1/2019 | Galloway,Mendlesham |
BF68LCN | Sca K410EB6 | Co | C59FLt | 1/2019 | Galloway,Mendlesham |
BF68LCP | Sca K410EB6 | Co | C59FLt | /2019 | Selwyns |
BF68LCU | Sca K410EB6 | Co | C59FLt | /2019 | Selwyns |
Purple 17 branded 709 YP67XCD worked the 11 seen at Wensleydale Rd Flats @ 1058 on January 23rd, seemingly caused by a shortage of gas buses!
An advert has appeared in the trade press offering Optare Versas for sale. We understand that these could be the four examples with Stagecoach West Scotland at Ardrossan (25218/19/20/21).
I've received some comments from Hugh Jaeger who writes:
"Regarding buses allocated to routes, usually I take no notice. No operator's route allocation is perfect. I keep noticing Stagecoach running Gold-branded buses on routes that are not Gold, and standard-livery buses on Gold routes."
I must add that looking at the pictures each week on this page, Hugh's comments are supported by our illustrations. Ed.
James Freeman sent a quick picture of a Hybrid on the 14 on January 28th.
Hybrid 12013 with the 14A leaves the Rail Station on January 28th by James
Freeman.
MMC 10435 with an S5 working by The Randolph on January 21st by Gavin Francis.
Gold MMC 10783 loads a 2A service by Debenhams on January 21st by Gavin
Francis.
From the last issue here is the full list of the new E400 deliveries to this operation. Of significant interest is the use of new E400s on the Cross Pennine route between Carlisle and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
11139 | YX68UWN | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30764 | AD J434/1 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11140 | YX68UWO | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30765 | AD J434/2 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11141 | YX68UWP | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30766 | AD J434/3 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11142 | YX68UWR | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30767 | AD J434/4 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11143 | YX68UWS | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30775 | AD J434/5 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11144 | YX68UWT | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30776 | AD J434/6 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11145 | YX68UWU | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30777 | AD J434/7 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11146 | YX68UWV | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30778 | AD J434/8 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11147 | YX68UWW | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30779 | AD J434/9 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11148 | YX68UWY | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30780 | AD J434/10 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11149 | YX68UWZ | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30781 | AD J434/11 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11150 | YX68UXA | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30782 | AD J434/12 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11151 | YX68UXB | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30783 | AD J434/13 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11152 | YX68UXC | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30784 | AD J434/14 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11153 | YX68UXD | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30785 | AD J434/15 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11154 | YX68UXE | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30786 | AD J434/16 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11155 | YX68UXF | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30787 | AD J434/17 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11156 | YX68UXG | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30788 | AD J434/18 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11157 | YX68UXH | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30789 | AD J434/19 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
11158 | YX68UXJ | AD E40D SFD938ER4JGX30790 | AD J434/20 | H45/32F | 12/2018 | Stagecoach (North West) |
Cross Pennine 11157 for the 685 service from Carlisle
to Newcastle with pictures courtesy Lee Wardle.
Look out for 36043 being transferred from Bedford to Cambridge. Volvo B7RLE 21222 remains at Cambridge with 21224 and 21228 whilst 21226 and 21227 are at Fenstanton.
The ATVBF reports that Bedford-allocated Enviro 200 36044 is another of the type operating from Cambridge, whilst Cambridge-allocated Dart SLF 34422 was reported in use in service last Saturday – a very rare use of a Stagecoach Dart on Citi services operated from Cambridge depot. They do appear occasionally on Fenstanton-worked Citi 5 services.
See under the piece in the Editorial by Dylan Jones.
Enviro 400 19063 at Portsmouth, which has cherished registration 404DCD, now carries Cancer Research UK promotional livery and branding.
Note the new fleet book reviewed in this week's Editorial.
https://www.stevenknightmedia.com/
Stagecoach West bus drivers decided to mark the operator’s 25 years in business in their own special way.
They manoeuvred 10 buses into a position which might have baffled those on the ground, but from above spelt out its anniversary in years.
Bill McCartney, Stagecoach West's Swindon Operations Manager, says: “This was a bit of fun and a challenge for the drivers and the drone pilot to get the buses in position and perfectly lined up in what were difficult weather conditions. However we felt it was important to celebrate 25 years in business and a quarter of a century serving the community."
Joshua Sammons writes "In London today and saw 50269 at Shepherds Bush. I took this picture with my new phone and am delighted with the result."
Private operators and London operations.
Pearces OY16JHL by The Ashmolean on January 21st by
Gavin Francis.
Flixbus 1401 02-BKR-2 heading for Ghent and Lille by
VCS on January 23rd by Gavin Francis.
Gavin Francis caught this LT on the 211 with a wrap for bumble.