Oxford Bus Company/Thames Travel

[Falcon1200]

as highlighted by others I can't see an extended X3 being any good for reliability, going through some of the most congested parts of the county right now (the JR, St Clements, Abingdon Road and Abingdon Town Centre)

Indeed; Since OBC withdrew the 13 the X3 is the only service between Oxford City Centre and the Marston Road, runs only every 20 minutes, and suffers already, especially from the city towards the JR, from delays en route from Abingdon, extending it even further will do nothing to improve that. But at least Stagecoach have benefitted as I find myself using their 14 far more than the X3 nowadays.

 

[Wolvercoter]

Service changes from 14th April now published.

33 split in Abingdon
X35 split in Wantage
X36 extended to Harwell
Evening X3s to Wantage / Evening X1s to Abingdon only
3A route change as previously advertised
Other stuff too

Note 'city' branding appears to have been dropped.

Service Changes from 14th April 2024

We will be making changes to our bus network in Oxford City and South Oxfordshire from 14th April 2024.

www.oxfordbus.co.uk

We will be making some changes to services in Oxford City and South Oxfordshire from 14th April 2024.
These changes are to meet changing customer demands, improve connectivity and increase the reliability of our bus network.
3 & 3A
Service 3A will have a revised route from 14th April 2024. Between Kassam Stadium and Templars Square, buses will now follow a more direct route via Grenoble Road, Watlington Road and Garsington Road. We are making this change following the review of strong feedback that we have received from residents in Greater Leys about the use of buses in certain streets.

For those wishing to travel to and from Greater Leys, bus stops are available along Grenoble Road, where Oxfordshire County Council have recently been upgrading the infrastructure for the benefit of bus users. Alternatively, there are high frequency buses to Templars Square from existing stops in Blackbird Leys on services 1, 5, 10 and 100. Services 1 and 5 continue to Oxford City Centre. Almost all residents in Greater Leys will remain within a 5-minute walk of alternative bus stops.

Please click here to see the new 3A timetable, and here to see a map of the new route.

Buses on service 3 will depart at slightly different times to fit around the new 3A. Please click here for the new 3 timetable, and here for a summary of buses along the Iffley Road (services 3, 3A and X40).

3S
Service 3B will be renumbered 3S. There will also be changes to the afternoon timetable to better reflect the traffic conditions that we are experiencing. The revised timetable will be available soon.

6
Due to increasing levels of congestion along Abingdon Road and Woodstock Road, it has become necessary to split the weekday evening and Sunday daytime journeys on services 6 and 35 that currently operate across Oxford City. On weekday evenings, the frequency of service 6 will increase to operate up to every 40 minutes, with the Sunday daytime service increased to operate up to every 20 minutes. Please click here for the new timetable.

11S
We will be making some amendments to the afternoon timetable to better reflect the traffic conditions that we are experiencing. The revised timetable will be available soon.

33, 33A & 44
As part of our continual efforts to improve punctuality and reliability, services 23 and 33 will be revised.

Service 33 will now operate between Abingdon, Sutton Courtenay, Milton Park, Didcot, Wallingford and Henley-on-Thames and will continue to serve Wantage Road in Wallingford. New service 33A will replace the Great Western Park to Wallingford section of services 23 and 23A, and will operate via Hithercroft Road in Wallingford. Certain journeys will extend to Henley-on-Thames. Additionally we are pleased that following the completion of the bus turning circle in the housing development, journeys on services 33 and 33A will serve Highcroft in Wallingford, with buses up to every hour in each direction.

The Oxford to Abingdon section of service 33 will now be operated by service 44, which will continue to serve Botley, Cumnor and Wootton. Connections can be made in Abingdon for services 33 and X2 to Milton Park and Didcot.

All three services will operate up to every hour, with services 33 and 33A combining to every 30 minutes between Didcot and Wallingford, Monday to Saturday.

For services 33 and 33A, please click here for the new timetable and here for a route map.
For service 44, please click here for the new timetable and here for a route map.

35
Due to increasing levels of congestion along Abingdon Road and Woodstock Road, it has become necessary to split the weekday evening and Sunday daytime journeys on services 6 and 35 that currently operate across Oxford City. Accordingly, service 35 will have minor timetable adjustments and more journeys will depart from Westgate stop E3 in Oxford City Centre. Click here for the new timetable.

43
We are making some changes to the timetable to improve our timekeeping. Additionally, the 1738 journey from Wantage will now terminate at Peachcroft Roundabout in North Abingdon. For those wishing to travel onwards to Oxford City Centre, frequent connections are available in Abingdon on services X2 and X3. The new timetable can be found here.

67
Service 67 will return between Wantage and Faringdon via Stanford-in-the-Vale up to every hour, replacing journeys currently provided by service X35. This will improve reliability and flexibility when we experience disruption due to flooding in and around East Challow. The college journeys will continue to operate via Coxwell Road as at present.

Please click here for the new timetable on service 67 and here for a map of the service.

136 & 139
Due to challenges experienced with increasing journey times, it has become necessary to split service 136 into two. The section of route between Wallingford and Cholsey will remain numbered as service 136, whilst the section of route between Wallingford and Benson will now be covered by new service 139. The Saturday service will be improved to operate more comprehensive timetables to both Benson and Cholsey, including earlier and later trips.

Service 136 will operate via the current route between Wallingford and Cholsey, with journeys to Wallingford School maintained. Click here for the new timetable and here for a route map. Service 139 will operate in a clockwise loop from Wallingford via Benson, RAF Benson and Clack's Lane back to Wallingford, also maintaining the school journeys to Wallingford School. Click here for the new timetable and here for a route map.

X1
We will be making some changes to the timetable of service X1 to improve punctuality. There will also be some changes to the service pattern in the morning and evening peaks to better match demand. Some late evening journeys to and from Wantage will now be covered by service X3, serving Oxford Road in Abingdon instead of Dunmore Road and Abingdon College, operating the same route as service X1 beyond Abingdon to Wantage. There will be some minor changes to the timings of night bus NX1 to coordinate with service NX2 (see below).

To view the new timetable valid from 14th April 2024, including journeys on service X3 to Wantage, click here.

X2 & X3
Services X2 and X3 are being retimed to improve reliability. There will be some earlier journeys from Didcot on service X2 and some late evening X3 journeys will extend beyond Abingdon, operating to or from Wantage (see above). We will continue to provide the combined up to every 10 minutes frequency between Oxford and Abingdon on Monday to Saturday daytimes, and up to every 15 minutes on Sunday daytimes. There are some adjustments to the journey pattern on Sunday evenings to better match demand.

Additionally, night bus NX2 will no longer serve Oxford Rail Station and will instead commence from Westgate stop E4, to match night bus NX1.

Click here for the new timetable, which includes a combined summary of X2 and X3 journeys between Oxford and Abingdon.

X34 & X35
Service X35 will be revised to operate between Didcot and Wantage. Journeys between Wantage and Faringdon will once again be covered by service 67 (see above). This will improve reliability and flexibility when we experience disruption due to flooding in and around East Challow.

We will be making some changes to the pattern on services X34 and X35 is being revised to the following:
- 4 buses an hour between Didcot, Great Western Park, Harwell Village and Harwell Campus (same as at present)
- 1 bus an hour (X34) continuing to Newbury
- 1 bus an hour (X35) continuing to Wantage

See below for details of the new weekday extension of service X36 from Kingsgrove to Harwell Campus which will provide an additional two buses per hour between Wantage, The Hendreds and Harwell Campus.

Please click here to see the new timetable, and here to see the new map for service X35.

X36
We are pleased to advise that on weekdays, service X36 will be extended from Kingsgrove to Harwell Campus via The Hendreds and Rowstock Corner. On Saturdays, service X36 will continue to operate between Didcot, Grove, Wantage and Kingsgrove as at present. The frequency will remain up to every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday.

Click here for the new timetable.

River Rapids X40 & 40C
We will be implementing a revised timetable on the River Rapids X40 service to take into account the latest traffic conditions we are experiencing in East Oxford and across the A4074 corridor. You can find the new timetable here.

ST1
We will be making some changes to the ST1 timetable from 14th April 2024 to improve the punctuality of the service. To provide greater reliability, an extra bus is being added into the cycle at peak times, and additional trips added at key, peak hour travel times. Increasing the level of resources used at peak times, ensures greater punctuality for users and enables us to add in additional recovery time between trips to cater for the variability in travel time that we are currently experiencing along the A34. To facilitate this, we will be making some changes to the service pattern in the middle of the day, with buses now running hourly at the quietest travel times. You can find the timetable here.

ST2
We are continuing to experience delays in East Oxford. Therefore, we need to implement a new timetable, with different timings in the afternoon peak between school days and school holidays to take into account the significant variance in traffic levels that we are observing. To enable us to operate this new timetable, the service will be transferring from Thames Travel to the Oxford Bus Company. Please click here for the new timetable.

BB1A
Operation of school service BB1A will transfer from Thames Travel to the Oxford Bus Company. There is no change to the route and timetable.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Service changes from 14th April now published.

33 split in Abingdon
X35 split in Wantage
X36 extended to Harwell
Evening X3s to Wantage / Evening X1s to Abingdon only
3A route change as previously advertised
Other stuff too

Note 'city' branding appears to have been dropped.

Service Changes from 14th April 2024

We will be making changes to our bus network in Oxford City and South Oxfordshire from 14th April 2024.

www.oxfordbus.co.uk

The new 33 is good news, Great Western Park in Didcot is basically just a windswept housing estate and it was silly to have what is effectively a Didcot local attached to a more regional bus, all the way through to Henley.

 

[Parebunks]

Oxford Bus returning to Thame from the start of July with a new 280 to replace the Arriva X7.

We are pleased to announce that we will be stepping in to assist Arriva customers with the launch of a new 280 service between Oxford, Headington, Wheatley and Thame. This service will operate every 30 minutes and will commence operation from 1st July 2024.

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

Oxford Bus returning to Thame from the start of July with a new 280 to replace the Arriva X7.

Wow I'm surprised. Trouble is how on earth are Oxford Bus Company going to have enough buses to run the 280 from Oxford?

 

[Parebunks]

Wow I'm surprised. Trouble is how on earth are Oxford Bus Company going to have enough buses to run the 280 from Oxford?

The introduction of the electroliners I think makes that fairly obvious, plenty of streetdecks becoming available shortly!

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

The introduction of the electroliners I think makes that fairly obvious, plenty of streetdecks becoming available shortly!

Oh yes but I'm guessing that will delay withdrawal of older double-deckers for now.

 

[BlainRhys]

From The Oxford and Chiltern Page 608 has Gone to Carousel for Flightline 102 The batch are from
608-614

 

[Parebunks]

A quite interesting document I hadn't noticed until recently is the latest version of the Oxfordshire Enhanced Partnership. Includes on page 45 a note that the X40 to Reading is to be enhanced to every 20 minutes from October (still the mooted introduction date for the Oxford traffic filters), and receive new vehicles. I wonder if this lends weight to the speculation on the Arriva depot closures thread about expanding the Go-Ahead outstation there?

This ties in to another item not discussed here - the service improvements directly as a result of the traffic filters. These were reported here:

• New Orbital service 600: Redbridge P&R – Oxford Science Park – Cowley – Headington – JR Hospital – Thornhill P&R. This will complete a set of ‘Eastern Arc’ bus routes from Redbridge P&R to Oxford Parkway / Oxford North, serving major points in Cowley and Headington (see map).
• Orbital service 700: Kidlington – Parkway P&R – Summertown – JR Hospital – Churchill Hospital – Headington – Thornhill P&R, added weekend service in July 2023 in anticipation of the Traffic Filters.
• Enhanced Witney & Orbital service H2: Carterton – Witney – Eynsham P&R – Peartree P&R – Summertown – JR Hospital – Headington. More frequent buses on this route. (although I've seen elsewhere that the route may in fact be trimmed back to Oxford North or Eynsham, see the actual minimum service spec below)
• Enhanced route 5A: Faster and more direct route from Minchery Farm and Littlemore to Cowley and extended to Railway station and Botley (Labour campaigning claims this will be every 20 minutes)
• Increased frequency on 3A: Blackbird Leys and Littlemore to Oxford Centre (same Labour party electioneering reported this as every 15 minutes)
• Improved frequency on X40: Reading – Wallingford – Oxford

and detailed slightly further here, although the plan seems to have changed from this, with the 4A now joined to the 5A rather than the 6 as above - perhaps as both have become partially non-commercial over COVID:

– The H2 service will provide a new direct linkage between North Oxford /Summertown and Cowley at an initial minimum frequency of 2 bph.
– The new 600 service will provide a new route between Redbridge P&R, the Science Park, Oxford Business Park, Cowley and Headington to Thornhill P&R at an initial minimum frequency of 2 bph.

All in all looks a fairly positive picture for Oxford, especially with the electric rollout entering its final stages (about 35 vehicles left) and the return to the Thame route. Still some chaos in terms of allocations, I'll be interested to see what happens to the previously route branded streetdecks when those move to Thames Travel - repainted into generic livery or branding of the Thames routes changed to match?

 

[Falcon1200]

Thanks for the info @Parebunks. A couple of points;

The 700 running at weekends was a good development, however only hourly at present; This needs to be half-hourly, on Saturdays at least.

Frequency improvements on some routes is of course a Good Thing, but there remains the very poor 20 minute frequency on the X3 via Marston Road/City Centre route, and as these buses extend to or from Abingdon they are often subject to delay as well. The 13 service along the Marston Road is sadly missed.

 

[MasterSpenny]

It would appear that Wrightbus StreetDeck Electroliner 721 has received a pride livery.

x.com

x.com

721 in its new oxford pride livery this afternoon @OxfordBusCo @oxfordpride

Speaking of the Wright Electroliners, buslistsontheweb.co.uk records the following four buses. I will be reporting the remainder of the batch as new information becomes known.

Fleet Number	Registration Plate
774	BN24ZXV
775	BN24ZXW
776	BN24ZXX
777	BN24ZXY

 

[Falcon1200]

Oxford Bus Company (OBC) are minus a double decker after this incident:

Bus engulfed in flames closes Oxfordshire road

A bus fire which saw the vehicle engulfed in flames closed a road near Watlington, Oxfordshire.

www.oxfordmail.co.uk

A bus fire which saw the vehicle engulfed in flames closed a road in Oxfordshire.
The incident happened on Friday morning near Watlington leaving the road to be shut in both directions after fire crews were called at 7.24am.

Thankfully the bus was empty and the Driver was safe.

According to the comments in the Oxford Mail report the vehicle was 657, which suffered as OBC said a 'major thermal incident'! Another commenter responded saying 'Quick! Call the thermal incident brigade'.

 

[Parebunks]

Rollout of OBC's electric bus order is now complete per bustimes.org, with 787 the last to enter service yesterday. All of the SmartZone routes the vehicles were ordered for seem to be reliably all-electric, along with the 35 to Abingdon, which was not originally planned to be included. Cascade of streetdecks to Thames Travel is continuing, with 682 now in a new livery, altho yet to receive route vinyls for the X2 as I believe is intended.

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

Rollout of OBC's electric bus order is now complete per bustimes.org, with 787 the last to enter service yesterday. All of the SmartZone routes the vehicles were ordered for seem to be reliably all-electric, along with the 35 to Abingdon, which was not originally planned to be included. Cascade of streetdecks to Thames Travel is continuing, with 682 now in a new livery, altho yet to receive route vinyls for the X2 as I believe is intended.

I suspect the 35 was included as that's the only bus route to Abingdon that's mostly 30 mph and you could say less than a minute of 40mph.

 

[Andyh82]

Rollout of OBC's electric bus order is now complete per bustimes.org, with 787 the last to enter service yesterday. All of the SmartZone routes the vehicles were ordered for seem to be reliably all-electric, along with the 35 to Abingdon, which was not originally planned to be included. Cascade of streetdecks to Thames Travel is continuing, with 682 now in a new livery, altho yet to receive route vinyls for the X2 as I believe is intended.

What service are the electric GB Kite single decks intended to be operating?

 

[Parebunks]

What service are the electric GB Kite single decks intended to be operating?

Bicester Village shuttle and the 3X, with gap filling on the 6 and 11X.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Aug 2024 ==


Old post above ↑ New post below ↓

Various changes to routes in West and South Oxon from September, including some just taken over from Pulhams.

19 (Pulhams)
Service 19 will increase to operate hourly throughout the day. Combined with service X15 (see below), there will be a bus up to every 30 minutes between Standlake, Ducklington and Witney. At school times, service 19 will also serve Henry Box School.
For the new timetable, valid from 1st September 2024, please click here.

X1, X15 (Oxford Bus)
We're excited to introduce new links from Witney, Ducklington, Standlake and Southmoor to Abingdon and Oxford City with service X15. Buses will operate up to every hour into the heart of the city with earlier and later trips than the current service 15.
Services X1 and X15 will continue to provide a half hourly service from Oxford Rail Station to North Abingdon, Marcham and Frilford. Service X1 will operate up to every hour onwards to East Hanney, Grove and Wantage.
For the new timetable, valid from 1st September 2024, please click here. For a combined route map of the X1 and X15, click here.

X9 (Pulhams)
We are pleased to be introducing a new Sunday service in partnership with Oxfordshire County Council, operating up to every 2 hours between Chipping Norton and Witney. There are no changes to the current Monday to Saturday timetable.
For the new times, valid from 1st September 2024, please click here.

X24, X34, X35, X36 (Thames Travel)
Service X34 will be diverted between Vodafone and Newbury to serve Donnington Heights and Donnington Village, and there will be minor changes to the timetable to accommodate this.
New service X24, in partnership with Harwell Campus and Oxfordshire County Council, will provide faster peak-time journeys between Didcot Parkway and Harwell Campus. Some of these journeys continue to Newbury but do not serve Chilton Village.
Service X35 will be extended to Grove to provide a better link between Grove, Wantage and Harwell Campus. Buses will operate from Wantage Market Place via Denchworth Road, Mably Way, Grove Road and Main Street, then a circular route via Mayfield Avenue and Oxford Lane to return to Main Street. Buses will increase to operate up to every 30 minutes on weekdays between Didcot and Wantage.
Please click here to see the new timetable for X24, X34 and X35, here to see the new map for service X34 and here to see the new map for service X35.
Service X36 will be revised to operate between Didcot (Southmead Industrial Estate) and Wantage (Kingsgrove). Early morning trips from Wantage and Grove towards Milton Park and Didcot will be retained. For frequent buses between Grove, Wantage and Harwell Campus, please see the X35 above. For the new timetable, valid from 1st September 2024, please click here.

Some of these seem like better ideas than others. The changes around Harwell make more sense than the previous setup, and are to an extent a reversion of the previous changes that led to a rather unwieldy and unreliable X36.
On the other hand, 2 buses an hour Witney-Standlake seems rather over the top, and the direct Standlake/Southmoor-Oxford connection feels largely useless - especially from Southmoor the S6 will always be quicker. The 15's been at 4 or 5 buses a day for a while so the improvement is a bold one, but I suspect the buses will end up carrying air as much or more than the second Marcham-Wantage service per hour. The increases to the 19 and X9 seem more promising, Bampton did feel like a rather large place to be left with such an infrequent service.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Bicester Village shuttle and the 3X, with gap filling on the 6 and 11X.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Aug 2024 ==


Old post above ↑ New post below ↓

Various changes to routes in West and South Oxon from September, including some just taken over from Pulhams.




Some of these seem like better ideas than others. The changes around Harwell make more sense than the previous setup, and are to an extent a reversion of the previous changes that led to a rather unwieldy and unreliable X36.
On the other hand, 2 buses an hour Witney-Standlake seems rather over the top, and the direct Standlake/Southmoor-Oxford connection feels largely useless - especially from Southmoor the S6 will always be quicker. The 15's been at 4 or 5 buses a day for a while so the improvement is a bold one, but I suspect the buses will end up carrying air as much or more than the second Marcham-Wantage service per hour. The increases to the 19 and X9 seem more promising, Bampton did feel like a rather large place to be left with such an infrequent service.

Good to see the Newbury service doing well after such a long absence. It fills a big gap in public transport provision and takes pressure off the A34, as well as establishing demand along that corridor for any future other public transport interventions.

 

[Andyh82]

I’ve noticed with every major service change there is always a service which switches from Oxford Bus Company to Thames Travel or vice versa. This time the 43


Presumably it’s just to balance out the PVR change each time

 

[LW84]

Totally agree with @Parebunks on the cutback of X1 (M-Sat daytime) to expand the Pulhams 15 to become OBC X15... that does seem like over-capacity for usage. It does improve links to the Millets Farm Centre from Oxford though.

Also two routes have had to immediately change (in part) due to a road bridge inspection, leaving an area within Oxford without services! (ST1 and 46) ... More here...

A weight limit is to be imposed on Donnington Bridge in Oxford after ongoing monitoring revealed that the condition of materials in the structure needs to be addressed. Buses will be unable to serve Donnington Bridge Road until further notice.

46
Service 46 will divert between Florence Park and Oxford City Centre via Iffley Road and Oxford High Street. Buses will be unable to serve stops on Donnington Bridge Road and Abingdon Road.

The following stops will be served by service 46 leaving Oxford City whilst on diversion:
- Westgate E3 (as normal)
- Turl Street T2
- Queen's Lane K2
then all stops along the Iffley Road to Freelands Road.

Buses will set down at Queen's Lane J3, Carfax L2, Speedwell Street S1 and Westgate E3.

ST1
Service ST1 will divert between Iffley (Howard Street) and the A34 via Iffley Road. Buses will serve all marked stops, with the last stop at Rose Hill Parade before operating direct to Milton Heights.

We will be unable to serve Donnington Bridge Road, Canning Crescent or Redbridge Park&Ride during this time.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Good to see the Newbury service doing well after such a long absence. It fills a big gap in public transport provision and takes pressure off the A34, as well as establishing demand along that corridor for any future other public transport interventions.

Is it doing well? Am I missing something as all I see is that it's getting a small diversion to serve Vodafone?

It's one of those links that has been tried many times before, and I think Harwell are paying for it. It's pretty thin territory for a bus service but hopefully can still be around for a good while (as I've yet to sample it)

 

[RELL6L]

Is it doing well? Am I missing something as all I see is that it's getting a small diversion to serve Vodafone?

It's one of those links that has been tried many times before, and I think Harwell are paying for it. It's pretty thin territory for a bus service but hopefully can still be around for a good while (as I've yet to sample it)

Some of this seems like a parallel universe where bus companies are paid decent sums by taxpayers to transport a handful of passengers between unlikely locations. I took the X34 to Newbury in the winter, there was one other passenger. It is being diverted to serve Donnington, maybe this will attract a few passengers. Maybe it does have peak hour business for Harwell Campus and Vodafone.

I remember another independent operator running the 15, or possibly X15, some time ago - perhaps 20 years? - rather more frequently, I think it went from Witney to Abingdon then on to Berinsfield, not sure whether it went further. I can't see this and the hourly 19 as good bus territory either. But lets hope it does attract custom. They do seem to change things very frequently - but there definitely is peak hour custom to Milton Park and Harwell Campus from the local area and from Didcot station.

 

[Parebunks]

I remember another independent operator running the 15, or possibly X15, some time ago - perhaps 20 years? - rather more frequently, I think it went from Witney to Abingdon then on to Berinsfield, not sure whether it went further. I can't see this and the hourly 19 as good bus territory either. But lets hope it does attract custom. They do seem to change things very frequently - but there definitely is peak hour custom to Milton Park and Harwell Campus from the local area and from Didcot station.

This was in fact Thames Travel back in its early days, hourly all the way from Witney to Wallingford. Far above demand though, I believe it was the most subsidised route in the county at one point. That was all cut back to pretty much the current situation basically in one stroke, but remained the X15 until 2016, altho passing between several independents and Stagecoach fairly regularly along with the 19 and the Bampton-Oxford 18. Then stayed with Stagecoach commercially until 2020, when it became tendered and went to Pulhams.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Is it doing well? Am I missing something as all I see is that it's getting a small diversion to serve Vodafone?

It's one of those links that has been tried many times before, and I think Harwell are paying for it. It's pretty thin territory for a bus service but hopefully can still be around for a good while (as I've yet to sample it)

I think it is, the increase in service is funded by Harwell, but the initially offered departures were funded by West Berkshire's BSIP allocation, and I think some of them must be commercial now.
For a corridor that hasn't been served by public transport beyond the Ilsleys for a while now, I'd call it successful.

 

[Andyh82]

A few comments from visiting Oxford this week

Is there a new Thames Travel livery incoming? I saw a few streetdecks in a new curvy version of blue and green

Why are Oxford Bus so slow at repaints and brandings? It’s over a year since Oxford received its electric buses yet there are still loads of buses in old ‘city’ schemes and the old Park and Ride livery floating around. There are also some streetdecks in plain red that they don’t seem to be in a hurry to brand. Some Didcot services seem to have a different liveried bus on each trip. It’s not as if they are painting for Carousel, as not a great deal seems to have been painted there either.

With the partnership with Brookes University coming to end, I wonder if (eventually) they might paint all the electric buses into green and blue removing the grey livery? They could alternatively create a new park and ride brand based on the grey livery, as the current purple brand, as seen on the timetables, doesn’t actually exist on the vehicles anymore.

Talking of timetables, there doesn’t seem to be any printed timetables available for the 31st August changes as yet. The main ‘electricity’ guide doesn’t reflect the recent changes to the 4A/400

 

[Parebunks]

A few comments from visiting Oxford this week

Is there a new Thames Travel livery incoming? I saw a few streetdecks in a new curvy version of blue and green

Why are Oxford Bus so slow at repaints and brandings? It’s over a year since Oxford received its electric buses yet there are still loads of buses in old ‘city’ schemes and the old Park and Ride livery floating around. There are also some streetdecks in plain red that they don’t seem to be in a hurry to brand. Some Didcot services seem to have a different liveried bus on each trip. It’s not as if they are painting for Carousel, as not a great deal seems to have been painted there either.

With the partnership with Brookes University coming to end, I wonder if (eventually) they might paint all the electric buses into green and blue removing the grey livery? They could alternatively create a new park and ride brand based on the grey livery, as the current purple brand, as seen on the timetables, doesn’t actually exist on the vehicles anymore.

Talking of timetables, there doesn’t seem to be any printed timetables available for the 31st August changes as yet. The main ‘electricity’ guide doesn’t reflect the recent changes to the 4A/400

Yes, there is a new Thames travel livery for the streetdecks transferring over from go ahead London - afaik this should be done by the end of the year and standardise the fleet on streetdecks. I think this is part of why there has been so little repainting, but that doesn't excuse how many of the ex-oxfords are still in city livery - although again this looks to be changing, and they have gradually gone into a few different liveries. The plain red ones are a new livery for the X2/X3 but were only repainted a few weeks ago with no vinyls yet.
I would imagine the electrics will all end up in the green and blue, the grey ones have been evenly distributed across routes since the Brookes contract ended so would seem odd to keep a separate livery.
Also noticed this with publicity, but it has been noted on that thread that a full selection has been printed for the new set of Carousel changes so wonder if this has delayed reprints for the more minor Oxford tweaks.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Talking of timetables, there doesn’t seem to be any printed timetables available for the 31st August changes as yet. The main ‘electricity’ guide doesn’t reflect the recent changes to the 4A/400

Funnily enough, I was travelling on a (nearly empty) X34 to Newbury early this morning, and found on board many copies of a new timetable booklet including all the latest Thames Travel times, along with a high quality map of most places they serve south and east of Oxford, including all Go-Ahead routes.

It was somewhat disappointing though that no timetables were provided for any of the OBC/Pulhams/Carousel routes in Oxfordshire, given that there is no longer a clear delineation between the operating areas of, at least, OBC and Thames Travel (and arguably Pulhams), and also given the aforementioned regular switching of routes between TT and OBC for operational reasons

This significant proviso apart, it was a really high quality timetable booklet of a kind that has become all too rare.

 

[Andyh82]

That’s interesting, what services are included in this timetable?

 

[Falcon1200]

OBC and Thames Travel (and arguably Pulhams)

I bought an Oxford Smartzone ticket on a Pulhams H2 bus on Friday and it printed out as Thames Travel!

Regarding paper timetables, the X3 service had them available on board.

 

[PeterC]

I bought an Oxford Smartzone ticket on a Pulhams H2 bus on Friday and it printed out as Thames Travel!

Regarding paper timetables, the X3 service had them available on board.

The route quietly transferred from Pulhams to TT a while ago. The livery is no guide, I have seen both OBC and TT liveried vehicles on Carousel routes. I just need a Pulhams in Chesham Broadway to complete the set.

 

[Marcus Fryer]

The route quietly transferred from Pulhams to TT a while ago.

From 27 July 2025 according to bustimes.org:
For Pulhams:
https://bustimes.org/registrations/PH0000153/107

H2 - CARTERTON, UPAVON WAY to HEADINGTON, GIPSY LANE via WITNEY, EYNSHAM, SUMMERTOWN, JOHN RADCLIFFE HOSPITAL​

Registration numberPH0000153/107TypeNormal StoppingSupported by subsidy?In Part
Oxfordshire CCAuthoritiesOxfordshire County Council

Variation history​

1. • Received19 Jul 25
   • Effective27 Jul 25
   • Cancelled
   • Short notice
     Cancellation
   Operating between CARTERTON, UPAVON WAY and HEADINGTON, GIPSY LANE given service number H2 effective from 27 July 2025.

​

For Thames Travel:

PH0007184/174 – bustimes.org

bustimes.org

H2 - UPAVON WAY,CARTERTON to THORNHILL PARK AND RIDE via WITNEY, EYNSHAM, OXFORD NORTH, SUMMERTOWN, JR HOSPITAL​

Registration numberPH0007184/174TypeNormal StoppingSupported by subsidy?In Part
Oxfordshire County CouncilAuthoritiesOxfordshire County Council

Variation history​

1. • Received19 Jul 25
   • Effective27 Jul 25
   • Registered
   • Short notice
     Monday to Sunday
   From: UPAVON WAY,CARTERTON
   To: THORNHILL PARK AND RIDE
   Via: WITNEY, EYNSHAM, OXFORD NORTH, SUMMERTOWN, JR HOSPITAL
   Name or No.: H2
   Service type: Normal Stopping
   Effective date: 27 July 2025
   Other details: Monday to Sunday