Carousel Buses (Go-Ahead group)

[markymark2000]

What I find interesting is that on top of the tender wins, Carousel seems to be going in to compete with Thames Valley Buses to try and get them out of the area. Of note Carousel providing a half hourly 7A service to directly compete with Thames Valleys 7 service. Also the new Carousel 52 service which seems completely useless and I presume is just there to save the bus sitting around but this completely duplicates Thames Valley 53.

Scrolling through the 'times & maps' page on their website it looks like there's some more contract wins from Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire councils coming in at the same time, mostly at the expense of Red Rose:
- 71 (Chesham to Whelpley Hill), previously Red Rose
- 72/A, 73/A/S (Chesham to Amersham and Coleshill), previously Red Rose
- 77/177/190 (Chesham to Chartridge), previously Red Eagle
- 78/79 (Chesham to Great Hivings), previously Red Rose
- 112/113 (Watlington to Reading), previously Red Rose
- 116/117 (Watlington to Thame), previously Red Rose
- 149/194 (Chesham rural circulars), previously Red Rose
- 320/620 (Chinnor to Princes Risborough), previously Red Rose
Seems to be nothing but up for Carousel at the moment, this does get very close to cementing a monopoly on South Buckinghamshire. Honestly seems like enough that it might be difficult for them to resource with just the already announced new vehicles? Some of these new contracts are very infrequent, though.

This all looks like a lot, but given the low frequency of the routes, It's only around 2-3 buses worth of work (depends if the timetables on their website are the final timetables or the they are still in progress).

 

[Parebunks]

This all looks like a lot, but given the low frequency of the routes, It's only around 2-3 buses worth of work (depends if the timetables on their website are the final timetables or the they are still in progress).

Yes, they're nothing particularly special - I don't think the timetables are in there quite right yet, but the Oxfordshire contracts (112/3/6/7, 320, 620) are definitely just the one bus, and Chesham can't be more than 3. Mostly the Maidenhead routes I'm querying the resourcing for, slightly more than I expected. The competition with Thames Valley definitely seems ambitious, and a slightly odd move - those parts of Berkshire hardly have a reputation as great bus territory.

 

[PeterC]

Yes, they're nothing particularly special - I don't think the timetables are in there quite right yet, but the Oxfordshire contracts (112/3/6/7, 320, 620) are definitely just the one bus, and Chesham can't be more than 3. Mostly the Maidenhead routes I'm querying the resourcing for, slightly more than I expected. The competition with Thames Valley definitely seems ambitious, and a slightly odd move - those parts of Berkshire hardly have a reputation as great bus territory.

Red Rose use 2 and I think Red Eagle one. I haven't been through the times in detail so I don't know if any journeys are gained or lost.

After the timetable changes last September there were repeated complaints to both Red Rose and Bucks Council about drivers failing to follow the advertised routes. This may have influenced the Council's decision but Red Rose and Carousel were the only bidders.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Yes, they're nothing particularly special - I don't think the timetables are in there quite right yet, but the Oxfordshire contracts (112/3/6/7, 320, 620) are definitely just the one bus, and Chesham can't be more than 3. Mostly the Maidenhead routes I'm querying the resourcing for, slightly more than I expected. The competition with Thames Valley definitely seems ambitious, and a slightly odd move - those parts of Berkshire hardly have a reputation as great bus territory.

Although a lot of the thin bus territory in east Berks that Carousel are now going to be running through is RBWM contracted and I think most of the area covered will have only had a regular bus now for the first time in over a decade. Let's wait and see how it goes.

 

[Mgameing123]

What I find interesting is that on top of the tender wins, Carousel seems to be going in to compete with Thames Valley Buses to try and get them out of the area. Of note Carousel providing a half hourly 7A service to directly compete with Thames Valleys 7 service. Also the new Carousel 52 service which seems completely useless and I presume is just there to save the bus sitting around but this completely duplicates Thames Valley 53.


This all looks like a lot, but given the low frequency of the routes, It's only around 2-3 buses worth of work (depends if the timetables on their website are the final timetables or the they are still in progress).

Thames Valley might be able to stay in Maidenhead. Pretty sure their new faster route 16 still get more people to take the bus between Maidenhead and Windsor, but same time I know many people will enjoy the cross town service on the 37.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

So many posts, so just to clarify/summarise/over-simplify what's going on here...

Various Bucks tenders - lost by Red Rose/Red Eagle to Carousel
Maidenhead town services - lost by TVB to Carousel (with some BSIP enhancements)
Bus 16 - commercial service introduced by TVB (perhaps using some of the resources currently used on tenders such as the 37's)
Bus 127 - tendered service on Saturdays (operated by TVB) is now augmented by a commercial daytime service from Carousel

That it, in a simplified way?

 

[Parebunks]

So many posts, so just to clarify/summarise/over-simplify what's going on here...

Various Bucks tenders - lost by Red Rose/Red Eagle to Carousel
Maidenhead town services - lost by TVB to Carousel (with some BSIP enhancements)
Bus 16 - commercial service introduced by TVB (perhaps using some of the resources currently used on tenders such as the 37's)
Bus 127 - tendered service on Saturdays (operated by TVB) is now augmented by a commercial daytime service from Carousel

That it, in a simplified way?

There's a some extra nuances in that some other RBWM tenders have also come from White Bus (to both Carousel and TVB), and that Carousel have also started commercial services 7A and 52 in direct competition with TVB. It's very much not only Maidenhead town routes Carousel have gained, the new 10, 15, and 37 extension are largely interurban in character. There's also some tenders swapping between Oxford/Carousel and Red Rose in Oxfordshire, but not all the details on that are known/public yet.

 

[RELL6L]

A lot to take in here! Not quite absorbed what is commercial and what is tendered. It is quite an expansion in Maidenhead and Windsor. The 37/10 looks ambitious, it seems to me that these will interworking so a 37 from Wycombe to Windsor then continues to Staines as a 10 and vice versa. That’s a 5 hour round trip. This could be quite susceptible to traffic delays, plenty of hotspots on these routes.

The extension of the 15 beyond Eton Wick is unexpected. Not much custom along here, I would think. Only one journey a week at present. This looks quite tight and doesn’t appear to interworking with the existing 106/107 at Slough.

Carousel do seem to be taking a huge amount of the work in this area but my experience has been that they are pretty reliable. Let’s hope they continue to be and find the extra resources to make this work. What a contrast from Arriva in High Wycombe!

 

[Mgameing123]

Isn’t Carousel opening an outstation at Maidenhead?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

There's a some extra nuances in that some other RBWM tenders have also come from White Bus (to both Carousel and TVB), and that Carousel have also started commercial services 7A and 52 in direct competition with TVB. It's very much not only Maidenhead town routes Carousel have gained, the new 10, 15, and 37 extension are largely interurban in character. There's also some tenders swapping between Oxford/Carousel and Red Rose in Oxfordshire, but not all the details on that are known/public yet.

Yeah - I'd seen the tender wins from White Bus, and that they'd put in some commercial initiatives like the 52. Was just trying to (over)simplify, especially around the 127 and put things in broad brush terms

A lot to take in here! Not quite absorbed what is commercial and what is tendered. It is quite an expansion in Maidenhead and Windsor.

You're telling me - hard to keep up!

 

[Non Multi]

Isn’t Carousel opening an outstation at Maidenhead?

Yes they are.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Mar 2025 ==

The extension of the 15 beyond Eton Wick is unexpected. Not much custom along here, I would think. Only one journey a week at present. This looks quite tight and doesn’t appear to interworking with the existing 106/107 at Slough.

I presume that there was significant need from a number of Eton Wick (RBWM) residents for the service to call at the Bishop Centre, a busy out-of-town retail park and the large Taplow Sainsburys. The route used to have an infrequent extension through to Maidenhead via Dorney and the Bath Road until 31st October 2022. There aren't many stops on the loop around Dorney and Dorney Reach, it's a very fast route with very little traffic other than on the Bath Road.

A brief article on the final days of the route 15 to Maidenhead was published in the #226 edition of the 'Oxford Chiltern Bus Page'.

 

[Flange Squeal]

There's a some extra nuances in that some other RBWM tenders have also come from White Bus (to both Carousel and TVB)

Also Bear Buses losing the 305 (their only daytime bus service), which is being replaced over the Staines - Wraysbury - Datchet section by the new Carousel 10/10A.

 

[RELL6L]

It seems odd, if they are opening an outstation at Maidenhead, that they would structure the 37 and 10 as they are doing. It is hard to see how a Maidenhead base can have much, if any, involvement with these routes. They appear to be entirely operated from Wycombe. If Maidenhead were to be involved then you would expect the Windsor route to be separate, even if mainly at the same times as planned. I do think there’s a lack of resilience in this arrangement, the Staines end could suffer from bad traffic in High Wycombe.

 

[greenline712]

It seems odd, if they are opening an outstation at Maidenhead, that they would structure the 37 and 10 as they are doing. It is hard to see how a Maidenhead base can have much, if any, involvement with these routes. They appear to be entirely operated from Wycombe. If Maidenhead were to be involved then you would expect the Windsor route to be separate, even if mainly at the same times as planned. I do think there’s a lack of resilience in this arrangement, the Staines end could suffer from bad traffic in High Wycombe.

This is the danger of through routes, of course . . . a delay at one end will affect the other end. What we don't yet know, of course, is how the timetables will actually work in practice . . . there does appear to be a little bit of extra time at Maidenhead in both directions, and whilst only 6 minutes at Windsor towards Staines, there is 17 minutes at Staines itself, and 10 minutes at Windsor on the return. On the other side . . . a standard running time throughout the day may give problems at school times.

A 5:12 round time (based on Wycombe) is pretty close to the 5:30 spell limit . . . but with a crew base in Maidenhead, that may not be an issue. If the buses can be cycled in/out of Wycombe every few days, then only limited facilities are necessary at Maidenhead . . . fuel at a roadside filling station, for example.

I'm bound to say that Thames Travel routes do seem to run quite well, certainly in my travels around Didcot and Wantage . . . and Oxford BC have plenty of experience.
We'll just have to wait and see . . .

 

[stevieinselby]

It is very scary how big of a monopoly they are becoming. Once they gobbled up the entire plate then it’s a matter of time before they water down the bus service.

Having on-the-road competition didn't exactly lead to Arriva running a stellar service ... hence why they are no longer there

 

[Mgameing123]

It seems odd, if they are opening an outstation at Maidenhead, that they would structure the 37 and 10 as they are doing. It is hard to see how a Maidenhead base can have much, if any, involvement with these routes. They appear to be entirely operated from Wycombe. If Maidenhead were to be involved then you would expect the Windsor route to be separate, even if mainly at the same times as planned. I do think there’s a lack of resilience in this arrangement, the Staines end could suffer from bad traffic in High Wycombe.

Well the first buses of the day start at Bourne End, Windsor & High Wycombe so its not too unrealistic to see some buses from the Maidenhead outstation.

 

[RELL6L]

Well the first buses of the day start at Bourne End, Windsor & High Wycombe so its not too unrealistic to see some buses from the Maidenhead outstation.

I don't see it, it looks to me like it is all run from Wycombe. Why else would the late buses run back to Wycombe with no late buses from Wycombe to Maidenhead. Also buses into Wycombe have a Bourne End round trip before they head back to Maidenhead and Windsor. We'll see!

 

[Simon75]

Any idea where in Maidenhead the outstation will be, also when it opens ?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I don't see it, it looks to me like it is all run from Wycombe. Why else would the late buses run back to Wycombe with no late buses from Wycombe to Maidenhead. Also buses into Wycombe have a Bourne End round trip before they head back to Maidenhead and Windsor. We'll see!

Even before I saw your comment, that was the bit that caught my eye.

 

[RELL6L]

All double deckers on the 850 today. BusTimes shows everything now renumbered into the 80xxx series. I’ve just seen 215, back on the road after 3 months off, this says 80215, but 221 said 221. So still in progress.

 

[PeterC]

A lot of changes coming up at the end of August. Chesham seems to be benefitting with increased frequencies and new inter-urban services also covering most of the old 7x contract routes. Bucks Council of course have no information on their website so we don't know what is happening about the areas not benefitting.

 

[Deerfold]

Service Changes from 31st August 2025

We will be making a number of service changes from 31st August 2025, with buses between High Wycombe to Beaconsfield up to every 10 minutes.

www.carouselbuses.co.uk

Highlights are :

Buses every 10 minutes High Wycombe - Beaconsfield due to a near doubling of the 103 Slough and Windsor service.

Buses every 15 minutes to Chesham (1), doubling frequency to half hourly to Hemel Hempstead.

New hourly service Amersham to Uxbridge (101), doubling the service between the Chalfonts and Uxbridge.

106/7 frequency doubled to every 30 minutes Slough to Wexham Park, but the northern section of route removed (replaced by new 101)

After many years the 275 to Oxford will change operator.

We will be making changes to our bus network from 31st August 2025, with more buses than ever before between High Wycombe and Beaconsfield, up to every 10 minutes.​

From Sunday 31st August, several of our services will see timetable alterations. Whilst many see adjustments to help buses run better to time and reflect changes that we are seeing in passenger demand, some services across South Buckinghamshire and into Berkshire will see significant improvements. You can read about some of these below, with further information available by area:

• Click here for service changes in the High Wycombe area
• Click here for service changes along the London Road to Beaconsfield
• Click here for service changes in Amersham & Chesham
• Click here for service changes in Slough & Windsor
• Service changes in the Maidenhead area will be available soon

Following gradual improvements made to this corridor in recent years, we are delighted to announce that we will be bringing more buses than ever before to London Road corridor between High Wycombe and Beaconsfield. Working in partnership with Buckinghamshire Council, buses will now operate a coordinated turn up and go frequency of up to every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime, and up to every 15 minutes on Sundays and Public Holidays. There will also be more buses at key peak travel times, as well as through the evening on all days of the week. The joint corridor will comprise of the following services:

• Flightline 102 operating up to every 30 minutes, 7 days a week, between High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Gerrards Cross, Uxbridge and Heathrow Airport.
• Service 103 operating up to every 30 minutes, 7 days a week, between High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Farnham Common and Slough, with buses extending to Windsor up to every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime, and hourly on Sundays.
• Service 104 operating every hour, similar to now, Monday to Saturday daytime between High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Seer Green, The Chalfonts, Gerrards Cross and Uxbridge.
• Service 105 operating every hour, Monday to Saturday daytime between High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Coleshill, Amersham, Chesham Moor, Chesham and Chartridge.

As such, we’ll be restoring direct bus services between Beaconsfield, Amersham and Chesham, with direct links to the communities of Chesham Moor and Chartridge. New service 101 will operate between Amersham and Uxbridge, reinstating the direct link between these towns and doubling the number of buses between The Chalfonts and Uxbridge, as together with service 104, buses will now up to every 30 minutes.

More Saturday buses will operate between High Wycombe, Amersham and Chesham on the one, now up to every 15 minutes, and service 104 will be enhanced to operate hourly on Sundays between Beaconsfield, The Chalfonts, Gerrards Cross and Uxbridge. Additionally, with support from Hertfordshire County Council, the one will now extend beyond Chesham to Bovingdon and Hemel Hempstead up to every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime, with most journeys alternating between serving Ley Hill (1) and Lye Green and Whelpley Hill (1B).

Following the growing number of passengers we are seeing making use of services 106 and 107, we will be increasing the frequency of buses between Slough and Wexham Court to be up to every 30 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes, with even more buses now operating through the evening and on Sundays.

Sunday service increased to hourly between Beaconsfield and Uxbridge.	Timetable
105	New service between High Wycombe and Chartridge via Loudwater, Beaconsfield, Coleshill, Amersham, Quill Hall, Chesham Moor and Chesham. Service operates Monday to Saturday up to every hour. School journeys serve Amersham Schools and Chesham Grammar School. Replaces service 1C between Chesham and Chartridge, service 41 in Quill Hall and services 72/72A/73/73A/73S between Chesham, Amersham and Coleshill.	Timetable Map (coming soon)
275	Operation of this service will transfer to Red Rose Travel.
850	Minor timing changes with the every 15 minute weekday frequency finishing earlier to improve reliability.	Timetable

Other services across our network will also see timetable changes from the same date, please click here for all the information.

Following the growing number of passengers we are seeing making use of services 106 and 107, we will be increasing the frequency of buses between Slough and Wexham Court to be up to every 30 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes, with even more buses now operating through the evening and on Sundays.

Please find your service below, and click on the links for the new PDF timetables and route maps:

Service	Summary	Attachments
101	New service between Amersham Station and Uxbridge Station via Chalfont & Latimer, Chalfont St Giles, Chalfont St Peter, Gerrards Cross and Denham. Service operates Monday to Saturday up to every hour but combines with service 104 to operate up to every 30 minutes between The Chalfonts and Uxbridge. Replaces service 106/107 between Chalfont St Peter and Amersham.	Timetable Map
102	Service retimed in line with London Road changes but general level of service remains the same.	Timetable
103	Service increased to operate up to every 30 minutes all day, including Windsor on Monday to Saturday daytimes. Evening journeys will operate as far as Slough and on Sundays every other journey will extend to Windsor. Sunday service X103 withdrawn, all journeys now numbered 103 and operate via Beaconsfield New Town.	Timetable
104	Service retimed in line with London Road changes but general level of service remains the same. Sunday service increased to hourly between Beaconsfield and Uxbridge.	Timetable
105	New service between High Wycombe and Chartridge via Loudwater, Beaconsfield, Coleshill, Amersham, Quill Hall, Chesham Moor and Chesham. Service operates Monday to Saturday up to every hour. School journeys serve Amersham Schools and Chesham Grammar School. Replaces service 1C between Chesham and Chartridge, service 41 in Quill Hall and services 72/72A/73/73A/73S between Chesham, Amersham and Coleshill.	Timetable Map (coming soon)
106 107	Service withdrawn between Chalfont Common and Amersham Station, replaced by new service 101 above. Buses will now operate up to every 30 minutes between Slough and Wexham Park Hospital.	Timetable Map (coming soon)

Service Changes in Amersham & Chesham from 31st August 2025​

Today Wed 9th Jul 2025

We will be making a number of service changes from 31st August 2025, including more buses than ever before between High Wycombe and Beaconsfield, up to every 10 minutes.​

From Sunday 31st August, several of our services will see timetable alterations. Whilst many see adjustments to help buses run better to time and reflect changes that we are seeing in passenger demand, some services across South Buckinghamshire and into Berkshire will see significant improvements. You can read about some of these below, with further information available on a route-by-route basis in the table underneath.
With new service 105, we’ll be restoring direct bus services between Beaconsfield, Amersham and Chesham, with direct links to the communities of Chesham Moor and Chartridge. New service 101 will operate between Amersham and Uxbridge, reinstating the direct link between these towns and doubling the number of buses between The Chalfonts and Uxbridge, as together with service 104, buses will now up to every 30 minutes.
More Saturday buses will operate between High Wycombe, Amersham and Chesham on the one, now up to every 15 minutes. Additionally, with support from Hertfordshire County Council, the one will now extend beyond Chesham to Bovingdon and Hemel Hempstead up to every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime, with most journeys alternating between serving Ley Hill (1) and Lye Green and Whelpley Hill (1B).
Please find your service below, and click on the links for the new PDF timetables and route maps:

Service	Summary	Attachments
the one	All services increased to operate up to every 15 minutes to Chesham and up to every 30 minutes to Hemel Hempstead on Mondays to Saturdays. Service 1B withdrawn from Pond Park and extended to Hemel Hempstead via Lye Green and Bovingdon in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council. Journeys serve Whelpley Hill replacing service 71. Service 1C to Chartridge withdrawn and replaced by service 105 (see below). Service 1A increased to every 30 minutes to replace services 1B and 1C. Service 1 rerouted to operate direct from Ley Hill to Green Lane, Bovingdon, instead of via Bovingdon Airfield, and retimed in line with the above changes.	Timetable Map
41	Timetable revised to improve punctuality. As part of these changes, there are major changes to the timetable, including a reduction in early morning journeys, better reflect the demand that we are seeing across the day. There will be a revised route in Amersham, with buses now operating direct between Copperkins Lane and Amersham Hill Avenue. New service 105 will provide regular connections along Grimsdells Lane, New Road and Chestnut Lane (see below). Due to low usage, school variants 41H and 41S, as well as the extension to and from Marlow Hill Schools will be replaced by trips on service 41 trips. For scholars travelling to Marlow Hill Schools, frequent connections are available in High Wycombe Bus Station.	Timetable Map
71	This service will be replaced in part by service 1B through Lye Green and Whelpley Hill (see above), and services 78, 79 and 79A through Hilltop Estate and Codmore Cross (see below).
72 72A 73 73A 73S	Services replaced with new service 105 (see below). Due to very low levels of usage, buses will no longer operate through Grove Road or Hundred Acres Lane.
77 177 190	Service 77 replaced with new service 105 (see below). Services through Swan Bottom, The Lee, Ballinger Common and South Heath will be simplified. Service 177 will no longer operate, with all journeys to these villages now provided by a revised service 190.	Timetable
78 79 79A	Service revised to serve Hilltop Estate to part-replace service 71. Additional journeys will operate at peak time. On Saturdays, service 79A will operate between Hilltop Estate, Codmore Cross and Chesham.	Timetable Map (coming soon)
101	New service between Amersham and Uxbridge via Little Chalfont, Chalfont St Giles, Chalfont St Peter, Gerrards Cross and Denham, up to every hour, Monday to Saturday. Buses combine with service 104 to offer a joint frequency of up to every 30 minutes between The Chalfonts, Gerrards Cross and Uxbridge. At school times, buses operate via Stanley Hill for Amersham School. Service 101 replaces the links currently provided by services 106 and 107 between Amersham and Chalfont St Peter.	Timetable Map
105	New service operating up to every hour, Monday to Saturday daytime between High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Coleshill, Amersham, Chesham Moor, Chesham and Chartridge. At school times, buses run via Stanley Hill for Amersham School.	Timetable Map (coming soon)
106 107	Service revised to operate between Chalfont Common and Slough, with service 101 providing a replacement link between The Chalfonts and Amersham. We’re doubling the frequency of buses between Slough, Wexham Court and Wexham Park Hospital. Buses will operate up to every 30 minutes, alongside more evening and Sunday journeys.	Timetable Map (coming soon)
149 194	Services to Cholesbury and St Leonards will be run by a different operator.

Other services across our network will also see timetable changes from the same date, please click here for all the information

Service Changes 31/08/2025 - Slough & Windsor​

Today Wed 9th Jul 2025

We will be making changes to our bus network from 31st August 2025 in the Slough and Windsor area, with double the buses to Beaconsfield.​

From Sunday 31st August, several of our services will see timetable alterations to improve reliability.
Service 103 will be doubled to operate up to every 30 minutes, 7 days a week between High Wycombe and Slough, with buses extending to Windsor up to every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime, and hourly on Sundays.
Following the growing number of passengers we are seeing making use of services 106 and 107, we will be increasing the frequency of buses between Slough and Wexham Court to be up to every 30 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes, with even more buses now operating through the evening and on Sundays.
Please find your service below, and click on the links for the new PDF timetables and route maps:

Service	Summary	Attachments
10 10A	Minor timing changes to improve reliability.	Timetable
37 37B	Minor timing changes to improve reliability.	Timetable
103	Service increased to operate up to every 30 minutes all day, including Windsor on Monday to Saturday daytimes. Evening journeys will operate as far as Slough and on Sundays every other journey will extend to Windsor. Sunday service X103 withdrawn, all journeys now numbered 103 and operate via Beaconsfield New Town.	Timetable
106 107	Service withdrawn between Chalfont Common and Amersham Station, replaced by new service 101. Buses will now operate up to every 30 minutes between Slough and Wexham Park Hospital.	Timetable Map (coming soon)

Other services across our network will also see timetable changes from the same date, please click here

 

[K4016td]

I am really happy to see that they're increasing the frequencies in Slough on the 103 and on the Wexham corridor - there's so much potential in the town that First failed to materialise and the recent developements in the network seem to prove it well. Only if there would be some sort of integration among them - 3 big operators in the town and none of them honour eachothers tickets.

 

[Flange Squeal]

With First's 6 (Maidenhead - Slough - Wexham Court) running less than hourly and recently seeing the beginning of competition between Maidenhead and Slough from Thames Valley's 704, the half-hourly frequency to be offered by Carousel between Slough and Wexham Court will surely put even more strain on First's 6. Particularly with the new 106 shorts running an hour later than at present Mon-Sat, and both ends of the operating day extended on Sundays. Be interesting to see if First do anything.

 

[K4016td]

The situation is quite interesting, since First is present in London again, therefore Berkshire operations won't be as isolated as in the last few years so management should be able take some steps, unless they treat Slough as burden anyway and are happy with whatever is left over from the empire.

 

[PeterC]

Service Changes from 31st August 2025

We will be making a number of service changes from 31st August 2025, with buses between High Wycombe to Beaconsfield up to every 10 minutes.

www.carouselbuses.co.uk

Highlights are :

Buses every 10 minutes High Wycombe - Beaconsfield due to a near doubling of the 103 Slough and Windsor service.

Buses every 15 minutes to Chesham (1), doubling frequency to half hourly to Hemel Hempstead.

New hourly service Amersham to Uxbridge (101), doubling the service between the Chalfonts and Uxbridge.

106/7 frequency doubled to every 30 minutes Slough to Wexham Park, but the northern section of route removed (replaced by new 101)

After many years the 275 to Oxford will change operator.

Thanks, I must have had a cached version of the home page.

 

[Parebunks]

Some rather impressive improvements there, must be the best service that part of Buckinghamshire has had in quite some time - now all that's missing is the 336 Watford link!
I rather wonder if, between this and the continuing expansion of Pulhams into the Cotswolds, Go Ahead Oxford may be approaching a size where it merits a management restructure - as I understand it functions are currently quite centralised in Oxford, and 'Oxford Bus Company' increasingly seems something of a misnomer for a business unit stretching from Staines to Gloucester!

 

[richard13]

The situation is quite interesting, since First is present in London again, therefore Berkshire operations won't be as isolated as in the last few years so management should be able take some steps, unless they treat Slough as burden anyway and are happy with whatever is left over from the empire.

One has to remember that London is a franchise area, which means it has nothing much in common with commercial operation in Slough. Portsmouth and Weymouth although further away, are in the same business situation.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Some rather impressive improvements there, must be the best service that part of Buckinghamshire has had in quite some time - now all that's missing is the 336 Watford link!
I rather wonder if, between this and the continuing expansion of Pulhams into the Cotswolds, Go Ahead Oxford may be approaching a size where it merits a management restructure - as I understand it functions are currently quite centralised in Oxford, and 'Oxford Bus Company' increasingly seems something of a misnomer for a business unit stretching from Staines to Gloucester!

To be fair, not too dissimilar to Go South Coast with their operations stretching from Weymouth to Swindon to Eastleigh to IOW. With Pulhams in Swindon, begs how far you can travel on a Go Ahead bus...

It is quite the improvement with Bucks - looks a better spend of BSIP monies than some local authorities, plus some interesting commercial moves too

 

[Parebunks]

It is quite the improvement with Bucks - looks a better spend of BSIP monies than some local authorities, plus some interesting commercial moves too

Not sure how much of this is BSIP - the 2025-26 delivery plan doesn't mention most of this, and seems focused on last year's improvements + various in Aylesbury. Although of course an argument that the BSIP improvements provide a base for the commercial ones.