Mgameing123
Member
32 is also a busy route
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Carousel Buses (Go-Ahead group)
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ANDREW_D_WEBB
Member
Route 430 has had a partial service on the last few Christmas Days. Operated by 1950’s Vintage Bus Hire, it has a pvr of 3 to maintain a 20 minute frequency using RT and RM buses
https://1950s-vintage-bus-hire.co.uk/christmas-430/
I really can't see the point of this. Who is going to use them? There will be virtually no shops open, I shouldn't think anything happening at the hospital in Wycombe, a few people might visit friends or family the other side of town as its there but who is going to want to go to Chesham or Henley? And to have Windsor to Maidenhead but not Maidenhead to Wycombe seems odd. Is this BSIP squandering again?
Just the 102 might make some sense and then there is the 111 that it looks like Carousel have been contracted to operate. You would have thought they could be interworked - Wycombe to Heathrow to Hounslow and back. But no, they aren't. What will happen if a bus breaks down far from base?
Mgameing123
Member
Maidenhead to Wycombe is still possible with a change at Windsor.
Indeed, but the buses don't interwork at Windsor. So the Windsor-Maidenhead-local section will be stand alone operationally.
glennds999
Member
- Joined
- 22 Dec 2013
- Messages
- 26
The majority of these services are operating with financial support, with that coming from a mixture of Heathrow Airport and local authorities.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
I appreciate that Heathrow is supporting some, and it looks like Bucks might be supporting others. I'd be surprised if the Berkshire ones are getting any support.
Mgameing123
Member
But it is better than the situation before.
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The 37B makes sense because many elderly people use the route and it will help make them feel less isolated.
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By running on Christmas Day, customers would feel like that buying their month passes would be more worth it over the other operators.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
That's an argument for open ended operation - every route, every day. I mean, where will these elderly people be going - nothing is open. If the point is that they might be wanting to see relatives... they're more likely to be picked up by relatives on that day than any other day of the year!
I think you're missing @RELL6L's point. The 9/37B is a standalone operation so you can't cycle vehicles operationally. You need a crew ferry to do driver swaps and breaks.
You really think that's a factor. Believe me - it's not.
glennds999
Member
- Joined
- 22 Dec 2013
- Messages
- 26
Some of the Berkshire ones are!
Plenty of pubs will be open if it's anything like round here.
Keighley isn't a large place but when we had Christmas day buses (hourly on 3 routes) they regularly had double figure numbers of passengers, many popping to a place for a drink or two and some on a little pub crawl before returning home for Christmas Dinner.
The only places where I can see an argument for running a really skeleton Christmas Day service is places where sticks and carrots have been used to persuade people to ditch their cars permanently for public transport. One such would be Oxford - a far more sensible place to be running a few Christmas Day services than High Wycombe and Maidenhead. Or, of course, London. In both cities drivers have been encouraged to stop driving to use public transport so arguably there should be some public transport 365 days a year. There was in Oxford - if it isn't used there it isn't going to be in High Wycombe!
glennds999
Member
- Joined
- 22 Dec 2013
- Messages
- 26
Worth noting - again - that the Carousel services are not operating on entirely commercial basis on Christmas Day. In Oxford, there was no such funding available this year, and the cost of operation would be considerably higher.
Mark L
Member
One of R&S Recovery’s finest will be dragged from his Christmas dinner to get the recalcitrant bus back to High Wycombe!
Wolvercoter
Member
Not wanting to stray off-topic too much but Oxford Bus did run a Christmas Day service on X13 (Abingdon - Oxford - JR Hospital) about ten years ago. Not sure if it was funded but IIRC, it only happened once.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
Really? I thought the First ones are likely to be Heathrow supported but not ones pootling around Maidenhead.
I don't think many pensioners will be going on the lash
glennds999
Member
- Joined
- 22 Dec 2013
- Messages
- 26
Yes - that was a commercial basis, and whilst there was some usage, it was not enough to offset the significant cost of running on Christmas Day. The depot does open for a limited service on the airline coach service to Heathrow and Gatwick, and in future years, if there was financial support available, I don’t see any significant blockers to operating local bus services here.
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Yes - the Maidenhead services over Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day are running either with support that was incorporated within the bids for the tenders, or with subsidy that has been agreed thereafter.
Mark L
Member
I think it’s fair to say that @glennds999 probably knows more about the commercial arrangements for Carousel’s Christmas Day ops than most.
Last year First operated the A4, 7 and RA1/2/3 commercially on Christmas Day. Heathrow provided some financial support for Thames Valley 703 and Carlone 442/X442 along with its directly contracted H31 (operated by Diamond South East).
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TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
I wasn't doubting - I'm just genuinely surprised. A Maidenhead local service wouldn't have been my first thought for a Christmas Day service!
Mark L
Member
Nor me (not least because the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead has one of the lowest levels of bus use in the country) but I guess the council has a pot of BSIP money burning a hole in its pocket!
Ralph Ayres
Member
Full details of the new 458 Uxbridge-Slough are now on Carousel's website, complete with a lovely map which confirms they're not blindly following First's route 3. I'm not convinced sneaking past the edge of Iver Heath without stopping anywhere useful is really worth the small time saving, and the two route still share a blind bend pinch point in Iver so there could be some interesting meetings there with twice as many buses squeezing through. The different route in Langley may pick up some extra trade I suppose. Pity they couldn't have terminated in Uxbridge near Sainsbury's as their 583 already does; they'll be running past the stop anyway to stand according to the London Service Permit application, though it does give more flexibility to make up time from any delay.
markymark2000
On Moderation
Carousel has now uploaded their list of changes for 4th January.
High Wycombe - https://www.carouselbuses.co.uk/service-changes-high-wycombe-south-bucks-4th-january-2026
Slough/Windsor - https://www.carouselbuses.co.uk/service-changes-slough-windsor-4th-january-2026
Maidenhead - https://www.carouselbuses.co.uk/service-changes-maidenhead-4th-january-2026
Maidenhead 7A being cut on Saturdays and 52 being cut completely, with some very interesting wording on the website that 'our friends at Thames Valley Buses' will still provide a service. Given the competition going on, very interesting to refer to Thames Valley as 'friends'. Especially given the is 37 being diverted past St Marks Hospital which is conveniently one of the only USPs that Thames Valley has on their 20, and the 127 is enhanced to run via Woodley, and run on Saturdays (so presumably Reading Buses 127 will have to cease from this date (and perhaps changes to the 128/129).
Interesting changes to the Slough competition too with the aformentioned 458 starting between Slough and Uxbridge. But as well as that, the 106/107 will reduce to hourly combined, and so reducing the competition around Wrexham Park. The 103 also is changing cut to only run hourly between Slough and Windsor with them suggesting people use the Windsor Express 702/703. The other 103 each hour will divert to Langley, following Firsts 3 service to Langley High Street, then as per the 7 to Axis Park. Does First have too much of a stronghold on the 106/107 that Carousel couldn't budge them, or are the resources needed for other work which they think will unsettle First more.
High Wycombe - https://www.carouselbuses.co.uk/service-changes-high-wycombe-south-bucks-4th-january-2026
Slough/Windsor - https://www.carouselbuses.co.uk/service-changes-slough-windsor-4th-january-2026
Maidenhead - https://www.carouselbuses.co.uk/service-changes-maidenhead-4th-january-2026
Maidenhead 7A being cut on Saturdays and 52 being cut completely, with some very interesting wording on the website that 'our friends at Thames Valley Buses' will still provide a service. Given the competition going on, very interesting to refer to Thames Valley as 'friends'. Especially given the is 37 being diverted past St Marks Hospital which is conveniently one of the only USPs that Thames Valley has on their 20, and the 127 is enhanced to run via Woodley, and run on Saturdays (so presumably Reading Buses 127 will have to cease from this date (and perhaps changes to the 128/129).
Interesting changes to the Slough competition too with the aformentioned 458 starting between Slough and Uxbridge. But as well as that, the 106/107 will reduce to hourly combined, and so reducing the competition around Wrexham Park. The 103 also is changing cut to only run hourly between Slough and Windsor with them suggesting people use the Windsor Express 702/703. The other 103 each hour will divert to Langley, following Firsts 3 service to Langley High Street, then as per the 7 to Axis Park. Does First have too much of a stronghold on the 106/107 that Carousel couldn't budge them, or are the resources needed for other work which they think will unsettle First more.
Mgameing123
Member
I mean Thames Valley's 20 does serve Flackwell Heath and Marlow Hill Schools which is still a good USP to have though I did wish route 20 ran via the A40 dual carriageway rather than Cookham, Bourne End and Flackwell Heath.
Carousel really does want to outcompete every other operator.
Also another note to the 37, It's interesting to see that Carousel wants the 37 to head via St Marks Hospital considering that was where the contracted route 16 used to end back before 2022.
Not surprised in the slightest 52 has been withdrawn, that route was never going to produce any demand.
Interesting changes on the 103, Carousel arguably could have gone the full length past Langley to Heathrow however? Nice to see them experimenting a Wycombe/Langley link however cannot see it proving too popular.
Some interesting changes here but not easy to fathom all the direction. On the one hand a couple of changes in Maidenhead make reference to ‘our friends at Thames Valley Buses’. Then on the 36 at High Wycombe there is an oblique reference to a competing route, the Thames Valley 20. As a result of this competition the 36 is being reduced from every 30 minutes to hourly. But the journey they are keeping is the one just a few minutes away from the Thames Valley 20, not the one on the other half hour. Also the two departures from Maidenhead to Wycombe are just a few minutes apart. The 127 is being rerouted via Woodley and introduced on Saturdays. Is this to compete more with Reading or less?
Some other interesting changes in that the Maidenhead 9, which does a loop to Furze Platt and Pinkneys Green, is being split into the 8 and 9 providing quicker routes to both, still every half hour. The 103 providing journeys to Langley is interesting given the changes to First routes here too. Meanwhile the short 106s to Wexham Park are being withdrawn. The 458 looks ambitious so far from home. It might work with the 101/104 at Uxbridge but this would mean all single deckers on these routes and the 41 which doesn’t seem that likely.
The 31 sees quite a reduction in journey time on most journeys, I wonder if this is sustainable given that many routes in Wycombe run pretty late especially later in the day. Interworkings are going to change, the 36 will presumably interwork with something- possibly the 31. The 15 extension to Maidenhead and the 127 diversion via Woodley will mean both these routes will need to interwork with something at Maidenhead, maybe each other but probably with the town services.
Some other interesting changes in that the Maidenhead 9, which does a loop to Furze Platt and Pinkneys Green, is being split into the 8 and 9 providing quicker routes to both, still every half hour. The 103 providing journeys to Langley is interesting given the changes to First routes here too. Meanwhile the short 106s to Wexham Park are being withdrawn. The 458 looks ambitious so far from home. It might work with the 101/104 at Uxbridge but this would mean all single deckers on these routes and the 41 which doesn’t seem that likely.
The 31 sees quite a reduction in journey time on most journeys, I wonder if this is sustainable given that many routes in Wycombe run pretty late especially later in the day. Interworkings are going to change, the 36 will presumably interwork with something- possibly the 31. The 15 extension to Maidenhead and the 127 diversion via Woodley will mean both these routes will need to interwork with something at Maidenhead, maybe each other but probably with the town services.
Mgameing123
Member
Would'vee though been a good route to keep just so that the 53 could cut out the loopy loop at Stroud Farm Shops.
Such a stupid loop
Mgameing123
Member
Agreed. When I once took the 53 bus to Bracknell. That loop really did annoy me and all those estate sections on the route. It doesn’t really provide a good interurban connection in terms of speed but I guess it’s a good in terms of the amount of places it serves.
Reliability seems to have dropped off recently here with quite a lot of the Scanias off the road and road works affecting the 1 group of services. Two boards missing on the 850, one on the 1A and one on the 33 at least. This is despite two Streetdecks having appeared recently, although one of those has been off the road for over a week. The Scanias are quite old now - 09 and 10 plate - and many are in odd liveries such as Thames Travel and Connector although a handful have been repainted into Carousel colours and look quite smart. I don't know what the problem is - only 2 or 3 weeks ago nearly all of them were on the road with just 80209 and 80219 longer term sick but today only 13 of 24 appear to be out. Perhaps there are replacements lined up - possibly delayed due to needs in Cornwall taking precedence?
Mgameing123
Member
Perhaps they're due their MOT checkup?