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Oxfordshire Buses and Coaches

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Surreyman

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goldisgood said:
Recent changes to the Oxford 'Zero Emission Zone' have seen the requirements change. By sometime in 2020, all buses operating in the city must be Euro 6, with buses to be fully electric by 2035.
Funding for 83 buses to be upgraded to Euro 6 has been confirmed from 2017-2019, with all upgraded buses OBC's I think, and I'd hope that Stagecoach will see quite a lot of new buses for at least the S1/S2/S3/S5 (Around 35 buses for all of these routes) and some standard buses to possibly replace the hybrids and definately the single decker on the 3A which is full and standing at peak times. I won't go into detail of what could happen, but I'm hoping/assuming there will be investment to bring the fleet .
On another topic, both companies look to be having some sort of issues with the fleet. As per usual, the Wantage allocation is slightly mixed with at least 1 Scania at the outstation and probably a few standard MMCs, whilst a hybrid was spotted on the 8 alongside a Scania on the 3.
OBC's hs been slightly worse due to their branding, with the city2 MMC, a city35 hybrid, a Thames Travel scania and various Citaros (one I believe city6 branded) spotted on the 5 this year. The other routes have had more consistent allocations, but all of the Streetdeck routes have seen at least 1 bus per day on the route not being a streetdeck, with Scanias on the 3 and 8, MMCs and Enviro 400Hs on park and rides and pretty much anything on the 5.
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Ref the upgrades, I have different figures: -
Possible numbers are as follows: - Go Ahead 61 vehicles to be upgraded (MD recently confirmed that all Hybrids would be upgraded -17 E40H, 19 B5LH) confirmed 5 Scania open top - Electric?
So 41 others including some of Thames Travel, presumably the most modern Euro 5 vehicles.
22 remaining, presumably Stagecoach, ditto the most modern Euro 5.
Can't say these numbers are 'gospel accurate' but I have picked up these figure from various sources over the last year.
 
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goldisgood

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There has been more Euro 6 funding announced for Oxford, with 37 more buses to be retrofitted to Euro 6. I'd assume that none will be for OBC, as their Citaros surely won't be upgraded to Euro 6 due to their age? Therefore the funding could be for Arriva, Stagecoach and Thames Travel. I'd hope that some of the Stagecoach Scanias will be replaced, as particularly the older ones are pretty tired on the inside and could benefit from a full refurbishment or replacement.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-funds-bus-industry-to-improve-air-quality

The Stagecoach Scanias will hopefully start to be replaced, but some that may be retrofitted? There have been issues with the reliability of buses (I'm led to believe the Scanias but I'm not 100% sure), with single deckers making appearances on all city services (1, 2/2A/2B/2C/2D, 3, 8 and 10) which should be fully double deckers (ideally the 3A would be a double decker but it seems to be anything - the AM peak runs are very busy). The 1s and 2s and 8s can just about cope with a single decker due to the frequency - I'd personally say that of the city routes, the 3 needs deckers the most as it's very busy, particularly at peak times.
 
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Surreyman

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There have been reports that Scania Double Decks are difficult to upgrade to Euro6, no idea how accurate this info is? - Stagecoach are choosing to replace their 2008/2009 London based Scania 'Deckers, although this could be down to Leasing deals (They were acquired when London Ops' were run by Macquerie.
 
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goldisgood

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Surreyman said:
There have been reports that Scania Double Decks are difficult to upgrade to Euro6, no idea how accurate this info is? - Stagecoach are choosing to replace their 2008/2009 London based Scania 'Deckers, although this could be down to Leasing deals (They were acquired when London Ops' were run by Macquerie.
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I've heard that Stagecoach are looking to make their London fleet fully ADL from other threads on here which is why the Scanias were returned to their leasing company.
 
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Wirewiper

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Surreyman said:
There have been reports that Scania Double Decks are difficult to upgrade to Euro6, no idea how accurate this info is? - Stagecoach are choosing to replace their 2008/2009 London based Scania 'Deckers, although this could be down to Leasing deals (They were acquired when London Ops' were run by Macquerie.
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It's not necessarily the "difficulty", more that Stagecoach's Scania OmniCitys are now getting long in the tooth (they are all 10/11 years old) and it may not be cost-effective to upgrade them. RATP also has numerous examples of the type and has decided that it will be cost-effective to upgrade some of them.

Leased examples are going as contracts end (and Stagecoach is losing a lot of London work at the moment), but some are owned outright and are staying for now.

But this is straying a bit off-topic for an Oxfordshire thread ....
 
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Mitchell Hurd

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Hello people. If anyone is familiar with Weaverway, then I hope this may be of interest sorry, I don't think it quite makes sense...

I'venoticed at least 2 older but ok-quality vehicles (meaning good but not like the black "VIP" buses). They are ex-Arriva London Volvo B7TL / AlX400 VLA42 (LJ53 BGU) and an E200 (6-cylinder Cummins-engined model) registered NK09 FKR. If I'm honest, I'm not keen on those last 3 letters for a registration of the E200.

Former VLA42 is in all-over green livery with 'CAMBERBUS' branding. The E200 has macaron lazzerini practico high-hacked seats with seat belts.

I noticed the 'VLA42' fleet number by the drivers window when the doors were open when Mum and I were sat on the bench outside the big Abingdon Tescos at Fairacres. This bus is now registered CW52 TOP, so must actually be a Countywide vehicle.
 
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goldisgood

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There are reductions to evening and weekend BrookesBus services from 20th of May, as the U1 goes to an unhelpful frequency of a bus every 45 minutes. Wednesday night services are withdrawn on both services.
https://brookesbus.oxfordbus.co.uk/news/service-changes-may-2019/

On another note, unpredictable allocations seem to be continuing from my post a while back. Stagecoach continue to see a very mixed allocation on the S3/S5/S8/S9, with a mixed bag of Enviro 400 MMCs and Scanias on all of these services. The 3 seems to be a more constant allocation of the 2016 MMCs, but I'm often seeing an Enviro 200 or Enviro 400 on the 8. The fleet presentation has been a bit lacking recently for what is normally a very smart fleet, I have been told that is because the bus wash is broken.
 
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robk23oxf

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The Oxford LEZ is set to change to include a larger area and higher standards. By December 2020, local buses will need to meet Euro 6 standards in an area including the entire length (within the city administrative area) of the Botley Road, Woodstock Road, Cowley Road, Abingdon Road, Headington Road and Banbury Road rather than just certain streets in the city centre as it is now. All other buses (so presumably coaches) will need to be Euro 6 by December 2022.
 
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goldisgood

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robk23oxf said:
The Oxford LEZ is set to change to include a larger area and higher standards. By December 2020, local buses will need to meet Euro 6 standards in an area including the entire length (within the city administrative area) of the Botley Road, Woodstock Road, Cowley Road, Abingdon Road, Headington Road and Banbury Road rather than just certain streets in the city centre as it is now. All other buses (so presumably coaches) will need to be Euro 6 by December 2022.
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Great to see this finally happening. I think we'll see more new buses for both companies in the next 18 months, particularly as the area is now larger and electric buses aren't required yet.
 
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goldisgood

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In other news, the Science Transit Shuttle services currently operated by Uno minibuses are transferring to Thames Travel on the 15th of July. New Enviro 200 MMCs are supposedly due for the services in September, illustrated as longer versions for the ST1 and shorter versions for the ST2. The X34 will be replaced by the ST1 from this date, with a different routing from the city centre. I'm not sure how pleased the X34 users will be, as it is a longer journey from the city centre if they went from Broad Street.
The timetable suggests that the service may well be operated from Oxford, with the first bus from Oxford being the first bus from Harwell Campus.
https://www.thames-travel.co.uk/science-shuttle/

The page also hints at the 13 being reduced to run every 20 minutes. I can't say I'm surprised, as it seems to be pretty empty when I see it. Before anyone suggests it, I'm not sure if this means the X13 returning particularly as it doesn't mention any X13 to the JR Hospital from St Clements. As it looks like these changes are in July, perhaps a new service to Barton Park could run to maintain the frequency from Marston, as whilst the 13 really isn't busy I doubt that it would cope that well at every 20 minutes.
https://assets.goaheadbus.com/media...ce_Transit_Shuttle_Connections_-_May_2019.pdf

Hopefully the new Enviro 200 MMCs for Oxford Bus Company will see more ADL buses - I absolutely hate the Streetdecks, and I'm sure I'm not the only person who does! I find the ones on the 5 ok, but the newer ones aren't great and aren't all too reliable.
 
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goldisgood

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A couple of changes have come through on N&P today for the 1/5 and 8/9 on 7th July. The most interesting bit for me is the changes to stopping places on the 5, I'm not sure what the change will be here.
I'd assume some more changes will come through within the next 2 weeks.
PH0005727/8THE CITY OF OXFORD MOTOR SERVICES LTD, COWLEY HOUSE, WATLINGTON ROAD, COWLEY, OXFORD, OX4 6GAOperating between Blackbird Leys and Oxford Rail Station given service number 5 / effective from 07 July 2019. To amend Stopping Places and Timetable.
PH0005727/35THE CITY OF OXFORD MOTOR SERVICES LTD, COWLEY HOUSE, WATLINGTON ROAD, COWLEY, OXFORD, OX4 6GAOperating between Castle Street, Oxford and Downside Road, Risinghurst given service number 8 / 9 effective from 07 July 2019. To amend Timetable.
PH0005863/12THAMES TRANSIT LTD, HORSPATH ROAD, OXFORD, OX4 2RYOperating between Oxford and Blackbird Leys given service number 1 / 1 / N1 effective from 07 July 2019. To amend Timetable.
PH0005863/43THAMES TRANSIT LTD, HORSPATH ROAD, OXFORD, OX4 2RYOperating between Oxford and Barton/Risinghurst given service number 8-9 / 8 / 9 / N8 effective from 07 July 2019. To amend Timetable.
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goldisgood

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More changes have come through, this time for Thames Travel services, the most interesting of these seems to be the T1 being renumbered 11, and registration of the ST1/ST2 services.
PH0007184/139THAMES TRAVEL (WALLINGFORD) LTD, C/O COWLEY HOUSE, WATLINGTON ROAD, COWLEY, OXFORD, OX4 6GAFrom: Oxford, John Radcliffe HospitalTo: Wytham, The John Krebs Field StationVia: Oxford City CentreName or No.: ST2 / Service type: Normal StoppingEffective date: 14 July 2019Other details: Monday to Friday, hourly
PH0007184/107THAMES TRAVEL (WALLINGFORD) LTD, C/O COWLEY HOUSE, WATLINGTON ROAD, COWLEY, OXFORD, OX4 6GAOperating between Wantage, Newbury Street and Faringdon Market Place given service number 67 / 67C effective from 14 July 2019. To amend Timetable.
PH0007184/103THAMES TRAVEL (WALLINGFORD) LTD, C/O COWLEY HOUSE, WATLINGTON ROAD, COWLEY, OXFORD, OX4 6GAOperating between Oxford City Centre, St Aldates and Watlington, Library given service number 11 / effective from 14 July 2019. To amend Route and Timetable.
PH0007184/127THAMES TRAVEL (WALLINGFORD) LTD, C/O COWLEY HOUSE, WATLINGTON ROAD, COWLEY, OXFORD, OX4 6GAOperating between Didcot, Parkway Station and Harwell Campus, Bus Turning Circle given service number 98 / 98A effective from 14 July 2019. To amend Route and Timetable.11
PH0007184/112THAMES TRAVEL (WALLINGFORD) LTD, C/O COWLEY HOUSE, WATLINGTON ROAD, COWLEY, OXFORD, OX4 6GAOperating between Oxford City Centre, Queens Lane and Wantage, Market Place given service number X33 / X32 / 33 effective from 14 July 2019. To amend Route and Timetable.
PH0007184/123THAMES TRAVEL (WALLINGFORD) LTD, C/O COWLEY HOUSE, WATLINGTON ROAD, COWLEY, OXFORD, OX4 6GAOperating between Oxford City Centre, Broad Street and Harwell Campus, Bus Turning Circle given service number ST1 / effective from 14 July 2019. To amend Route and Timetable.
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Mitchell Hurd

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goldisgood said:
An Enviro 200 EV is due to be trialled on the 500 for the next 2 weeks, mainly to test the technology as only double deckers are being purchased for Oxford Bus Company now.
The Citaro hybrid that's gone round a few other companies is also going to be trialled on Thames Travel services from Wednesday.
https://twitter.com/P_Southall_OBC/status/1140579070079643648
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I saw the tweet with both the E200 EV and the Citaro Hybrid in the picture. How fast can a Citaro Hybrid or E400 EV go up to? I say E400 EV as I imagine that OBC will opt for these if the E200 one is successful.
 
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goldisgood

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OBC have won large operator of the year at the RouteOne awards, so well done to them.
In other news, as many will have seen the X90 is to be withdrawn from the start of next year. I'm not sure what will happen, but maybe the newer Interdecks will all go onto the Airline to allow for the Panthers and older Levantes to be withdrawn?
 
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