News from Oxford
High Wycombe & the surrounding areas

updated - Sunday 16th January 2000
corrected Monday 17th January 2000

Please note that any comments made in this news page are those of the Editors' and in no way constitute 
any official points of view from the bus companies mentioned,  or indeed any other official body. 
As a news page we reserve the right to make valid comments as seen from an editorial point of view.

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Problems with the pictures ! - sometimes it seems that the pictures do not load.
I have found a solution which does work normally - 
RIGHT CLICK ON THE PICTURE AND THEN CLICK ON "SHOW PICTURE"
Good luck !

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Oxford bus driver praised !

When the driver of a 52 bus operating along the Cowley Road was faced with a car speeding out of a side road immediately in front of his bus, in a dangerous manner, the bus driver had no option but to brake very sharply. The car then sped off up the road at high speed narrowly missing a pedestrian. The bus caught the car up in the heavy traffic and the bus was eventually able to block the car in and the driver, with the help of passengers from the bus, was able to get the keys from the car and prevent the driver from moving off. A company spokesman said that the company was considering an award to the driver for his action and also commented upon the public spirited action of the passengers who helped.

Fleet News week ending 16/1/00

City of Oxford Motor Services.

Cityline 620 - presently in works is receiving an advertising livery and we hope to bring you photos of this shortly. At this time only 628 has more than a rear end advert - it carries an overall advert for the X90, whilst 615 has a rear end advert for a local restaurant, the remaining fleet of saloons are all in company livery. Route 12 is to have certain peak hour journeys retimed from Monday January 24th and Park & Ride service 400 operates on Sundays from today, the 16th January. Park & Ride has operated for 26 years and this is the first time that the 400 has operated on Sundays. EFE are bringing out a very nice model of the Fleetlines, which operated P&R services for a number of years, which should make a welcome addition to the ranks of models of Oxford buses. Oxford Citylink X90 service has a special offer this month, with 2 adults able to travel to London for £12 day return. Metrorider 783 is now delicenced and presumably awaiting disposal. We will shortly be running an article on this page about these buses with photos of them in service for other companies. If anyone has any current information or pictures for inclusion please send this to me at malcolmhc@aol.com . 

Stagecoach Oxford.  

Volvo B6 839 was involved in a slight altercation with Volvo B10 907 and as such is presently off the road. however it has received a full rear end advert for Fox FM and looks most colourful. Inevitably coaches operating the London service suffer from broken windscreens and as a result some have received smaller or different lettering on the front screens. At least 40 and 50 have these differences. Olympian 516 was once again hard at work on service 3 to Rose Hill last Saturday.  Coach nr 3 has been returned to store after its short spell in service before Christmas.

Wycombe Bus Company.

Nothing special to report this week but Mercedes 712 is now at Oxford awaiting disposal.

Cambridge Coach Services.

Following the take over of this company by National Express it is rumored that a number of changes are under way, which may affect services into Oxford on the 75. Nothing formal has yet been announced but watch this space.

I will be pleased to receive your reports for this section, which I have revamped and hope meets with everyone's' approval. 
Please send your reports to MalcolmHC@aol.com. 

Photo Corner week ending 16/1/00
If anyone else has a digital camera and wishes to submit photos for this page please send them to the above email.

COMS Fleetline 994 - an ex LTE DMS type Daimler Fleetline with Park Royal bodywork operates
 Park & Ride back in the '80s. An EFE model of this bus is due shortly.

This week has seen reports of continuing pollution in the City Centre with no marked improvement since the introduction of OTS.
Of course cars and other traffic is still entering the City Centre despite clear signs that such traffic is prohibited.
It appears that changes are planned but whilst cars can drive through, it is difficult to see what changes can be made.
As mentioned in these pages last year, High Wycombe has a system of transponders fitted to buses using 
the Town Centre Bus only streets and the photo above shows the transponder fitted to Cambridge buses
 which need to enter the City Centre in their home town. 322 carries the transponder below its registration plate.

Arriva 5165 passes through High Wycombe's bus only area. The transponder control is seen in the forefront of this picture.
It is black pole with a control transponder fitted. This bus has lost the cherished registration it arrived with 

5165 is seen again, this time in company with Oxford training bus, T1 ex Citylink nr 21, a 1979 Leyland Leopard
with Duple Dominant bodywork and one of two similar coaches used for this purpose
plus one of Arriva's Volvo B6s nr 3116 all in Newlands Bus Station, High Wycombe.

One of my readers comments on the coincidence now of Wycombe fleet numbers,  with 224, 424, 524 and 724 all used
in a fleet of some 50 buses !!  Here we see "new" Dart 528 passing ex Oxford Olympian 228 in the centre of 
High Wycombe. With the cobbles, new bus shelters and lamp standards, a distinct tram like atmosphere has been created.

 Oxford's Gloucester Green Coach Station is the setting for this Swanbrook Leopard, ex Oxford Citylink but which one is it ??
It has received a new registration A378TBW and could have been A111MUD. Can anyone enlighten me please ?
The seating gives the origin away but not the original identity. It might however have gained seats from an Oxford coach !!

A local operator , not covered before in these pages is Plastow's based at Wheatley, just of the A40 on the way to London.
Their fleet has been much upgraded by the arrival of two Volvo/Jonckheere Mistral 50 coaches P77 and P88 CCH. The registrations 
suggest that these may have have come from Cantabrica coaches of St Albans, who favoured this combination of cherished registration.
 Again can anyone confirm this ?  An ex Wallace Arnold Jonckheere L944NWW is seen in the line up, two having arrived in 1998.

Stagecoach 839 - P677NOJ - Volvo B6/Alexander ALX200 shows off its Fox FM advert on the rear of the bus.

Citylink nr 12, a Volvo B10M/Plaxton Excalibur C53F passes Stokenchurch at speed on the 1000hrs X80 working 
to Gatwick Airport. It will operate the 1300hrs departure from Gatwick not returning to Oxford until 1500hrs 
in the afternoon. Presently a 2 hourly service throughout the day AND night, this service will become hourly from May , 
when four new Excaliburs will be delivered, being 19-22, thus a new Citylink 21 will take the road this year 
making for a nice photo opportunity with T1 seen earlier in this report.

A summer Saturday sees Park & Ride Tridents at the bus lane near Oxford Station during last August. 
112 heads for Seacourt whilst another works in the opposite direct to Thornhill.
IAN ALLAN'S BUSES Magazine (February 2000 issue) features the 300 service, when Stephen Morris 
of Ian Allan spent two days gaining experience for the article which is a feature of this latest issue. 
He admitted that is was jolly hard work !!!  His experiences should make for a good read.
This particular bus/taxi only area is the scene of frequent infringements by car drivers who TOTALLY ignore the very clear signs !

Our final shot this week is of Tube nr 40 passing Stokenchurch on the M40, London bound and showing the
different vinyls now appearing on some of these coaches. This one lack the 24 hour service lettering
normally used on the upper deck front screens.

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 If anyone has any further news please email below.

Malcolmhc@aol.com 

It adds to the interest of the page which I'm sure everyone appreciates.

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You can still view 
the Tube launch report  
and 
the Oxford Bus P&R Trident launch - Dateline Tuesday June 1st 1999  
Click above

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THE OXFORD BUS MUSEUM