Stagecoach in Oxfordshire

Stagecoach in Oxfordshire^[1] is a bus operator based in Oxford. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach. As well as Oxford, Stagecoach in Oxfordshire provides services in Abingdon, Banbury, Bicester, Carterton, Chipping Norton, Wantage and Witney as well as providing a regular express coach service between Oxford and London.^[2]

History

In the 1990s Stagecoach South Midlands was formed from Midland Red (South)^[3] and Thames Transit^[1] were both purchased by Stagecoach.

Stagecoach South Midlands operated under four different brands:

• Oxford Tube for express buses between Oxford and London Victoria
• Stagecoach in Banbury for local buses in and around Banbury
• Stagecoach in Oxford for local buses in and around Oxford
• Stagecoach in Warwickshire for local buses in Warwickshire

In July 2002, the Banbury and Oxford brands were merged under the Stagecoach in Oxfordshire brand.^[4] In March 2004 Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and Stagecoach in Warwickshire were split to into two separate divisions with those names.

Buses in Oxford operate in competition with local buses operated by the Oxford Bus Company. Oxford is one of the few UK cities where such free and unsubsidised competition, as envisaged by the architects of bus deregulation in the 1980s, still exists.

Similarly the Oxford Tube services competes with the Oxford Bus Company's X90 Oxford-London service. This unusual level of both service and competition is facilitated by Oxford's status as a university city, lack of car parking spaces in the city centre, and the consequent large numbers of young, affluent but car-less residents.

In 2010 it was announced that a quality partnership had been agreed between the two principal bus operators and Oxfordshire County Council leading to coordinated timetabling on four key corridors and improved multi-operator ticketing across the City.^[5] On 15 July 2010, Stagecoach in Oxfordshire introduced a fleet of twenty-six hybrid buses on Routes 1 (Blackbird Leys) and 7A/7B (Kidlington). Double deckers were selected over single deckers as a result of the co-ordinated timetables and reduced frequencies to be introduced under the quality partnership.^[6]

In October 2016, Stagecoach announced that they would be doing a company wide rollout of new state of the art ticket machines that will allow passengers to pay for travel using their contactless payment card or on their smartphone using Apple Pay or Android Pay. Stagecoach in Oxfordshire was the first Stagecoach division to receive these new machines for both local services and the Oxford Tube, making Stagecoach in Oxfordshire the first major operator to accept contactless payments outside London.^[7]

Oxford Tube

Stagecoach Oxford 50270 on the Oxford Tube at Hillingdon Station

The Oxford Tube currently operates a fleet of 26 Van Hool Astromega double decker coaches^[8] on limited stops services from Oxford to London Victoria.

On 3 March 2014 Stagecoach Group announced that they had just made their biggest vehicle order to date. Costing Stagecoach over £100 million in total, the order included 26 brand new VanHool TX Astromega coaches to operate the Oxford Tube service.^[9] The first of the new coaches entered service on 16 July 2014 with the entire fleet following shortly after.^[10] The new coaches add extra comfort and facilities for the passengers including more leg room, high speed 4G WiFi, power sockets and USB ports in selected seats as well as a brand new audio system providing passengers with departure and arrival information and the top deck also features a panoramic glass sun roof allowing more natural light into the coach.^[11]

Stagecoach Gold

Stagecoach Oxfordshire Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 bodied Scania N230UD on route S2 in Oxford in September 2012

In 2009 Stagecoach in Oxfordshire launched the S-Series which was intended to be a more superior service. Several routes connecting towns/villages with Oxford joined this series which saw free WiFi being added to the vehicles as well as some routes receiving brand new vehicles. The first routes to join the S-Series were routes 100 and 200 from Carterton and Witney to Oxford, these routes were then renumbered as S1 and S2. Routes connecting Oxford with Chipping Norton/Charlbury (S3) and Oxford with Bicester (S5) also joined the series.

In 2010 Stagecoach upgraded routes S1 and S2 to Stagecoach Gold routes which saw brand new luxury buses with free WiFi and hand stitched Italian leather seats introduced on the services.^[12] The Stagecoach Gold brand was also later applied to routes S3 and S5 in 2012.^[13]

In September 2011 Stagecoach created route S4 which saw routes 59/59A/59B join the S-Series.^[14] Stagecoach in Oxfordshire confirmed in May 2015 that route S4 will be receiving the Stagecoach Gold with the upgraded service launched in September 2015.^[15]

In July 2014 Stagecoach launched route S7 between Carterton and Headington which was intended to connect West Oxfordshire with the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington. The S7 service has since been revised and now starts in Witney and no longer serves Carterton or Minster Lovell.

In October 2014 Stagecoach launched route SW1 linking Carterton and Witney with London on weekends and certain bank holidays.^[16] On 17 April 2015 Stagecoach Oxfordshire confirmed that they would be ending the SW1 service due to low passenger numbers.^[17]

Ten brand new Stagecoach Gold ADL Enviro 400 MMCs are on order for Oxford depot. These new buses are likely to be to upgrade the Wantage to Oxford services.

At present, Stagecoach in Oxfordshire is the largest Stagecoach Gold operator with a total of six Stagecoach Gold routes and 47 Gold specification vehicles in the fleet.

National Express

Stagecoach Oxfordshire operated route 737 from Oxford to Stansted Airport under contract to National Express from March 2007 until June 2013.^[18][19]

Fleet

As of October 2016, Stagecoach Oxfordshire operates and maintains a fleet of 166 buses. The fleet consists of:^[20]

• 26 Oxford Tube branded VanHool TX Astromega coaches
• 33 Stagecoach branded ADL Enviro 400MMCs
• 5 Stagecoach branded ADL Enviro 400s
• 42 Stagecoach Gold branded Scania N230UD / ADL Enviro 400s
• 15 Stagecoach Electric Hybrid branded ADL Enviro 400Hs
• 5 Stagecoach Gold branded Scania K230UB / ADL Enviro 300s
• 5 Stagecoach branded ADL Enviro 200MMCs
• 27 Stagecoach branded ADL Enviro 200s
• 8 Stagecoach branded Optare Solo

Stagecoach Oxfordshire has a fairly new fleet with most vehicles being under 5 years old, this is partly due to a Low Emission Zone in Oxford which only allows buses with Euro V engines or higher to operate within the city.^[21] As a result, Stagecoach Oxfordshire have replaced most of the fleet to meet these requirements.

Ten new Stagecoach Gold specification ADL Enviro 400MMCs are currently on order for Oxford depot and are due to be delivered in January 2017.^[22]

Depots

Northern Counties Paladin bodied Volvo B10M in Oxford in August 2008

Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 hybrid in Oxford in August 2010

• Banbury, Canal Street
• Oxford, Horspath Road
• Witney, Corn Street

Oxford depot also has three out-stations which are located at Bicester, Chipping Norton and Harwell. Chipping Norton out-station is also used by Witney depot. Harwell out-station is currently used to house the Wantage fleet but previously it also used to house the Didcot fleet however this is no longer the case as Stagecoach no longer operate in Didcot.

Incidents

• In the early hours of the morning on 31 August 2010 Oxford Tube coach 50226 was involved in a serious accident on the M40 after a passenger on board attempted to grab the steering wheel. Nobody was seriously injured in the incident however the vehicle ended up on its side and sustained quite significant damage. The vehicle was eventually repaired and put back into service.^[23]
• On 14 December 2010 a double deck vehicle operating Route S1 from Oxford to Witney was involved in a collision with a taxi on Oxford Hill junction with Cogges Hill Road in Witney. The elderly female taxi driver had to be freed using hydraulic cutting equipment and she was then taken to the JR Hospital with suspected facial and leg injuries. A further three passengers from the bus were taken to a nearby hospital as a precaution.^[24]
• On 14 May 2012 the engine of bus 22766 caught fire in Cumnor whilst operating route X30 from Wantage to Oxford. No passengers were injured in this incident and the bus was eventually repaired and put back into service.^[25]
• On 4 October 2014 bus 15609 was involved in a collision with a car which saw both vehicles end up in an embankment at the side of the A40 between Witney and Eynsham. As a result, the A40 was closed between the Eynsham roundabout and Witney whilst emergency services dealt with the scene. No one was seriously injured however a few people were taken to hospital as a precaution.^[26] The bus involved has since been repaired and has returned to service.^[27]

See also

• Oxford Tube
• Stagecoach Gold
• List of bus companies

References

External links

• Stagecoach in Oxfordshire website
• Weekly news page for buses in Oxford and the Chilterns
• Showbus gallery

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Hampshire	AMK Group Bluestar Damory First Hampshire & Dorset Fleet Buzz Reading Buses Stagecoach South Stagecoach in Hampshire Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey Stagecoach in Portsmouth Stagecoach in the South Downs Uni-link Wilts & Dorset Xelabus
Isle of Wight	Southern Vectis Island Breezers
Kent	Arriva Southern Counties Chalkwell Coaches The Kings Ferry Metrobus Nu-Venture Stagecoach South East (Stagecoach in East Kent) Sullivan Buses Southdown PSV
Oxfordshire	Arriva Shires & Essex Oxford Bus Company Reading Buses Stagecoach Oxfordshire (Oxford Tube) Thamesdown Transport Thames Travel
Surrey	Abellio Surrey Arriva Guildford & West Surrey Arriva London Atbus Compass Travel Countywide Travel Epsom Coaches (Quality Line) First Berkshire & The Thames Valley Fleet Buzz London General Metrobus Safeguard Coaches Southdown PSV Stagecoach South Stagecoach in Hampshire Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey Sullivan Buses The Green Bus Transdev London
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National	Megabus National Express