Oxfordshire’s new bus route bonanza

Tuesday 5th December 2023

It’s not just Hertfordshire rolling out new bus routes as Bus Service Improvement Plan funds flow through local authority finances. Oxfordshire’s councillors have also had their crayons out adding country roads long devoid of buses back to the County’s bus network.

Three new Monday to Saturday bus routes with fairly limited timetables began on Monday last week and four new routes providing a return shopping journey two/three days a week commenced four weeks ago.

I’ve taken a look at them all during four visits to Oxfordshire last month to see what they’re all about and assess their likely potential.

First up, last week’s three newcomers operated by Pulhams Coaches (two) and Oxford Bus (three) both part of the Go-Ahead Group.

Last Monday found me in Wantage to ride the 12:30 Wantage to Faringdon journey on new route 68 operated by Pulhams. It’s the first journey of the day back to Faringdon from the busy market town of Wantage and as you can see from the timetable below, a morning peak journey arrives into Wantage at 08:33 followed by a mid-morning arrival at 10:24 which gives two hours in Wantage for those returning at 12:30. And to my surprise, on the very first day of the new route, there was a good number waiting to board.

Twelve passengers boarded the unbranded sixteen seat (complete with tables) Mercedes Sprinter along with myself.

Almost certainly eight of these had come into Wantage on the 10:24 arrival and the other four, like myself, looked as though they were trying out the new service from a transport interest stance as they all travelled through to Faringdon whereas there’s a more direct hourly route X35 for that journey.

Instead, as you can see, the 68 takes a very indirect meander through some lovely Oxfordshire villages and hamlets which saw our eight delighted-with-the-new-service shoppers alight at Letcombe Regis (two), Letcombe Bassett (one), Childrey (two), Sporsholt (one) and Kingston Lisle (two).

It was quite cramped on board but the talk was all about how much everyone welcomed the new route and how they’d be using it again in the future, which bodes well for the 68 at least in the off-peak. Whether the peak journeys attract commuters in the same numbers is another matter and time will tell.

Sadly I couldn’t see any timetables, information or route numbers promoting the new route but word had obviously spread, probably thanks to Parish Councils.

I was back in Oxfordshire on Wednesday to try out the other new route operated by Pulhams Coaches on behalf of the County Council – the three/four times a day route 64 between Witney and Swindon. From Witney there’s an 07:30, 10:45 and 16:10 departure with return journeys from Swindon back to Wantage only at 09:05 and 17:25 supplemented by departures at 12:05 and 14:05 as far as Carterton with the latter journey continuing on to Witney on Saturdays and school holidays.

That’s because the timetable revolves around a journey for children attending school in Burford previously operated by another company.

I travelled on the 10:45 from Witney which was operated by one of two recently delivered new Volvo B8RLE MCV eVoRa buses which really are very comfortable and pleasant to travel in, especially through the delightful Oxfordshire villages served by the 64. A new route through some gorgeous Oxfordshire villages and an almost brand new bus, what’s not to like?

One other passenger boarded in Witney and a very excited woman joined us at the Market Square in Lechlade who remarked how lovely it was to have a bus to Swindon from the village.

Aside from the lack of timetables posted at bus stops or route numbers on the flags the thing that really struck me was the uneven distribution of the 65 minute running time. We left Witney five minutes late but by Lechdale we were getting on for eight minutes early so waited time as we entered the village then again at Highworth where we waited another three minutes only to arrive in Swindon’s bus station seven minutes late. There’s definitely scope to shift time from the Witney end of the journey to the Swindon end and give the driver enough time to cope with traffic delays in Swindon.

After repositioning myself from Swindon to Bicester thanks to GWR and Chiltern I was ready to catch the third new bus route, this one operated by Oxford Bus.

As you can see from the timetable above, route 108 is mainly geared up to provide a peak hour journey from the villages of Horton-cum-Studley, Berkley, Forest Hill and Stanton into Headington and Oxford in the morning and return in the afternoon with a mid morning shopping journey as well as a shopping journey through to Bicester serving different villages en route, ie Boarstall, Piddington and Blackthorn.

I caught the return journey on that Bicester shopping facility at 14:30 but there were no other takers as we meandered our way towards Oxford through more delightful villages. The bus was a recycled Pick-Me-Up minibus liveried up for the High Wycombe DRT service which sister company Carousel Buses is still operating.

it was good to see a departure listing (such as it is) on the bus stop at Bicester…

… and there was even a supply of timetable leaflets on board the bus so well done Oxford Bus for that initiative.

It was another case of poor distribution of running time though. This time we left Bicester five minutes late and soon picked that up including doing a circuit of a new housing area called Langford Village in the south east corner of the town which I can’t see bringing any custom to this infrequent service. By Horton-cum-Studley we were back on time but as soon as we hit Headington we got caught in Oxford’s notorious traffic queue through St Clements.

The driver even suggested it might be quicker for me to walk but I stuck with it and in the event we got through and arrived into Oxford’s High Street on time at 15:38 but I can quite believe the driver when he told me the previous day he was very late which made the next short journey to Beckley and return (again through all that congestion) even later knocking on to a significant delay to the peak hour return from Oxford to the villages at 17:35. This is something that obviously needs reviewing if commuters are going to be encouraged to travel.

That’s the three weekday/Saturday routes; there’s also the new two/three days-a-week shopping journey routes too.

These are based on the village of Watlington which lies between Oxford and Reading to the east of the main trajectory between those key towns via Wallingford.

Watlington enjoys an hourly bus route to Oxford (Oxford Bus’s route 11) but nothing to Reading or nearby Thame, which these new routes aim to put right

Red Rose Travel gained the contract to operate the routes and when I travelled on two occasions were using the same rather down-at-heel 15 year old Optare Solo with uncomfortable multi coloured moquette and patched up seats.

Not really the best impression if you want to encourage a whole generation of new passengers to try the bus.

Routes 122 and 123 denote the Monday, Wednesday and Friday Reading service …

… while routes 126 and 127 are the Tuesday and Thursday service to Thame.

The different numbers represent variations to the route taken and different villages served but suffice to say about two to two and a half hours shopping is given in either Reading or Thame after the journey arrives.

It’s interesting Reading has the thrice a week service and Thame just two days a week as my journeys on both routes showed no one travelled on the 122 back to Watlington leaving Reading at 12:00 (so I’m guessing hadn’t come in on the 09:00 from Watlington) nor did they board the 123 which left at 13:35 (nor on the return positioning journey from Watlington at 12:45).

However the 126 and 127 fared better from Thame with return journeys at 12:10 (126) leaving with four and at 13:30 (127) with six on board who alighted at Tetsworth (two), South Weston (one), Lewknor (two) and Watlington (one).

I’m assuming Red Rose Travel use the bus on a more lucrative peak hour commitment either side of these shopping journeys and I got the vibes the Thame journeys will grow in popularity as word spreads, not least on the town’s Tuesday market day (I travelled on a Thursday), but the lack of support for the Reading routes must be concerning although my trips were only on the second Wednesday and, as with the Thame routes on the third Thursday, there was no publicity, timetables or information to be found in Thame, Reading or Watlington. However I understand Parish Councils have again been busy yposting timetables in the villages along the routes.

However, for all these routes including the 64, 68 and 108, no bus stops had been updated with route numbers which is never reassuring when you’re travelling and don’t see the number displayed.

I’m guessing, like Kent, Oxfordshire is one of those counties that don’t have resources to update such things but I thought that was the whole point of Bus Service Improvement Plan funding – to put such things right. At least that’s what the Bus Back Better strategy document claimed.

Whereas Hertfordshire’s new bus routes have been designed to supplement and enhance frequencies on existing cross-county inter-urban routes, these Oxfordshire newcomers are tapping into communities that have long been devoid of buses. Let’s hope people can be persuaded to change their travel habits and return to using the bus. But it’s a very big hope that they will.

Roger French

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