One of Britain’s Best

It might be regional in nature but the Oxford Tube is one of England’s best known bus brands. Stagecoach’s Oxford-London express service is arguably more recognisable than the Oxford Bus Company’s rival and successor to the original 190, the Oxford Espress. This is perhaps because of the 25 Neoplan Skyliner double decks that ply 24/7 (including Christmas Day) between the two cities at frequencies of up to every 10 minutes—said to be the most frequent coach service in Europe.

The brand exposure’s set to increase still further with a £9mil order announced yesterday by Stagecoach for 26 87-seat Van Hool Astromega double decks. This is the third time Stagecoach has renewed its Tube fleet in one shot.
Who said the bus & coach manufacturing sector was in recession? Actually, this is very much a one-off as, for example, Scania has recently joined its UK rivals in announcing special measures (a four-day week). It’s interesting that Stagecoach has again sourced its Tube vehicles entirely outside the UK.

Deregulation is working well in Oxford, probably better than any English city, though the recent rejection by the council of a joint Oxford Bus Company/Stagecoach partnership for Oxford city centre in the light of plans to take buses out of the city centre may well end several decades of pro-public transport planning.

And not just bus deregulation, coach dereg, too. Why? There are plenty of commuters who prefer the coach over the uninspired rail service perceived as haphazard. Then there are plenty of relatively affluent students who don’t yet benefit from their own transport. Plus there’s a large support market of shoppers and those who wish to benefit from a proximity to central London. In fact, Oxford’s ideally placed for coach commuting in terms of distance and attractors at both ends, linked since 1974 by the M40. Being first with on-board wifi has helped the market.

The coach market grew significantly at the relaunch in 1977 of the 190 (later X90) as City of Oxford Motor Services’ Oxford-London City Link. This was the prelude to the then National Bus Company’s push to attack the London-based commuter market. It saw suburban as well as central Oxford pick-ups. In 1987, Harry Blundred of Devon General’s Thames Transit launched the rival Oxford Tube which, along with Blundred’s business including South Midlands, passed to Stagecoach in 1997. The coach route became an early double deck coach adopter.

Returning to the Astromegas, what we’d give to test drive one of those £300,000 coaches… though will they have the same presence on the road as the Skyliner?