Newsletter Feb 2010
Arriva Aylesbury Website www.arriva-shires.co.uk
The longest running source of information regarding the Arriva Aylesbury garage, and has been reporting News and events since 2005
Website addresses http://arriva-shires.co.uk/ and
http://redroverbuses.wordpress.com/
Email address ansellsweb@googlemail.com
Check on site for weekly updates…you can submit your own News as well
Fare Revision
Fraud protection
Roadworks on 150 route w/b 1st Feb leighton Buzzard to Heath & Reach
Union elections this month
Union elections are being held this month
So far the nominations are
Branch chairman
Trevor Dixon
Bob Turnball
Branch Secretary
Les Ansell
Martin Harvey
voting to take place on Feb 18th 2010
Period 12 report
what’s on the net
Temporary Stop change
Drivers Holiday Booking update
Pete Colbeck 30 years service
It all started here at Yorkshire Woollen Buses part of National Bus
1974 was t’ year
February 16th was t’ date
Pete joined Yorkshire Woollen Buses as a Conductor
then progressed South to Join us In Aylesbury under United Counties
Well done… a Fantastic achievement
Some you tube footage of Yorkshire Woollen after Pete had Left
How Much !!!!! Must be wrong
Pete paying in after his duty
Les Ansell 25 yrs as a Bus driver
Les Ansell has now been driving for 25 years and still has not got the hang of it…….. and now suffering with constant bell ringing in my ears
The double decker is the bus which i passed my test in …..
A bad morning is had by driver Ellis
Health And Safety
CPC update
February changes
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1st February
320 (Chinnor Rail link) Redline Buses, Princes Risborough – Chinnor: This Chiltern Railways contracted service will now be operated by Redline Buses. The service will have minor timing changes and some journeys will extend to Princes Risborough town centre.
9th February
61 Arriva the Shires, Aylesbury – Tring – Dunstable – Luton – Luton Airport: 2215 journey from Luton to Edlesborough withdrawn
10th February
5 Carousel Buses, High Wycombe – Downley – Sir William Ramsay School: A new schooldays only service replacing service 629. Operating 1 return journey to Sir William Ramsay School at schooltimes.
11th February
T4S Tiger Line, Hazlemere – Misbourne School: A new schooldays only service replacing service 628
For more information call 0845 2302882 or email tfb@buckscc.gov.uk
March changes
4 Carousel Buses, High Wycombe – Amersham – Chesham – Ley Hill/Hill Top Estate: Buses will call at Ley Hill alternate journeys only. Alternate journeys will now travel a one way loop around the Hill Top Estate. Timing changes throughout the day.
71 Carousel Buses, Little Chalfont – Amersham – Quill Hall – Rose Drive – Chesham: 3 journeys have been retimed to extend to Chenies. Minor timing changes throughout the day.
73 Carousel Buses, Penn Street – Coleshill – Amersham – Quill Hall – Rose Drive – Chesham: Minor timing changes between Amersham and Winchmore Hill.
336 Carousel Buses, High Wycombe – Beaconsfield – Amersham – Rickmansworth – Watford: This service will no longer run via Old Amersham Broadway or Stanley Hill at school times. Minor timing changes throughout the day
For more information call 0845 2302882 or email tfb@buckscc.gov.uk
Tender results 2009 / 2010
Courtesy of Bucks CC website
2009 Tender results in PDF file
Forthcoming tenders available
Roadworks update
Major Roadworks in Aylesbury commencing 11th January 2010
BUS SERVICE CHANGES DUE TO MAJOR ROADWORKS IN AYLESBURY
Due to major roadworks at the Horse & Jockey Junction in Aylesbury, we have had to make some changes to the rainbowroutes network. These changes will be in effect from Monday 11th January, 2010, for at least ten weeks. Please check back for updates.
ORANGE ROUTE 3
Elmhurst Road or Weedon Road will be closed for the duration of the works, meaning orangeroute 3 needs to be diverted. This service will no longer be able to serve the Horse & Jockey junction or Dunsham Lane. The route will be unchanged in the Quarrendon and Haydon Hill area.
Passengers wishing to travel to Dunsham Lane or Elmhurst can instead use Water Rider 6, and passengers for the Horse & Jockey can use purpleroute 7.
GREEN ROUTE 4
Arriva have split this service in the bus station, so that passengers wishing to travel from the Coppice to Walton Court will need to change in the bus station. Shuttles from Coppice/Walton Court to the town centre will continue to run to the current timetable. Through tickets are available.
WATER RIDER 6
This service will run a special peak time duplicate service from Watermead to Aylesbury to give more capacity on the busiest journeys.
PURPLE ROUTE 7
This service is running normally, but may be subject to delays due to traffic congestion.
RED ROUTE 9
Arriva have split this service in the bus station, so that passengers wishing to travel from the Hospital to Bedgrove will need to change in the bus station. Shuttles from Stoke Mandeville Hospital/Bedgrove to the town centre will continue to run to the current timetable. Through tickets are available.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused. Please check back to this website for updates.
Aylesbury gas works
Southern Gas Networks (SGN) will shortly be resuming work to upgrade the local gas supply network in Aylesbury.
From Monday 26 October, the final phase of a project to replace 400m of ageing metal mains and services in sections of Walton Road, Wendover Road and Stoke Road will begin, lasting for a period of three weeks.
Initial phases were planned to co-incide with the school summer holiday, thus minimising disruption to the local area. Work was then suspended in order for this final phase of work to take place during half-term. Work will start in Walton Road at the junction with Wendover Road, progressing into Stoke Road towards the railway bridge.
To allow room for manoeuvre of this equipment, and to ensure everyone’s safety, it will be necessary to implement lane restrictions throughout the course of this work. Consequently, all the area’s roads will remain open.
Following completion of this project, work will begin on a £500,000 project to replace 1,500m of mains and services in the section of Oxford Road between the Bugle Horn pub and the roundabout at St Johns Drive. Work is planned to begin on Monday 16 November and is expected to take 18 weeks to complete, during which period it will be necessary to implement temporary traffic lights.
These projects form part of SGN’s ongoing mains replacement programme, developed with the Health and Safety Executive, which will ensure a continued safe and reliable gas supply in the Aylesbury area. The new pipe, which is plastic, has a minimum lifespan of 80 years.
The work will be carried out by method of insertion, which means pushing the new pipe into the old main. This greatly reduces the amount of digging required, which in turn reduces disruption.
SGN Team Manager Bob Taylor said: “We have been working closely with Buckinghamshire County Council and the emergency services to plan this project in such a way as to keep disruption to a minimum while meeting emergency access and pedestrian safety requirements. Advance warning signs will be in place, while access to homes and businesses will be maintained.”
He added: “Although there may be some short-term disruption, this investment will mean that the area’s gas supply will continue to be secure and reliable into the future.”
Park St
Aylesbury
Bridge area over Grand Union Canal
Bridge Construction
19 Oct 2009
07 Mar 2010
24 hour road closure
Elmhurst Road
Aylesbury
TfB Carriageway Widening & Reconstruction
11/01/10
21/02/10
Temporary road closure
Weedon Road
Aylesbury
TfB Carriageway Widening & Reconstruction
22/02/10
19/03/10
Temporary road closure
Route 4 and 9 ( better or worse )
It has been mentioned that since the Horse and Jockey Junction roadworks have started, the revised route 4 and 9 seem to be operating very well and maybe this could be a possible solution to the age old problem of town services in Aylesbury
your views are welcome
Aylesbury rail link to MK – ‘not if, but when’
Courtesy of the Bucks Herald
East West rail has been rumbling on for 15 years
The end of the recession could finally put back on track plans to return trains to Winslow and improve rail links from Aylesbury.
Yesterday a senior transport expert told The Bucks Herald that despite doubts over the future of the £250 million scheme – which would see disused stretches of track between Oxford and Bedford come back into use – it would be going ahead.
But work is still unlikely to start until at least 2014, much to the frustration of commuters.
Patrick O’Sullivan, client project manager from the East West Rail Consortium – which has been campaigning for the improvements for nearly 15 years – said yesterday: "If you ask anyone who’s involved in the project, it’s not a question of if it will happen, it’s when.
"Two years ago we wouldn’t have been able to say that.
"As the economy picks up, we’re getting more positive about finding funding, whereas when we were in the middle of a recession and developers were on their knees, we wondered if it would happen."
At the moment, passengers hoping to travel by rail from Aylesbury to Milton Keynes have to go into London and out again – a journey that takes a whopping two-and-a-half hours.
But if the plans go ahead, a new line would link Aylesbury with Winslow Station, from where commuters could travel directly to Milton Keynes, Bedford and Oxford.
Mr O’Sullivan said that the consortium is desperately chasing funding from the Department for Transport (DFT), the South East England Partnership board and private developers.
But he said: "The difficulty we’re having is trying to find a funding source from central government.
"The Department for Transport works in five-year planning cycles, and the last one started last year.
"The earliest start we can get is 2014, and our task is to get the East-West plans identified by the government by then.
"We have been told to get the project ready, so in the unlikely event of an under spend on other projects, we are ready to start."
But critics say the delay is not good enough.
Ian Metherell, Chairman of Buckingham Constituency Liberal Democrats, is incensed that work is progressing on a new line between London and Oxford, which will see Bicester Station given a makeover, but not on the Aylesbury branch.
He said: "I’m worried that Aylesbury and North Bucks are going to be left behind.
"Aylesbury has been the end of the line for a long time, and my fear is that it will be the end of the line for many years to come."
He called on the government not to approve any work on the London to Oxford line – as proposed by Chiltern Railways – until assurances are made about Aylesbury’s future.
But Aylesbury Vale MP David Lidington disagreed.
He said: "I don’t think the Chiltern line project is going to make a lot of difference, I think it’s a good thing for people who can get to Princes Risborough (which will also be on the line).
"I’ve been lobbying ministers on the East West rail link for a number of years.
"I find that the government has always been enthusiastic with words, but nothing else.
"They have offered to do a feasibility study, but nothing much beyond that.
"It does boil down to a matter of raising the funds."
Blueprint for greener bus network in Oxford
A more comprehensive report on plans for bus travel in Oxford comes courtesy Stagecoach.
14/01/2010
- Main bus operators and County Council agree ground-breaking plan
- £10m investment in new low emission buses to improve environment
- More seats, integrated smartcard ticketing, turn-up-and-go timetables
Oxford’s two main bus operators and Oxfordshire County Council have announced a new greener bus network for the city.
The ground-breaking agreement, the first of its kind in the UK, is the result of months of planning between Stagecoach, Oxford Bus Company, and transport officers from Oxfordshire County Council.
It is the latest element of the County Council’s Transform Oxford plans and will deliver a better environment for pedestrians and people using public transport.
Planned to go live in autumn 2010, the new sustainable bus network will deliver
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£10million investment in new state-of-the-art low emission buses
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A new multi-operator integrated smartcard ticketing system
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Convenient, turn-up-and-go high-frequency bus services on the city’s four key corridors
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An efficient, accessible and co-ordinated package of services
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More seats using fewer buses by switching to high-quality double-decker vehicles
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Better information and faster boarding for bus passengers
Oxford has one of the highest levels of bus use in the UK, with around 50 per cent of all journeys in and around the city being made by bus. As well as significantly improving the travelling experience for existing bus users, the new package of improvements will provide scope for more people to switch from car to bus, delivering safer, cleaner and less congested streets around Oxford.
A national first
It is understood to be the first use of new powers under the Local Transport Act 2008 designed to enable more effective partnership working between local transport authorities and bus operators to deliver more co-ordinated bus services.
Steve Howell, Head of Transport, Oxfordshire County Council, said: "This ground-breaking agreement is a first for the UK and is another important milestone in delivering our vision to transform the centre of Oxford for everyone using the city. It will ensure cleaner, safer streets, better air quality and a sustainable bus network for the future. We aim to have a quarter less buses on the High Street, delivering a significant cut in carbon emissions."
Martin Sutton, Managing Director, Stagecoach Oxfordshire, said: "Our partnership blueprint is a winning package for Oxford will deliver a greener, smarter bus network. We will be able to offer faster, more integrated travel using 21st century smartcard ticketing technology. Providing more seats using fewer buses will be better for the environment and the increased capacity will ensure we have the scope to attract more people out of their cars as part of our efforts to tackle climate change."
Philip Kirk, Managing Director, Oxford Bus Company, said: "Oxford already has one of the highest quality bus networks in the country and this joint multi-million investment will give the city the most modern and hi-tech bus fleet in Europe. We support the County Council’s plans to enhance the city centre. Our plans will make bus travel better and our services easier to use."
Most advanced in Europe
Bus operators and Oxfordshire County Council are now working on the detailed operational plans required to ensure a seamless transition to the new network, including timetables, bus stops, and passenger information.
The high-frequency turn-up-and-go bus network will cover London Road, Cowley Road, Iffley Road and Banbury Road.
Smartcard technology will speed up boarding and allow passengers to seamlessly use either Stagecoach or Oxford Bus Company services without having to buy separate products.
The fleet of 46 new double-decker buses will be amongst the most advanced in Europe, delivering exceptionally high environmental performance.
The latest issue of Buses for February 2010 has an interesting editorial piece on the matter of OFT and competition which contrasts somewhat to the plans above.