Major bus changes: January 2022

Tue 30 Nov 2021, 15:57 (last edited on Tue 30 Nov 2021, 16:12)

People may have read in the press that major bus changes are coming in across Oxfordshire from 2 January 2022. I believe this to be a consequence of the fact that Stagecoach has been sold to National Express who will obviously want to cut costs wherever they can.

As far as Charlbury is concerned, the major change is that the bus 500 (Oxford Bus Company) that runs between Woodstock and Oxford via Oxford Parkway & also the Park and Ride will become extinct. Instead all journeys of the Stagecoach no 7 bus will be diverted to run down to Oxford Parkway station and also to the Park and Ride.

Fortunately, the few no 7 bus journeys that run to and from Charlbury are still there on the timetable. And since the no 500 and no 7 buses ran at almost identical times from Woodstock, I don't think we will greatly affected by the re-design. The new timetable is here: https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/Oxford_Timetables/temp/7_valid_from_02_January_2022.pdf

People travelling to or from the JR will have pretty much the same journey as before, but changing between the S3 and no 7 bus (and then to the no 700) either in Woodstock, Oxford Parkway Park and Ride or by walking along South Parade in Summertown. At those times when a single no 7 route comes through Charlbury only 1 change will be needed: from or to the no 7 and the 700.

There are also major changes to other Stagecoach and Oxford buses, especially the no 2 to Kidlington which has had a complete redesign (and will no longer be operated by Oxford Bus Co.). See here: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/oxfordshire/oxfordshire-service-changes#tab2

The dedicated park and ride 500 service from Woodstock and Oxford Parkway will no longer run. However, Stagecoach service 7 will divert into the park and ride site to provide the same frequency. Additional services operate from bus stops on Oxford Road every few minutes for most of the day, a short walk from the car park.

Details of the Oxford Buses changes here: https://www.oxfordbus.co.uk/network-review Some people with tickets, city-zone or network passes for January will need to apply for refunds from the Oxford Bus Company.