OXFORD BUS COMPANY TO COMMEMORATE X90 ON LAST DAY OF SERVICE

Oxford Bus Company will celebrate its proud history of transporting passengers between Oxford and London, on the last day of the X90 service on January 4th.

The final X90 coach journey will take place on Saturday, ending a service which can be tracked back to the early 1920s. The current express service has operated for more than 40 years and has carried millions of customers.

To mark the occasion Oxford Bus Company will provide special free vintage coach rides between Gloucester Green and Thornhill Park and Ride on vehicles from yesteryear. A Bristol VR double decker that was used on the X90 service in the 1980’s and a single decker from the 1960’s will be used. The vintage rides on the preserved coaches owned by Jonathan Radley and Dave Clements will take place between 10.30am and 3.30pm on Saturday.

A commemorative booklet has also been produced, which chronicles the history of the coach route between Oxford and London. It will be available at a stand at the Oxford Bus Company travel shop in Gloucester Green between 10am and 3pm on Saturday. The stand will be staffed for anyone who may have any questions regarding the X90.

The X90 will operate an hourly service on its last day and a commemorative banner will be placed on the coach taking the last journey. Oxford Bus Company would like to thank everyone who has travelled on the X90 and all our colleagues who have worked on the service.

Phil Southall, Oxford Bus Company Managing Director said: “We are grateful to everyone who has travelled with the X90 and our colleagues who have worked with us throughout this time. We are aware the difficult decision to withdraw the service has inconvenienced loyal customers and we are doing all we can to minimise any impact. We are proud of the route’s long history and will be honouring it via special free heritage rides and a fantastic commemorative booklet.”

Jonathan Radley said: “The final day of operation of the X90 express will be a sad occasion for many people who have worked on the coaches over the decades and for its many loyal passengers. However, on Saturday we shall celebrate the long history of this service by giving people the opportunity to sample travel from a bygone era onboard coaches that ran the route during the 1960s and 1970s.”

The decision to withdraw the service was not taken lightly and the company is doing everything possible to minimise the impact on customers and colleagues up to the withdrawal date. Season tickets and 12-trip passes will continue to be valid up until the service stops and from January 4th any unused tickets will be eligible for a pro-rata refund.

Falling passenger numbers due to new rail competition and worsening congestion made maintaining the X90 service challenging. This saw the time it takes to complete a journey between Oxford and London worsen by up to 50% in two years and passenger numbers drop by 35% since 2015. Oxford Bus Company introduced several measures to adapt to the challenges, including new timetables and lower fares, but with regret it was no longer viable to operate the X90 service. All X90 drivers will be redeployed to other roles within the business.