For many years, coach has been the dominant public transport mode between Oxford and London, in striking contrast to other similar flows. The city has direct, good road links to the capital, its station is on the wrong side of town and Paddington is one of the less convenient London stations. In addition, two coach operators have been slugging it out, resulting in high frequencies and low fares. However, nothing is forever.
One of the coach operators, the Oxford Bus Company, owned by Go-Ahead, is withdrawing its half-hourly X90 service from 4 January next year. According to The Oxford Mail, passenger numbers have fallen by 35% as a result of new rail competition and increased congestion; the journey time has worsened by up to 50% in two years.
Chiltern Railways opened to Oxford Parkway in October 2015, extending through to Oxford in 2016, improving accessibility and introducing competition – both Chiltern and Great Western are offering £5.40 advance fares, cheaper than the coach. Total passenger numbers for the two Oxford stations in 2017-18 were 8.9 million, up from 6.6 million in three years.
Of course there’s still a major coach operation, with Stagecoach’s Oxford Tube offering up to four coaches a…
