New bus services to better connect Oxford to the Cotswolds

Stagecoach have announced ‘major enhancements’ to the bus services between Oxford and West Oxfordshire once the Botley Road, a key route into the city from the west, reopens.

The Botley Road is currently set to be reopened to traffic after three years of full closure on September 20, after the original planned reopening date was pushed back by three weeks.

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The changes to the bus network will include new S1A and S1 services, providing up to six buses per hour between Witney and Oxford via the A40.

A bus on the Osney Mead industrial estate (Image: Andy Ffrench)

This will together equate to a bus available every 15 minutes between Oxford, Botley, Farmoor, Eynsham and Witney, with each service operating every 30 minutes.

The S1 will continue beyond Witney to Carterton, while the new S1A will serve the Downs Road Industrial Estate and the Windrush Estate before returning to Oxford.

After the Botley Road reopens, the S6 will be extended to Gloucester Green Bus station with a revised timetable to ‘improve reliability’, particularly during peak times.

Plus, the S9 bus will provide new direct links from Wantage, Cumnor and Botley to the John Radcliffe Hospital.

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Martin Gibbon, managing director of Stagecoach West, said: “We’ve been looking carefully at how we can improve the network for our customers following the reopening of Botley Road, and these changes represent a significant enhancement to connectivity for our local communities.

“These changes will also make it easier for customers to connect across the wider network, take advantage of bus priority measures within Oxford and benefit from the capped £3 fare.

“We know how important reliable, frequent and straightforward bus services are to the communities we serve.

“These changes represent a significant investment in the corridor and are designed to make it easier for customers to connect with Oxford and across West Oxfordshire, helping them get where they need to go.”

A host of other timetable changes include extending selected school day journeys on the S1 service to Burford, for pupils at Burford School, and boosting the S2 to operate every 30 minutes between Carterton, Witney and Oxford, cutting the Eynsham village stop which will be served through the S1 and S1A buses.

Buses in Oxford (Image: Oxford Bus Company)

The S3 timetable will be adjusted to ‘reflect customer demand’, and journeys operating to Charlbury will be renamed the S3A to make it clearer where it stops.

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The S5 bus will return to stopping at all stops along the Banbury Road following a trial of limited stopping, and will receive other changes to ‘improve punctuality’.

Several services will be retendered to other operators, including the 29, H5, and 25, as well as buses serving Risinghurst, while the E1 and 14 buses will be incorporated into other Stagecoach routes.

Stagecoach said Detailed timetables and implementation dates will be published ahead of the changes.