Stagecoach Gold bus route 7 (Oxford)

7
Stagecoach Gold Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC in Oxford operating route 7
Overview
Operator Stagecoach Oxfordshire
Garage Oxford
Night-time N7
Route
Start Woodstock
Via Blenheim Palace
Kidlington
Oxford Parkway National Rail
End Oxford
Service
Frequency Up to every 30 minutes
Operates Daily
Timetable 7 timetable

Stagecoach Gold bus route 7 is a bus route in England that links Woodstock, Kidlington and Oxford. The service is run by Stagecoach in Oxfordshire.

History

Route 7 was a brand new Stagecoach Gold service that was launched in January 2017 intended to link Woodstock and Kidlington with Oxford Parkway railway station and to provide an easier way for tourists and visitors travelling to Oxford Parkway to get to the monumental country house Blenheim Palace. The announcement of the new service came in December 2016, shortly after rival Oxford Bus Company extended the Water Eaton/Oxford Parkway Park and ride service to serve Blenheim Palace and Woodstock.[1]

As a result of the new services, Woodstock, a town with a population of just over 3,000 people, had approximately seven buses per-hour to Oxford with three different routes, including Stagecoach's S3 Gold service. The new services were described as 'unsustainable' and subsequently the two operators met to try and come up with a solution to the high number of services.[2]

As a result of the discussions, Oxford Bus Company has slightly reduced the number of journeys on their 500 Park & Ride service, whilst Stagecoach has reduced the daytime frequency of the S3 service from three buses per-hour to two buses per-hour.[3][4]

Route

The current route 7 runs between Woodstock, Kidlington and Oxford. The route begins just North of Woodstock in Old Woodstock. The service then travels along the A44 passing through Woodstock (New Woodstock) and Blenheim Palace before passing Oxford Airport and joining the A4260 road towards Kidlington. The service continues along the A4260 Oxford Road through Kidlington before reaching Oxford Parkway railway station and the Cuttslowe roundabout on the outskirts of Oxford. The service then travels down Banbury Road towards the city centre where services terminate on George Street. Some services continue to and terminate at Oxford station.

Some early morning and late evening services are extended to Chipping Norton.

The total off-peak journey time from Woodstock to Oxford is approximately 40 minutes with the journeys extended to/from Chipping Norton taking around 56 minutes.[5]

Route 7
Old Woodstock, Vermont Drive
Woodstock, Marlborough Arms
Woodstock, Blenheim Palace Gates
Kidlington, Langford Lane
Oxford, Water Eaton Oxford Parkway National Rail
Oxford, Summertown Shops
Oxford, George Street

Service

The service runs up to every 30 minutes both peak and off-peak Monday to Friday and up to every 30 minutes at weekends. There is a late evening service which runs hourly Monday to Saturday and two-hourly on Sunday.

The N7 night service operates Monday to Saturday with one journey at 00:05 to Chipping Norton. There are no N7 journeys to Oxford.

Monday to Saturday there is one early morning journey per-day that starts in Chipping Norton and two journeys on Sunday. In the opposite direction, there is one early evening journey from Oxford to Chipping Norton and the N7 journey just after midnight. On Sunday, both late evening journeys from Oxford, are extended to Chipping Norton.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Crossley, William (30 December 2016). "New Stagecoach bus route to link Woodstock with Oxford". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  2. ↑ Rust, Stuart (8 February 2017). "Rival bus companies will meet to discuss 'unsustainable' situation". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  3. ↑ Rust, Stuart (17 April 2017). "Competition forces Oxford Bus Company to cut back on services". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  4. ↑ "We're changing our services for Woodstock, Chipping Norton and surrounding area". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  5. ↑ "7 Bus Route & Timetable: Woodstock - Oxford". Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  6. ↑ "7 Timetable" (PDF). Stagecoach Bus. Stagecoach. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
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