Great Western Coffee Shop

Can I use this to publicise a new bus service from Bourton to Kingham - connecting with the 5.55, 6.20 and 7.20 trains in the morning - as well as the 3 trains from Paddington to Kingham until 7.50 (and the bus waits up to 20 minutes for the latter train). 

At the moment, I'm the only one on the 5.30 from Bourton (via Rissington and Stow) and fear if no-one else uses it there's a risk it may disappear.

The service started in September, but has hardly been publicised at all - unless via Pullmans website, but yet if you don't travel by bus you wouldn't go on there to find out.  Did get a bit of publicity in the local lib dem councillor (Paul Hodgkinson) monthly newsletter (featuring my picture in front of the bus) but nothing since.

Am also the only one going back to Bourton in the evening via Chippy.

You are VERY welcome to use this site to publicise the service - although (as I'm sure you know!) this will need to be only one of a number of ways of reaching people. You also need to make sure you're aware of the politics / funding of the service to keep it running into the future - even a dozen passengers on a run (using a bus that has other uses during the day) have proven to be insufficient here in Wiltshire for such a service to be retained.  [[ Happy to help - please do not let me put you off ]]

Unfortunately it seeems highly likely that all bus service subsidised by Oxfordshire County Council will be cut next yea, including the rail buses serving Charlbury and Kingham. The proposed elimination of all subsidies is based on the forecast need for the county to make ^50M spending cuts as a result of lower central government grants. However the latest notification is that a further ^20M of spending cuts will be necessary to balance the books. I assume that the BHourton/Kingham bus service is a Glocestershire C.C. subsidy and therefore not subject to the Oxon C.C. cuts.

As Andrew predicted there is a massive cull of local Oxfordshire bus routes from July that currently run under subsidy.  Sadly many smaller villages will now find themselves cut off from the outside world in terms of public transport which will no doubt impact on many peoples lives.

Discussion in the Oxford Mail here:  http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/14525803.UPDATE__At_least_50_Oxfordshire_bus_routes_to_go_in_July___full_list_of_closures/?ref=mrb&lp=10

The full list is:
8 Bicester - Silverstone
17 Cutteslowe - Oxford
18 Clanfield - Oxford
24 Bicester (circular)
25 Kidlington/Oxford - Bicester
33 Wychwoods - Burford
37 Bicester - Finmere
42 North Abingdon via college
43 Abingdon - Eaton (Oxon)
43 North Abingdon Town
44 Oxford - Abingdon
46 Drayton St Leonard - Abingdon
63 Oxford - Southmoor
85 Iffley - Cowley
86 Lye Valley - Cowley
89 The Baldons - Cowley
90 Hungerford - Swindon
90 Banbury - Upper Heyford
95 Didcot - Blewbury - Didcot
97 Wallingford - Didcot
104 Oxford - Cuddesdon
125 Chalgrove - Wallingford
126 Wallingford - Wallingford
135 Wallingford - Goring
213 Witney (circular)
214 Witney (circular)
215 Witney (circular)
218 Wytham - Oxford
277 Lighthorne Heath - Banbury
504 Honton - Horley - Banbury
811 Salford (Oxon) - Cheltenham (Gloucs)
17A Oxford Station - JR Hospital (evenings)
17C Oxford Station - JR Hospital (Sundays)
44A Oxford - Abingdon
67A Wantage - Faringdon
67B Wantage - Faringdon
67C Wantage - Faringdon
81A Bicester - Somerton
A1 Didcot - Wantage - Didcot
B1 Easington - Banbury
B7 Grimsbury - Banbury
C1 Charlbury - Wychwoods
K3 Kidlington - Begbroke
M1 Watlington - Reading
T2 Oxford Science Park - Abingdon
T94 Oxford - Bicester
V1 Witney Market Sq (circular)
V14 West Oxfordshire
V24 Upper Oddington - Witney
V24 West Oxfordshire
W10 Woodstock - Kidlington
W11 Woodstock - Bladon
W12 Woodstock - Wootton

Yep, the 277 is my local service.

Please could I flag up that, on 26th May 2016, several registrations affecting bus services along the Moreton-in-Marsh line came up in the VOSA Bus Service registrations for the Western Traffic Area. In summary:

Cancelled:
- 33 Ascott-under-Wychwood - Burfield
- 64 Witney - Carterton - Swindon

Revised:
- X8 Chipping Norton - Kingham
- X9 Chipping Norton - Witney (via. Finnstock station)

The revised services are only alterations to timetables. However I was chatting at Kemble station to a driver from Pulhams Coaches, who operate all those services, and he said the X9 was being dropped.

The cancellations of the 33 and 64 are all registered wef 20/07/2016 while the changes to the X8 and X9 are registered wef 21/07/2016.

HTIOI,
Dave

Must try to catch a couple of those services from Swindon before they go. Been meaning to go on them for a while.

Mercifully not! The X9 is overall a well loaded service and Pulhams are making a real effort to continue it without subsidy. The new timetable reduces M-F frequency by about 25%, and Saturday by 50%, AIUI with the intention of running with one fewer diagram (if that's what the bus people call it...) on weekdays and just one diagram on Saturday.

Perhaps the driver meant to say "dropped in frequency", or he himself had misheard what he was told to that effect??