Thames Transit
Encyclopedia
Thames Transit was a bus
and coach
company which operated in the Oxford
area. As well as running a number of local services it also ran a regular service to London
(via the M40 motorway
) called the Oxford Tube. It now carries about fifteen million passengers a year using just under 200 vehicles. Since July 1997 the company has been part of Stagecoach Group
, who upon acquisition merged it with Stagecoach South Midlands
but was demerged in 2004 into Stagecoach Oxfordshire. Until then the company traded under the Thames Transit name, under the ownership of Transit Holdings International.
bus company in Devon
before starting Thames Transit from scratch in Oxfordshire
with buses cascaded from his Devon operation. Blundred started Thames Transit with just two routes – bus route 1 between the Blackbird Leys
housing estate and Oxford city centre – and coach route 100, branded the Oxford Tube, running scheduled express services between Oxford and London.
Competition with the City of Oxford Motor Services (which trades as the Oxford Bus Company
) services has remained fierce, and in the mid-1990s a price war
erupted, with for example a 12-journey ticket between Oxford and London costing just £
15. The price war was abandoned before these unsustainable fares could drive either company out of business, but even the regular fares remain competitive compared to equivalent rail
services.
The firm struggled under intense competition from the incumbent City of Oxford Motor Services, but ultimately succeeded in increasing patronage through a series of innovative approaches. Among these, the use of branding was particularly successful in the case of the Oxford Tube. Later branding efforts were not always so successful, and Oxford Tube is the only brand name to survive today.
The firm is noted for introducing minibus
es to Oxford. The original vehicles on local routes were sixteen seater Ford Transit
s, colloquially called 'Snoopy
s' for their resemblance at the front to the cartoon
character. The buses featured a single front entrance and exit door and room for four standing passengers. They eased initial recruitment concerns because drivers did not have to hold a full PSV licence to drive them. The primary reason behind their use, however, was that Blundred felt greater profitability could be gained through running small buses at a high frequency, rather than running larger buses half-empty at a low frequency.
The company then grew significantly in the early 1990s, introducing larger Mercedes-Benz
minibuses with 32-seat capacity and buying new vehicles for the Oxford Tube coach service, which was starting to perform well against rival City of Oxford's Citylink service. City of Oxford itself had been forced to spread its defensive tactics following the South Midland acquisition, and this allowed Thames Transit to grow.
In 1994 the firm bought its first midibuses: a fleet of 9.8 metre step-entrance Dennis Dart
s. 13 were bought for the original number 1 route, and new branding was applied, adorning the buses with a giant blackbird called 'Bertie' and the service named 'The Blackbird Flyer'. Continuing the minibus philosophy, the buses were scheduled every four or five minutes. There was a noticeable shift of traffic away from City of Oxford as passengers responded to Thames Transit's new branding and vehicles.
The new vehicle type and the use of branding proved proved to be a precursor for other route changes; the company later incrementally introduced the Rose Hill Runner, City Cavalier, Kidlington Cavalier, and Witney Weaver, as brands for existing routes which were upgraded to new Dennis Darts. It also introduced branding on the X9 Park and Ride
service running between Oxford's largest P&R, Redbridge, and the northern Pear Tree Park & Ride. The branding in this case was 'Gloria Glide', with buses featuring a picture of a six foot female chauffeur and the slogan 'Park & Ride with Gloria Glide' – which generated accusations of sexism by the University of Oxford
.
bought City of Oxford Motor Services, significantly strengthening its competitiveness. Following an effective rebranding and new vehicles to replace the older vehicles which were looking somewhat jaded against Thames Transit's improved services, City of Oxford launched 'New Fare Deals' in March 1995, symbolically referring to Thames Transit's entry into the city. New Fare Deals reduced fares on the routes where the two providers competed, while City of Oxford withdrew from less profitable routes to increase frequencies on the most lucrative and competitive corridors. Combined with new and spacious vehicles on some routes and staff poaching tactics, this significantly weakened Thames Transit's competitive strength.
At this time Thames Transit introduced two new branded routes, The Wood Farm Woodman and The Marston Pony, in direct competition with long-established City of Oxford routes. Both routes were unsuccessful – partly because they used tired vehicles but also because they failed to run frequently enough given the attenuation of staffing under the pressure of the 'bus war' with City of Oxford.
The 'bus war' was ended in autumn 1996 with both firms withdrawing from routes and increasing fares. Thames Transit withdrew its Park & Ride service and the Wood Farm Woodman and Marston Pony routes. It switched coaches scheduled between Oxford and Heathrow under a short-lived express 'Heathrow Tube' service, back to a longer cross country Heathrow route numbered the 390, which failed to compete with City of Oxford's long-established express Citylink X70 service to Heathrow (later rebranded 'The Airline').
In July 1997 Harry Blundred announced the sale of Thames Transit to Stagecoach Holdings PLC
for just over £8million. The company since then has traded under the Stagecoach name, using 'Stagecoach Oxford' and then 'Stagecoach in Oxfordshire' on local routes but retaining the hugely popular Oxford Tube brand name on the London express service.
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
and coach
Coach (vehicle)
A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...
company which operated in the Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
area. As well as running a number of local services it also ran a regular service to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(via the M40 motorway
M40 motorway
The M40 motorway is a motorway in the British transport network that forms a major part of the connection between London and Birmingham. Part of this road forms a section of the unsigned European route E05...
) called the Oxford Tube. It now carries about fifteen million passengers a year using just under 200 vehicles. Since July 1997 the company has been part of Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
, who upon acquisition merged it with Stagecoach South Midlands
Stagecoach South Midlands
Stagecoach in Oxfordshire is the name given to Stagecoach Group bus operations in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It used to be part of Stagecoach South Midlands along with Stagecoach in Warwickshire until March 2004.-History:...
but was demerged in 2004 into Stagecoach Oxfordshire. Until then the company traded under the Thames Transit name, under the ownership of Transit Holdings International.
Foundation
Thames Transit was founded in March 1987 by Harry Blundred, a former bus driver and controller who, following deregulation of the UK bus industry, purchased the Devon GeneralDevon General
Devon General was the brand name for the principal bus operator in south Devon from 1919. The name was first used by the Devon General Omnibus and Touring Company which was created in 1919. In 1922 it was purchased by the National Electric Construction Company which merged with British Electric...
bus company in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
before starting Thames Transit from scratch in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
with buses cascaded from his Devon operation. Blundred started Thames Transit with just two routes – bus route 1 between the Blackbird Leys
Blackbird Leys
Blackbird Leys is a civil parish and ward in Oxford, England, and is one of the largest council estates in Europe. According to the 2001 census, the ward had a population of 5,803. Unlike most parts of the City of Oxford, the area has a civil parish. The parish was created in 1990. Its 2001 parish...
housing estate and Oxford city centre – and coach route 100, branded the Oxford Tube, running scheduled express services between Oxford and London.
Competition with the City of Oxford Motor Services (which trades as the Oxford Bus Company
Oxford Bus Company
Oxford Bus Company is a bus operator serving the city and surrounding area of Oxford, England and is the trading name of City of Oxford Motor Services Ltd. It is now a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group...
) services has remained fierce, and in the mid-1990s a price war
Price war
Price war is a term used in economic sector to indicate a state of intense competitive rivalry accompanied by a multi-lateral series of price reduction. One competitor will lower its price, then others will lower their prices to match. If one of them reduces their price again, a new round of...
erupted, with for example a 12-journey ticket between Oxford and London costing just £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
15. The price war was abandoned before these unsustainable fares could drive either company out of business, but even the regular fares remain competitive compared to equivalent rail
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
services.
The firm struggled under intense competition from the incumbent City of Oxford Motor Services, but ultimately succeeded in increasing patronage through a series of innovative approaches. Among these, the use of branding was particularly successful in the case of the Oxford Tube. Later branding efforts were not always so successful, and Oxford Tube is the only brand name to survive today.
The firm is noted for introducing minibus
Minibus
A minibus or minicoach is a passenger carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a...
es to Oxford. The original vehicles on local routes were sixteen seater Ford Transit
Ford Transit
The Ford Transit is a range of panel vans, minibuses, and pickup trucks, produced by the Ford Motor Company in Europe.The Transit has been the best-selling light commercial vehicle in Europe for 40 years, and in some countries the term "Transit" has passed into common usage as a generic term...
s, colloquially called 'Snoopy
Snoopy
Snoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
s' for their resemblance at the front to the cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
character. The buses featured a single front entrance and exit door and room for four standing passengers. They eased initial recruitment concerns because drivers did not have to hold a full PSV licence to drive them. The primary reason behind their use, however, was that Blundred felt greater profitability could be gained through running small buses at a high frequency, rather than running larger buses half-empty at a low frequency.
Expansion
In 1989 Thames Transit expanded by buying South Midland, the former country area of The City of Oxford Motor Services, primarily operating rural routes in Oxfordshire. This acquisition strengthened Thames Transit's hand against City of Oxford Motor Services, providing it with several routes where it was the sole provider.The company then grew significantly in the early 1990s, introducing larger Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
minibuses with 32-seat capacity and buying new vehicles for the Oxford Tube coach service, which was starting to perform well against rival City of Oxford's Citylink service. City of Oxford itself had been forced to spread its defensive tactics following the South Midland acquisition, and this allowed Thames Transit to grow.
In 1994 the firm bought its first midibuses: a fleet of 9.8 metre step-entrance Dennis Dart
Dennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. More than 11,000 were built during 18 years of production....
s. 13 were bought for the original number 1 route, and new branding was applied, adorning the buses with a giant blackbird called 'Bertie' and the service named 'The Blackbird Flyer'. Continuing the minibus philosophy, the buses were scheduled every four or five minutes. There was a noticeable shift of traffic away from City of Oxford as passengers responded to Thames Transit's new branding and vehicles.
The new vehicle type and the use of branding proved proved to be a precursor for other route changes; the company later incrementally introduced the Rose Hill Runner, City Cavalier, Kidlington Cavalier, and Witney Weaver, as brands for existing routes which were upgraded to new Dennis Darts. It also introduced branding on the X9 Park and Ride
Park and ride
Park and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...
service running between Oxford's largest P&R, Redbridge, and the northern Pear Tree Park & Ride. The branding in this case was 'Gloria Glide', with buses featuring a picture of a six foot female chauffeur and the slogan 'Park & Ride with Gloria Glide' – which generated accusations of sexism by the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
.
Acquisition
In 1994 Go-Ahead GroupGo-Ahead Group
The Go-Ahead Group plc is a rail and bus operating company that was created following the privatisation of the UK's train and bus industries. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-Early history:...
bought City of Oxford Motor Services, significantly strengthening its competitiveness. Following an effective rebranding and new vehicles to replace the older vehicles which were looking somewhat jaded against Thames Transit's improved services, City of Oxford launched 'New Fare Deals' in March 1995, symbolically referring to Thames Transit's entry into the city. New Fare Deals reduced fares on the routes where the two providers competed, while City of Oxford withdrew from less profitable routes to increase frequencies on the most lucrative and competitive corridors. Combined with new and spacious vehicles on some routes and staff poaching tactics, this significantly weakened Thames Transit's competitive strength.
At this time Thames Transit introduced two new branded routes, The Wood Farm Woodman and The Marston Pony, in direct competition with long-established City of Oxford routes. Both routes were unsuccessful – partly because they used tired vehicles but also because they failed to run frequently enough given the attenuation of staffing under the pressure of the 'bus war' with City of Oxford.
The 'bus war' was ended in autumn 1996 with both firms withdrawing from routes and increasing fares. Thames Transit withdrew its Park & Ride service and the Wood Farm Woodman and Marston Pony routes. It switched coaches scheduled between Oxford and Heathrow under a short-lived express 'Heathrow Tube' service, back to a longer cross country Heathrow route numbered the 390, which failed to compete with City of Oxford's long-established express Citylink X70 service to Heathrow (later rebranded 'The Airline').
In July 1997 Harry Blundred announced the sale of Thames Transit to Stagecoach Holdings PLC
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
for just over £8million. The company since then has traded under the Stagecoach name, using 'Stagecoach Oxford' and then 'Stagecoach in Oxfordshire' on local routes but retaining the hugely popular Oxford Tube brand name on the London express service.