Carousel Buses (Go-Ahead group)

[K4016td]

Couldn't find a topic about them, however a lot of changes from the 27th August - among the highlights extension of route 41 from Great Missenden to Old Amersham and Amersham, comeback of route 583 (I guess they won Bucks County Council tender to operate the route), extension of route 103 from Slough all the way to Windsor - which brings back direct connection between High Wycombe and Windsor that haven't been seen for at least 20 years and couple of other local changes.

Service Changes from 27th August 2023

We will be making several improvements to the Carousel Buses network from 27th August 2023.

www.carouselbuses.co.uk

We will commence operation of service 275 between High Wycombe, Bledlow Ridge, Chinnor, Postcombe, Tetsworth, Wheatley and Oxford City Centre, as well as High Wycombe local service 38 between Deeds Grove, Shelley Road and the town centre. We'll also be extending service 41 from Great Missenden to Old Amersham and Amersham, Chiltern Hundreds 103 from Slough to Windsor and serving more of Little Chalfont, including Chalfont & Latimer Station, on Chiltern Hundreds 106 & 107. Service 583 will be enhanced to operate more regularly and run between Hedgerley, Slough, Wexham Park Hospital, George Green, Langley, Richings Park, Iver, Iver Heath and Uxbridge.

Services 8 and 39 will be revised in partnership with Buckinghamshire Council to better suit travel patterns, with faster links between High Wycombe Coachway Park&Ride and the town centre, more frequent services at key travel times and additonal links to Lane End, Cadmore End and Totteridge.

Great to see that other operators are stepping more into territory where other operators have seemed to miss a lot of opportunities and that definetely includes Slough.

 

[RELL6L]

Couldn't find a topic about them, however a lot of changes from the 27th August - among the highlights extension of route 41 from Great Missenden to Old Amersham and Amersham, comeback of route 583 (I guess they won Bucks County Council tender to operate the route), extension of route 103 from Slough all the way to Windsor - which brings back direct connection between High Wycombe and Windsor that haven't been seen for at least 20 years and couple of other local changes.

Service Changes from 27th August 2023

We will be making several improvements to the Carousel Buses network from 27th August 2023.

www.carouselbuses.co.uk

Great to see that other operators are stepping more into territory where other operators have seemed to miss a lot of opportunities and that definetely includes Slough.

Indeed, the 103 is very much like the old London Country 441 between High Wycombe and Windsor, although it used to run further to Staines at one time.

The 41 extending to Amersham means it will now interwork with the 106/107 between Amersham and Slough at the Amersham end, previously this interworking took place at Slough with the 103.

Yes its good to see a bit of expansion. The 41 extension says 'in partnership with Buckinghamshire County Council', while there used to be a service it does parallel the railway.

 

[Andyh82]

If you want to make the short trip from Slough to Windsor you will now have the choice of 4 bus companies and the train (GWR, First Beeline, Thames Valley Buses both local services and the Green Line 703, Reading Buses on the Green Line 702 and now Carousel Buses)

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Indeed, the 103 is very much like the old London Country 441 between High Wycombe and Windsor, although it used to run further to Staines at one time.

The 41 extending to Amersham means it will now interwork with the 106/107 between Amersham and Slough at the Amersham end, previously this interworking took place at Slough with the 103.

Yes its good to see a bit of expansion. The 41 extension says 'in partnership with Buckinghamshire County Council', while there used to be a service it does parallel the railway.

Looking in Bus and Coach Buyer, doesn't look like Bucks got any Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding so it's a bit of entrepreneurism from Go Ahead.

 

[Bedford OB]

Looking in Bus and Coach Buyer, doesn't look like Bucks got any Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding so it's a bit of entrepreneurism from Go Ahead.

All English Councils have had BSIP money. Those that had no allocation in the previous (2022-25) allocation have now had awards in the 2023-24 batch. Buckinghamshire were awarded just over £1.3 million in this second tranche. The allocations can all be found on gov.uk (updated 30 June).

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

All English Councils have had BSIP money. Those that had no allocation in the previous (2022-25) allocation have now had awards in the 2023-24 batch. Buckinghamshire were awarded just over £1.3 million in this second tranche. The allocations can all be found on gov.uk (updated 30 June).

That’s BSIP+ money. The make do funds rather then doing the innovative stuff generally.

 

[Edvid]

Having travelled on a couple of their routes yesterday, their PAYG scheme (Freeflow) piqued my interest.

It was as expected on the 1 route (Hemel Hempstead - High Wycombe) - tap on to start, tap off to finish. On the 102 (High Wycombe - Heathrow Central) I tapped on, but upon reaching Heathrow I noticed the exit device was switched on but not in "ready" mode; upon asking the driver he told me it was the same fare so a tap off wasn't required.

All Carousel routes bar the 5, BB12 and the airline observe the £2 singles cap so I was correctly charged £2 + £2 (latter marked as "incomplete") for the day. I do wonder why they don't follow the same PAYG procedure though, one way or the other.

 

[WibbleWobble]

If the exit reader doesn't work, you can always tap off on the ticket machine. Likewise, if you happen to board a bus without an exit reader.

 

[markymark2000]

If the exit reader doesn't work, you can always tap off on the ticket machine. Likewise, if you happen to board a bus without an exit reader.

Does that only works if the bus driver hasn't changed the trip over? If I tap on heading into Heathrow say, the driver swaps the ticket machine while in the tunnel, I then 'tap off' on the drivers machine, that would surely log as a tap on as the drivers machine has changed. Therefore you'd be charged for 2 incomplete journeys rather than a tap on, tap off 1 journey.

 

[WibbleWobble]

Does that only works if the bus driver hasn't changed the trip over? If I tap on heading into Heathrow say, the driver swaps the ticket machine while in the tunnel, I then 'tap off' on the drivers machine, that would surely log as a tap on as the drivers machine has changed. Therefore you'd be charged for 2 incomplete journeys rather than a tap on, tap off 1 journey.

True, but the driver shouldn't be changing over until passengers have alighted. Either that or advise passengers not to tap off!

I would imagine if the second fare was incorrectly charged, then it could be refunded by the operator's customer services team.

 

[markymark2000]

True, but the driver shouldn't be changing over until passengers have alighted. Either that or advise passengers not to tap off!

Having the machine ready for boarding passengers can help dwell time though, especially when late. Ideally the tap off machine should say 'Last stop, no need to tap out' or the tap off should remain working on the same trip for 2 minutes after the main ticket machine has been switched.

I would imagine if the second fare was incorrectly charged, then it could be refunded by the operator's customer services team.

Just additional effort though which shouldn't be required.

 

[WibbleWobble]

Having the machine ready for boarding passengers can help dwell time though, especially when late. Ideally the tap off machine should say 'Last stop, no need to tap out' or the tap off should remain working on the same trip for 2 minutes after the main ticket machine has been switched.

On Ticketer, it is literally a case of tapping a couple of buttons on screen. It doesn't take long at all, around 20-30 seconds.

The tap-off reader just acts as an extension of the main machine, so a post-trip changeover delay wouldn't be possible. Even if the machine said there was no need to tap off, people would still try to do it out of habit.

Let's just say we may have to agree to disagree. However it will be interesting to see if newer generations of the system may resolve the crossover conflict.

 

[Flange Squeal]

I overheard a conversion between two drivers talking about the Chiltern Hundreds routes 101/102 (High Wycombe - Uxbridge/Heathrow)being set to gain the Flightline branding that Reading Buses have launched on to routes 703 and 730/731. Does anyone know if there's any substance to this claim?

As an aside, does anyone know why the routes have separate numbers, when (from what I can see) the 101 journeys are essentially just short 102s to Uxbridge/Beaconsfield Mon-Sat/Sun respectively I presume it's a hangover from some past variation between the two?

 

[johnsy112]

The 101 previously had a differing routing in Beaconsfield via Wilton Park, however to my knowledge I think the 103 does this stretch now.

And for marketing purposes it’s easy to remember 101,102,103,104 all run hourly meaning a combined 15 minutely frequency between Wycombe and Beaconsfield.
And as per flightline that is very peculiar yet very interesting. Surely it would be a case of Reading buses selling the flightline naming and not them actually acquiring the routes

 

[Flange Squeal]

The 101 previously had a differing routing in Beaconsfield via Wilton Park, however to my knowledge I think the 103 does this stretch now.

And for marketing purposes it’s easy to remember 101,102,103,104 all run hourly meaning a combined 15 minutely frequency between Wycombe and Beaconsfield.
And as per flightline that is very peculiar yet very interesting. Surely it would be a case of Reading buses selling the flightline naming and not them actually acquiring the routes

Thanks for the clarification regarding route history, that makes sense. As for Flightline, it could just be a false rumour they’d heard, or I guess it could be a sharing on the branding like Reading Buses used to do as part of an arrangement with Arriva to use Green Line.

 

[PeterC]

The 101 previously had a differing routing in Beaconsfield via Wilton Park, however to my knowledge I think the 103 does this stretch now.

The Sunday Beaconsfield terminators run in a loop serving 1 or 2 stops in the old town that are otherwise missed but Uxbridge terminators serve the same stops as the 102. So the only distinction is that Heathrow is only served by the 102 and all 102s go to Heathrow.

 

[sturfc]

Been following this thread as I use Carousel on occasions especially the routes to Uxbridge. Arrived home today to a flyer in the post for a revamped 101 service to Heathrow. It indeed has Flighline branding, with an artist image of a green 400MMC decker.
It makes reference to the first of the refurbished Flighline buses will be landing in early 2024.
I believe the timings are unchanged, but doesnt mention the 101 as the focus is on going to Heathrow. Will be interesting to see what happens

 

[markymark2000]

Been following this thread as I use Carousel on occasions especially the routes to Uxbridge. Arrived home today to a flyer in the post for a revamped 101 service to Heathrow. It indeed has Flighline branding, with an artist image of a green 400MMC decker.
It makes reference to the first of the refurbished Flighline buses will be landing in early 2024.
I believe the timings are unchanged, but doesnt mention the 101 as the focus is on going to Heathrow. Will be interesting to see what happens

Do you have any photos of the flyer that you are able to upload?

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

The 101 previously had a differing routing in Beaconsfield via Wilton Park, however to my knowledge I think the 103 does this stretch now.

And for marketing purposes it’s easy to remember 101,102,103,104 all run hourly meaning a combined 15 minutely frequency between Wycombe and Beaconsfield.
And as per flightline that is very peculiar yet very interesting. Surely it would be a case of Reading buses selling the flightline naming and not them actually acquiring the routes

Are we certain that Reading own the Flightline brand? Could it be a Heathrow Airport initiative to create a common brand for the non TfL buses serving the airport? Heathrow have increased their support for buses in the last few years

 

[sturfc]

Here you go, apologies for the quality

 

[markymark2000]

Here you go, apologies for the quality

Thank you for these, really appreciated.

 

[Non Multi]

Here you go, apologies for the quality

Thanks. Best Impressions flyer, in the same The London Line/Flightline style.

(This is just as odd as when I once boarded a Stagecoach bus that was ex-First and still had it's Barbie spec interior.)

 

[Edvid]

Unless I'm mistaken the 102 is mostly served by 09-reg Citaros. I rode on one last year and it looked to be in good condition; nonetheless the prospect of nigh-on 15-year-old buses getting some kind of makeover in preparation for continued use on a key interurban route - if, as the leaflet implies, that is the plan - is quite fascinating.

 

[KX03HZY]

Been following this thread as I use Carousel on occasions especially the routes to Uxbridge. Arrived home today to a flyer in the post for a revamped 101 service to Heathrow. It indeed has Flighline branding, with an artist image of a green 400MMC decker.
It makes reference to the first of the refurbished Flighline buses will be landing in early 2024.
I believe the timings are unchanged, but doesnt mention the 101 as the focus is on going to Heathrow. Will be interesting to see what happens

I gather some of the exBrookesBus E400MMCs from Oxford, which are 2014 plate, are moving down for the 102

 

[johnsy112]

Here you go, apologies for the quality

If Carousel really want to take this seriously and see high figures, they need to look into ramping the frequency up to every 30 minutes. This could easily be done by combining 101 into 102 and going those extra few miles into Heathrow. I can see very few people counting on a low frequency bus to get them on their holidays.

 

[Edvid]

I gather some of the exBrookesBus E400MMCs from Oxford, which are 2014 plate, are moving down for the 102

Interesting. It also got a mention in this week's Oxford & Chilterns briefing.

Luke Marion, Managing Director of Carousel Buses has advised the following. "We will be converting our "102" service to a "Flightline" spec service and as part of this some of the E400 MMC buses that have been displaced from Brookes services will be being cascaded to Carousel and refurbished to an improved specification. The first bus (609) went away last week and refurbishment is now underway."

 

[Ralph Ayres]

If Carousel really want to take this seriously and see high figures, they need to look into ramping the frequency up to every 30 minutes. This could easily be done by combining 101 into 102 and going those extra few miles into Heathrow. I can see very few people counting on a low frequency bus to get them on their holidays.

I'm not much of a flyer, but if I were catching a plane I'd be so worried about missing it that I'd probably allow so much contingency time I'd be fine if the once-hourly bus didn't run and I had to catch the next one!

 

[markymark2000]

I can see very few people counting on a low frequency bus to get them on their holidays.

Plenty of people get National Express/Megabus/Flixbus to airports though and some of them run only a few times per day so there must be people who are happy taking these risks.

 

[K4016td]

Exactly, most of the time people plan in advance to go to the airport, they know they have to be at least 2-3 hours before takeoff.

 

[Mgameing123]

Thanks for the clarification regarding route history, that makes sense. As for Flightline, it could just be a false rumour they’d heard, or I guess it could be a sharing on the branding like Reading Buses used to do as part of an arrangement with Arriva to use Green Line.

No whats going to happen is that 102 is going to get Flightline spec buses.