Oxford to London coach route

Astromega TDX27 at Hillingdon tube station in July 2014 The Oxford Tube, launched by Thames Transit in 1987, operates a fleet of Plaxton Panorama bodied Volvo B11RLE double-decker coaches. Rather than turn over its fleet a little at a time on a rotating basis, Oxford Tube renews its entire fleet at once, every five years. Tickets are also sold via the Megabus network. As of September 2017, it was the highest frequency long-distance coach service in the United Kingdom. ==Oxford Bus Company X90==

X90 coach at Victoria. The Oxford Bus Company operated the X90 service every 15 minutes at peak times, using eight Plaxton Elite bodied Volvo B11Rs. From October 2018, the service was reduced to every 30 minutes, and was withdrawn from 4 January 2020, due to a 35% fall in passenger numbers since 2015 causing the route to be unprofitable. ==History==

Early history In 1919 William Beesley of Oxford formed a company called South Midland Motor Services and by 1924 offered excursions to London by charabanc. This became a daily service, and by 1928 it had become a regular coach service picking up and setting down passengers en route. South Midland had competitors. By 1930, 18 companies were running a total of 58 coach services between Oxford and London every day. After the Road Traffic Act 1930, the competitors quickly reduced to two: South Midland and Varsity Express. Varsity Express used the A40 via High Wycombe and Uxbridge, South Midland ran via Henley-on-Thames, Maidenhead and Slough. In 1933 the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company acquired Varsity Express (which also ran a service between London and Eastern Counties' base at Cambridge). In 1934, the Tilling Group (Eastern Counties' parent) moved the Oxford service of Varsity Express to a closer group company, United Counties Omnibus. Whilst most of the services outside Oxford itself were transferred to a new company, South Midland Limited, the London services remained with COMS, which was sold in a management buyout in January 1987. Competition appeared in 1987 when Thames Transit, commenced operating in Oxford and started its own express service to London, branded the Oxford Tube. ==Incidents==

On 30 August 2010, a drunken 21-year-old grabbed hold of the steering wheel of an Oxford Tube coach and caused it to overturn on an embankment on the M40. The offender was sentenced to 12 months in prison. On 11 December 2010 at 23:00, an Oxford Tube coach overturned on leaving the M40. Seventeen passengers and the driver were taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital with five people needing surgery for broken bones. The driver was convicted of driving without due care and attention having been charged but acquitted of dangerous driving; he was fined £750 and banned from driving for 12 months. ==References==