Stagecoach South Midlands

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Stagecoach South Midlands was the name given to Stagecoach Group bus operations in the counties of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, England until March 2004.

1 Operation
2 History
3 Depots
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Operation

Stagecoach South Midlands operated under four different brands:

The Oxford Tube brand, used for express buses between Oxford and London.
The Stagecoach in Banbury brand, used for local buses in and around the town of Banbury in Oxfordshire.
The Stagecoach in Oxford brand, used for local buses in and around the city of Oxford.
The Stagecoach in Warwickshire brand, used for local buses in Warwickshire.

From 1 July 2002, the Oxford and Banbury brands were merged to become Stagecoach in Oxfordshire. Then from 1st March 2004 Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and Stagecoach in Warwickshire were split to become two entirely separate divisions of Stagecoach Group.

The local buses in Oxford operate in fierce competition with local buses operated by the Oxford Bus Company. Oxford is one of the few UK cities where such free and unsubsidised competition (as envisaged by the architects of bus deregulation in the 1980s) still exists. Similarly the Oxford Tube coaches compete with the Oxford Bus Company's Espress service. This unusual level of both service and competition is facilitated by Oxford's status as a prestigious university city, lack of car parking spaces in the city centre, and the consequent large numbers of young, affluent but car-less inhabitants.

[edit] History

Stagecoach South Midlands was created from Midland Red (South) Ltd and Thames Transit Ltd, both companies acquired by the Stagecoach Group. Legally these companies still exist, with buses in Warwickshire and Banbury still carrying legal lettering for Midland Red (South) Ltd, whilst buses in Oxford (including the Oxford Tube) and Witney are legally lettered for Thames Transit Ltd.