Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel have announced special festive timetables across their bus and coach network, operating from Christmas Eve through to 02 January.
A number of local bus services will run to amended timetables on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, with some routes finishing earlier than usual. As in previous years, no local bus services will operate on Christmas Day.
The airline coach service will continue to run over the festive period, including a special timetable between Oxford and Heathrow Airport on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
On both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, the final airline departure from Oxford towards Heathrow and Gatwick will leave at 6.30pm, arriving at Heathrow at 8.00pm and Gatwick at 9.20pm. The last return journeys to Oxford will depart Gatwick at 8.20pm and Heathrow at 9.25pm.
On Saturday 27 December, the airline service will operate a normal daily timetable with a late start. The first coach will depart Oxford at 2.15am, while the first return services will leave Heathrow at 4.50am and Gatwick at 6.55am. Normal daily services will resume between 28 and 30 December.
On 02 January, services will again run with a late start before all routes return to normal school holiday timetables from 03 January.
The Gloucester Green Travel Shop and the High Street Visitor Information Point in Oxford will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Luke Marion, Managing Director of Oxford Bus Company, said:
“We’re providing a strong level of service to our customers to ensure we match supply to demand on key services.
“Our airline Christmas Day service is an important service for our customers and that’s why we’ll be operating it again this year.
“We’ve devised a combination of timetables across our bus network designed to ensure we continue to provide a first-class service to passengers during this period.
“We are providing a good level of service throughout for those who want to travel locally and to the airports. With several changes to our normal timetables, we advise people to check the website or app for full details to plan their journeys.
“I’d like to wish all of our customers a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year and thank our hard-working drivers and colleagues keeping people on the move during the festive season.”
Passengers are advised to plan journeys in advance by checking online or via the Oxford Bus Company travel app, where full festive timetables, including airline services, are available.
