City Sightseeing Oxford has announced the introduction of a new brand of open top hop on – hop off bus service in Oxford, operated by Tom Tappin.
Branded as “Guide Friday The Oxford Tour”, four newly acquired buses will be painted in a green livery and operate with both a live guide and recorded multi-lingual commentary. The name will help passengers identify the buses which have a guide on board.
The tour route is unchanged, with passengers given tickets which are interchangeable between the traditional red hop on – hop off City Sightseeing liveried buses which normally only have a recorded commentary and the green guided buses.
The four second hand buses which join the fleet meet DDA requirements and replace older Leyland Olympians. All are Dennis Tridents with Alexander bodies. Two have been purchased from EnsignBus who have undertaken complete open top conversions while the other two, which have come from the Oxford Bus Company, have been converted to partial open top by Bus and Coach World of Blackburn. The buses were introduced into the fleet during the last couple of weeks as soon as the pictorial vinyls were applied.
Over the next few months, the whole fleet will be brought up to Euro 5 equivalent specification for NOx emissions to meet the requirements of the LEZ.
Jane Marshall, Tom Tappin General Manager, said: “We see this as a very positive step in supporting both the long established popular City Sightseeing brand and the aspirations of the Local Authorities in improving the air quality of Oxford City Centre”.
