Stagecoach Gold bus route S9
Stagecoach Gold bus route S9 is a bus route in England that links Wantage, Grove, Cumnor and Oxford. The service is run by Stagecoach in Oxfordshire.
History
Route X30 was originally launched in 2006 as a new direct bus service between Wantage, Grove and Oxford. The service was initially BRANDed as the 'Vale Shuttle' operating every 30 minutes between Wantage and Oxford, Monday to Saturday, and working alongside it's sister route 31.
The Sunday service and N30 night service were launched in 2012.
Route X30, as well as route 31, were upgraded to Stagecoach Gold status in January 2017 following the delivery of brand new Gold specification vehicles to Oxford depot in December 2016. The Two routes were then subsequently rebranded to S8 and S9 in October 2017. The changes also saw the S9 lose its night service in favour of the NS8 running in both directions.
Route
Route S9 runs between Wantage and Oxford. In Wantage, services start in the market place before departing via Wallingford Street and heading North on the A338. Services continue running along the A338 out of Wantage and into Grove. In Grove, services turn on to Main Street and continue through to village whereby services rejoin the A338 at the junction with Oxford Lane. Services continue North on the A338, passing through East Hanney and Frilford, until the end of the A338 at the A420 roundabout in Besselsleigh. Services turn on to the A420, continuing along the road until the Cumnor junction. Services then serve Cumnor via Glebe Road, Oxford Road and Cumnor Hill before entering Oxford via Botley and the Botley Road. Services then pass Oxford station, serving Frideswide Square before heading into the city centre via Park End Street and Queen Street before arriving at the service's terminus on St Aldate's.
The total off-peak journey time from Wantage to Oxford is approximately 51 minutes.
Route S9 |
|---|
Wantage, Market Place |
Grove, Green |
East Hanney, Main Street |
Cumnor, Kenilworth Road |
Botley, Elms Parade Shops |
Oxford, Frideswide Square |
Oxford, St Aldate's |
Service
Monday to Saturday, off-peak services on route S9 run up to every 30 minutes throughout the day. On Sunday, services run every 60 minutes throughout the day. There are a few late evening services Monday to Saturday that operate from Oxford to Wantage with one service departing at 20:30 (Monday to Friday), 19:30 (Saturdays) and 23:30.
Route S9 does not have a night service as all night services are operated by the S9's sister service S8.
There is also one morning journey Monday to Friday that does not serve Cumnor. This service is numbered X9 and is operated by an Oxford Tube coach as opposed to a Stagecoach Gold bus. This service also terminates at Gloucester Green bus station as opposed to St Aldate's.
Fleet
Route S9 is operated by Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC vehicles with Euro 6 engines that were delivered brand new to Stagecoach's Oxford depot in December 2016. The fleet is shared with the S9's sister route S8, as well as route 7 which operates between Woodstock and Oxford.
As the fleet is used on multiple routes, the vehicles bear no route specific branding and instead have the generic "Connecting local towns and villages with Oxford" branding.
The vehicles used on the service are the new specification Stagecoach Gold vehicles which, as well as offering high back leather seats and free Wi-Fi, also include USB charging ports, wood effect flooring and ticket machines that accept Contactless payment as well as Mobile payments including Apple Pay and Android Pay.