Olympians and Tridents

[Ashley]

What routes do the Warwickshire based Olympians and Tridents operate on?

[jc]

Tridents and Olympians tend to get just about everywhere!

Several 26 Boards are run by both. The X15 and X18 are a good bet as well as the 16! Stand in Leamington and Stratford for a few hours you should see most.

When i passed Leamington Garage on the train on Saturday there were about 8 Olympians in the withdrawn zone, as well as the two open top tridents!

[JoNi]

I spoke to Stagecoach MD while at Centro last Monday, who said all the remaining Olympians operating for Stagecoach Midland Red (or whatever its called this week!)will be replaced with "second hand" Tridents from within the group later this year. He also stated that brand new single deckers are being bought for the X17 later in the year.

[Justin Tyme]

I spoke to Stagecoach MD while at Centro last Monday, who said all the remaining Olympians operating for Stagecoach Midland Red (or whatever its called this week!)will be replaced with "second hand" Tridents from within the group later this year. He also stated that brand new single deckers are being bought for the X17 later in the year.

Well, Olympians are certainly in decline, but you never know when you might see one it seems.

I did some bus riding last week - Johnsons X20 (Scania DD) to Stratford, Stagecoach 50A (Solo) to Banbury ... then to my amazement an Olympian (16516) turned up at Banbury Bus Station for the 66 to Leamington via Southam and "the villages".   The Olympian had to be pushed hard, as only 63 minutes are allowed for the 30-mile journey.  Quite an experience!

I then got a Stagecoach Unibus Enviro 400 on the U1 to Warwick University via the Kenilworth bypass - a good route to see just how fast they can go - followed by a Stagecoach Trident (18398) on the 16 into Coventry.

If anyone likes the idea of fast double deck bus rides - with a reasonable chance of getting a front seat upstairs - I'd also recommend Stagecoach services X15/X18 Coventry - Stratford, and 28 Stratford - Evesham.

[Ashley]

30 miles in 63 minutes weaving through villages, is that possible? Thanks for sharing that one with me though Justin Tyme

[Valandil]

Nobody really gets the 66 between Southam and Banbury, and it's a pretty straight run, so they seem to keep to time surprisingly well.
They have to and all because they interwork with the 67's, and run pretty much non-stop for hours on end, with very little layover scheduled, as the routes are circular and the timetables can't accommodate it.
It's actually not that rare to get a Unibus-branded Olympian on this route: I've only ever travelled on this type on this route.
Though of course it is projected to get much rarer in the near future!

[Ashley]

I had 16516 on the 16 back in december, still got the thrash video on a memory stick somewhere, if they are to depart at some point, a farewell event I think would be good because theres plenty of good routes in Warwickshire

[Justin Tyme]

Nobody really gets the 66 between Southam and Banbury, and it's a pretty straight run, so they seem to keep to time surprisingly well.
They have to and all because they interwork with the north-side 67's.
It's actually not that rare to get a Unibus-branded Olympian on this route: I've only ever travelled on this type on this route.
Though of course it is projected to get much rarer in the near future!

30 miles in 63 minutes was possible - just!  As Valandil says, Banbury to Southam is fast main road almost all the way, and we did mile after mile on the A423 at pretty much top speed, the driver keeping his foot on the gas round the few sweeping bends - which the Olympian took very smoothly.  We had about 8 passengers on this section, which I guess was not bad for a cold Wednesday.

By the way, also on the 65/66/67 group were a Trident/Plaxton President (which I saw at Southam on the 65 for Daventry) and a Unibus Enviro 400 on the 66.   The Uni vacation service was in operation, making more DDs available.

Some 67 journeys interwork with the 64, which is shared between Leamington and Rugby depots.  Rugby MAN 22459 (one of only 2 in Warwickshire) made an appearance on one of these diagrams on the same day.

[Ashley]

Its an area I need  to clearly explore more at some point

[Sh4318]

The X17 is a good ride too, pretty quick to Kenilworth, surprised how much faster it is than the 11. Begins to go around the reckin before getting to Kenilworth town centre mind

[D10]

Its an area I need  to clearly explore more at some point

Would recommend it. You have to plan well if you want to get down as far as Banbury, but even then it is far easier to get around South Warwickshire and North Oxfordshire on a day ticket (Stagecoach) than it was a few years ago as service levels seem to have increased.

[Valandil]

If you do go to Banbury, I recommend the 277 if you can fit it on your schedule: it's like a mixture of the 66 and 77, going through loads of little villages!

[Ashley]

Thanks for all the info