Abingdon Bus Changes: X1 Withdrawn, Wantage Gets JR Bus

Two bus routes serving the Vale were withdrawn on Sunday 20 September, and Wantage gained a direct bus to the John Radcliffe Hospital. Counting only routes that run through this district, the operators withdrew two, extended or rerouted five and retimed nine, all on the same day.

Oxford Bus Company, its Thames Travel arm and Stagecoach all rewrote their Oxfordshire networks that weekend. Both operators give the same cause: with the railway bridge open again, buses can run through Botley Road into the city centre instead of turning back on either side of it.

The headline changes for this district:

• The X1 has been withdrawn. Oxford Bus Company has replaced it with a more frequent X15 between Oxford, Abingdon, Marcham and Southmoor, and an extended X35 between Wantage and Abingdon.
• Service 35 has gone too. The 6 has been extended from Wolvercote through Oxford to Abingdon via Kennington and Radley, taking over the 35’s route.
• The 44 and the 63 are back in the city centre, calling at the Police Station, Speedwell Street, Westgate and Frideswide Square.
• Stagecoach’s S9 now runs to Wantage and Grove, giving those villages a direct bus to the John Radcliffe.
• Three stops have been lost, in Grove, in Marcham and at Oxford railway station.

What changed in Abingdon

Oxford Bus Company set out the detail on its own service changes page, published on 24 August.

The X1 is gone. Its Oxford to Southmoor section is now covered by an enhanced X15, which the company says runs up to every 30 minutes between Oxford, Abingdon, Marcham and Southmoor, continuing to Witney hourly. On Sundays the X15 runs hourly between Oxford and Marcham. Friday and Saturday night journeys are now numbered NX15, partially replacing the old NX1.

There is a catch on the X15. To improve reliability, it no longer serves Oxford railway station and terminates at Westgate instead.

The 6 is the bigger structural change. It has been extended from Wolvercote, across Oxford, to Abingdon via Kennington and Radley, and it replaces the service 35 on that corridor. Oxford Bus says the 6 runs up to every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday and up to every 30 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays. That gives Radley and Kennington a cross-city bus rather than one that stops in the middle of Oxford.

Two routes have simply come home. Following the reopening, the 44 between Abingdon, Wootton, Cumnor and Oxford returns to the city centre, and its operation transfers from Thames Travel to Oxford Bus Company. The 63 and 63S from Southmoor, Fyfield, Appleton and Botley do the same.

Four more Abingdon services were retimed rather than rerouted:

• X3, revised to keep a combined frequency of up to every 10 minutes between Abingdon and Oxford alongside the X2.
• 41, the Abingdon town service, revised “to improve punctuality and reflect increased congestion in Abingdon”, in the company’s own words.
• 45, where the 2.55pm departure from Cowley to Abingdon now runs 10 minutes later throughout, to suit students at the Europa School.
• 33 and 33A to Didcot, Wallingford and Henley, retimed, with extra journeys serving Wallingford School for students from Didcot and Abingdon. On Sundays the route now runs via Benson and RAF Benson, which the company says gives those villages a Sunday service for the first time in several years.

Wantage and Grove: a direct hospital bus

The change Wantage has been waiting for is Stagecoach’s. Its Oxfordshire service changes page says the S9 “will provide new direct links between Wantage, Cumnor and Botley and the John Radcliffe Hospital, giving customers in these areas a new connection to one of Oxford’s most important healthcare destinations”.

The published S9 timetable, valid from 20 September, shows what that means in practice. The route calls at:

• Wantage Market Place and Wantage Grove Road roundabout
• Grove Collett Way
• East Hanney, the Black Horse
• Cumnor Kenilworth Road
• Botley Elms Parade
• Oxford Frideswide Square and George Street
• Oxford Lathbury Road, Marston Village and Northway
• the John Radcliffe main entrance

The 5.20am from Wantage reaches the hospital at 6.32am, a 72 minute run before the traffic builds. By the middle of the day the same journey is booked at 90 minutes. There are also NS9 night journeys on Friday and Saturday nights, leaving Oxford George Street after midnight, on which Stagecoach warns special fares may apply.

Oxford Bus Company’s X35 has changed too, and it is the route most Grove residents use. It has been extended from Wantage to Abingdon, taking over that section of the old X1 and lifting the Wantage to Abingdon frequency to every 30 minutes on weekdays. On school days the 7.45am from Wantage now runs through to Abingdon College, arriving at 8.44am.

The X36 between Nobel Park, Didcot, Grove and Wantage has been retimed to coordinate better with services between Didcot Parkway and Milton Park.

What you have lost

Three losses are worth knowing before you stand at a stop:

• Grove, Mayfield Avenue. The X35 no longer serves it. Buses run direct along Main Street instead.
• Marcham village. The X35 now runs directly along the A415 between Frilford and Abingdon, serving only the War Memorial in Marcham. The village itself is served by the X15.
• Oxford railway station. The X15 terminates at Westgate and no longer calls there. The 400 from Seacourt park and ride also now calls at Frideswide Square rather than the station.

What it means for you

If you commute from Abingdon to Oxford, the X2 and X3 together still give you a bus up to every 10 minutes. The times have moved, though, so check before you travel this week. If you used the X1, it no longer exists. You want the X15 for Oxford, Marcham and Southmoor, or the X35 for Wantage.

If you live in Radley or Kennington, your bus is now the 6, and it carries on through Oxford to Wolvercote rather than terminating in the centre.

If you have a hospital appointment at the John Radcliffe and you live in Wantage, Grove or East Hanney, the S9 is a single bus, and there is one roughly every half hour. Allow an hour and a half in the middle of the day.

And if you drive instead, two things change this week. Botley Road is open again, and Oxford’s traffic filter trial starts on Monday 28 September, replacing the £5 congestion charge with a permit scheme. Our permits explainer covers what Vale residents get, and our roadworks and travel page has what is shut this week, including the A34 southbound at night until 2 October.

Sources

• Oxford Bus Company: service changes from 20th September 2026, published 24 August 2026, for the withdrawal of the X1, the extension of the 6 and the end of service 35, the return of the 44 and 63 to the city centre, the transfer of the 44 from Thames Travel, the X15 and X35 changes, the lost stops at Mayfield Avenue, Marcham village and Oxford railway station, and the retimings on the X3, 41, 45, 33 and 33A.
• Stagecoach: Oxfordshire service changes, for the S9’s new direct link between Wantage, Grove, Cumnor, Botley and the John Radcliffe Hospital, and the new S1A.
• Stagecoach S9 timetable, valid from 20 September 2026, for the route, the stops, the first and last buses, the half-hourly frequency, the journey times and the NS9 night journeys.
• Oxfordshire County Council: reopening of Botley Road, for the 20 September reopening, the statement that all buses using Botley Road now run through to the city centre, and the reinstatement of the 400 to Seacourt park and ride.
• Oxfordshire County Council: about traffic filters, for the 28 September start of the traffic filter trial.