The 67 and 68 between Wantage and Faringdon transfer to Thames Travel on 30 August, and the 68 stops serving Sarajac Avenue in East Challow. The new times.

The two bus routes between Wantage and Faringdon change operator on Sunday 30 August, and one of them changes its route through East Challow. The 67 and the 68 both pass from Pulhams to Thames Travel. Both get new timetables. The 68 will also stop calling at Sarajac Avenue. The changes were published by Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel on 4 August and set out again in a news release on 11 August.

What changes on 30 August

The operator says the point of the exercise is punctuality. These are the services that change:

  • 67 (Wantage, East Challow, Stanford-in-the-Vale, Faringdon): new timetable, transfers from Pulhams to Thames Travel
  • 68 (Wantage, The Letcombes, Childrey, Uffington, Longcot, Faringdon): new timetable, new route through East Challow, transfers to Thames Travel
  • BB1 and BB1A (Rose Hill, Abingdon, Didcot schools): minor timetable changes
  • H2 (Carterton, Witney, John Radcliffe Hospital, Thornhill Park and Ride): revised timetable
  • 19, 64 and X9 in the Witney and Carterton area: new timetables, transfer to Thames Travel

Thames Travel and Pulhams are both part of Go Thames Valley, so the 67 and 68 stay inside the same group. The company describes itself in the release as the largest bus operator in the region.

The change people in East Challow will feel

The 68 will no longer serve Sarajac Avenue in East Challow. Every journey will instead run via Ickleton Road between Wantage and Letcombe Regis. The operator’s reason is practical rather than financial: it says the shorter route is simpler and lets it put higher capacity vehicles on the service.

Sarajac Avenue is on the current 68 route. The stop is not on the new route map the operator has published for 30 August.

East Challow is not losing its bus. The 67 continues to call at East Challow Green, thirteen times a day in each direction from Monday to Friday, according to the new 67 timetable.

The new times

The 68 runs four journeys each way, Monday to Saturday, with no service on Sundays or public holidays.

Service 68 departure times from 30 August 2026: Wantage Market Place at 0830, 1230, 1530 and 1730, Faringdon Market Place at 0730, 0930, 1130 and 1430
Graphic by Abingdon Online

From Wantage Market Place stop A the 68 leaves at 0830, 1230, 1530 and 1730, reaching Faringdon Market Place at 0922, 1322, 1627 and 1822. Coming back, it leaves Faringdon Market Place at 0730, 0930, 1130 and 1430, reaching Wantage at 0822, 1022, 1222 and 1522. The village stops in between are Letcombe Regis, Letcombe Bassett, Childrey, Sparsholt, Westcot, Kingston Lisle, Uffington, Fernham and Longcot. One Saturday journey differs: it leaves Uffington Green Lane at 1601 rather than 1602 and arrives in Faringdon at 1622. (Service 68 timetable)

The 67 is the faster and more frequent of the two, taking the main road rather than the villages. From Monday to Friday it leaves Wantage Market Place stop A at 0625, 0725, then 0845 and hourly to 1445, and again at 1555, 1655, 1755 and 1855. The run to Faringdon Market Place takes about 27 minutes. Return journeys leave Faringdon at 0655, 0755, then 0915 and hourly to 1515, and again at 1625, 1725, 1825 and 1925. There is a Saturday service and, as now, no service on Sundays or public holidays.

Roadworks are still moving Wantage stops this month

Separately, and before any of the above takes effect, Denchworth Road in Wantage is closed until 1 September. The X1, NX1, X35 and X36 are diverting via Mably Way, Grove Road and Seesen Way, and while that lasts the Fitzwaryn School and Whittington Crescent stops are not served in either direction. The operator advises passengers to use the Market Place or Health Centre stops instead. (Oxford Bus Company service updates)

What it means for you

If you board the 68 at Sarajac Avenue, you need a new stop from 30 August. The operator has not named a replacement for that stop. The 67 still calls at East Challow Green and runs far more often, so for most journeys between East Challow and either Wantage or Faringdon it is now the service to check first.

If you use the 68 for the villages, check the new times before the bank holiday weekend. Four journeys a day each way leaves little margin, and 30 August is the Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, when the 68 does not run at all. Monday 31 August is the summer bank holiday, and the 68 does not run on public holidays either, so in practice the new timetable starts working on Tuesday 1 September.

Nothing published mentions fares or tickets. Neither the service changes page nor the news release says anything about ticket prices, passes or acceptance changing when the 67 and 68 move from Pulhams to Thames Travel. If that matters to your journey, ask the operator rather than assuming.

If your bus goes into Oxford, a bigger change is coming a few weeks later. Botley Road is due to reopen on 20 September and Oxford’s traffic filters start on 28 September, which we set out in what the Botley Road reopening and traffic filters mean for Vale drivers. Our Abingdon roadworks and travel page tracks what is closed now, and the cost of getting to London from Abingdon covers the three nearest stations.

Frequently asked questions

When do the new Wantage to Faringdon bus timetables start?

Sunday 30 August 2026. Because the 67 and the 68 do not run on Sundays, and Monday 31 August is the summer bank holiday, the first ordinary weekday on the new timetables is Tuesday 1 September.

Does the 68 still stop at Sarajac Avenue in East Challow?

No, not from 30 August. Every 68 journey will run via Ickleton Road between Wantage and Letcombe Regis instead. The operator says the shorter route lets it use higher capacity vehicles. The 67 still calls at East Challow Green.

Is there a Sunday bus between Wantage and Faringdon?

No. Neither the 67 nor the 68 runs on Sundays or public holidays, and that does not change on 30 August.

Who runs the 67 and 68 now?

Thames Travel from 30 August, taking over from Pulhams. Both are part of the same group, Go Thames Valley. Nothing published mentions a change to fares or tickets.

Sources