S5 (Oxford - Bicester)

Route S5 is a bus route in England that links Bicester, Gosford and Oxford. The service is run by Stagecoach in Oxfordshire.

History
Prior to the creation of the 'S' Series, route S5 was formerly four different routes between Oxford, Bicester and the surrounding villages of Bicester. Route 27 was the primary route between Bicester and Oxford with route 27A starting in the village of Launton, 27B starting in Langford and 27C starting in Arncott. These were remembered from 27,28, & 29 respectfully, these were run with primarily Volvo B10s used until a need for capacity upgrade in the mid 2000s, when we started seeing Volvo Olympian buses. Route S5 was formed in 2009 with up to four buses per-hour, with each service running to one of the former 27 routes.

Route S5 was upgraded to Stagecoach Gold status in January 2012 with an official launch party taking place in Bicester to launch the new buses.

Route
Route S5 runs between Bicester and Oxford, with most services starting and ending in either Langford, Launton or Arncott - all of which are villages around Bicester.

Services on the Langford branch starts on the main road in the village where it continues until the junction with the A4421. From there services make their way into Bicester via Launton Road, Boston Road, Sunderland Drive and Churchill Road, before arriving in Bicester Town Centre, passing Bicester North railway station on the way.

Services on the Launton branch start on Blenheim Drive before heading along Station Road and Bicester Road into Bicester. From here, services follow the same route as services on the Langford branch.

Services on the Arncott branch start on Arncott Wood Road before joining Murcott Road and heading into Upper Arncott. Services continue up the main road until the roundabout with Ploughley Road and Palmer Avenue. Services then turn right on to Palmer Avenue, heading towards HMP Bullingdon. Once at HMP Bullingdon, services turn around heading back towards the Ploughley Road roundabout. From here services turn on to Ploughley Road into Lower Arncott and Ambrosden, heading into Bicester via the A41 and London Road. Services then continue on to Bicester Town Centre, passing Bicester Village railway station.

From Bicester Town Centre, all services head towards Queens Avenue and leave Bicester via Oxford Road, passing Bicester Village along the way. Services then join the A34 heading towards Oxford. Services leave the A34 at Gosford, heading through the village until the Oxford Road roundabout. Services then head into Oxford via Oxford Road and Banbury Road before reaching its terminus on Magdalen Street East.

Service
Route S5 runs up to every 15 minutes between Bicester and Oxford with services running up to every hour between Langford & Bicester, Launton & Bicester and Arncott & Bicester Monday to Saturday. Some journeys to/from Arncott do not serve HMP Bullingdon and operate directly to Bicester. The late evening service runs up to every 30 minutes, with all services starting and ending in Bicester Town Centre.

The NS5 night service runs Monday to Saturday with one service operating from Oxford to Bicester Monday to Thursday. On Friday and Saturday evenings, there are two services to Oxford from Bicester, with one service starting at Arncott and the other at Glory Farm. From Oxford to Bicester, the NS5 service runs every 60 minutes until 03:10.

The Sunday S5 services runs every 30 minutes throughout the day with all services starting and finishing at Glory Farm, with the exception of two that start and finish in Arncott. The evening Sunday service operates hourly with all services starting and terminating at Glory Farm.