The County Council have been trying to negotiate a temporary contract to run the 250 Bus Service to April 2023. They have encountered issues with this and have had to reduce the timetable temporarily in order to continue to run the service. A summary is detailed below, and a link to the revised timetables can be found HERE.
“As part of ongoing discussions with Diamond Bus, we have now agreed a revised timetable to be implemented on Tuesday 3rd January and which will be in place until Saturday 11th February 2023. The timetables are attached and the changes can be summarised as follows:
  • The additional short journeys between Heyford Park and Bicester are withdrawn, including on Sundays;
  • The off-peak and Saturday service is reduced to every two hours; and
  • The first journeys will be later and the last journeys will be earlier.
These changes are the result of problems recruiting and retaining driving staff for the operation given the national situation, uncertainty about the future of the Diamond operation in Bicester and also that some other local operators are offering significant sign-on bonuses for new drivers.
There will be no service on Sunday 1st or Monday 2nd January 2023, and no Sunday service until 12th February 2023″
At the time of writing the parish council does not know the outcome of further negotiations regarding the continuation of the 250 service after these dates. However, the county council remain positive about continuing the service until April 2023 with a new contractor.