Blenheim Palace launch free shuttle service with Oxford Bus Company

The service makes it more convenient for people travelling by train to reach Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. It forms part of a major drive by Blenheim Palace to provide sustainable transport solutions as part of its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2027.

Visitors arriving at Hanborough rail station can take a free shuttle bus at weekends every 30 minutes. The service operates between 9.10am and 5.40pm on Saturday and Sunday to coincide with GWR train arrival and departure times.

Phil Southall, Oxford Bus Company Managing Director said: “We are pleased to be working with Blenheim Palace as a travel partner to provide a shuttle bus service from Hanborough station that will help visitors access the Palace by more sustainable means. We applaud Blenheim for this initiative, and we have liveried the bus up to make it a visible advert for the service and to allow customers to find the service easily.”

Dominic Hare, Blenheim Palace CEO, said: “Our goal is to encourage more of our visitors to make their journey to us easier, cheaper and greener with a series of new incentives and additional infrastructure.

“We want to be able to offer people viable low carbon travel alternatives and this new bus service is a vital link in the public transport chain allowing visitors to complete their journey to us in a hassle-free way.” 

Oxford Bus Company’s fleet consists of around 120 vehicles, of which more than half are electric-hybrid buses, the lowest emission bus fleet of its size in the UK. In 2020 Oxford Bus Company introduced the first electric bus to Oxford via its City Sightseeing Oxford fleet. It now has three retrofitted electric vehicles in its fleet, which were delivered in partnership with Oxford City Council. The electric buses are charged at the Cowley depot, via its depot energy circuit, which also includes solar panels.