The Oxford Tube is a bus service that shuttles people between Oxford and London taking approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. I have now taken the bus over 250 times which is approximately 375 hours or a fortnight of my life.

In this time spent on the bus, I have discovered some tips and tricks that make the journey ever so slightly more bearable. I shall share them so that others can optimise their experience. Enjoy!

1. Avoid sitting on the lower deck of the bus in winter, cold air blasts in whilst others get on at various stops making you cold or waking you from your slumber.
2. Good luck trying to get the seats at the very front of the top deck, they are always full.
3. The wireless phone chargers rarely work, bring a cable to plug into the USB port in front of your seat (or in the wall if you have no seat next to you).
4. The onboard WiFi rarely works or is very low quality, do not rely on it for doing work or streaming videos.
5. The bike rack onboard does not fit large bikes, either drop the seat or get a foldable bike.
6. Bring a neck pillow for sleeping. I never did this and now have terrible posture and neck pain.
7. Hot food is generally not allowed onboard. If you buy a late-night Maccies, try and finish it before you get on. The drivers have an incredible sense of smell.
8. Check the traffic in London, getting off the bus at Hillingdon or Shepherds Bush and getting the Underground could save you time (especially around Hyde Park).
9. The app allows you to track the buses so you know exactly where they are, this can be helpful when invariably the bus schedule falls apart.
10. Train strikes cause chaos. Always go to Gloucester Green or Victoria to get on the bus during a train strike. Often people will be stranded at St Clements or Oxford Brookes for hours as the buses will be full.
11. The 4-person tables in the lower deck are a weird height, do not expect to work comfortably on a laptop using them.
12. In the whole fleet of buses, there is one old bus. It has no working chargers but the seats are a lot more comfortable.
13. White City is a risky stop, sometimes the drivers won’t stop there for no apparent reason (even if you press the stop button). Do not rely on it.

Safe travels!!