For the 1985 Summer Season, starting in April 1985, Midland Red (West) Limited Service 191 between Worcester, Evesham and Oxford was renumbered to “Midland Express†Service X53. Throughout the Summer Season, the timetable was similar to the old Service 191, with two return journeys operated over the whole route each day of the week. One of these ran via Fladbury and Charlton between Pershore and Evesham, Monday to Saturday, and the other ran direct, while on Sunday both return journeys ran the direct route.
The Summer Season ended on Sunday 29th September 1985, and at this time the Sunday operation was withdrawn, but the timetable of Monday to Saturday remained unchanged. Service X53 was withdrawn after the end of operations on Saturday 31st May 1986, in preparation for deregulation.