Friday 31 May 2013

First publish new timetables

You can find them here.

We'll analyse them before they come into effect on 30th June. Major changes that haven't been previously mentioned are as follows:

Lordshill North left with no bus service apart from Stagecoach 46.

8A withdrawn between town and General Hospital and replaced by a rerouted 10 which will run on weekdays only.

16 comments:

  1. Having looked at all the changes, there's almost nothing there that's good news for the customers. In a nutshell, nearly all of the changes made with the network restructure last year have been reversed to go back to the network as it was beforehand, which strongly suggests that the changes simply didn't work. Cross-city routes (a headline of the network changes) have been split again, and buses have been re-routed to go via Ocean Village again.

    Regarding the 8A between City Centre and General Hospital, I didn't think that part of the route was council funded. Nowhere in their timetables does it say that this part of the route operates under contract to SCC, so I'm surprised that this is being stated as the reason for why the route is being cut.

    More generally however, I do think it's quite sad that First have quite clearly taken a step backwards in these changes and not only that, decided to focus their efforts even more into their feud with Bluestar. The extra buses gained from the curtailment of the 8A and the reduction in frequency of the 6 have been used on the new 2 to try and attack Bluestar further. As they say, business is business and all that but it's truly a shame that First have appeared to make these changes with the intention of upsetting their rivals over the intention of providing a reasonable service to their customers. It's also a shame that all of the hard work that went into last year's network restructuring has more or less been wasted, and the selling points that First had to justify the changes (e.g. the re=introduction of cross-city links; consecutive numbers along key corridors for simplicity etc) are now irrelevant. As for this set of changes, there doesn't really appear to be any selling points whatsoever.

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  2. I always find it strange that First do not make any reference at all to their other services in/around Hedge End in the 8/8a/8b timetable. That is to say the 26 which runs between Botley & Hedge End in the M-Sat DAYTIME as opposed to the 8b M-Sat eves. Plus of course their "A" on a Sunday that runs Hedge End - Eastleigh

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  3. This is an absolute joke. A year ago, they totally confused the public of Southampton, by revamping the whole network. It took an age for them to understand it, and get back to carrying the numbers of passengers that they should, and as soon as the public understand what they are doing, here they go again, making sweeping alterations. First seem to have no idea what they are doing to themselves, and the travelling public, and are playing straight into the hands of their competitors who tinker here and there, but leave their clients with a clear understanding of what they do, and where they go. Reading the changes, they seem to have been devised by an accountant, not a bus operator. I lost count of the number of times the writer used the term "in order to match resources". The public dont care about resources, or where the funding does or does not come from. They care about having familiar numbers, routes and frequency. This all seems to prove that First made such a hash of their first attempt to revamp Southampton, that they are having to try it all again. I really do pity the travelling public.

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  4. I thought the revamp of a year ago was a great effort to put things right but this is being to look a shambles. They are leaving themselves open to further inroads from Bluestar and maybe the independents will have a go at areas like Upper Shirley too.

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    1. Within a month of the changes they knew it wasn't working.
      I think this has just been put together so that they can start planning the network again.
      It seems the network planners don't have a clue as to what is needed. They just do what they please...

      They need to take on bored drivers suggestions etc, or kick out the planners at the moment, and bring in drivers who know what needs doing before its to late.

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  5. Hmm yet again First pull defeat out of any sort of victory. Revamping a network back to pretty much the old pre-revamp network is a sign of their usual poor management. I also am getting sick of First lowering frequencies/shortening routes to "match resources". It's rubbish and being done nationwide at the same time as in most places Stagecoach are increasing resources and frquencies. The sooner they lose all routes the better.

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  6. Tired Old Git has a very good point. These forthcoming changes do indeed leave First with some weak areas. As mentioned, with Upper Shirley, First have not just opened the door for competition, they've thrust it open and ripped it from the hinges. Bluestar wouldn't have to do much to make their way into that particular market. They could quite easily re-route their 4 from Romsey to go from Lordshill to City Centre via Lordshill Way and Hill Lane a la the old 5A, instead of Shirley, which already has plenty of buses and won't really miss out. On weekends Upper Shirley will have no buses at all from First, so it's anybody's for the taking. Bluestar must be rubbing their hands at First's self-sabotage.

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    1. Many passengers travel to stops between Shirley and Lordshill particularly along Romsey Road on BS4 - I cannot see BS rerouting the 4.

      Upper Shirley seems to be a marginal route which First can cut and hope to get council funding to reinstate

      Totally agree with other comments on First's strange planning

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    2. That may be but the part of Romsey Road that Bluestar serve uniquely only covers either 2 or 3 bus stops (I can't remember precisely how many). The rest is adequately served by First's 1. Upper Shirley might indeed be a marginal area (and certainly not high on First's list of priorities), but I do think there's some potential to be made, like at Taunton's College. I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to convert students from a one hourly service from First to a half hourly, equally direct one from another company, and in the process it would also attract students from Lordshill and North Baddesley. With a clever bit of marketing I reckon they could make quite a respectable return. Also, after these changes, the Sports Centre stops will only have an hourly off-peak S1, and these have often had their fair share of customers in both directions.

      Perhaps most importantly though, from Bluestar's perspective, it would be another big invasion into First's territory, and would be far less costly than their attack on Townhill Park. Given that the two companies both seem to have recently focused their efforts on attacking each other, this could be a big incentive for the boys in blue.

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  7. Match resources means not got much money to expand! Not got many spare drivers! Not got many spare vehicles! Businesses that contract inwards (ie shrink) are unfortunately on a sticky wicket. Maybe Bluestar can plug a few gaps but more than likely stick with their cash-cow the 18. Possibly Velvet can nip in & grab some ex-First cash in areas like Lordshill. Everyone knows that - stable network of routes & stable individual routes = happier passengers. High frequency routes = negligible waiting times = happier passengers. Happier passengers = ongoing business = PROFIT!!

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  8. Have to agree, First aka Last Bus or Worst Bus dunno wot they're doing! So now there's no alternative to No 1 side of L'hill aka No 2 at the mo! Eg no-one wants 2A L'hill as it takes ages, whereas they're curtailing 2 as far as Millbrook! 3 goes wrong side of L'hill for us, so leaves us with less options again!
    Re Millbrook, why the hell do same route as the 18? They cost more than Bluestar so apart from causing more traffic in area, wot's the point of this move?

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    1. Cost more? Let's see - if we concentrate on the BlueStar 18 route as a guide BlueStar's costs £3.50 and First £3.20. So who's cheaper now?

      I know there is a difference in the zones as BlueStar's includes all the city zone which is equivalent to First's £4.20 ticket, but that will also get you to Hedge End which would cost £5.50 on BlueStar.....

      I must say I am disappointed by quite a few of the changes, especially with Upper Shirley losing out, but then again the 10 always seemed quite quiet there. I don't think that area really recovered after the old 5 was hacked back from every 20 min (then 30 mins) a few years ago.

      I agree with "anonymous1 June 2013 23:50"
      when they write Everyone knows that - stable network of routes & stable individual routes = happier passengers. High frequency routes = negligible waiting times = happier passengers. Happier passengers = ongoing business = PROFIT!!

      I'd love for First to have a ticket like the Reading Buses '4go together' - unlimited travel for 4 people after 7pm, weekends, public and school holidays for a fiver! That would attract more people on the buses!

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    2. Re fares, I was referring 2 workmates who used 2 do firstbus, but changed 2 bluestar 18. They've said the 'key' is cheaper. I buy annual first pass, as bluestar r no good re L'hill area esp as I start work in town @ 7am incl Sat!

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  9. So many wise words - why don't First employ us to plan their network !

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  10. I don't mean to be rude. Just a correction if you don't mind. First Milbrook weekly = £8.50 therefore cheaper than Blue Line.

    I hope Mark Reddy ditches these silly changes as soon as possible. If Empress Rd is not making enough money? with the current network nor they will make after the proposed changes.

    IMO the current network was fine. What they could have done was to be more innovative with the tickets and fare systems. The new ticket machines have not been yet used to their full potential for ex. smart cards, touch-less payments.

    Also at the very least they should match the £11 week rider offered by Blue Line in their Soton Zone.

    The management should take responsibility for their territory and reassure the passengers, subliminally, that First is The bus company in Soton and ( sorry for cliché ) that First will not be beaten in price, network coverage or frequency by any other "foreign" operator. Well except from Northam, Bitterne and Bursledon Rd and parts of Thornill places where First seems to have accepted defeat.

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  11. I see Bitterne will only be served by Bluestar 18,after 7pm, on sun/bank hols.

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