New days out are made possible by two new Sunday services that combine to run between Romsey and Andover.
Stagecoach 77 will run between Andover and Stockbridge, with a free bus provided by the
Three Rivers Community Rail Partnership adding the link to Romsey.
Full details here. They will both run on Sundays and Bank Holidays from 6th May until 23rd September. Attractions the new services make accessible include
Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, the
Museum of Army Flying at Middle Wallop and
Danebury Hill Fort.
More have
new timetables on most of their routes from 27th May. Also, routes
R4/R5 are absorbed into an expanded route
14.
Unibus U5 is withdrawn from 26th May.
Xelabus X15, also branded as Shopper Connect, has a
new timetable from 14th May. Unfortunately it's being cut from six to two journeys each way on weekdays only.
First 265 between Salisbury and Bath
has been rebranded as of today as the D1, part of
First's new Discover sub-network centred on Bath.
Point of detail - the 'new' Sunday service ran last year as well. The Romsey - Stockbridge section has been around for a few summers now, but Stagecoach's 77 only started last year (I think). Nice to see them back.
ReplyDeleteI think the 77 only did andover-middle wallop in 2017
DeleteSad person that I am, I still have last year's timetable and the 77 definitely made it to Stockbridge (via Middle Wallop).
DeleteDoes anyone have more info on the planned changes to First Southampton routes from the 13th of May?
ReplyDeleteFirst themselves do: https://www.firstgroup.com/southampton/news-and-service-updates/news/updates-our-southampton-network
DeleteThey're rebranding all their routes to City Red, which is an interesting move. The timetable changes are mostly minor peak time ones, it seems.
Well no surprise here,as for weeks now all the Southampton services have mainly been operated by Red buses and very rare to note a standard livery bus on any route-it would seem in branding City Red as frequent services along certain corridors,yet another change of policy isabout to happen
DeleteThought that the move to Cityred was to highlight frequent services,i wouldn`t call the 13 frequent with hourly intervals at times on weekdays.
DeleteExactly-First Southampton seems to be turning into a joke-What the ordinary day to day customers make of it,I just don't know-Maybe at the next change after the May one,someone will decide change the colour of the buses-As mad as this may seem you just don't know-For such a large organisation it seems to operate in a very bizaire way locally-Heaven knows what the staff make of it all.
DeleteIf First is removing all First branding, might this mean CityRed is up for sale? A new owner could take over without the oost of re-branding the fleet. Just a thought.
DeleteJeez you lot! It makes sense to use the City Reds buses across the network if there are enough of them. First are probably just using the surplus buses from when the 2 was reduced.
DeleteHaving one local brand is just like what has been done in Somerset and Cornwall. And is being done in Leeds. So there's most likely nothing more to it.
Anyone remember when Solent Blue Line started the Bluestar 1 as a prestige route - now it's all Bluestar. It's just a rather clever marketing trick when the company has a poor reputation to change the image. If it's coupled with an improvement in service it is quite sucessful. Sadly the frequent route changes has not helped on First.
DeleteIndeed,the continual route changes over the past ffew years,have caused I suspect a great loss in passengers,who by now in many cases made their own arrangements for travel.
DeleteResponding to Anonymous 19.53 yesterday, from what I've seen elsewhere the First local brands have included the location eg First Kernow in Cornwall. On reflection, it's quite a clever move by First as they can either operate as a sub-brand as you suggest, or if they do sell, move the fleet out and re-use elsewhere, including some elements of the local branding. As far as I could see today, the only mention of Southampton is in the web address at the bottom of the rear panel.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it so difficult at times to get through to the Xelabus website for information-Also some information on others is so outdated that it should have been removed moons ago.
ReplyDelete