Bluestar conquers New Forest / Nightbus network changes

Bluestar have announced more changes to their services as from 27th February, in addition to those mentioned in the post below:
W&D 56/56A (City Centre-Lymington) are withdrawn and replaced by Bluestar 6, which will always run to the old 56A route, giving a greatly improved service to Rushington and Foxhills. This leaves W&D with only the X7 to/from Salisbury still running into Southampton.
8 (City Centre-Hythe): New timetable.
10/11 (City Centre-Cadnam): New timetable.
12 (City Centre-Calmore): New timetable.
18 (Millbrook-Thornhill): New timetable with an increased Mon-Sat daytime frequency of 7/8 minutes. That's 8 buses an hour, up from the current 6.
N3 (Leisure World-Hedge End) replaces the current N6 and is rerouted to serve Bitterne Park and Oaklands.
N9 (London Road-Waterside): Route & timetable change.
N12 (London Road-West Totton): Route & timetable change.
N16 (London Road-Netley): Route & timetable change.
N18 (London Road-Sholing): Route & timetable change. Extended to Sholing.
N19 (London Road-Lordshill): Route & timetable change.

The new timetables are available here.

Velvet S2 (City Centre-Millbrook Tesco/Shirley) is rerouted to serve the new Adelaide Health Centre near Millbrook Tesco, also from 27th February.

Oh, and First have jacked their fares up yet again.

More First cuts / Night bus changes / Woolston & Coxford diversions

More details on the forthcoming changes on First routes:
From 23rd January:
26 (Hamble-Fareham) will no longer serve Netley or Butlocks Heath on journeys towards Hamble, however they will still be served on journeys from Hamble.
80 (City Centre-Fareham) has some early evening service cuts and timetable changes on Saturdays.
From 30th January:
3 (City Centre-Townhill Park) and 11A/11C/12A/12C (City Centre-Sholing) have some minor changes to early morning journeys. These are in addition to the changes detailed in the post below. The new timetables are available on First's website.

Bluestar 1 (City Centre-Winchester) and 2 (City Centre-Fair Oak) have timetable changes on 28th February. Night buses on the N1 will divert to serve Badger Farm in Winchester.

On 4th March, Bluestar 4 (City Centre-Romsey) gets a new timetable. On the same day, most of Bluestar's night network is revised with London Road becoming the start of most routes, instead of Leisure World. N6 will be diverted to additionally serve Bitterne Park and Oaklands. More details to follow.

Itchen Bridge will be closed on several evenings over the next few weeks, meaning diversions to all buses via Woolston. Details here.

There are diversions in Coxford to First 8 (Lordshill-Townhill Park) due to roadworks on Coxford Drove for the next couple of weeks.

First evening cuts, Sholing bucks trend / Dorset Sprinter dead

We start with confirmation that 31st December 2010 will the last day of operation on Dorset Sprinter X5 (City Centre-Ringwood). The way the government is going round cutting all they can, I fear this won't be the first example of a major town being cut off from Southampton's bus network.

First have two waves of timetable changes in January, starting on the 23rd with changes to the 80 (City Centre-Fareham), of which details are still to be released. The second wave, on 30th January 2011, affects the following routes:
1 (City Centre-Weston): Mon-Sat evening service cut to hourly after 2100. Last bus from town will be 30 mins earlier than now at 2317.
3 (City Centre-Townhill Park): Sunday evening services cut, with the last bus from town now at 2040 (previously 2240).
4 (City Centre-Totton): Mon-Sat peak and evening services cut, with last bus from town now at 1740 weekdays and 1735 Saturdays.
7 (City Centre-Bassett Green): Saturday last bus from town now an hour earlier at 2210. Sunday evening services withdrawn, last bus now at 1805 (was 2310). Not a big disaster as Bluestar 2 and Unilink U1 & U6 serve most of this route.
11A/12C (City Centre-Sholing): More evening buses via Bitterne, last one leaving town at 2245 every day (was 1945).
17A (City Centre-Lordshill): Mon-Sat evening service cut to hourly after 2100, with the last bus leaving town at 2301 (was 2331).

Don't forget the green panel on the right is your at-a-glance comprehensive guide to all Christmas and New Year bus services across all operators in the region. Merry Christmas!

Snow chaos

It's madness out there. The weather means that bus schedules are almost being rewritten every hour at the moment, so before travelling check with the operator's website or Facebook page, just to be sure that your bus will be running. Links are in the red panel on the right, below the green service changes panel.

Ringwood cut off / Xmas plans

It looks like Dorset Sprinter X5 (City Centre-Ringwood) will cease running after 31st December. It is not yet clear whether there will be any replacement, but we'd suggest that one is unlikely. It's obviously not making money as a commercial service and the county council are looking to cut their transport subsidies. Soon, the only way to get to Ringwood without a car could well be either National Express or by getting a train to Bournemouth and then a bus from there.

Bluestar and Unilink have revealed their xmas plans. I'll compile details from them and all other bus companies as I get them, in the panel on the right.

Above Bar diversions / Velvet Christmas

The top bit of Above Bar Street will be closed in both directions between Civic Centre Road and Cumberland Place this Friday and Saturday evenings after 1800, so all buses that use that section will be diverted. First explain their plans for Portswood and Shirley-bound services here.

Velvet have made their Christmas and New Year plans already. Highlights are a Saturday service on Bank Holiday Tuesday 28th December and a Sunday service on New Year's Day 1st January.

First 17 to Adanac / Free buses in Eastleigh

From 14th November, First 17 (City Centre-Lordshill) will divert to serve the Ordnance Survey's new offices at Adanac Park. There seems to be some confusion over whether the diverted journeys will be numbered 17 or 17B. First's website has timetables featuring both versions.

Eastleigh gets some free shoppers' buses from 22nd November. They will run on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays until 31st December only and offer three routes with an hourly service between 0900 and 1600:
X1 Tesco Eastleigh-Bus Station-Bishopstoke
X2 Tesco Eastleigh-Bus Station-Allbrook-Boyatt Wood
X3 Tesco Eastleigh-Bus Station-North Stoneham
The exact routes to be taken aren't detailed, so there's an element of mystery as to which roads will actually be served.

Bluestar timetable changes

Don't forget First's timetable changes mentioned in the previous post come into force on Sunday.

A week later, on 31st October, Bluestar make a few minor timing changes to routes 1 (City Centre-Winchester), 2 (City Centre-Fair Oak) and 4 (City Centre-Romsey). The main change is that the 1 now has a later departure from town to Winchester at 2350 Mondays to Saturdays.