Changes this weekend in Ventnor, Fareham and Christchurch

Xelabus X17 got a new timetable last Wednesday. It's down from two return journeys a week to just one, still on a Wednesday. It's extended to Eastleigh, but is only of use to anyone heading east towards Petersfield. Just 10 years ago, this route had 4 return journeys a day, 6 days a week. See the new timetable here.

Looking ahead to Friday 1st March, and we have a change of operator on route 31 in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. It transfers from Mark Tutty trading as Mini Bus Plus to Top Taxi. There is no change to the route or the timetable.

Sunday 3rd March sees changes to the following First routes in and around Fareham. Click the route numbers for timetables:

F2 Fareham-Highlands: Frequency halved from hourly to every 2 hours.
F3 Fareham-Portchester: Cut from six days a week to one. Now runs Wednesdays only.
10 Fareham-Gosport: Early evening service cut. Last journeys now depart before 1530.
11 Fareham-Alverstoke: Cut from 6 return journeys a day Mon-Sats to 4. Last journeys now depart before 1500.
20 Fareham-Wickham: Some weekday morning and early evening journeys cut. Saturday service halved to 4 return journeys instead of 8.
21 Fareham-Stubbington: Cut from 11 weekday journeys to 5/6 and from 5 Saturday journeys to 4.
27 Rowlands Castle-Emsworth: New timetable with some journeys cut.
28/28A Fareham-Whiteley: Early evening services cut. Saturday service slashed to 2/3 journeys.


Monday 4th March sees Southbourne C1 launch in Christchurch. Details of that can be found here.

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Austerity bites harder from Sunday

Hampshire County Council are wielding the subsidy axe on Sunday 17th February, meaning new, generally reduced, timetables on the following routes mainly in Winchester and Eastleigh... click the route numbers to see the new timetables:

Stagecoach E1/E2 Eastleigh-Winchester - Cuts to morning and mid-afternoon journeys. Last bus from Winchester now at 1715 weekdays and 1635 Saturdays.

Stagecoach 6A Winchester-Abbotts Barton - Cut from three days a week to two: Mondays and Thursdays.

Stagecoach 46 Winchester-North Baddesley - The mid-morning journey to Winchester and the mid-afternoon journey from Winchester are cut.

Stagecoach 63 Winchester-Owslebury - Cut from three days a week to two: Mondays and Thursdays.

Stagecoach 66 Winchester-Romsey - Minor changes.

Stagecoach 67 Winchester-Petersfield - Some weekday journeys are cut to run three days a week instead of every weekday.

Xelabus X4 Eastleigh-Hedge End - The 1845 Mon-Sat journey from Eastleigh is cancelled, meaning the last bus is now at 1715 weekdays and 1720 Saturdays. Revised Sunday timetable with 4 return journeys instead of 5.

Xelabus X6/X7 Eastleigh-Hiltingbury - Cut from a combined half-hourly to a combined hourly service Mon-Sat daytimes. Evening service cut, last bus from Eastleigh now at 1815 Mon-Sats. Sunday service cut from 8 to 4 journeys only as far as Velmore.

Xelabus X8 Eastleigh-Boyatt Wood - Evening service (currently Thurs-Sats) withdrawn. Sunday daytime service restored with 4 return journeys.

Xelabus X9 Eastleigh-Bishops Waltham - Sunday service between Eastleigh and Colden Common withdrawn.

Xelabus X10 Southampton-Bishops Waltham - Two additional weekday morning journeys to Southampton. Minor changes, despite what Traveline says. See the correct timetable in this booklet issued by Hampshire County Council.

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The slow and painful demise of the 46

There's a new timetable from Monday 4th Feb on Stagecoach 66 and 67 in Salisbury.

Elsewhere, Hampshire County Council cuts bite on 17th Feb. One of the routes affected is Stagecoach 46, which currently runs weekdays only between Winchester and North Baddesley.

Back in 2010 however, it ran 6 days a week and all the way to Southampton City Centre via the General Hospital and Shirley:

In October 2011, the route was curtailed to only run as far as the General Hospital and the Saturday service was withdrawn completely:

January 2012 brought a minor change, with some college services:

Come the summer of 2012 and the contract passed to Velvet (remember them?). The timetable was much as before:

By October, the contract was back with Stagecoach, although they weren't sure how long for:

It turns out they had it for good, the next change coming in January 2015. No longer running to the General Hospital, the southern terminus is now North Baddesley, with another cut to the number of journeys:

No much changed in August of the same year:

September 2016 sees some college services added again:

They disappear again in the current timetable, which started in September 2017:

From the present to the future... from 17th Feb 2019, we're down to three journeys a day from Winchester and just two towards the city:

Who says austerity's over?

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What's the 6A for anyway?

Amongst the bus services seeing a cut in subsidy from Hampshire County Council on 17th February is the Stagecoach 6A in Winchester. It drops from three days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) to two (Mondays and Thursdays).

On the days it runs, there are only two journeys anyway, with a gap of 67 minutes in the city centre before the last 6A runs back to Abbotts Barton. Useful for shopping maybe, but not much else. Note also how short the route appears to be...

The northernmost stop, Colley Close, is 1.5 miles from the bus station, which is about a 32 minute walk. This route must fill in some pretty big gaps in Stagecoach's commercial network to justify the council subsidy...

But no, Stagecoach's frequent Spring service runs along Worthy Road on its way to and from Springvale every 20 mins Mon-Sat daytimes and hourly evenings & Sundays. It's supplemented by the 67, which has between 4 and 6 journeys each way Mon-Sats although this is also being reduced in February.

So the point of the 6A seems to be to cater to people on the side roads off of Worthy Road who for whatever reason can't walk the short distance to Worthy Road to catch the Spring. As few of them are likely to be fare payers, I have a feeling more cuts will come to this route.

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Changes from Monday / Christchurch preview

This coming Monday, 28th January, sees new timetables on the following routes:

Bluestar 17 - Extra early morning and evening journeys

Salisbury Reds 26, 27, 29, 29A - Minor changes



Looking further ahead, Southbourne Buses launch their new C1 route in Christchurch on 4th March:

The route links the centre of Christchurch with Burton and Somerford, including Sainsbury's. Burton's only bus currently is More 24, which runs weekdays only, is rather infrequent and finishes by 3pm. Somerford's Hunt Road is currently only served by Yellow 1B, which has a bizarre 40-minute frequency on weekdays and no service at all on Saturdays.

This has more of a chance of being a success for Southbourne than the Ringwood incident.


Timetables for the services being reduced on 17th Feb due to Hampshire County Council/government cuts are now available on Traveline. More on those before they bite.

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Changes this week and cuts to come

A few changes were implemented at the start of this week...

In Weymouth, a new timetable with only minor changes started on Sunday on First 2. 

In Bournemouth & Poole, Yellow Buses have had some major changes to most routes since Sunday. New timetables: 1/1b, 1a, 2, 3, 4/4a, 5/5a, 6, 7, 8, 18, 33, 36, 737, N5.

New timetables started on Monday on More 13 and Unibus U3, while the X8A was rerouted in Blandford. 

In Portsmouth, First 6 and 12 have launched while there is a new timetable including a Sunday service on the 13/14.

From next Monday 14th Jan, we have new timetables on:

Stagecoach 38 (Petersfield-Alton)

Stagecoach 64 (Winchester-Alton)

Hampshire County Council are continuing with austerity as they slash bus subsidies in 2019. Cuts will happen on the following routes from 17th Feb: 

Stagecoach E1/E2 (Winchester-Eastleigh)

Stagecoach 6A (Winchester-Abbots Barton)

Stagecoach 46 (Winchester-North Baddesley)

Stagecoach 63 (Winchester-Owslebury)

Stagecoach 66 (Winchester-Romsey)

Stagecoach 67 (Winchester-Alresford)

Xelabus X4 (Eastleigh-Hedge End)

Xelabus X6/X7 (Eastleigh-Hiltingbury)

Xelabus X8 (Eastleigh-Boyatt Wood)

Xelabus X9 (Eastleigh-Bishops Waltham)

Xelabus X10 (Southampton-Bishops Waltham)

Xelabus X17 (Bishops Waltham-Petersfield)

...and from 3rd March on First Fareham routes F2, F3, 10, 20, 21, 27 and 28/28A.

Details of those as we get them, but it won't be pleasant.

See a summary of all upcoming service changes here.

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New Year's Day 2019 bus service levels

Looking for New Year's Eve? Click here.

See a summary of bus service levels throughout the festive season here.

Here's how our region's buses will be running on New Year's Day 2019:

Southampton & Eastleigh:

Bluestar: Special service on routes 1, 2, 4, 9, 12, 16, 17 and 18. No service on other routes.
First Southampton: No service.
Salisbury Reds: No service on routes X7/X7R.
Stagecoach: Full Sunday service.
Unilink: No service.
Xelabus: No service.

Special timetables:

Bournemouth & Poole:

Damory: No service.
First Wessex: No service.
More: Sunday service on routes 5, 6, 16, 17 and X3. Special service on routes M1, M2, 8, 9 and 13. No service on other routes.
Unibus: No service.
Yellow Buses: Special service on routes 1/1A, 2, 3, 4, 5/5A and 6 only. No service on other routes.

Special timetables:

Portsmouth, Fareham & Havant:

First Portsmouth: No service.
Stagecoach: Full Sunday service.

Winchester:

Bluestar: Special service on route 1.
Stagecoach: Full Sunday service.

Special timetable:

Salisbury:

Damory: No service.
First Bath D1: No service.
Salisbury Reds: Sunday service on route X3. On Activ8, only Stagecoach Sunday journeys will run. No service on other routes.
Stagecoach: Sunday service on Activ8.

Weymouth:

Damory: No service.
First Wessex: No service.

Isle of Wight:

Southern Vectis: Full Sunday service.




For the remainder of the week, Wednesday 2nd to Friday 4th January inclusive, normal service resumes except for on the following operators, which will have a Saturday service:

• First Southampton
• First Portsmouth
• First Bath D1
• Yellow Buses (except routes 1B, 18, 33, 36 and 737, which will have a weekday service)

See a summary of bus service levels throughout the festive season here.

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