Minilink Closes / City Red 9 Reprieve / Sandbanks Ferry Shut for 6 Weeks

 

Southampton Minilink has closed down permanently, with both of their remaining services, the 13A City Centre-Harefield and C Eastleigh-Hiltingbury withdrawn. There are now no buses between Eastleigh and Chandlers Ford/Hiltingbury.

First City Red 9 has a reprieve. It was slated to be axed completely from tomorrow, but now the city council will subsidise it for three months. What happens after that is anyone's guess, but it means that from Monday the 9 will still run with a new timetable, albeit via Peartree instead of Merry Oak, which gets the rerouted 13. Other changes on City Red, mentioned in our previous post, also kicked in today.

Xelabus have a minor timetable change to the X4 Velmore-Hedge End from tomorrow, but the new timetable does not currently appear on their website. It does appear on Traveline (screenshots below) and comparing it with the current timetable I can see that:

• The 1645 from Hedge End to Velmore will now leave 15 minutes later at 1700 Mon-Sats.
• The 1810 from Eastleigh to Hedge End will now leave 10 minutes later at 1820 Mon-Sats and will run direct via Southampton Road, no longer serving Barton Peveril College.

Fares rise on Bluestar from tomorrow, 31st October. Also, their The Key smartcard is to be gradually phased out. It is already the case that the best value tickets are only available via their app.

Fares also rise at Southern Vectis on the Isle of Wight, where The Key is also being wound down. Use their app to get the best value.

Sandbanks Ferry will be closed for up to six weeks from tomorrow, 31st October, meaning changes to More Purbeck Breezer 50, which will be split into two routes for the duration of the closure:

• 51: Bournemouth to Sandbanks
• X50: Bournemouth to Studland via Poole & Swanage, running non-stop from Westbourne to Poole and Poole to Swanage.

South West Coaches X3 between Blandford Forum and Shaftesbury is withdrawn from 30th December.

In Winchester, Stagecoach have announced that they won't be running the 63 Owslebury service or the 240 Alresford-Ropley service after 18th November. They say to check Hampshire County Council's website for details of who will take over those services - it currently has no details of any change, so it's not clear whether anyone will be taking them on.

In Portsmouth, changes are coming from 4th December on First Solent 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 18, and from 8th January on Fareham routes 28/28A.

Minilink & City Red changes / Peartree to be cut off

Minilink 14 has now been withdrawn, leaving Chartwell Green with First City Red 8. The 13A remains weekends only until 30th October, after which it is still scheduled to become a daily service. The C in Eastleigh will be withdrawn on Friday 25th November.

First City Red have confirmed changes to and new timetables on much of their network from Sunday 30th October. The main changes are:

• 2A: New route running weekday mornings only from Weston through to the General Hospital.
• 3: Weekday daytime frequency increased from every 12 to every 10 minutes. Sunday daytime frequency cut from every 15 to every 20 minutes.
• 7: Weekday daytime frequency reduced from every 12 to every 15 minutes.
• 8: Extended to the General Hospital using the same route as the 3.
• 9: Withdrawn. Sholing still has a more direct service to the City Centre on Bluestar 7. Merry Oak gets a rerouted 13.
• 13: Weekday frequency cut to hourly. Diverted to serve Merry Oak instead of Peartree, leaving Peartree with no public transport.

Their new route map gives confirmation of the 8 mirroring the 3's route between the City Centre and General Hospital, and the changes to the 13 east of the Itchen:

Round up 26th Sep

 

Southampton Minilink 14 is withdrawn from 28th October, when the weekend-only 13A will go 7 days a week. Chartwell Green's loss is Harefield's gain. 

Minor changes from 16th October on First Solent routes 7, 8, X4, X5, F1 and F2. The F3 is withdrawn.

On 9th November there will be changes to routes 1 and 9/9A. More details as we get them.

First Wessex have some changes from 9th October on routes 3, 4, 8, X51 and X53. the biggest change is the loss of evening and Sunday services on the 4 and 8.

Southern Vectis have released details of minor changes to most of their routes from 2nd October.

Sunday service on Monday / Other changes on the way

All operators will be running a Sunday service this coming Bank Holiday Monday 19th September, for the Queen's funeral. Go South Coast will also be pausing services across all their brands (Bluestar, More, Salisbury Reds, Southern Vectis, Unilink and Unibus) between 10am and 1pm so that their drivers have a chance to watch the funeral.

Other changes on the way:

First City Red 7 got a new timetable last Sunday to try and address reliability issues, partly caused by roadworks in St Denys.

First City Red 8 extends to the General Hospital from 30th October. We'll find out how often as soon as the timetable is released. On the same day, the 9 is withdrawn, surrendering most of Sholing to Bluestar 7, and there are new timetables on routes 3 and 13, which is rumoured to be dumping Peartree for Merry Oak.

Unilink has new timetables on all routes and a slight route change on the U2B in Glen Eyre from Sunday 25th September.

More introduce changes to many routes from Monday 19th September. Route 11 is withdrawn and replaced by a diverted X6.

First Wessex has new timetables from 18th September on routes 1, 2, 10 and X54. The X52 is withdrawn for the winter. Changes also on the 8, X51 and X53 from 9th October.

First Solent have changes to routes F1, F2, X4, X5, 7 and 8 from 16th October. The F3 is withdrawn.

Southern Vectis have registered changes to most services from 2nd October. Details on those as we get them.

Changes on the way / Stagecoach increase fares / Xelacuts bite

More fairly minor timetable changes to several routes from Sunday 4th September on:

• Bluestar
• Salisbury Reds
• Xelabus X4, X9, X10 (X4 extends to Velmore, X9 and X10 are to cut to every 2 hours weekdays)

First Solent have a new timetable on routes F1 and F2 from Monday 17th October. They had been slated for the axe but have been saved by a funding reprieve.

Stagecoach fares will rise from Thursday 1st September. The adult Dayrider Gold remains £9.10, Winchester Dayrider rises 20p to £4.90 and the Portsmouth Dayrider goes up 30p to £4.70.

Xelabus X17 runs this Wednesday 31st August for the final time, leaving Bishops Waltham with no bus service towards Petersfield for the first time in decades. The X8 runs for the last time this Sunday, after which Boyatt Wood will now be a bus-free zone on Sundays and bank holidays. The X6/X7 run for the final time on Saturday 3rd September.

From Monday 5th September, Southampton Minilink launch the C between Eastleigh and Chandlers Ford, partly replacing the X6/X7. Velmore is spoilt for choice, also being served by an extension of Xelabus X4. Hiltingbury is left with no bus link to Eastleigh.

First Wessex have registered changes from 9th October on their routes 3, 4, X51, X52 and X53. Not yet clear what they are, but we'll bring you more as we get it.

Changes from 4th Sep / Unilink fares up / Xelabus buy Yellow Coaches

Timetable changes (generally minor) are on the way from Sunday 4th September on:

• First City Red 8
• First Solent 2 and 7
• Stagecoach Portsmouth/Havant 20, 37 and 38
• Stagecoach Winchester all services

In Southampton, Unilink fares went up this Thursday just gone. Full details here. The adult single flat fare is now £2.50 (up 20p) and the Southampton Dayrider, which is also valid on Bluestar is also up 20p to £4.00, although if you buy it on a Bluestar bus or the Bluestar app, it is still currently £3.80.

Over in Bournemouth, things seem to be settling down with More running almost all of the routes abandoned by the collapse of Yellow Buses. The exception is routes 18, 33 and 36, subsidised by BCP Council, which last Monday transferred to Yellow Coaches, which is now a subsidiary of Eastleigh's own Xelabus.

Last Day of Yellow Buses Today / More to Replace Routes from Saturday

Today, Thursday 4th August 2022, is the last day of Yellow Buses running on the streets of Bournemouth, ending 120 years of history.

There's no mention on Yellow's website yet. Maybe their staff are busy applying for other jobs. The Bournemouth Echo confirms the situation.

Tomorrow, Friday 5th August, will see no service on any Yellow routes.

From Saturday 6th August, More step in with an emergency timetable of replacement routes covering most of the Yellow network.

Here's the Yellow network as it stands on their final day:

... and here are the replacement routes that More will be running from Saturday:

More (no pun intended) as we get it.

Thursday afternoon:

Friday morning:

Saturday afternoon:

Yellow service cuts

 Yellow Buses, in administration, have announced a cut to services across their network.

Withdrawn from tomorrow, Wednesday 3rd August:

• 6h
• 727
• Buster's New Forest Explorer

Cut to a Saturday service six days a week:

• 1/1a/1b
• 2
• 3x (and what remains of the 3)
• 4
• 5/5a
• 6

Route curtailed:

• Buster's Beach Bus, running between Alum Chine and Hengistbury Head only

Normal service continues:

• 18
• 33
• 36
• 737

Drivers may be being tempted away by Go Ahead's More offering a staggered £2000 golden hello for experienced drivers signing up with them. 

Yellow Buses' future is far from certain. We should hear in the next week and a half whether or not an undisclosed nationally known operator is going to step in to save them from collapse.