Overview of all changes this weekend

This weekend is the last of three weekends in which there are major changes to our region's bus services. Here's a full list of what's happening this weekend:

Stagecoach 32/33 Romsey circular

From Monday, services will start later and finish earlier than before (operating approx. 0930-1630, previously 0835-1720). Reduced from 3 to 2 buses an hour, but sections of route stay with 3 buses an hour due to integrated timetable with route 66. New timetable.

Stagecoach 46 General Hospital-Winchester

From Monday, the route cut back to only run between General Hospital and Winchester. Saturday service completely withdrawn. Weekday service towards Winchester cut from 7 to 5 journeys a day, with some timings changed by an hour. Service towards General Hospital is less changed. Chilworth Village and Nursling cut off from public transport completely. New timetable.

Stagecoach 66 Romsey-Winchester

From Monday there are minor timing changes. The late evening journeys on Friday and Saturday evenings are withdrawn without replacement. New timetable.

Stagecoach 69 Winchester-Fareham

No buses this Sunday as the Sunday service is withdrawn, making Bishops Waltham a bus-free zone on Sundays and cutting Marwell Zoo off from public transport entirely. From Monday there are some timing changes Mon-Sats. New timetable.

There are big changes also to Winchester's local routes, including heavy cuts to evening services. Winchester's just outside our patch, so I won't go in to details, but if you want to find out more click here.

There has been some interesting feedback on Bluestar and W&D's Facebook pages regarding other recent changes. Here's a selection:

First cut is the deepest: December change details

First have already revealed the new timetables of those routes that are changing in December. My earlier assumption that it may have been extra xmas shoppers' services was wrong. Here's what's really happening as of Sunday 4th December:

1 City Centre-Weston

The last bus of the day from town at 2317 Mon-Sats currently extends to Hamble. It will continue to do this on Fridays and Saturdays only. Sunday to Thursday it will terminate at Weston.

3 City Centre-Townhill Park

Some weekday early morning journeys are retimed.

4 City Centre-Totton

Extended to Totton College on Mon-Sats. Most times are changed. Sundays unaffected.

5 City Centre-Lordshill North

Major cuts. The 5 will only continue to run between the city centre and Aldermoor (Woodman). The weekday daytime off-peak frequency is being cut from half-hourly to hourly. To make it worse, the first bus of the day will be later and the last bus earlier than they currently are. Bakers Drove will now be unserved by First. A couple of morning 21s that currently start from Lordshill will start back from Buchanan Road, but this is still a huge net reduction in buses serving Lordshill North - weekday daytime frequency is down from 3 to 1 bus an hour.

7 City Centre-Bassett Green

The Saturday daytime frequency is being cut from every 20 to every 30 minutes.

11 City Centre-Sholing

The weekday daytime frequency is cut from every 10 to every 12 mins. The Saturday daytime frequency is slashed from every 12 to every 15 mins.

16 Southampton-Hamble

Some evening services are cut. The last bus from town Mon-Wed will be at 2032. The buses at 2132 and 2232 will only run Thurs-Sat and the extended 1 at 2317 will only run through to Hamble on Fridays and Saturdays. The Sunday evening service is slashed, with the last bus leaving town at 1930.

21 RSH Hospital-Lordshill North

With the partial chopping of the 5, Lordshill North is at the mercy of the 21, so those morning journeys that don't currently start from Lordshill North, will do in future. This is a huge drop in overall service to Lordshill North, not helped by the fact that the 21 takes 53 minutes to get to town, compared with just 36 mins on the 5.

No new timetable has been published for the 80, so there might not be any significant changes to that route. We'll keep an eye out anyway.

Overview of all changes this weekend

One weekend of big changes is out of the way, two are still to go. Here is a comprehensive list of all changes to our region's bus services that take effect this weekend:

Bluestar E1/E2 Eastleigh-Winchester

New timetable from Monday with drastic cuts. The combined Mon-Sat daytime frequency is halved to hourly. The E1 will now also run via Stanmore and County Hospital. Some additional journeys will be provided between Eastleigh and Boyatt Wood providing a half-hourly service on that section of route at limited times only (towards Eastleigh in the morning and from Eastleigh in the early afternoon). The Sunday Velvet E2 service has already been withdrawn and the evening Velvet E8 only now runs on Thursday to Saturday evenings.

Bluestar E3 Eastleigh-Winchester

Withdrawn after the last bus on Saturday. Badger Farm loses its direct link to Eastleigh.

Bluestar F Eastleigh-Bishops Waltham

Withdrawn after the last bus on Saturday with no replacement. Most of the route is duplicated by other services. Stoke Common will be cut off from public transport.

Bluestar H1/H2 Hythe circular

New timetable from Monday. These already infrequent services will start later and end earlier than they currently do. The Saturday service is completely withdrawn.

Bluestar H3 Hythe-Calshot

New timetable from Monday. Heather Road in Blackfield is being cut off. The weekday service will be reduced and the Saturday service will be cut entirely.

Bluestar P1 City Centre-Glen Eyre

New service from Monday, partially replacing the withdrawn 14. The first journey from town will be an hour later than it currently is on the 14. Journeys to town are unchanged apart from the fact that they no longer serve Bitterne, Chartwell Green, Mansbridge or Swaythling. Timetable

W&D X1/X2 Lymington-Bournemouth

New timetable from Sunday with minor changes.

W&D X7 Southampton-Salisbury

New timetable from Sunday with some early morning and evening services cut. The Sunday X71 is replaced by the X7 running to the same route as during the week, isolating Cadnam.

Bluestar 1 Southampton-Winchester

New timetable from Sunday with only minor changes.

Bluestar 5 Eastleigh-Romsey

New service from Monday replacing W&D 65 and 34. One early morning and one evening journey are cut. Timetable

Bluestar 6 Southampton-Lymington

New timetable from Sunday. This route will still run every half an hour (Mon-Sat daytimes) between the city centre and Rushington (Cocklydown Lane) only. One bus an hour will continue beyond there to Lymington. The two-hourly Sunday service is unchanged.

Bluestar 8 Southampton-Hythe

New timetable from Sunday with the total loss of Sunday services, leaving Marchwood without Sunday buses for the first time in decades. Route change in Hythe, with some journeys running in a loop from Applemore via Hythe town centre and the hospital instead of serving the hospital twice per return journey.

Bluestar 9 Southampton-Waterside

New timetable from Sunday. Evening services will no longer serve Marchwood, instead running direct via the by-pass. Heather Road in Blackfield is cut off, with its former services going to Langley instead. Curiously, the N9 night bus on Friday and Saturday nights will still serve Marchwood.

Bluestar 10/11 Southampton-Cadnam

New timetable from Monday. The half-hourly frequency is maintained between the city centre and West Totton. One bus an hour will then continue to Cadnam, via either the 10 or 11 route, meaning each section of this part of the route will only have a 2-hour frequency.

Bluestar 12 Southampton-Calmore

New timetable with cuts to some Sunday evening services.

Bluestar 14 City Centre-Bitterne

This service is withdrawn after the last bus on Saturday. Its replacement, the P1, starts on Monday running between the city centre and Glen Eyre only.

Bluestar 18 Millbrook-Hightown

New timetable from Sunday & route change in the city centre, serving New Road instead of Kingsway towards Millbrook. The headline 7/8 minute frequency will now start half an hour earlier, meaning more morning rush hour buses.

W&D 30 Romsey-Halterworth

Withdrawn after the last bus on Saturday. It is replaced by a revised route 35, which has a new timetable from Monday.

W&D 34 Romsey-Salisbury

New timetable from Monday. Service significantly reduced. This Saturday is the last time the 34 extends to Eastleigh on Saturdays, that section being replaced by Bluestar 5.

W&D 35 Romsey-Braishfield

New timetable from Monday. Route change to partially replace the axed route 30.

W&D 36 Romsey-Lockerley

New timetable from Monday. No longer runs through to Salisbury. The non-schools journeys that aren't being withdrawn will only run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

W&D 65 Eastleigh-Romsey

Withdrawn after the last bus on Friday. The 34 will provide its last buses between Romsey and Eastleigh on Saturday. From Monday, both are replaced by Bluestar 5.

W&D 112 Hythe-Lymington

New timetable from Monday. Non-schools journeys will only run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Most journeys will only run between Lymington and Beaulieu, with only one return journey to Hythe on the days of operation. It is no longer possible to use the bus from Hythe to visit the National Motor Museum.

W&D 118 Lymington-Ringwood

New timetable from Wednesday. Remains at one journey a week in each direction. The journey from Lymington now departs Wednesdays at 0953. Rerouted to run via Sopley and the Avon Valley instead of Burley.

W&D 119 Lymington-New Milton

New timetable from Monday. The frequency is cut from half-hourly to hourly, but the route is extended beyond Pennington to New Milton.

There are more changes next weekend too. We'll publish a detailed summary of them next Thursday.

First changes, bungling Bluestar & Xelabus timetable

First are making some kind of change to several of their routes from Sunday 4th December. The routes affected are: 1, 1A, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, 16, 21 and 80. Given the timing, we guess it will be additional Saturday buses for xmas shoppers, but we'll keep an eye out and will let you know as soon as we know for sure.

Bluestar still have an incorrect timetable for route 3 on their website. It misleads potential passengers into believing that the evening buses still run all the way to Botley. Since Monday just gone, they don't. After the 1825 from town, all Bluestar 3s terminate at Maypole roundabout in Hedge End. Botley now gets its evening services from First 8A. OK, it is down to a cost-cutting decision by Hampshire County Council (who subsidise that section of route) rather than a commercial decision by Bluestar, but they knew about this well in advance, so there can be no excuse for not updating their timetable several days after the service has changed. You can find a correct timetable here.

Xelabus now have a timetable for the C1 on their website, after they started the Sunday service this week. Unlike First with the A, Xelabus points out on their timetable that Velvet run the main Mon-Sat daytime service. On both of those routes though, if you want a full timetable, that doesn't omit certain days or times of day depending on who the council have contracted to fill the gaps, the only place to go is Velvet's website.

Who's running the C1 tomorrow?

Either tomorrow or next Sunday, Hampshire County Council are handing the C1 Sunday service from Velvet over to Xelabus. We have a problem though.

According to Velvet's timetable it's tomorrow.

On Xelabus's website, they announce that they will be running the Sunday C1 soon with "details to follow". No timetable. Are they ready?

But wait, according to the service registrations with the Department for Transport, Xelabus don't take over the Sunday C1 until the 23rd.

Traveline's journey planner on the other hand agrees with Velvet, that Xelabus start tomorrow.

Would anyone living on or near the C1 route (Eastleigh-Velmore-Chandlers Ford-Hiltingbury) care to keep an eye out tomorrow and let us know A, whether any bus turns up at all, and B, who's operating it?

W&D new timetables for Romsey & New Forest

Wilts & Dorset have released the new timetables for those of their routes that are changing on Sunday 23rd October:

X1/X2 Lymington-Bournemouth

New timetable.

34 Romsey-Salisbury

Service is significantly reduced. Here's the new timetable.

35 Romsey-Braishfield

Rerouted and retimed to partially replace axed route 30. New timetable.

36 Romsey-Lockerley

No longer runs through to Salisbury. The non-schools journeys that aren't being withdrawn will only run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. New timetable.

112 Hythe-Lymington

Non-schools journeys will only run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Most journeys will only run between Lymington and Beaulieu, with only one return journey to Hythe on the days of operation. It is no longer possible to use the bus from Hythe to visit the National Motor Museum. New timetable.

118 Lymington-Ringwood

Remains at one journey a week in each direction. The journey from Lymington now departs Wednesdays at 0953. Rerouted to run via Sopley and the Avon Valley instead of Burley. New timetable.

119 Lymington-New Milton

The frequency is cut from half-hourly to hourly, but the route is extended from Pennington to New Milton. New timetable.

What W&D have forgotten to put on their website are the changes to the X7 and X71 between Southampton and Salisbury. Several journeys, including the first and last journey of the day Mon-Sat are being cut. On Sundays, the X71 is being replaced with the X7 running to the same route as on Mon-Sats, meaning Cadnam loses its Sunday service. Here's the new timetable.

Overview of all changes this weekend

As promised, here's a full run down of the changes happening to our region's bus services this weekend:

Velvet/First/Stagecoach A Eastleigh-Hedge End/Boorley Green

The Sunday service will be operated by First (instead of Stagecoach) from this Sunday. As of Monday, the evening service will only run on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and will be operated by Velvet (instead of First). Timings are changed on the daytime service, with fewer buses serving Boorley Green and the 30 minute frequency between Eastleigh and Hedge End dropping back to hourly from mid-afternoon. Here's the full new timetable.

Velvet C1/C2 Eastleigh-Hiltingbury

The Sunday service transfers to Xelabus as of this Sunday, but the timetable remains the same. From Monday, there's a new timetable for Mon-Sat services, offering a combined 30 minute frequency for some of the day, down from the current 20 minutes with the C3. The evening service is being withdrawn on Mon-Wed and will only continue to run Thur-Sat.

Velvet C3 Eastleigh-Hiltingbury

This service is being withdrawn after the last bus on Saturday. Valley Park will no longer have a direct link to Eastleigh or Chandlers Ford.

Velvet E2 Eastleigh-Winchester

This Sunday service is being withdrawn after the last bus this Sunday. The Mon-Sat Bluestar service will still run, but gets its own new timetable from Monday 24th October.

Velvet E8 Eastleigh-Boyatt Wood

Effective immediately, this evening-only service is being cut back to only run Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. No change to the timetable.

Bluestar 3 Southampton-Botley

New timetable. From Monday, evening journeys will no longer run all the way to Botley, but will terminate at Maypole.

First 5 City Centre-Lordshill North

A new timetable (Mon-Fri, Sat) from Monday, with only minor changes.

First 8A Central Station-Hedge End Station(-Botley evenings)

New timetable (Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun) from Sunday. Almost all journeys are extended from the City Centre to Central Station. Mon-Sat evening journeys are extended from Hedge End to Botley.

Brijan 15 Hedge End-Hamble

New service from Monday, replacing the cut part of First 26. The buses used will no longer be accessible to wheelchairs. Here's the timetable.

First 16 Southampton-Hamble

New timetable (Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun) from Sunday, with only minor changes, including the pointless renumbering to 16A of some rush hour journeys.

First 26 Hedge End-Fareham

New timetable (Mon-Fri, Sat) from Monday. The section of route between Hedge End and Hamble is withdrawn and replaced by Brijan 15. The remaining section of route will have a slightly reduced service.

First 72 Southampton-Gosport

New timetable (Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun) from Sunday. The Sunday service is being cut from 5 journeys at 2-hour intervals to 4 journeys at 3-hour intervals. Although this is an overall cut, the first journey will be earlier and the last journey later than they currently are.

First 80 Southampton-Fareham

New timetable (Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun) from Sunday. The Sunday service is being slashed from 6 journeys at hourly intervals to just 3 journeys at 3-hour intervals. Although this is an overall cut, the first journey will be earlier and the last journey later than they currently are.

We'll do the same next Thursday and the one after that, to help you navigate all the changes that are on the way.

Botley evenings / Eastleigh confusion

Our attention has been gratefully drawn to the fact that Traveline have a new timetable for Bluestar 3. No mention yet on Bluestar's website or Facebook page. But get this, it takes effect this weekend, a whole week earlier than the changes to most of Bluestar's other services. It takes a bit of digging on Traveline to find it, so here is the Bluestar 3 timetable as of Monday 17th October:

In summary, the last 3 to go through to Botley on Mon-Sats is the one leaving Southampton at 1825 and the last one from Botley into town is at 1843. First 8A will serve Botley throughout the evening, but with a longer journey time than you'd have got on the 3. Traveline's journey planner provides this gem:

Rather than get the 1826 8A from town directly to Botley, arriving at 1929, you have time wait 8 minutes and get the 1834 80 to Lowford, wait 15 minutes, then get Brijan 15 to Hedge End and then join the 8A from there. I don't recommend this, as it would certainly work out more expensive (unless you already have a Solent Travelcard). The 8A's long journey time is of course down to its indirect route via Woolston, Peartree, Bitterne, Chartwell Green (with its myriad roundabouts) and West End, whereas the 3 goes direct via Bitterne and Thornhill Park.

Moving on to Eastleigh. Traveline has confirmed that the C1 on Sundays will be operated by Xelabus (taking over from Velvet) as of this Sunday 16th October, and not the following Sunday as we'd previously thought. The timetable remains unchanged.

Staying in Eastleigh, the Velvet E2 Sunday service to Winchester is being scrapped. Velvet have already removed all mention of it from their website, but Traveline confirm it will run this Sunday 16th October for the last time.

Also being partially scrapped is Velvet E8, the evening service to Boyatt Wood. It will still run on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, but earlier in the week, the last bus from Eastleigh to Boyatt Wood will be the Bluestar E2 at 1800. That's from Monday 24th October. This coming Mon-Weds, it'll be the E3 at 1805.

Hedge Enders late edition / Brijan 17 this week / Cuts victims

It's just occurred to us that Brijan 17 doesn't switch to its new timetable until next Monday, but their website already displays only the new timetable (without a start date). If you want to travel on the 17 this week, you'll be needing these:

There's some confusion about what's happening with evening buses between Hedge End and Botley. They are currently provided by Bluestar 3, but from next Monday, Hampshire County Council (HCC) are subsidising First to extend the 8A to Botley on Mon-Sat evenings. This has led us and a lot of posters to Bluestar's Facebook page to think that the 3 is being somehow cut, but no change to the 3 has been announced. First 8A is scheduled to leave town for Botley at 1717, 1826, 1934, 2034, 2134 and 2234, while Bluestar 3 is currently timed to leave town for Botley at 1715, 1745, 1825, 1905, 2005, 2105, 2205 and 2305. Botley can't sustain more than a bus an hour from Southampton in the daytime, so why would HCC subsidise a half hour frequency in the evening? We think evening cuts to Bluestar 3 will happen sooner rather than later.

Now that most of the news is out regarding our local bus cuts, let's have a quick look at the most harshly affected areas. Marwell Zoo, Chilworth Village, Nursling and Stoke Common are being cut off from public transport entirely. Valley Park is losing its direct link to Eastleigh and Southampton, which will make the bus a far less attractive option for residents there. Evening and Sunday buses are completely disappearing from Marchwood, Bishops Waltham, Twyford and Colden Common. They're just the worst hit. Many other routes in our region are having their frequencies or days of operation cut. Leave a comment and let us know how you are affected.

We now have ahead of us three weekends in a row of big changes to our area's bus services. To make it easier to understand, tomorrow we'll publish a full detailed list of the changes happening over the course of this coming weekend. We'll do the same on the following two Thursdays, so that you know exactly which bus services are changing when. In the meantime, a brief summary is in the green panel on the right.

Brijan 17 cut to 2 journeys a day

Brijan Tours have published the new timetable for route 17, which comes into force next Monday 17th October. The route will still run 6 days a week, Monday to Saturday (it had been feared that it might be cut to just 2 days), but is cut from 4 to just 2 return journeys each day. The existing first and last journeys are axed, meaning it will no longer be possible to commute to Petersfield on the 17 for a nine-to-five job. We thought there might also have been some change to Brijan 7, but this is now not the case.

New Bluestar timetables published

Bluestar have now released their new timetables, that take affect from Sunday 23rd October. The main changes are summarised in the previous post, but we now also know the following:

1 Southampton-Winchester

New timetable with minor changes.

6 Southampton-Lymington

This route will still run every half an hour (Mon-Sat daytimes) between the city centre and Rushington (Cocklydown Lane) only. One bus an hour will continue beyond there to Lymington. The two-hourly Sunday service is unchanged.

8 Southampton-Hythe

The route is changed between Marchwood and Hythe with some journeys skipping Hythe Hospital, running instead direct from Applemore into Hythe. Those journeys will instead serve the hospital on the outbound journey from Hythe. Or vice versa.

10/11 Southampton-Cadnam

The half-hourly frequency is maintained between the city centre and West Totton. One bus an hour will then continue to Cadnam, via either the 10 or 11 route, meaning each section of this part of the route will have a 2-hour frequency.

12 Southampton-Calmore

Sunday evening services are not withdrawn, but they will end earlier than before. Last Sunday bus from town will be at 2105 instead of 2310.

P1 City Centre-Glen Eyre

The first journey from town will be an hour later than it currently is on the 14. Journeys to town are unchanged apart from the fact that they no longer serve Bitterne, Chartwell Green, Mansbridge or Swaythling.

18 Millbrook-Thornhill

The headline 7/8 minute frequency will now start half an hour earlier, meaning more morning rush hour buses.

E1/E2 Eastleigh-Winchester

All buses will run via St Cross, Stanmore and County Hospital in Winchester. Some additional short journeys will run between Eastleigh and Boyatt Wood to give a half-hourly frequency for part of the day.

H1/H2 Hythe circular

These already infrequent services will start later and end earlier than they currently do.

See the post below for other changes. The full timetables are here.

Bluestar mauled over savage cuts

Bluestar have attracted considerable criticism on their Facebook page by confirming the cuts that will take place on their services due to Hampshire County Council reducing subsidies, under orders of course by the Tory/Fib Dem national government. The following cuts (no point in calling them changes) will take place from Sunday 23rd October:

5 Eastleigh-Romsey

W&D 65 becomes Bluestar 5. No official timetable appears to have been published yet, but the Hampshire Bus Changes blog has found one. That blog is also good for news of changes to bus services across Hampshire, even those that are outside of our unashamedly Southampton-centric patch.

6 Southampton-Lymington

The Mon-Sat frequency will be halved to hourly. Until the timetable is out, we can't tell if the service will even run to Southampton any more. Certain interpretations of Bluestar's notifications could suggest that the service will end at Rushington and passengers might need to change to another bus, possible the 8 or 9 in order to get into Southampton. It's also not clear if the Sunday service will continue.

8 Southampton-Hythe

The timetable will be 'changed'. This is a disaster for Marchwood as all Sunday buses are being cut, along with the evening 9s that divert through the village. Several people have already posted on Bluestar's Facebook page saying that they will have to give up jobs because of this. In Bluestar's defence, these cuts are down to Hampshire County Council and national government slashing bus subsidies. They are supposedly democratically accountable, so make your view known to your councillors and MP. And maybe consider voting differently next time.

9 Southampton-Waterside

As has already been mentioned, Marchwood is being completely cut adrift in the evenings. Blackfield will also suffer, as Heather Road will lose all its buses. Some additional services will go to Langley.

10/11 Southampton-Cadnam

The lack of a timetable leaves this wide open to interpretation. Bluestar's wording means that at worst there will be an hourly daytime service between Cadnam and West Totton only, with passengers then possibly having to change to another bus. At best it means there will be a combined hourly frequency (currently half-hourly) all the way into Southampton. Either way, it's a hefty cut.

12 Southampton-Calmore

Sunday evening services will be completely withdrawn. If you need to get to Calmore then, tough.

14 City Centre-Bitterne

Will be cut to run between town and Glen Eyre only and will be rebranded the P1. This axe is wielded by Southampton City Council, not Hampshire.

E1/E2/E3 Eastleigh-Winchester

As has already been reported, the E3 is withdrawn. The combined Mon-Sat daytime frequency is halved to hourly. The Sunday service is withdrawn meaning that Twyford and Colden Common will be completely isolated on Sundays.

F Eastleigh-Bishops Waltham

This will be completely withdrawn. Stoke Common will be cut off and the councils have mentioned nothing about any kind of replacement.

H1/H2 Hythe circular

The weekday service will be reduced and the Saturday service will be cut entirely.

H3 Hythe-Calshot

Heather Road in Blackfield is being cut off. The weekday service will be reduced and the Saturday service will be cut entirely.

Given the scale of these cuts and the fact that they are just two weeks away, it is astonishing that Bluestar has only announced them on Facebook, not on their actual website and that the full new timetables are not yet available. We'll scrutinise them as soon as they are out and will let you know of any more details that they (Bluestar, the councils and the government) might be trying to hide from you. We fear there could be even more bad news to come.

Hedge Enders : Brijan 15 on the way

We're pleased to have been proven wrong about the number of the new Brijan Tours route that will run between Hedge End and Hamble, split away from First 26. From Monday 17th October, it will be route 15. Timetable here. There will be 7 journeys towards Hamble and 8 towards Hedge End on weekdays and 6 each way on Saturdays, running roughly every 2 hours. That's the same service level as today. So why the change of operator? Hampshire County Council documents we've seen suggest that First are currently charging the council more subsidy to use a low-floor bus than Brijan will charge for using an older, high-floor bus. So the council's made the switch and anyone who needs to get a wheelchair or pushchair onto the bus between Hamble & Hedge End won't be able to in future.

Meanwhile, the banks who made the cuts necessary by being bailed out with billions of pounds of taxpayers' money seemingly get to carry on regardless.

Romsey & New Forest cuts / W&D 65 -> Bluestar 5

Wilts & Dorset have announced the following changes to some of their and Bluestar's routes in Romsey and the New Forest (For some reason some of the Romsey changes only appear on the Wiltshire page - last time I checked it was still in Hampshire!). No mention on Bluestar's website yet and no new timetables from either of them. The following take effect from Sunday 23rd October:

W&D X1/X2 Lymington-Bournemouth

Many evening journeys are being axed. Expect more drink driving.

Bluestar 5 Eastleigh-Romsey

Replaces W&D 65. Service level unknown.

Bluestar 6 Southampton-Lymington

W&D say this will be cut to hourly between Lymington and Rushington. Either this means it will still be every half hour between the city centre and Rushington OR it could mean that the 6 will terminate at Rushington and passengers will need to change to another bus, possibly the 8 or 9, in order to get in to Southampton. We'll let you know as soon as we do.

Bluestar 10/11 Southampton-Cadnam

The combined frequency will be halved to hourly.

W&D 30 Romsey-Halterworth

Withdrawn and replaced by a diversion to route 35.

W&D 34 Romsey-Salisbury

New timetable with fewer journeys. The Saturday extension to Eastleigh will no longer run.

W&D 35 Romsey-Braishfield

New timetable and route, partially replacing route 30, which is being axed.

W&D 36 Romsey-Salisbury

The route will be chopped in two, with the 36 running between Romsey and Lockerley and the 37 running between Lockerley and Salisbury. This puts the 37 outside of our region, so we'll concentrate on the 36, which is being substantially cut. Other than schools journeys, it will only run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

W&D 65 Eastleigh-Romsey

This route transfers to Bluestar and becomes Bluestar 5. Times will also change. Full details when Bluestar let us see the timetable.

W&D 112 Hythe-Lymington

Several journeys will be cut. Other than schools services, the 112 will only continue to run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

W&D 118 Lymington-Ringwood

Timing and route change. Will no longer serve Burley, instead running via Sopley and the Avon Valley.

W&D 119 Lymington-Pennington.

Frequency halved to hourly. Route changed.

We'll do a full analysis of the new timetables as soon as they are available.

Velvet timetables out / Hedge Enders

Velvet have released the new timetables for routes A, C1 and C2, which come in to effect from Sunday 16th October.

On the A, there will be no evening buses on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays. The last bus from Eastleigh will be at 1840. An evening service will run on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays operated by Velvet and extending to serve Oaklands, which was previously only served in the daytime. Boorley Green loses some afternoon services and the core half-hourly frequency between Eastleigh and Hedge End drops back to hourly after 4pm on weekdays and 3pm on Saturdays. As has already been mentioned, the Sunday service transfers from Stagecoach to First and also has a new timetable, details of which are helpfully included on Velvet's.

The C1 and C2 will now offer a combined half-hourly service in the daytimes before 3pm between Eastleigh, Velmore, Chandlers Ford and Hiltingbury. As has previously been mentioned, the C3 is being withdrawn (seemingly without replacement, leaving Valley Park with neither a link to Eastleigh nor Chandlers Ford). Evening services on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are withdrawn, with the last bus from Eastleigh being the C1 at 1820. Evening buses continue on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays only. It's already been mentioned that Xelabus will be running the C1 on Sundays, but some confusion has arisen. According to Velvet's timetable, Xelabus's first Sunday is the 16th, but according to the Department of Transport, it's the 23rd. Fingers crossed Velvet and Xelabus won't be expecting each other to run on the 16th and leave people stranded at bus stops.

Brijan Tours start running between Hedge End and Hamble on Monday 17th October, replacing the section of route that is being dropped from First 26. Confusingly though, it looks like Brijan will also be calling their route the 26. So there could be two separate route 26es in Hedge End running to different destinations and run by different operators. I know this is already the case with several route numbers in Southampton (see the route directory at the bottom of the page). Surely such instances defy common sense and only serve to confuse and deter potential passengers. Maybe that's the idea. Maybe Hampshire County Council, who are subsidising the service, have dictated which route number must be used in order to keep usage low so that they then have an excuse to cut funding completely next time they check the passenger numbers. Good luck Brijan, you'll need it.

On the same day there are timetable changes on Brijan's existing routes 7 and 17. It is expected that the 17 will be cut to running just two days a week, which is bad news for anyone in the Meon Valley. Full details when we have them.

Xelabus appear to be planning to cancel either some or all of their X12/X13 journeys between Southampton and Eastleigh from Friday 11th November. More to follow.

There will be some kind of change to Bluestar 2 from Monday 14th November. We'll keep an eye on this and will let you know if the change is significant.