Romsey Road in Maybush will be partially closed from 1900-0600 each evening until 16th July. During those times, Bluestar 4 will be following this diversion:
Roadworks on Millbrook Road mean Bluestar are expecting delays to routes 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and W&D X7 until 17th July.
The Olympic Torch will be in Lyndhurst, Brockenhurst and Lymington on Saturday, causing delays to all bus routes in the area, but particularly Bluestar 6, which serves all three. It might be worth catching the train instead on that day if there's a convenient station.
The Torch gets to central Southampton early on Saturday evening. Details here. Bluestar have said to expect minor delays.
To our top story now. For the last few days, when trying to access Xelabus's website, Chrome gives me the following warning:
The X11 will be withdrawn again after 24th August, followed the following day by the X5, X8 (Eastleigh-Marwell Zoo link) and X9 (Rush hour journeys between Eastleigh and Fair Oak). From 28th August however, the X3 will launch to Valley Park replacing the X5.
Given the problems accessing Xelabus's website, the best place to look for route and timetable information is Traveline. Here's what I found for you. Scroll down from the timetables for a list of stops and roads served:
X1 current
X1 from 23rd July (route change in Stoke Common)
X2 current
X2 from 23rd July (route change to serve Bosville instead of Twyford Road)
X4 current
X4 from 23rd July (will no longer serve Velmore)
X5 current
X5 from 23rd July until 25th August (Timing changes and diverted to serve Velmore instead of North Stoneham)
VOSA shows that the X14 is also cancelled on the 20th August.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the echo, the roadworks on millbrook road have now finished.
ReplyDeleteThanks for spotting that Anon! Are the buses back to normal along there now, Lee? :-)
ReplyDeleteN&P (10 July) shows more - incl. X25 ending on 28th Aug & 63/63a on 25th Aug. X57 ending from 20th Aug. See http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/archive/N&P%202455%20-%2010th%20July%202012.pdf for details p20/21.
ReplyDeleteAlso new address - Removed operating centre: UNIT 3B, BARTON PARK INDUSTRIAL ESTATE,
CHICKENHALL LANE EASTLEIGH SO50 6RR
New operating centre: UNIT 10, BARTON PARK INDUSTRIAL ESTATE,
CHICKENHALL LANE EASTLEIGH SO50 6RR Thats on pg7
Endless tinkering with services and now a toxic website.Most of their services seem to run empty,and others just try and extract custom from more worthy operators.
ReplyDeleteNow.....
ReplyDeleteI have ventured past the big Google warning and my anti-virus was not happy, but also did not scream. There are a few issues on there such as a trojan being reported; so I would not recommend heading there for a little bit.
The endless changes to services is really quite strange to me. I always had them come across as a family operator trying to do something along the lines of Brijan but with supermarket buses. The business plan originally with the Fair Oak - Eastleigh - ASDA was to me a bit flawed with a "pay your fare or tell us you are going to ASDA to travel free" policy..... how much did that cost them?
The occasional appearance on the Havant Tesco Freebus seems to happen, with Emsworth & District or Stagecoach picking up the bulk of the service.
Now the cancellation of the X57.
Saying that there is a NEW Xelabus service starting on behalf of ASDA Fareham. It will run from ASDA to Rowner, Lee on Solent and Stubbington during the off-peak and (according to the local rag) be an extension of the freebie that runs to the Bus Station.
I wonder how HCC will see this considering the FirstGroup services that serve the corridor are all subsidised.
The website warnings, such as you are seeing on the Xelabus site, can often be cleared by the site owner requesting a review by the search engine (after first carrying out the appropriate checks to ensure that there is nothing harmful on the site). If you have an email address for Xelabus you could safely send them a message to say that there appears to be a problem, but it can usually be resolved quickly and easily - they'll just need to search on Webmaster Tools or similar. It's quite possible that the website owner doesn't see these messages.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding,and I stand to be corrected, is that many of these 'free' shopper routes are now registered bus services,and by charging fares for sections of the route,they can claim BSOG,free pass money etc. In the past these services were largely subbed out and operated by local bus companies,however most got fed up going through the middle-man and only getting a pittance for the bother,so now they have been taken 'in-house' by Xelabus.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how reliable Xelabus is at the moment but on the bus stop at Portswood/St Denys Road by the Sainsburys it says that the X14 has been withdrawn on the 20 July but according to Traveline the route is still running (however a much shorter route) and the X13 is not showing up at all on traveline despite no notices about a withdrawal. And yes the site still displays that warning
ReplyDeleteHow can I find out what X4 diversions will be in operation on June 20th for West End Carnival?
ReplyDelete