Bluestar have advised that they will not be serving Redbridge Roundabout for at least a week while there are roadworks there. Routes affected are the 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. First 10 and 11 and Salisbury Reds X7 will also be affected.
First have released the timetable for their H1 and H2 in Hythe, which take over from Bluestar's H1 and H2 on 5th November. They will run to the same route, plus an extra bit between Hythe and Applemore via Southampton Road and Claypits Lane. The extra section replaces the part of Bluestar 8 that will be withdrawn from the same date - all 8s will run via Hythe Hospital.
Just had a look at the new H1 and H2 offering from First. There are some good points, .... The first good point is that they can do it all with one bus and one driver working it all day, significantly reducing their operating costs, compared to the Blueline way of doing it, which required driver changeovers adding to the cost. They have also plugged the gap in the market left by Blueline abandoning Drapers Copse residents, although loadings were incredibly light in that area, I believe. The driver is also a lucky person, getting (I think) 4 x 35 plus minute breaks in his day! It remains to be seen where he parks his bus during the breaks, and one hopes that its inside Tesco, rather than half blocking the road outside for long periods of time, as its going to be inundated with 8s, 9s and 11s!? The only criticism that I can make of the new service is that having got people to Tesco, 39 minutes is insufficient time for most (bearing in mind the age profile of the clients) to do their shopping, and 2 hours 39 minutes until the next service will be far too long. This begs the question, why are they bothering to go to Tesco at all? The Blueline existing passengers do not come from the main stops in Hythe, and need a door to door service, so its not as if they can hop on the number 11 back again. I am guessing that these folks will just use the service as now, and potter around Hythe centre for a while, rather than riding to Tesco? It will be interesting to see how many venture that far!
ReplyDeleteI quite agree with you Lisa The driver Bernie is the best driver and the most courteous driver that I have had the pleasure to travel with
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