For three weeks from next Monday, West Park Road and Blechynden Terrace will be partially closed, so all westbound buses serving the north side of Central Station will have to divert. Bluestar have advised that they will divert via the Mayflower Theatre-bit of Commercial Road. First haven't said what they'll be doing.
Bluestar 16 is now more or less head-to-head with First 7 to Townhill Park. First are fighting back with a special £10 FirstWeek ticket valid only on the 7. The standard FirstWeek Southampton is £17. A Bluestar Southampton weekly ticket is £13 and you're not limited to just the 16, plus it's also valid on Unilink.
Bluestar have introduced a special £5 off-peak day ticket valid only on route 1 to Winchester to celebrate some brand new buses on that route. The offer is on until Christmas Eve.
If you have any comments about Bluestar 2 and don't want the convenience of phoning or e-mailing them, then you can go and chat to a real human from Bluestar on 4th October between 1000 and 1500 "outside Sainsbury's", or at Eastleigh Bus Station as bus people used to refer to that location.
Phil from Xelabus has revealed in a comment to a previous post on this blog that the new Xelabus website will have full information on fares for any journey with Xelabus. A big step forward! When that happens, it will leave First, Stagecoach and Brijan Tours as the only local operators to think you don't have a right to know how much any single and return fares cost. Bluestar, More and Salisbury Reds needn't look so smug either - they give some sample fares for key routes, but not every possible fare. The shining beacons for letting you know how much you need to pay before you travel are Unilink, Velvet and Wheelers.
Velvet also seem to have quietly dropped service B between Eastleigh and Hamble.
ReplyDeleteThey haven't. It's service H now...
DeleteI missed that. Changed quite a lot though - now only on college days and no longer via Hedge End.
DeleteInteresting to note a massive discrepancy on the diversion.... Council have advised that its outbound only, and all bus operators have been notified as such, BUT..... The contractors are saying its being closed in BOTH directions! I predict absolute chaos on Monday morning, with about 15 buses trying to do a U turn, if the contractors are correct. And no planning for an inbound alternative stop, meaning trains being missed galore. I do hope the council have got this right, but I suspect the contractors know what is really happening!!
ReplyDeleteWell, the above didnt happen, as the council got it right, and the diversion was outbound only, but what a mess the operators have made of this...... I witnessed First service 2 still coming down by the library, and then performing an illegal right turn to follow the diversion route. Also saw coaches and taxis doing the same thing. The bus stops outbound at the station have not been taped off, leaving passengers waiting there for buses that were never going to arrive, and someone forgot to tell Wilts & Dorset drivers operating the 6 route about the diversion causing awful confusion earlier on. And can anyone tell me what was going on in Totton on Monday evening? It was shut off both ways, but no-one appears to have told Bluestar that they couldnt operate there as my driver had no idea where to operate his 12 service!.
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