Wheelers timetable confusion / Bishopstoke diversion

Wheelers' new routes started yesterday, but as a commenter to the last post mentioned, there has been some confusion over the timetable for the W2. The one originally published on Traveline and republished in good faith by this blog was incorrect. Here's the correct one:

In fairness, it looks like Wheelers themselves never linked to the incorrect timetable, although it has to be presumed that they provided it to Traveline in the first place. Once they mentioned the W2 and the other new routes on their website, Wheelers featured links to the correct timetable on Traveline. The moral of this story is: Always check with the bus operator rather than relying solely on Traveline, especially if you last checked it more than a few days before you intend to travel. Links to the websites of all our local bus companies can be found in the right hand panel on this page.

The times in our previous post for the W3 and W5 are correct.

In other news, Bluestar 2 will be diverting in Bishopstoke for about 2 months from this Friday. Details here.

New routes launch Monday

Don't forget Wheelers' new routes launch on Monday. There are new direct routes from Southampton City Centre to Hill Lane, Valley Park, Hiltingbury, Boyatt Wood and Eastleigh as well as a route from Stockbridge to Romsey.

Full details including timetables and route maps in this post.

We wish them the best of luck.

First 3 more often on Sundays / Where's Kendall Avenue?

First 3 gets a new timetable from 24th November. The only real change is an increase in the Sunday daytime frequency from half-hourly to every 20 minutes - a gradual trend we've seen on many of our city's bus routes as Sundays become more popular for shopping and leisure. See the new timetable on either First's website or at Traveline. There's also a minor route change: journeys towards Thornhill will continue to run via Canute Road before crossing Itchen Bridge, but coming in from Thornhill they will use Central Bridge.

There are a few diversions about in Millbrook, Midanbury and West End. This batch highlights how the different local bus operators handle diversions. Bluestar and Velvet are usually very good at publicising them in good time, the other operators less so. All three of these diversions will also be affecting First routes, but there's nothing on First's website about them. To give them their due, they do mention some of them on Twitter but surely their own website ought to be the primary channel of communication.

I've noticed an increasing trend lately for Bluestar to include at least one typo, spelling mistake or grammar error in each diversion notice they give. Look at the current Millbrook one, which mentions "Kendall Avenue". We can't complain too much because at least they are telling us about the diversions, but some basic competence in the English language wouldn't do their public image any harm. The road isn't named after an obnoxious orange reality TV 'sleb', but the beautiful town of Kendal in Cumbria, which is well worth a visit.