Here in Southampton, this means that the 4 and 4A will disappear and be replaced with a half-hourly new route, the X5. This will run to Fareham via Warsash and then on to Gosport. The X4 is rerouted slightly, to now serve Titchfield village, giving them double the number of buses as they currently have.
Southampton Hill in Titchfield and the southern half of Hunts Pond Road in Locks Heath will lose their bus services.
Overall there will be more buses to Fareham, 4 per hour. There will also be more to Gosport, 2 per hour, but they will run via Fareham, so will take longer than the current route 4.
The new timetables for the X4 and X5 starting 27th July can be found here.
In other news, First tickets can now be purchased on some mobile phones, via the new First mTicket app. It only works on Apple and Android phones however and it isn't clear whether Windows phones will be included in the future.
Another much needed "improvement" in Worst's service! Do these folk have the slightest idea of what their customers want to do? What customer in his or her right mind wants to go from Warsash to Stubbington via Fareham? I note the comments on another page of this blog that it will be quicker and cheaper in certain sections to use a taxi, and a suggestion that Xela might like to take on the 'real' 4, which many of us still remember as the 72. Indeed, Mr Blair, Mr Stockley or whoever else might be interested - how about it?
ReplyDeleteYes indeed-Another example of First "Transforming Travel"-The new X5 will certainly live up to it's name of Solent Ranger.I note also on their website no one yet in Stubbington or Lee-On-The-Solent seems to have noticed a reduction of one bus per hour weekdays to/from Gosport.-PAC
DeleteFirst Solent Ranger = Cowboys!
DeletePerhaps no-one wants to travel from Warsash to Stubbington (or at least not by First bus)?
DeleteYes, I recall the 72 in 'old money'. The no. of buses actually travelling through Titchfield itself will be halved as the X4 does now go via Southampton Hill & the distance from here to the other bus stops for 4 & 4A is negligible anyway! Don't believe the First hype! On the plus side there are later buses on a Sunday (but for how long?!). Lee-on-solent or Stubbington passengers going to Soton be best to change buses at Fareham College by crossing the rd & grabbing the next X4 that comes along whilst the X5 is on the tour-de-Fareham!
ReplyDeleteVelvet & Xelabus running a service DIRECT from Southampton to Stubbington, Lee-on-solent & Gosport via BITTERNE (not Woolston like X4/X5) may well be on a winner. Alternatively, they could be daring & run Southampton -m27-Whiteley (for new shopping centre & business parks)- Gosport. Now that has potential on many fronts. Shoppers & shop workers to/from Soton & Whiteley & Gosport. Business people too. Lots of potential revenue there I'd say.
Or possibly some combination of both? Perhaps there's potential for the M27 to be used for some local express services?
DeleteFirst have also doubled the frequency of buses between Paulsgrove and Fareham to every 10 minutes
DeleteThey have indeed doubled the frequency after informing customers on their website right up until last week,before they published the new changes,that this was not commercially viable
Deleteperhaps you could contact them and ask them to reduce the frequency
DeleteWhy should I,they have now suddenly deemed that it is commercially viable,and as the customers have now got their wish, I'm pleased for all the customers along the route.
DeleteWhy are most people on here so anti First. Would people prefer it if they left the area and disappeared ? Whilst M-ticketing is not new as a concept, it is new for customers of First who have not had that option before.
ReplyDeleteChanges to services are made for commercial decisions. Usually only the operator concerned has the full picture and I can hardly see First or any other operator making changes which would damage their business. (This may have been true with First when Lockhead was around, but not now).
I really struggle to see why there is so much negativity about First especially of late where we have seen a vast investment in new vehicles, new fare zones for Southampton and new style of service with the star and the eclipse and the latest M- ticketing. I think with the latest batch of vehicles coming this summer it may be that First has the newest fleet in Southampton.
Clearly they are far from perfect, as are most operators, but do we really wish First to disappear from our streets and/or withdraw. You could argue that the management is no good at First, but again we can only guess the decision making processes we do not have the full picture as mentioned above.
First always seem to be continually tinkering with routes (as not apparently commercially viable), in the same way Xelabus did, which annoys many people. New buses are good, but there are problems with air-con on many of the Portsmouth ones & also notice how these routes are 'labelled' something else instead of First. I'm not anti-First. Found their staff as good as anyone elses.
DeleteI'm sorry Mr pro-First but Eclipse and Star are not in any way a "new style of service". Star replaced Zip and provides nothing new over Zip except a coat of paint and the same unreliability. Eclipse shows just how not to promote and run a Busway. No dedicated rebuilt stops and little improvement at Gosport Bus Station even. Yes they are both "good" by First standards but poor by industry standards. M ticketing is also good but they are years behind even Arriva. The X5 is frankly a joke with it's new routing though great for Fareham and yet again shows First has little desire to serve passengers.
DeleteIf they are poor by industry standards why have they won awards in the industry for them.
DeleteOn the other hand there are now two buses per hour from Gosport to Southampton, rather than one, I believe they will use bigger buses though still single deckers. If there is a market for a direct service, I'm sure Velet or Xelabus or Bluestar will exploit it, though I can't see it myself.
ReplyDeleteAh, but there's always been the opportunity to change buses in Fareham from Gosport & go onto Soton. So you are swapping one direct bus an hr plus the opportunity to connect anyway, with two indirect buses per hr taking longer than the direct one.
DeleteI don't think first are a bad operator - the fact they've ordered new red streetlites for Southampton is a good sign of how the company is investing in the city, out of curiosity does anyone know what routes they'll be used on?!
ReplyDeleteThe red streetlites are for the route 2. Being delivered as from now- one a Empress Road now :)
DeleteAll the high frequency routes within southampton are to be red buses so routes 2 3 7 11 are all doing to be red at some stage
DeleteFirst bus in disguise! Wonder why?
Deletethe 3 is allready red buses
DeleteWhy don't all the anonymous smart arses who made the first few comments get a job in the industry and see how far they get...
ReplyDeleteSpot on! Far too many armchair warriors on this site.
DeleteWell you are not forced to view others comments on this site,and all quite rightly have an opinion of how they feel wether we like it or not,and long may it be so
DeleteI agree, we live in a democracy, and it's great that we have free speech in this country............
DeleteBut............. people on here who aren't in the trade do not understand the bigger picture, because they aren't privy to that level of detail, but still feel qualified to make sweeping statements!
First have 18 new streetlights being delivered all in red and are i believe due for delivery soon, they are going on the woolston route and also route 2 to try and have a further pop at Blue star. I also hear that First are really short of drivers due to some shocking changes to conditions, i have been left standing on route 5 which they are trying to kill anyway it would be quicker for me to walk
ReplyDeleteYes the drivers conditions are shocking. Wanting to bring in 5 hr 30 driving time. Working upto a 60 hr week and only getting paid for like 45ish. .. think like 16 drivers left within 2 weeks, and there's more to leave.
DeleteInstead of prolonging the agony for passengers they might as well have discontinued service 5 at the recent timetable change-I also note very depressing loadings on the rerouted 12 and increased frequency between City Centre and Townhill Park-Although early days on the revised 12 only two or three passengers on each journey when leaving Pound Tree Road towards Bitterne as it now misses out main stops such as West Marlands,Asda and Civic Centre.Even when at peak periods in the morning inwards to City Centre it's usual when going through Bitterne Manor to have less than 10 people on a usual double deck bus. The evening service in each direction is usual the bus is empty or with one or two on if your lucky.- PAC
ReplyDeleteThe route that the 12 takes is changing, already been registered with VOSA...
DeleteReply to Annon 26th June 1421-I agree with you,however there are people in the trade with all so called relevant information that also get it badly wrong sometimes on service changes-Those not privy to inside information see it as they do, and you can't change that, and although they might not be qualified they will comment as they see it.Lots of times they are proved to be wrong in their comments and sometimes they are proved to be right. It will never change unless a miracle happens. Personally Myself I have no affiliation to any local bus company,I, when I comment, just state what I feel at the time and that's the whole point of this site we all are allowed to give are views providing they are reasonabally polite and in no way offensive that they can't be published. Basically we are all public transport minded and all wan't to see the best possible service provided by any operator in the local area,but what any operator might do in the way of change won't suit us all and that's why we comment.To those who like First they make good improvements locally to some services and all the new buses are more than welcome,but some high level decissions seem to be strange to some observers and that's why they comment-Velvet and Xelabus recent changes must seem strange to certain observers that's why they comment-I'm happy to see everyones point of view which I respect wether I like it or I don't-We are lucky on this site that both the bosses of Velvet and Xelabus reply to certain comments of criticism,what a pity that First and Blustar and others don't at times to some of our major criticisms - PAC
ReplyDeleteHas anyone asked them to comment ?
DeleteSome fair points above, however you state we all public transport minded. What sometimes is forgotten is that all the bus companies are private businesses which must make a profit or go bust and all the decisions have to made with a commercial view.
ReplyDeleteI think it is fair to criticise companies like First and Xela who have made such frequent changes. They must have got it wrong in the first place ! Unfortunately as others have said it all revolves around profit these days. The old Soton Citybus policy of providing a service to all areas was actually successful in providing what the customer wanted and made profit. There were 10 min frequencies on the main routes although the end of the route may have split to give a 20 min service to 2 areas. First took over and ignored the local knowledge to wreck the network - even using a northern consultancy on one occasion. They have made a good effort at improving routes and vehicles in the last couple of years but they are still making big changes too often.
ReplyDeleteIf a bus company is "wrong" I will tell um, through whatever medium is relevant. I started to do it when they muffed up my school bus way back in 1979 & I've been doing it ever since. Sometimes they actually listen & sometimes they don't. I've got minor route modifications taken place & I had HCC officers discuss things with me, because they thought I had some good ideas way back in d-reg days. I'm not a bus business expert, but just a passenger who's seen services screwed up due to company incompetence & lack of local knowledge. I've stood in the rain waiting for the bus that never came & I've got off at that stop that no body ever gets off at! Unless you actually experience life as a passenger trying to get from A to B via C & do not drive a car & have to rely on public transport, having a bus industry qualification doesn't always wash. Yes, money is the key now. Private/public co's have to make money & most operators are scared of trying something new. Put it this way, if I had the money I would do it myself & a darn sight better than so called professionals. Here endeth my rant!
ReplyDeleteInteresting comment, just what would you do to that would be a darn sight better than the professionals? Just asking
ReplyDelete