New Year's Day bus services

Here's what bus services will be running on New Year's Day:

New Year's Day 1st January:
Bluestar: Special timetable on routes 1, 2, 4, 9, 12, 16 and 18 only.
First: Special timetable on routes X4, 2, 3, 7 and 11 only.
All other operators: No service.


Here are the special Bluestar timetables:

Here are the special First timetables:

Full details of festive bus services here.

New Year's Eve bus services

Here's how our region's buses will be running on New Year's Eve:

New Year's Eve 31st December:
Bluestar, Brijan Tours, Salisbury Reds, Velvet, Wheelers, Xelabus: Full normal Wednesday service.
First: Saturday service with an early finish, except for routes B1, B2, B3, H1 and H2, which will have a weekday service.
More: Full Saturday service.
Stagecoach: Full Saturday service, except for route 36, which will not run and route 46, which will have a weekday service.
Unilink: Vacation Saturday service with early finish. U1N night bus will run.


Early finish last bus times on First:

The last X4 leaves Southampton at 1850 for Fareham and the last X5 to Fareham is at 1930.

Early finish last bus times on Unilink:

Don't forget that the U1N will be running.

Full details of festive bus services here.

Routes being withdrawn this weekend

The following routes are being withdrawn this coming weekend. Here are details of what will replace them:

• Xelabus C3/C4

These routes around Chandlers Ford and Hiltingbury will run for the last time on Saturday. From Monday, they are replaced by new route X6 and an amended route X7, still operated by Xelabus. North Millers Dale and South Millers Dale will gain a more direct link to Eastleigh, without having to travel via Hiltingbury. See the new X6/X7 timetable here. This is the route that will be taken by Mon-Sat daytime buses:

The X6 will travel towards Hiltingbury via the Millers Dales and towards Eastleigh via Fryern Hill. The X7 will run the other way round. Thurs-Sat Evening and Sunday daytime journeys on the X7 will run via Fryern Hill in both directions to Chandlers Ford only.

• Bluestar E1/E2

The bus link between Eastleigh and Winchester will transfer from Bluestar to Wheelers from Monday. New timetable here. The short journeys between Eastleigh and Boyatt Wood are withdrawn and replaced by an extended Bluestar 5 - timetable here. This is the route the 5 will take in Boyatt Wood:

Buses will run clockwise around the terminus loop in Boyatt Wood.

• Bluestar T1/T2

These local routes in Totton will run for the last time on Friday with no replacement. This is due to Hampshire County Council cuts.

• Bluestar T3/T4

These circular routes between Totton and Cadnam will be run by Bluestar for the last time on Saturday. They then transfer to Wheelers, who will run them just three instead of six days a week: Tuedays, Thursdays and Saturdays. New timetable here. Hampshire County Council cuts again.

• First H1/H2

These local routes in Totton, Dibden Purlieu and Applemore will be run by First for the last time on Friday. They then switch to Wheelers are are cut from five to three days a week: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. New timetable here. Blame the county council.

• First 26

This route between Hedge End and Fareham will run for the last time on Saturday with no replacement. Getting between the two after Saturday will mean a change of buses at Bursledon (Brijan 15 & First X4/X5), Bishops Waltham (Brijan 8 &Stagecoach 69) or Woolston (Bluestar 3 or First 8 & First X4/X5). County council cuts.

• More 118

The market day (Wednesday) once a week link between Lymington and Ringwood runs for the last time on New Year's Eve with no replacement.

• Salisbury Reds 34

This link between Romsey and Salisbury runs for the last time on Saturday and will be replaced from Monday by newly diverted journeys on Salisbury Reds X7, numbered X7R. New timetable here.


More to follow on what else is changing this weekend. See a summary here.

Amended bus services for Monday and Tuesday

This is how our region's bus services will be running on Monday and Tuesday:

Monday 29th & Tuesday 30th December:
Bluestar, Brijan Tours, Salisbury Reds, Velvet, Wheelers, Xelabus: Normal weekday service.
First: Saturday service, except for routes B1, B2, B3, H1 and H2, which will have a weekday service.
More: Saturday service.
Stagecoach: Saturday service, except for routes 36 and 46 ,which will run a weekday service.
Unilink: Vacation Saturday service with no night buses.

Full details of festive bus service amendments here.

Normal service this weekend

Our region's bus services will be running as normal this weekend. Standard Saturday and Sunday timetables will apply.

There are a few changes for the week ahead though. Full details here.

Boxing Day bus services

There are no buses running on Christmas Day, but happy Christmas anyway!

On Boxing Day, only a few routes will be running. Here are the details:

Boxing Day 26th December:
Bluestar: Special timetable on routes 1, 2, 4, 9, 12, 16 and 18 only.
First: Special timetable on routes X4, 2, 3, 7 and 11 only.
All other operators: No service.

Here are the special Bluestar timetables:

Here are the special First timetables:

Full details of festive bus services can be found here.

Christmas Eve bus services

A normal service is running on Monday and Tuesday of this week.

Here's how our region's buses are running on Wednesday, Christmas Eve:

Bluestar, Brijan Tours, More, Salisbury Reds, Velvet, Wheelers, Xelabus: Full normal Wednesday service.
First: Saturday service with an early finish, except for routes B1, B2, B3, H1 and H2, which will have a weekday service.
Stagecoach, Unilink: Normal weekday service with early finish.

Last bus times on First:

The last X4 will leave Southampton at 1850 and the last X5 leaves at 1930.

On Stagecoach, the last route 66 journeys will be 2030 Winchester to Romsey and the 2105 Romsey to Winchester.

Last bus times on Unilink:

Full details of services throughout the festive season here.

Wheelers W1 temporary timetable tomorrow

Don't forget that Wheelers W1 switches to a temporary timetable as of tomorrow. See it here. The normal timetable resumes on Monday 5th January.

Many bus services will be running to amended timetables over Christmas and the New Year. See the full details here. We'll be posting summaries every day of exactly what will be running to what timetable right across the region.

January timetables released

The new timetables for Brijan Tours' routes from 4th January have been released. See them via these links: 7, 8, 15, 17.

On the same day, there are new timetables on More X1, X2 and 119 and Stagecoach 46.

5th January sees new timetables on Bluestar 5, 6 & 11, plus on Xelabus X1, X2, X3, X4 and X7 with the X6 launching. Wheelers also take over routes E1/E2, H1/H2 and T3/T4.

From 12th January, there are new timetables on Velvet S1 and S2, with the A becoming part of the S1.

Most of these are due to cuts being imposed by Hampshire County Council.

More changes on the way

There are a lot of changes on the way. As well as the ones that have already been mentioned, Wheelers W1 will be switching to a holiday timetable from Monday 22nd December, with no buses running via Chilworth Science Park over Christmas and New Year. See the new timetable here. The current timetable resumes on 4th January.

Talking of Wheelers, they take on several new Hampshire County Council contracts in the new year. They are slowly getting round to posting timetables for the routes they are taking over. Here's the one for the T3 and T4, complete with a misspelling of Cadnam (my yellow highlighting):

Velvet A disappears on 12th January, to be replaced by an extended S1, probably at the S1's lower frequency. Hedge Enders might be forgiven for feeling rather remote.

First have new timetables on routes 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 13 from 18th January. Miraculously route 5 survives unchanged. The new timetables can be seen on First's website.

Ringwood gets more remote again from 31st January, when Gardbus 139 is withdrawn.