- Bluestar 5
This route between Eastleigh and Romsey gets a new timetable from Monday and is extended beyond Eastleigh Bus Station to Boyatt Wood, replacing the E1/E2, which are switching from Bluestar to Wheelers.
- Bluestar 6
Some journeys are cut between Southampton and Lymington from Sunday. New timetable here.
- Brijan Tours 7
New timetable from Monday between Southampton and Bishops Waltham. The main change is a cut in the Saturday frequency to one bus every 2 hours.
- Brijan Tours 8
New timetable from Monday between Eastleigh and Bishops Waltham. The main change is a cut in the Saturday frequency to one bus every 2 hours.
- Brijan Tours 15
This Hedge End to Hamble route is being cut from six to three days a week. From Monday, it will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only. New timetable here.
- Brijan Tours 17
This link between Bishops Waltham and Petersfield is being cut from two to just one day a week. The last Saturday service will be on 3rd January. After that, the 17 runs on Wednesdays only with a new timetable.
- More X1/X2
New timetable from Sunday between Lymington and Bournemouth with some cuts. More are consulting regarding the long term future of these routes.
- More 119
New timetable from Monday between Lymington and New Milton.
- Salisbury Reds X7
New timetable from Monday between Southampton and Salisbury, with fewer journeys overall and some journeys diverted via Romsey and renumbered X7R to replace the 34.
- Stagecoach 46
This link between Winchester and Southampton General Hospital is being cut back from Monday to run between Winchester and North Baddesley only, severing the General Hospital's direct links with many areas. New timetable here,
- Wheelers W1
This route between Southampton and Romsey has been on a holiday timetable for a couple of weeks, but resumes its usual timetable from Monday.
- Bluestar 11
Temporary terminus for the weekday journeys to and from Cadnam due to a road closure from Monday.
- Xelabus X1
New timetable from Monday between Eastleigh and Stoke Common. Now five days a week instead of three, but with fewer journeys per day.
- Xelabus X2
New timetable from Monday between Eastleigh and Boyatt Wood. Now five days a week instead of three, but with fewer journeys per day.
- Xelabus X3
New timetable from Monday between Eastleigh and Asda with fewer journeys per day.
- Xelabus X4
New timetable from Monday between Eastleigh and Hedge End. Evening journeys will no longer serve Derby Road, Passfield Avenue or Chestnut Avenue, running instead direct via Southampton Road.
- Xelabus X7
New timetable and a revised route from Monday, combining with new route X6 to replace routes C3 and C4, which are being withdrawn.
Most of these changes are due to cuts being imposed by Hampshire County Council.
Not surprised that Brijan route 7 is being cut back,hardly ever see anyone using it during the day!
ReplyDeleteYou will see even less on it on Saturdays when it's cut back and it can't be that bad during the day or though I agree not that busy on some journeys, as I'm sure HCC would have made even bigger cuts to it, and for that matter the 8 as well
ReplyDeleteBrijan 7/8 provides lots of useful through links and carries OK on some parts of the route. The real surprise for me is that the E1/2 have survived intact - they only duplicate other routes for most of their length. HCC were planning to cut the E1/2 to 3 days a week until Wheelers came in with a low tender; expect that cut to be revisited if they do throw the tender in at any point.
ReplyDeleteThere are far less deserving cases for HCC subsidy than the Brijan 7/8.
What a good start to the New Year-Still no new times shown on Xelabus website for the changes from 4th January 2015, although they are shown on Traveline-We seem to have a lot of intending passengers looking at various websites not understanding what will or not operate on certain days over the Christmas/New Year Holiday period, although all operators have had the information displayed on their sites weeks before hand,so in the future I don't know how we overcome this one,apart from the fact where it states Sundays and Bank Holidays maybe it should in addition read also not Boxing Day or New Years Day Holiday-With all the modern technology available to find out information, it seems for some people difficult still to understand what or what not is on offer-It should be interesting from Monday 5th January to read comments on the various sites,from people who had no clue that the service was now withdrawn or drasticaly cut-PAC
ReplyDeleteXelabus has direct links to the new timetables above each route map, but the timetable sections can only display the current timetables. Using Traveline appears to have its limitations.
ReplyDeleteYes,thanks I have found that now since my earlier posting-PAC
DeleteWish someone at Traveline would sort out some of the new timetables as from 4th January 2015-If you go to the Wheeler's site it shows service 87/87A but on Traveline only shows service 87-The people in the Test Valley have had change enough without differing timetables being shown for the Salisbury to Andover service.
ReplyDeleteWhile their at it could they possibly ask Wheelers to put some timetables up at bus stops and tell the people running the electronic info system they are running the E1/2, and some stickers on poles would be nice too.
DeleteThere appears to be no sign that buses actually run between Eastleigh and Winchester, now that SBL have decommissioned all the stops and have even taken a flag with them! This is especially unhelpful at Eastleigh now that Wheelers depart from the other end of the bus station.
On the other hand they have produced a very good timetable booklet which is available when you get on the bus (a bit late then!), however this just refers to Eastleigh bus station without mentioning the particular stand.
While we are at it could they possibly bring a smaller bus with them? As no other bugger can get out of Winchester bus station when their in it!
I'm pleased to note that Bluestar have removed all their flags and timetable stop cases along the E1/E2 sections of route-It's up to Wheeler's to provide their own, or in some comments I note they have made on their facebook page, they seem to think it's upto the council to do it all-Now that Bluestar are off the E1/E2 the passengers will note the drop in standard of the publicity-Let's hope the service doesn't follow suite
DeleteWithin Southampton there are still flags with Wheeler's W3 on them and some timetable cases still have the W3 timetable in them,at the General Hospital the W2 timetable is still shown and most stop flags still show W2 throughout the route-PAC
DeleteUntil last Nov/ Dec there were still timetable at stops in Soton for Velvets 300! So Wheelers aren't the only ones guilty of this.
DeleteHowever I would have hoped that standards for the provision of timetable information at stops would be part of any tender for a service provided by public subsidy, i.e. the E1/2.
The big companies are not much better than the small ones when it comes to roadside publicity.
DeleteI think Bluestar are just being a*sey because they lost the route through being greedy and wanting more money.
Not at all-First,Stagecoach and Bluestar all have excelent roadside publicity, and it's not a*sey as you state, they have removed it because they no longer operate the contract, it's up to the new operator to supply their own infrastructure which Wheeler's in this instance seems not to be very good at for the moment-Also the Velvet 300 as stated was left up for a long time before being removed,but this is no surprise with the way it's now operated-The provision of information with any operator winning a tender is as stated should be a condition of them operating the tender,but this does not seem to be so,and in the end as usual it's the public who suffer-In Southampton the Council together with First I am told keep the bus stop publicity upto date, but even here this does not always keep pace with changes, an example being for the moment unless it changes within the next few days that Brijan 7 still shows an hourly Saturday service which is now two hourly-I presume this will be rectified within the next week or two as there will be slight changes to First 9 along the Bitterne corridor so no point in someone coming out twice within a week to adjust timetables- PAC
DeleteWheelers are claiming that they were not able to provide there own information at stops until Bluestar had removed there's. Personally I can see no reason for this necessity if you have a date clearly printed on the timetable, as most do.
DeleteAs for Bluestar removing their information, that of course is their right, however if the timetable and route no. is the same (and they must surely be aware they are), then why the hurry? Even if there are changes the new operator could just remove/ cover up the old with the new, without causing any harm?
It is interesting to note that Bluestar are continuing to provide a 1/2 hourly service around Broadlands Ave along side Wheelers hourly through service, even though the tender is only for Winchester - Allbrook. Yes it makes sense to continue to Eastleigh but is Broadlands Ave necessary? It seems loadings are significantly down on the E1/2 given most passengers for Broadlands Ave continue, it appears, to use Bluestar. - Ruffled feathers perhaps?
This tweet somewhat amused me today in a 'schadenfreude' kind of way:
ReplyDelete"@StagecoachSouth has the 13 Alton to Basingstoke route been changed??? Cos we're somewhere called odiham"
https://twitter.com/StagecoachSouth/status/552126796406484992
I'm sure people will get used to the changes eventually.
I saw a velvet dennis dart near ringwood earlier I coulden't read the bit of paper in the window so don't know what route it was on - I thought velvet stopped the ringwood service?
ReplyDeleteinteresting in view of some posts in UK Bus Southwest group made in the last few days. Velvet have not served Ringwood for some while.
DeleteThere have been quite a few ex Velvet vehicles for sale recently, may be its one of those and has been bought by one of the independent local operators?
Delete