Changes this weekend / Xelabus to take Bitterne Hoppa / X12 slashed

More changes coming up this weekend:

• Xelabus X4 Eastleigh-Hedge End: Saturday frequency halved to every 2 hours. Timetable here.
• Bluestar 4 Southampton-Romsey: Minor timetable change from Monday. Timetable here.
• Bluestar 17 City Centre-Lordshill: Frequency increase from Sunday. Timetable here.

Don't forget First brought in new timetables last weekend on the following routes. Click the route number to see the new timetable:

• three Lordshill-Thornhill
• 8 Southampton-Hedge End
• 10 City Centre-Hightown
• E1/E2 Eastleigh-Winchester

Xelabus have announced some upcoming changes exclusively on this blog (see the comments on the previous post). They are:

• B1/B2/B3 Bitterne Hoppa: From 30th March these routes transfer from First to Xelabus and are cut from 5 to 3 days a week (Mon/Wed/Fri), with a slight frequency cut too. Click the route numbers for the new timetables. The routes are being amended too, so here's how they will be running:

B1:

B2:

B3:

• X1/X2/X3 Eastleigh Local Services: Cut to 2 days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 5th April.
• X9 Eastleigh-Bishops Waltham: Minor timetable change from 29th March.
• X10 Southampton-Bishops Waltham: Minor timetable change from 29th March.
• X12 City Centre-Shirley: Cut to 2 days a week, Tues/Thurs, and a frequency cut from 29th March.

Changes this month / Bitterne Hoppa withdrawn / Easter buses to Marwell

There are a few changes coming up later this month. Here's a quick rundown:

21st February: Timetable changes to First three, 8, 10 and E1/E2. Full details here. Note that there is also a route change in the city centre for routes 8 and 10.

27th February: Xelabus X4 has its Saturday service cut to 2-hourly. New Saturday timetable here. That's one bus every 2 hours, not two buses an hour. This brings about the bizarre situation of a route that runs more frequently on Sundays than on Saturdays. The Sunday service between Eastleigh and Hedge End is First A, which runs roughly every hour and 10 minutes.

28th February: Bluestar 4 and 17 get new timetables. It's minor changes for reliability on the 4 to Romsey, but the 17 gets a frequency boost to every 10 minutes Mon-Sat daytimes, plus the current short journeys to/from Lordshill are all extended to Lower Brownhill Road. Detail and timetables here.


Looking further ahead, the Bitterne Hoppa services B1/B2/B3, operated by First, come to an end on 25th March.

From the same date, First M1 starts again for the summer. That's the seasonal link between Eastleigh and Marwell Zoo, but this year some journeys will start back from Southampton city centre and run via Bevois Valley, Portswood and Wessex Lane. Timetable here.

Rumours abound of yet another change to First 13 in April. Does that make Harefield's route the most tinkered-about-with in recent times?