This will leave Millbrook without a direct link to the General Hospital or Lordshill, with passengers having to change in Shirley. It will also leave Oakley Road and Cumbrian Way, historically Citybus/First's main route to Millbrook, without any regular bus service, unless there is a change to the route of the 2 to compensate, no indication of which has so far been made.
It will also mean the end of First in Maybush after the 1 disappeared last month. It leaves Bluestar 4 as the only public transport in the area.
The 12 started as a cross city service during First's revamp of June 2013, running through to Townhill Park via Woolston, Merry Oak and Bitterne. At that point it boasted a Mon-Sat daytime frequency of 20 minutes. That was increased to every 15 minutes in June 2014, before it was chopped in half and only the western half remained, as we reported in September 2015. At the same time, the frequency was halved to half-hourly, where it still remains today.
The route's history of course goes back further than that, having been the old flagship 17A route for well over a decade. It was once even operated by routemasters in the Citybus days.
In other news, congratulations to Go South Coast, the Go Ahead subsidiary behind Bluestar, More, Salisbury Reds and Damory, who have won three prestigious national awards, including UK Bus Operator of the Year at the Oscars of the bus world. Maybe just a little bit of that is down to the scrutiny of this blog helping to keep to them on the straight and narrow!
