Changes this weekend in Ventnor, Fareham and Christchurch

Xelabus X17 got a new timetable last Wednesday. It's down from two return journeys a week to just one, still on a Wednesday. It's extended to Eastleigh, but is only of use to anyone heading east towards Petersfield. Just 10 years ago, this route had 4 return journeys a day, 6 days a week. See the new timetable here.

Looking ahead to Friday 1st March, and we have a change of operator on route 31 in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. It transfers from Mark Tutty trading as Mini Bus Plus to Top Taxi. There is no change to the route or the timetable.

Sunday 3rd March sees changes to the following First routes in and around Fareham. Click the route numbers for timetables:

F2 Fareham-Highlands: Frequency halved from hourly to every 2 hours.
F3 Fareham-Portchester: Cut from six days a week to one. Now runs Wednesdays only.
10 Fareham-Gosport: Early evening service cut. Last journeys now depart before 1530.
11 Fareham-Alverstoke: Cut from 6 return journeys a day Mon-Sats to 4. Last journeys now depart before 1500.
20 Fareham-Wickham: Some weekday morning and early evening journeys cut. Saturday service halved to 4 return journeys instead of 8.
21 Fareham-Stubbington: Cut from 11 weekday journeys to 5/6 and from 5 Saturday journeys to 4.
27 Rowlands Castle-Emsworth: New timetable with some journeys cut.
28/28A Fareham-Whiteley: Early evening services cut. Saturday service slashed to 2/3 journeys.


Monday 4th March sees Southbourne C1 launch in Christchurch. Details of that can be found here.

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Austerity bites harder from Sunday

Hampshire County Council are wielding the subsidy axe on Sunday 17th February, meaning new, generally reduced, timetables on the following routes mainly in Winchester and Eastleigh... click the route numbers to see the new timetables:

Stagecoach E1/E2 Eastleigh-Winchester - Cuts to morning and mid-afternoon journeys. Last bus from Winchester now at 1715 weekdays and 1635 Saturdays.

Stagecoach 6A Winchester-Abbotts Barton - Cut from three days a week to two: Mondays and Thursdays.

Stagecoach 46 Winchester-North Baddesley - The mid-morning journey to Winchester and the mid-afternoon journey from Winchester are cut.

Stagecoach 63 Winchester-Owslebury - Cut from three days a week to two: Mondays and Thursdays.

Stagecoach 66 Winchester-Romsey - Minor changes.

Stagecoach 67 Winchester-Petersfield - Some weekday journeys are cut to run three days a week instead of every weekday.

Xelabus X4 Eastleigh-Hedge End - The 1845 Mon-Sat journey from Eastleigh is cancelled, meaning the last bus is now at 1715 weekdays and 1720 Saturdays. Revised Sunday timetable with 4 return journeys instead of 5.

Xelabus X6/X7 Eastleigh-Hiltingbury - Cut from a combined half-hourly to a combined hourly service Mon-Sat daytimes. Evening service cut, last bus from Eastleigh now at 1815 Mon-Sats. Sunday service cut from 8 to 4 journeys only as far as Velmore.

Xelabus X8 Eastleigh-Boyatt Wood - Evening service (currently Thurs-Sats) withdrawn. Sunday daytime service restored with 4 return journeys.

Xelabus X9 Eastleigh-Bishops Waltham - Sunday service between Eastleigh and Colden Common withdrawn.

Xelabus X10 Southampton-Bishops Waltham - Two additional weekday morning journeys to Southampton. Minor changes, despite what Traveline says. See the correct timetable in this booklet issued by Hampshire County Council.

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The slow and painful demise of the 46

There's a new timetable from Monday 4th Feb on Stagecoach 66 and 67 in Salisbury.

Elsewhere, Hampshire County Council cuts bite on 17th Feb. One of the routes affected is Stagecoach 46, which currently runs weekdays only between Winchester and North Baddesley.

Back in 2010 however, it ran 6 days a week and all the way to Southampton City Centre via the General Hospital and Shirley:

In October 2011, the route was curtailed to only run as far as the General Hospital and the Saturday service was withdrawn completely:

January 2012 brought a minor change, with some college services:

Come the summer of 2012 and the contract passed to Velvet (remember them?). The timetable was much as before:

By October, the contract was back with Stagecoach, although they weren't sure how long for:

It turns out they had it for good, the next change coming in January 2015. No longer running to the General Hospital, the southern terminus is now North Baddesley, with another cut to the number of journeys:

No much changed in August of the same year:

September 2016 sees some college services added again:

They disappear again in the current timetable, which started in September 2017:

From the present to the future... from 17th Feb 2019, we're down to three journeys a day from Winchester and just two towards the city:

Who says austerity's over?

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