- Bluestar - including the extension of the the 3 beyond Boorley Green to Eastleigh and cuts to Hampshire subsidised routes H1/H2, T3/T4, 35 and 36.
- Southern Vectis - with details of seasonal summer services.
- First Wessex - with a great new timetable book
- Yellow Buses - including extensions to New Milton and Wimborne, plus new route 19 to Tower Park on Saturdays.
Other changes that have occurred recently:
- Stagecoach 37/38 Havant-Petersfield-Alton got a new timetable on 1st April.
- Yellow Buses have brought in some new fare zones.
- Xelabus X5 was withdrawn on 22nd March. Boorley Park is now served by the extended Bluestar 3.
- First Portsmouth 16 had a timetable change on 24th March.
- First Southampton M1 has relaunched for the summer, linking Southampton and Eastleigh to Marwell Zoo.
Easter services are generally a Sunday service on Good Friday and Easter Monday with normal services at other times. The exceptions:
- Bluestar: Saturday service on Good Friday on all routes except for the 6, which will have a Sunday service.
- More: Saturday service on most routes on Good Friday. Sunday service on X1 and X8. No service on 7a, 7b, 7c, 10, 20, 24, 32, 38, 112, 152, U3, X2, Route One, Poole ASDA bus and Ringo
- Salisbury Reds: Saturday service on Good Friday on routes PR3, PR7, R8, PR9, PR11 & PR15. Special timetable on R1. No service on R3, R7 or R11 on Good Friday or Easter Monday. Sunday service on all other routes.
- Southern Vectis: Sunday service on Good Friday but usual Friday nightbuses will run on routes 1, 3, 5 and 9.
Looking ahead, Xelabus have some minor changes from 6th May on routes X4, X6/X7, X9 and X10.
See all upcoming changes across the region at-a-glance here.
Tried the new Bluestar extension from Boorley Green to Eastleigh today.out on the 0955 ex Southampton and back on 1225 ex Eastleigh.Both journeys were op erated by an E200MMC with full stop screens and stop announcements.After Boorley Green you are informed next stop is Boorley Park,then Chancelors Lane,then Shamblehurst Lane North.Nothing wrong with that except there are no fixed stops at these points so no one would know a bus served the points.Also the new stop at Barnfield Way between Sherwood Avenue and Cranbourne Park is ommited.I'm sure once however the service gets going proper it will attract new custom.Outward after Uplands Farm there were 5 of us all the way to Eastleigh and on return 7 went beyond Uplands Farm.No one boarded either way within the Horton Heath area.Not a surprise as it's a long time since they have had a regular direct service to Eastleigh.However when the penny drops that they have one once again this I'm sure will improve considerably.If your just doing food shopping Eastleigh centre is a pure delight with such a choice,such as Sainsbury's,Lidl,Marks&Spencer food hall,Tesco and Iceland all within a short walk of the bus station.Southampton has nothing except a large Asda and for the size of Southampton a pretty poor show.The revised Bluestar 3 will certainly benefit many
ReplyDeleteDid you chat to any bus drivers at Eastleigh Bus Station and when you was on the 3?
DeleteNo.I'm an ordinary bus passenger.I don't make a habbit of talking to drivers when they are doing their job.I must admit though I did notice in Eastleigh Bus Station a few rather scruffy in appearence Xelabus drivers
DeleteWheelers is the worst for it never wearing uniform
DeleteThere are, however, opticians in Southampton - visiting them could be useful for discovering Marks&Spencers, Waitrose, Lidl, Tesco are all within a short walk from the central bus stops
DeleteCorrection: southern vectis will run a Sunday service on good Friday, but the normal Friday nightbuses will run.
ReplyDeleteNow corrected within the main post.
DeleteSouthampton has a Lidl at 15-17 High Street. Plus a Little Waitrose and a M&S Food in West Quay. Tesco Express also!
ReplyDeleteIndeed.A pitifull lidl in the High Street,a more or less useless Waitrose and a pricy Tesco Express.I say a pitiful Lidl as normally you are expected to use self service tills as the absence of staff is quite evident.Southampton City Centre food wise is paethetic.Give me Eastleigh anytime
ReplyDeleteSampled the Yellow 1a extension today. From New Milton the first bus after 9.30am was heavily loaded through to Sainsbury's, running mostly in front of MoreBus X2 and had a reasonable loading returning through Highcliffe to New Milton. Only issue was the journey time took 15 minutes longer in each direction than timetabled. Morebus may need to pay serious attention to this new service otherwise the X2 will become redundant. Yellow buses should be congratulated on some "joined up thinking" on this extended service and for producing some excellent publicity for it.
ReplyDeletePity for that time of day they have got it timed all wrong.I'm sure in time more will do something about their X2 should it start to loose custom
DeleteI wonder what More could do though? I imagine that serving Somerford Sainsbury's must be a potential option (I think there's enough slack in the timetable to make it workable), as that is Yellow Buses' key advantage.
DeleteThe other difficulty is whether YB keep this extension at the end of the summer period. Many service improvements in previous years have been for the summer only. If this doesn't last, it probably isn't worth More doing anything now.
And on your trip, was the loadings mostly paying passengers or ENCTS passholders? The later are going to get the first one to turn up - the 1a is scheduled to run 1 minute ahead of the X2)
On the New Milton to Sainsbury's strectch there was only 1 paying passenger who alighted in Boscombe, the remainder of us all had passes and alighted at various stops along the route with only a small handful of pre-Sainsbury boarders remaining on until The Square terminus. Interestingly,on only day2, where the X2 managed to get in front of the 1a some of the waiting passengers at stops waived it through choosing to board the 1a. Probably a result of good pre-publicity.
DeleteSo I suppose the conundrum is when the service settles will there enough revenue from pass holders to sustain it. Obviously the first ENCTS accepting trip of the day is going to be busy and slew the overall day loadings.
With journey time to Christchurch 10 minutes quicker than the X2 it won't be enough to re-time the x2 by anything less than 30 minutes to make people want spend a longer journey time. After Christchurch the X2 is 2 minutes quicker into Bournemouth, I'm not sure people needing the RB Hospital outweighs the number of people preferring the shopping delights of Boscombe.
Overhearing the on-board customer service assistant (doing driver route training from Sainbury's to Tesco also a good piece of PR from the customers perspective) the "current" plan is to keep it as an all year round service. He didn't make any comments about financial viability or route/scheduling "tweaks" that will come in the future, but then he wouldn't on day 2 of a new service - would he!
noted mid mid morning west bound 1a 2/3 full...following x2 had 1 passenger...yb are missing out good custom by not going via x2 hinton wood ave route regularly{only used at school time)
DeleteLooking like YB are onto a good thing then! Their last forays out that way (X36, 111) suffered from being very infrequent, so it's good to see that if the service is provided, people will use it.
DeleteJust a little correction, it was service X37.
DeleteThanks, Anon, I got confused between the two Shoppers Express routes!
DeleteOn VOSA today is Bluestar 6 having variation to route & timetable from May 25
ReplyDeleteI believe it it related to the summer timetable changes on services X1 and X2. Also it would be a little change in Lymington stops. Bluestar 6 is connected with More X1/X2
DeleteYesterday I tried the service 3 Eastleigh to Southampton and I travelled as far as Hedge End. I believe it was a good move from Bluestar as people in Hedge End have an alternative to Xelabus to go to Eastleigh (despite the different route)
ReplyDeleteThe downside of my journey was the poor patronage throughout the route and the absence of the next bus stop announcement from Eastleigh to Boorley Green. I believe, however, that it was a mistake of the driver, because he used the old code on the display to go to Southampton (the one that started in Boorley Green). Once the drivers are aware of the right code to insert on the destination display, this issue will be sorted. Finally, they forgot to add the announcement stop for Barnfield way just before turning into Heath house Lane. Would it mean by the summer the new Manor Farm Estate will be served and Heath House Lane will lose their service?
I was close to the bus stop but not enough to tell the driver that he has Southampton on Display
DeletePoor patronage.The service extension is just a few days old.It will take time for people to cotton on that the extension is there.Once established I'm sure it will do very well.Very nice too in being able at least once an hour get between Fair Oak and Eastleigh direct.Drivers quite commonly put up wrong destination displays hence no stop announcements between certain points.i'm reliabaly informed where at present there are stops that don't have standard Council poles and flags the issue will soon be addressed and brought upto date
Delete1 driver on 16 route with glasses & greyish hair? He often by the time I get off after Bitterne shops has Southampton displayed rather than Townhill Park. Did cause bemusement for confused patrons when announcements said Midanbury Lane, for example instead of Dean Rd, etc
Deleteanyone know of a phone number that will put Me in touch in Southampton to report an electronic timetable which has not worked on a busy stop for at least six months?.On a different subject I noticed today an updated display for the City services map outside of West Quay done by the Council that shows no service 9 or 13 operated by First
DeleteIt's quite good that Bluestar do certain routes and put them on Route Driver Rotas.
DeleteIf only first had kept the Hamble Rota
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-190-YsF9cVg/XLC7vPtgNoI/AAAAAAAANhk/W0SdUPbBNeAi4G1oU_mGzlYazSR0UcMOQCLcBGAs/s1600/BS6.png
ReplyDeleteBluestar 6 changes: the 6:57 service will now run at 6:22. It will terminate in Totton on schooldays and go further to Southampton only on School Holidays.
The link above shows 4 alternatives to get to Southampton with the compulsory change of bus on route 6.
Similar to the X7. Probably very few passengers travelling into Southampton from the forest in the morning rush hour, as most of the passengers doing that during the rest of the day are of the kind that don't travel before 9.30. Lymington, Brockenhurst and Ashurst have good alternatives by train.
DeleteThe Morebus 119 service is to get a revived Saturday service from May 25 thanks to support from Lymington and Pennington town council.
ReplyDeleteThat has been a long time coming, all that is needed now is for someone to pay for the 112 to be re-instated on Saturdays.
DeleteIndeed-find the 112 now not running on a Saturday being market day rather a pity
DeleteThoughts go out to those involved in the major crash involving the no.7 Southern Vectis bus and the car passengers on the Isle of Wight on Sun afternoon.
ReplyDeleteIndeed very sad.Thoughts go out to all at this sad time.Thank heavens these sort of occurances are rare
DeleteNasty crossroads on long straight road in the middle of nowhere. Always nervous when crossing there. N-bound, particularly, need a large gap in traffic to the right because you can pull out and suddenly have to stop for some speeding lunatic suddenly appearing over the brow of the slight rise
DeletePH1121126/201 Registered
ReplyDeleteGO SOUTH COAST LTD
Route: Southampton to Romsey Bus Station
Service number: 4 (504)
Service type: Normal Stopping
Effective date: 13 Jul 2019
Extra journies for beggars Fair
Southern Vectis are capping their summer timetable book print to just 75k this year so you might want to pick yours up sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteThey've introduced recycling points for the timetable books - so they should need fewer in the first place. Hopefully the recycling scheme works well - otherwise they'll need to print some more (which I'm sure they'll have no reservations about doing).
DeleteThey could also go a step further and not run any buses whatsoever which would improve the print on the enviroment 100%
DeleteAnd cause the overall air pollution on the Isle of Wight to go up because everyone would be using a car...
DeleteWell that's the problem everywhere the car.However no one wishes to address the problem in particular politicians as they know to do so would loose them votes and more than likely their seat in parliment or in local government.The nonsense about saving the planet is laughable as man is the greatest destroyer of the planet and disposel of a few timetables in a certain way will do very little in saving it
DeleteVery evident anger amongst the travelling public this evening, with many saying that First have let them down. Lots of very busy blue Star buses, full of first time customers. Many commented on the friendly driver and nicer buses. Yet again, First are the architects of their own downfall, by running an inferior Sunday service, allowing the blues to convert even more of their customers, with their higher frequency Saturday service.
ReplyDeleteThat`s the problem with having people in Aberdeen making all the decisions rather than taken locally.
DeleteThat just shows how out of touch commentators on here are...there are no decision taken in Aberdeen
DeleteReally? So was it my imagination when the local management extended the route to Thornhill, and within 6 weeks Aberdeen trampled on it?
DeleteAs so many bits of route run over the same sections of route that First do hardly anyone would have been inconvenienced with First running a Sunday service.only Harefield would have suffered completely with no service at all.On routes they have run they have let no one down as there has been a service.I in being about today have not known any anger with would be First customers and if you treat First drivers right they are just as friendly as Bluestars.As for buses I would rather travel on a First Streetlite than one of those pain in the arse centre exit DD Bluestar buses which do nothing for speedier loading as most users still get off at the front and block those boarding.
ReplyDeleteCentre exit buses have been in use in London and on Unilink for years and years ,some people just don`t accept change easily.
DeleteMakes Me laugh when on the lower deck and wishing to alight they are sat in the rear of the bus,but pass by the centre exit and alight at the front.How dumb is this
DeleteAny excuse for not doing the correct proceedure.A typical British attitude.You can still thank the driver even when you exit in the centre or I have never had a problem in doing so and the driver has acknowledged My response
DeleteYou can thank the driver and alight at the centre doors as I have done on many occasions.
DeleteI guess the problem is that when others see you getting off at the front, they think it's okay for them to do it too! They have double doors for a reason. From a driver's perspective, I know that they dislike people getting off at the front. You may see it as only one more button for them to press, but they are coping with lots of things happening simultaneously, and you are adding to the complication. I know several driver's who now delay opening the front doors, to try to encourage those leaving the bus by the rear doors, and inconvenience those who refuse to follow a simple rule which helps everyone. Would you drive through a no entry sign? Exactly the same principle.
DeleteSome people kept tweeting First So'ton on Fri asking what service level they're operating? Obviously as someone said previously there's no Harefield 13's but don't forget the no 8's, as only 1 per hr on Sun & that the same bus becomes the no 6 & vice versa when they get to city centre. I'm sure a fair few don't realise that about the 8 & 6. Before they ditched the 12- it used to be 8 & 12.
ReplyDeleteAs for DD Bluestar's it's annoying when u get up & driver doesn't open door. Yet when he's picking up a cust, the back door often opens even though no-one is getting off!
I all ways get off at the front doors on the 16 and 18 so much easier
DeleteYou`re part of the problem then Reece.
DeleteWell Reece you would get off at the front as most places you travel you seem to spend most of your time draped over the driver in reading your postings
DeleteI haven't got a Girlfriend or tend to hang out with anyone else - So it's easy enough to do but I know a couple of other passengers that have got to know drivers really well.
DeleteYou are NOT supposed to distract the drivers attention whilst the vehicle is in motion Reece.
DeleteWhere I am I have had since Thu teatime just 2 buses in one direction & 3 in the other the whole weekend as Sat service on Sat. Nothing else now til Tuesday morning because of Sunday service in First.
ReplyDeleteMy area has a multiplex cinema, numerous restaurants, a modern shopping centre (& very large business parks). Where am I?
No, not the middle of nowhere
.....but in Whiteley just off jct9 M27! Therefore car is king & people sit in traffic queues.
Yes the so call 'upper class' market may not need buses, but when millions are spent expanding the Motorway to Smart Mway plus to come more on the Eclipse into Gosport to extend a bus lane when the road is ok anyway I do become somewhat miffed! No alternative no choice! Carbon footprints increased through no fault of the resident!
Have never understood why private bus operators fail to see the dramatic drop in passenger numbers on Easter Sunday due to the large shops all being closed and modify their services accordingly.
ReplyDeleteDaytime was a bit quiet on most routes, but due to the wonderful weather many people stayed out late, so the evening services were hectic. By sticking to the published Sunday times, the operators save a fortune in re scheduling everything and printing and publicity costs.
DeleteYes it's a fraction quieter than normal but not dramatically. Not worth rescheduling everything and confusing everyone for. People don't only use the bus to go shopping.
DeleteI was in Southampton City Centre on Easter Sunday and it was busy plus fast food outlets like Burger King were open which seem to be popular with bus Drivers.
DeleteNice to know bus drivers like the healthy eating option on their break
DeleteAbsolutely mate
DeleteThe BS18`s were all dead that I used in the daytime on Sunday.
DeletePoor drivers - they'd do anything to get away from sodding passengers on their break, then one turns up in Burger King and starts asking them banal questions whilst staring lovingly into their eyes idolising them.
ReplyDeleteI don't speak to them in Burger king I usually just walk past and say hello to the ones that know me
DeleteWe`ll have to try and find you a girl/boyfriend soon Reece.
DeleteI'm not gay by the way
DeleteWhat has that got to do with anything, in this day and age?
DeleteI'm just telling people I'm straight
DeleteWhy do you feel the need to do so? Nobody cares about people's sexuality any more. We are all just people, whichever way we swing.
DeleteThere's a music festival in Alresford on the 8th June 2019. The two additional route 64 journeys are to get people home after the last band finishes at 2315.
ReplyDeleteYou can view information about this on the Alresford Music Festival website: https://www.alresfordmusicfestival.com/getting-the-bus/
There you are John-Someone has made head and tail of it
ReplyDeleteI notice in viewing many websites that sickness with bus drivers seems to be quite an issue leading to cancellations of services.Is the issue caused that most companies implement a 12 hour working day for their drivers which in time affects their health?
ReplyDeleteYes.I note this morning the 0925 Bluestar 3 Eastleigh to Southampton and the 1055 Southampton to Eastleigh Bluestar 3 cancelled due to driver sickness.No wonder residents in Hedge End and Botley areas prefer their own transport.The hourly service is bad enough without cancellations making a two hour gap
DeleteMost operators offer drivers a choice of whether they work longer shifts on a long term basis. Many who do so, only work a four day week as a result. The problem is caused by old union agreements offering sick pay from day one. Some take unfair advantage of this. However, like every industry, bus operators are struggling to find good staff. Thank goodness Brexit has ruined our economy, or we would all be even worse off for staff!
DeleteAs an update to the above they now have managed to run the 1055 Southampton to Eastleigh although running about 13 minutes late.I should think so too
DeleteThe purpose of Unions is to get the best deal for those who are in it.There will aways be those who abuse it in every industry
ReplyDeleteNot in this area,but if you look at Plymouth Citybus the amount of cancelled services due to sickness over the past few weeks is unbelievable mainly evenings
ReplyDeleteBluestar finally making the next move with half hourly buses to Harefield from Sunday 16th June....
ReplyDeleteFirst didnt do anything for the battle of Weston so surely must respond somehow to this latest attack
I think you may need to tell Blue Star about this, as I don't think they know about it! Nothing internal or external to be seen, so no idea where you have got it from?
DeleteIndeed.Where do these people get such nonsense from
DeleteFirst probably want to get rid of the 13 as it`s probably their weakest route.
DeleteAlways thought the 2 was their weakest route by how empty it always seems as it can`t possibly compete with the massively popular 18.
DeleteThere is absolutely nothing on VOSA, and to be approved by the TC, it needs up to 70 days to be registered. Unfortunately this kind of news leads some of us to stop frequenting this website.
DeleteBluestar aren't going to be operating any services to Harefield (it's been confirmed to me by Bluestar themselves). Anon at 00:40 is disseminating fake news!
DeleteAs mentioned, there's nothing on VOSA (or notices & proceedings) either which is the biggest indicator that they're not branching out to Harefield.
What's more, First did attempt to combat Bluestar in Weston with the 11 ramping up to every 5 mins (though I think it has dropped back to the every 7-8 mins frequency by now?)
Firsts website is such a mess. In one page says it runs every 7 minutes, and in other it says every 5.
DeleteStill regarding First services to Weston, for as far as I can see, they are still running every 5 minutes. I think it is a waste of resources, as there isn't much demand.
DeleteI actually keep seeing empty buses due to their unrealistic frequency, being the 11 to Weston the worst I have seen.
I think every high frequency service should be run up to every 10 minutes outside peak times, and every 7 minutes during peak times, and only monday to friday.
And this applies to every bus service running in Southampton. People won't lose much with an increased waiting time of 3 minutes for a bus.
With this, they could actually low some prices or expand services without biting too much on profits.
And where has this been posted/
ReplyDeleteSooner First goes the better as a company that that apparently blocks complainers from its FB page deserves to go-imagine a large supermarket chain blocking customers because they complained about a late online delivery say-would those customers still want to shop with that firm?
ReplyDeleteFirst like Bluestar block their website to many as those who post are total idiots they can do without.If you can't post something constructive to either company then don't bother to post.On here a few post idiotic statements about route changes that have no foundation from any source.Those who post such nonsense have no interest in public transport and live in a fantancy world of make believe.Most bus companies know who they are and must get sick and tired of them.The few can't stop posting nonsense.
ReplyDeleteHello Reece.
DeleteHello mate
DeleteNot many turned up at the Bluestar Event at the Bargate Today, everyone was just walking past the bus but I enjoyed 2 cups of Tea.
ReplyDeleteI was also given a Free Cup as well as a free Bag
DeleteNot many turned up as they were too busy driving their cars round to bother.Don't know why Bluestar bother with these types of events.Couldn't even it would seem even give free cups of tea away even too those walking past
DeleteAt least George gets a day away from the Office at Barton Park
DeleteAn excelent example of why you would not wish to use a bus for a short trip.Thousans of more examples of this up and down the land.Even in Towns and Cities short hop journeys are now not made any longer because in most instances the minimum single journey is £2.They want you to leave your car at home to use the bus and cut pollution down but rob you cash wise to do it.More cars on the road I say and bus companies get lost
ReplyDeleteStupid trolling comment.
Delete19 miles from Alton to Winchester, 38 mile round trip, bus fare £7.30, 19p a mile.
Average cost to run a family size car is in excess of 19p a mile.
Indeed it is more than 19p per mile if you take your car.However for most it's more convienient than the bus and worth the extra cost outlay.
DeleteA driver on the 16 this morning told me that first are giving up the City Red 6 route from Southampton to Hamble and that Bluestar are taking over the route in September
ReplyDeleteThat rumour has been doing the rounds for a very long time. The last thing that will happen is any co operation between the two outfits to transfer a route peacefully.
DeleteHe was probably trying to find something good enough to make you bugger off and sit down like everyone else.
DeleteStop listening to bus drivers Reece!!
DeleteOh Reece. There was a bluestar driver telling me they would run M1 to Marwell and guess what? Nothing happened
DeleteYou should not believe on everything you hear.
Oh dear Reece,whenever will you learn not to take notice of bus drivers gossip-theres an old saying "gossip mowed down more people than a car ever has done"
DeleteBluestar were planning to run the M1 Marwell service following the collapse of Velvet. However, Velvet was then rescued by a new owner and so the M1 Marwell service continued to be operated by Velvet and not Bluestar.
DeleteWish ALL bus operators would follow Southern Vectis and only change their services twice a year as it would make it so much easier for bus users.
ReplyDeletePH0006159/325 Cancelled
ReplyDeleteFIRST HAMPSHIRE & DORSET LIMITED
Route: Southampton City Centre to Richard Taunton College/ Southampton General Hospital
Service number: 40 ()
Service type: Normal Stopping
Effective date: 24 Jul 2019
Only to be reintroduced in September.
Delete