We start in Micheldever village, quite some way from Micheldever railway station. Until now it's public transport has consisted of Mervyn's 95/95A/96/96A running the following timetable to and from Winchester on weekdays only:
Mervyn's final services ran today. Over the years, Hampshire County Council have gradually cut the subsidy to the point that most journeys are currently run commercially, which isn't sustainable for Mervyn's. From Friday, Stagecoach will be running a replacement 95/96 service, which will offer just 2 return journeys on Tuesdays and Fridays only:
As well as the drop from 5 to 2 days a week, the Monday link to Sainsbury's in Kempshott is gone, as are direct buses to Tesco in Winnall. Public transport no longer exists in Popham.
Wheelers 16 to the west of Winchester transfers to Stagecoach also, but there's no change to the timetable for now at least.
Stagecoach 64 had some minor timetable changes on 18th December, to account for the completion of a new bridge in Alton and also to offer better connections with trains.
Stagecoach 67 has a minor change from 6th January. The 0707 weekday service from Alresford to Petersfield is retimed and will no longer serve Warnford.
Minor changes from 5th January also on Stagecoach 37 (Havant-Petersfield), Stagecoach 39 (Havant-Wecock Farm) and Yellow 1a (Bournemouth-New Milton). There are also some fares changes on Stagecoach.
Here's now the region's buses are running over the next few days...
New Year's Eve 31st December 2019:
- Bluestar: Full Saturday service on all routes, except for 6, 35, 36, T3/T4, which will have a weekday service. Extra morning journeys on routes 5, 9 and 12.
- Damory: Normal weekday service.
- First Bath D1: Saturday service.
- First Portsmouth, First Southampton: Saturday service with early finish.
- First Weymouth: Saturday service, except for route 6, which will have a weekday service. Extra late journeys on routes 1, 2, 3, 8 and 10.
- More: Full Saturday service, except for routes X1, X2, X3, X6, X8, 24, 38, 112, 119, 125, 191, 193 and Ringo, which will have a weekday service. Extra morning journeys on routes 5, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16 and 17. Night buses will run.
- Salisbury Reds: Normal weekday service on all routes, except for Activ8, which will have a Saturday service, but no 2105 departure from Andover.
- Southern Vectis: Friday service, complete with night buses.
- Stagecoach Portsmouth: Saturday service with early finish, except for route 38, which will have a weekday service with early finish.
- Stagecoach Winchester: Saturday service with early finish, except for routes 46 and 461, which will have a weekday service.
- Unibus: Saturday service on route U3 only. No service on other routes.
- Unilink: Saturday service with early finish. No night buses.
- Xelabus: Saturday service on routes X4, X9, X10 and X11. Weekday service on routes X6, X7 and X15.
- Yellow Buses: Saturday service with early finish, except for routes 18, 33, 36 and 737, which will have a weekday service with early finish.
New Year's Day 1st January 2020:
- Bluestar: Special timetable on routes 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 12, 16, 17, 18 and 19 only. No service on other routes.
- More: Sunday service on routes 5, 6, 16, 17 and X3. Special timetable on routes M1, M2, 8, 9 and 13. No service on other routes.
- Salisbury Reds: Sunday service on routes X3 and Activ8. Special timetable on routes R1, R2 and X4. No service on other routes.
- Southern Vectis, Stagecoach: Full Sunday service.
- Unilink: Special timetable on route U1 only. No service on other routes.
- Yellow Buses: Special timetable on routes 1, 1a, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5a and 6 only. No service on other routes.
- Damory, First, Unibus, Xelabus: No service.
Thursday 2nd & Friday 3rd January 2020:
- Bluestar, Damory, More, Salisbury Reds, Southern Vectis, Stagecoach, Unibus, Unilink: Normal weekday service.
- First Bath D1, First Portsmouth, First Southampton: Saturday service.
- First Weymouth: Saturday service, except for routes 4A, 6 and X54, which will have a weekday service.
- Xelabus: Saturday service on routes X4, X9, X10 and X11. Weekday service on all other routes.
- Yellow Buses: Saturday service, except for routes 18, 33, 36 and 737, which will have a weekday service.
Saturday 4th January 2020:
All operators: Normal service resumes.
Mervyn's peak journeys mainly for Peter Symonds students haven't run for some months, so effectively a 3 day a week shoppers bus becomes a 3 day a week bus. Even that will need to carry a few to be sustainable for HCC.
ReplyDeleteThe peak time journey does still run but has been a taxishare since April. Details of that taxishare are available from the new Winchester travel guide (issued by HCC).
DeleteThe taxishare still runs 5 days a week but there is no corresponding return journey in the afternoon, perversely.
The 0735 from East Stratton to Winchester (via Stoke Charity) returns to East Stratton (via Burntwoods) at 0900 from Winchester...
I can't help but think that the 95 & 96 could be combined with the Basingstoke to North Waltham & Steventon 16 (and possibly even the Cresta Coaches 41) to reduce the PVR and provide a better service overall.
Combining the 95, 96 & 16 could still link Stoke Charity, Micheldever & East Stratton with Hatch Warren Sainsbury's and Basingstoke town centre and still provide Popham with a bus service.
We'll see what the new timetable looks like in a few months when it's been fully retendered!
Sad to see Mervyns go.A lovely little operator who way back since deregulation has served a dwindling custom well.Thanks to all at Mervyns
DeleteSC 37 & 39 are because of a road closure in Crookhorn by South Downs college meaning revised route
ReplyDeleteSaints were playing at home today and where were First bus to take passengers to the match?
ReplyDeleteAs usual not running on New Years Day
DeletePlenty of alternative Bluestar services running so I doubt First would hardly have been missed.In fact if they never ran anything on anyday no one would miss them except on the 6,8,9 and 13 and bits of the 7
ReplyDeleteAt least it’s only taken just over 24 hours into 2020 for some “First Bashing”! On a more serious note why does this site have so much hatred for First when compared to many other towns and cities where First operate and many other blogs. I think I saw someone else comment in a similar way on another blog somewhere about the same.
ReplyDeleteI dont see so much as First but saying it how it is, it's no one's fault that First score own after own goal yea Bluestar are not perfect but First are far from it
DeleteYes.And Bluestar score sometimes very low even lower than First
DeleteAnon at 08:23 asks why there`s so much hatred for First and I thought it was so glaringly obvious that no one would ask such a silly question.
DeleteAnonymous at 22:37 some people don't understand that you will criticized for bad decisions and praised for good decisions and that goes for any company
DeleteThere is a lot of hate towards First because they managed to destroy a very comprehensive network to this simplified ones. And Bluestar is partly replacing those withdrawn services, pleasing a part of the enthusiasts, because, at the end of the day, nobody gives a damn about who runs x service.
DeleteFirst is not very popular in Southampton where over the years it has in some parts of the City wrecked what did operate.Other places in the land although not all have seen similar things done to services they once had.Most people in Southampton think now get out and leave what's left of their network for someone else to operate.in how First carry on in Southampton it's no wonder you keep seeing anti First postings.Bluestar also do bad things at times.I see no point for their service 19 which has extremely poor loadings.In me stating that I'm sure someone will post on this site that it's doing well which is an utter nonsense.The new 200's on the route would have been far better put on their 16 which has seen good passenger growth in recent times.So you see it's not all "First Bashing"
ReplyDeleteService 19 may have been started partly in anticipation of First pulling out - if this occurs Bluestar will want more buses and drivers - might be a plan to have some already in place - service 19 is the most cost-effective way of doing this
DeleteWhat a load of tosh. Where did it say First are pulling out ? This blog fuels that rumour continuously and yet it never comes true.
DeleteYes.For the past few years all the experts on this site have been informing us that First are leaving Southampton.I see no signs of this happening.At present they seem content in operating what they do.They keep taking staff on and all at Empress Road functuling as normal that I can observe
DeleteWhat an aweful boreing site this is.Nothing of interest just crap posting about nonsense that very few are interested in.Is anyone capable of of posting anything of interest?
DeleteYou make a very good point
DeleteIt makes no business sense for First to pull out of Southampton - that could encourage Go-Ahead to compete in Fareham & Gosport. Discussions with a pair of First drivers would suggest that some drivers may be in favour of First pulling out as they would be in line for a decent redundancy payment so perhaps they are fuelling the rumours.
ReplyDeleteEven after First have announced they're pulling out back in May they're, people are still denying this!?
ReplyDeleteThat shows the level of knowledge on this site. First has not said they are pulling out at all. Do point us in the direction where this is stated ? All it stated was the whole bus division is up for sale! Two completely different things.
ReplyDeleteSame thing First Group are looking to dispose of all their UK bus operations one way or another, many they already have.
DeleteFirst are going no where accept it - Loads of new drivers are coming through the driving school including some who have came back to the job after several years away.
DeleteI will just say this and it's not bashing anyone just an honest assessment of the situation but to me looking at it it seems First's only idea is to swamp Bluestar routes and hope and pray to God Bluestar pull out and even you have to admit Reece that's not a good idea
DeleteYes some have been dismissed before as well but plenty of brand new bus drivers.
Delete1 driver told me he last done the job back in 1984 and was away for 35 years.
DeleteDid he Rob a bank mate?
DeleteNope I wouldn't have thought
DeleteEven if something else comes of the "City Reds" buses and drivers First are leaving like it or not they won't be here within a year or two. Their only interest right now will be trying to keep the company in a good state for impending sale. And unless the whole of First Bus is bought out Southampton is unliekly to attract much on it's own.
DeleteWhy won’t they be there in a year or two ?
DeleteThey will still be here mate
DeleteAs I understand it, the whole company is up for sale, in terms of its bus division. So, as the poster above says, they will not be here! Either someone with very deep pockets (who can afford the reported loss of one and a half million each year), will buy the whole thing and dramatically re shape it, or various bits of it will be sold off and the rest scrapped. In either event First will not exist here. Even their drivers are now saying it's inevitable and many of the longer term ones are hoping for a big redundancy cheque. The others are hoping to get taken on by whoever the new operator is.
DeleteThe only think that is changing are the people that own the shares of the Firstgroup. All the businesses will still be there as there will be no change to them just the same as Arriva being put up for sale - it is just the shareholders which will change not the companies that are run to operate the services. I think those rumours about redundancy for long term drivers are just scaremongering. Where can you see the “reported loss of one and a half million” ? Be great to see that in black and white and then it will help to put some facts behind it ? Can you tell us please ?
DeleteTry companies house data. It's one hundred and fifty million per year loss, if I can read a financial report correctly! When any company is sold, it depends entirely on who buys it. Remember the guy who thought he could run BHS? He was a shareholder too.
DeleteI am trying to find the one and a half million pound loss which has been “reported”. Can’t also find the one hundred and fifty million pound loss either for the bus division ? Look at companies house and also public documents but can’t find anywhere saying the bus part of Firstgroup is losing money ?
DeleteOfficially First Bus has a small operating profit before interest and taxes, ignoring "group expenses." First Group as a whole continues to make a loss. Arriva hasn't had shareholders since 2010, it's a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which itself is (obviously) wholly owned by the German Government, not a publicly listed company. https://www.firstgroupplc.com/investors/annual-report-2019.aspx
Delete£65m isn’t really a small profit ? It’s a 7.5% margin ?
DeleteI think we are still waiting for the evidence around the one and a half million loss ? Or is this just scaremongering and rumours as usual ?
DeleteSo first are swamping Bluestar routes ??? What was Bluestar service 17 and 19 about or have I missed something ?
ReplyDeleteTheir way of trying to get rid of First in Weston which will never happen mate
DeleteThe 17 was originally set up so Lowerbrown Hill road still had a direct service to the hospital, what I'm saying is first the City Red 1 now we are to believe a route to Winchester via the M3 (Reece broke the news first) no doubt if that happens it will be every 10 minutes aswell.
DeleteBluestar 17 is about reinstating a cross city link for those in Weston to get to the General just like they used to be able to on the First 17.
ReplyDeleteUse it regularly as it saves changing buses in town when it`s raining say.
DeleteThat’s somewhat a weak argument - that link stopped about 5 years ago ... and the 19?
ReplyDeleteWho knows the actual truth about the 19 was in retaliation to the City Red 1 or what the City Red 1 in retaliation to the Bluestar 19
DeleteThink you will find the 19 announced its details before city red 1
ReplyDeleteWho cares?
DeleteWhenever First & Bluestar have introduced new routes they have planned carefully to offer an alternative benefit to customers whether that be better frequency, better journey time or better travel connections. Bluestar 19 gives no benefit over First 3 - in fact First 3 offers better frequency and better travel connections which suggests that Bluestar 19 was a hastily devised retaliation to City Red 1 and announced as quickly as possible so it did not look like Bluestar had been caught with their trousers down.
DeleteThe 19 is a slightly quicker route to/from the City Centre as it goes via Central Bridge and Bernard Street rather than Ocean Village. Between Itchen Bridge and West Quay the 19 has to negotiate 3 sets of traffic lights whereas the 3 has to go through 7.
DeleteFrom my observations neither the 19 or the 1 have exactly set the city alight however my money would be First pulling the plug first (if either company withdraw), given that historically they have been the ones to withdraw.
On a related topic I wonder whether there's viability for a cheaper, more direct service to Hamble. That would leave only a couple of small pockets of First's Southampton network without competition.
Sounds like Bluestar needs some more competition in order for us customers who pay through the nose where they don’t have a competing service!
DeleteIf you think you are paying through the nose then don't use them or any other company where you feel this is the case
DeleteThat’s the point. There is no choice as there is no competition and hence the prices are sky high compared to being in the city.
DeleteHas anyone seen that crazy article in the echo today? It is suggesting that bus mileage in Southampton has dropped significantly in the last year. I just cannot see it at all. Blue Star has expanded a lot, and First have added an additional service. Ok, a tiny decline from an insignificant base by Wheelers, and no significant changes with xela, again a tiny operator. Where do they get this rubbish from? Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteThere were unannounced reductions to Bluestar 18, Unilink U1 & U2 that you would only know about by inspecting the timetables from one year to the next but I doubt that accounts for this 15% drop.
DeletePerhaps these so called experts who have compared 2017-18 with 2018-19 i.e. before City Red 1 & Bluestar 19, are noting a decline of 15% mileage run by First not realising that a lot of the services are run by Bluestar based in Eastleigh & Totton
They were looking at the First 2009 Map
DeleteAnyone who would believe what the Southern Evening Echo prints must be a bit of a muppet It'a bloody aweful newspaper with people who run it having little or no knowledge of what they report.Even in the past when bus companies have submitted service changes they get edited and printed to the level where they make no sense to the reader.With most of the staff not even knowing what a bus looks like the reporting staff never having used a bus and they are the last place anyone would look for accurate infomation.The paper should have been shut down years ago
DeleteCould someone physically check the advertised headways of 'up to 7-10 minutes' on high-frequency bus services are being met? This means 6-8 buses an hour. Mileage can go missing here of not. A number of passengers say they can wait a long time for a bus when the timetable indicates otherwise.
ReplyDeletePlenty of milage lost everyday due to obscure f requency timetables operated.Most potential customers would not even notice.Both First and Bluestar are guilty of advertising a service frequency that does not exist only on paper.Try their services at off peak and see how hopeless both operate.Nothing to encourage anyone to leave their car at home and use a bus
DeleteIn Southampton a frequency of 'up to 7-10 minutes' often means 2 buses coming together every 15-20 minutes. This happens because the traffic signal management in this city is appalling - you could be forgiven for thinking that the council has an anti-bus policy. To see how an enlightened local authority manages traffic signals so buses can maintain a fixed interval high frequency service go to Crawley in West Sussex where, for instance, service 10 runs every 6-7 mins from Bewbush to Gatwick Airport and 2 buses appearing at the same tine is rare.
DeleteYellow Buses changes have appeared on the DVSA website from 23 Feb - looks like widespread timetable revisions, with 19 and 111 cancelled.
ReplyDeleteThe 111 is a tendered school service - originally with Dorset CC and since April 2019 with BCP Council.
DeleteThe 19 is Saturday only (one bus operation) service from Bournemouth Station to Tower Park via Bournemouth Square and Upper Parkstone.
Let us hope that the other changes are limited to congestion issues. No doubt Ken from traveline will update or even correct me.
Just how many more timetable changes are Yellowbuses going to have?
ReplyDeleteIt’s quite normal for operators to change their timetables significantly. Have to change to according to people lifestyles changing. Happens up and down the country. Whilst it is annoying to enthusiasts it’s what deregulation was designed to do. Anyway yellow buses used to change every 6 months when it was owned by the council so no real change !
ReplyDeleteI would imagine it was annoying to their customers keep changing things.When it changed in the past about every 6 months it usually reflected seasonel travel habbits.I don't see why it should be annoying to enthusiasts and deregulation was designed to make things better,however in many instances the opposite has happened
ReplyDeleteNowadays First like to not make timetable changes which pleases Customers long may this continue.
ReplyDeleteThe thing with First's services Reece is that they are relatively well matured. So with the exception of a few tweaks or one or two journeys being added or removed; there is no need to change them.
DeleteOf course there are some exceptions like the CR1, but every bus operator has to try new things.
Reece there are changes to all of them at the end of the month
DeleteXelabus have announced that they will stop operating the X11 from the end of Feb.
ReplyDeleteI wonder who will now operate the X11?
DeleteHonestly I would not be surprised if Wheelers take the operation again because they lost a lot of tendered services in Andover.
DeleteStagecoach could always take it on.
DeleteWith the news of the X11 being cancelled from Feb, I thought it'd be worth looking at the service Hill Road has had over the years...
ReplyDeleteJun '11: Was First 21 / 5 (depending on where you are)
Dec '11: Became First 21
Apr '12: Became First S1 with route change
Jun '13: Another route change
Oct '13: Goes to Velvet, more route changes
Jan '14: More route changes
Jul '14: Velvet ceases, Bluestar take over
Jul '14: Velvet rescued, dupe the S1 alongside Bluestar
Dec '14: Velvet S1 and A merged
Jan '15: Velvet ceases again, Xelabus takes over S1
Feb '15: Xelabus change route number from S1 to X11
Dec '15: Xelabus cuts X11 from Hedge End
Jan '17: Contract change, Wheelers wins. Becomes W2
May '17: Back to Xelabus as X11
Feb '20: who knows...
If by Hill Road you meant Hill Lane, you are also forgetting the 5A which ran the whole length of Hill Lane, later became the 4. After the big network change in 2012, it became the 10 and only served part of Hill Lane, then ran via Bellemor to the Hospital, Shirley and Totton.
DeleteAnd of course it was later withdrawn.
Should have been left as the 5A/4 when it ran the whole length of Hill Lane
Bluestar may be interested in the X11 also worth noting that Xelabus has not said another operator is taking over the route.
DeleteDoubt Bluestar would be interested
DeleteWith that much of a history I suspect Bluestar have the intelligence to realise a bus service up Hill Lane is not a viable operation, and stay well clear unless there's subsidies on the table.
DeleteThe way it is going people in Lordswood could soon no longer have a bus service.
DeleteAnd Wheelers have given up most council run bus services.
As Southampton Council isn't very supportive of bus services more than likely it will disappear.However the Council is very supportive of cycle lanes that few cyclists use.Nice to see money well spent in providing them
DeletePeople in Lordswood will struggle to get to Lordshill Way as some of the regulars are very disabled.
DeleteAgree with the comment that Southampton Council are more interested in cycle lanes - it is about time someone started asking some searching questions about just why it needs to take 5 whole months to build about 400 metres of cycle path - if you watch a cab view from a city tram tour of Amsterdam and observe all the street infrastructure there, we would have had to start constructing in the Middle Ages to achieve something similar here
DeleteInterestingly daily I use Bursledon Road where a large length of cycleway has now been completed.It's hard to observe a bike using it yet about 5 million has been spent on it and other so called road improvements.A shocking example of money thrown down the drain
DeletePeople always look the obvious reason of bus bunching. If you look behind all of this you can find it's easier to use 'bad traffic' as an excuse when the reality is the bus has been taken off and used on another service.
ReplyDeleteWho really cares.In todays world bus operators do their own thing.None of them care about customers although they insist they do.The only reliable transport is your own.Stick to your own and boycott rubish bus operators
DeleteIf I had a car I would happily use it mate :)
DeletePeople who wish to check up on bus operations can do so by going to bustimes.org selecting South West and then select Southampton or a bus operator and then click on Map - might answer some of the claims and queries
ReplyDeleteDoesn't answer much and just another modern day toy for someone to play with
DeleteCurrently all Bluestar and Uni-link are running at the advertised service levels although there is some bunching on service 17 - answer from bustimes - shame about the First issue - does not seem to be a problem in Portsmouth, Fareham & Gosport
DeleteBus times is OK but it only shows about 1 or 2 First Buses on the map since the last few months. It used to show them all. They need to look at that.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteFYI, this is on DVSA:
- Withdrawn:
Services 111 and 19
- Changes to timetable only:
Services 4a, 21, 1a, 5, 5a, 1b, 8, 4, 737
- Changes to route and timetable:
Services 3, 1, 6, 2.
I believe there will be big news about this, as they want to eliminate losses in their operation.
They seem to be in a mess.Better watch out they don't go out of business
DeleteWhilst I can't go in to detail yet, I have seen the registrations and there's nothing much happening. The timetable changes are mostly adjustments to deal with congestion, but the main daytime services are relatively unchanged. The route changes are minor, involving mostly terminus arrangements. Service 111 is not a tendered service, but carries a number of entitled children who are being accommodated elsewhere.
DeleteI hope to have the services on Traveline in a couple of weeks.
Ken Traveline
Interestingly the registration for route one now lists the start point as 'Poole Railway station', so I'm guessing this is a small extension to the route - or have they lost their spots at the bus station?
DeleteGood spot Alice, it was pretty common knowledge at the time that Yellows paid more a small fortune for the privilege of bay C. You can argue it made sense when they had eight buses an hour but it makes no sense on the current frequency of two. I suspect route 1 will go direct to the station, leaving just route 18 at the bus station. For practical reasons since the bus station toilets were closed and the Dolphin centre moved theirs away from the bus station the drivers may well be appreciating the railway station facilities.
Delete18 doesn't go to Poole. It is Bournemouth to Broadstone.
DeleteThat and the bus station is getting quite the reputation these days. I wonder if they will use that as a reasoning?
DeleteAlso route 18 doesn't serve Poole town centre at all, so it will be Yellows leaving the bus station entirely.
Apologies, of course the 18 doesn't serve Poole Town centre, don't know what I was thinking of. The school bus 737 which currently serves the bus station is listed as having a timetable change. Would be a bit odd if that remains a visitor to the bus station.
Delete737 isn't a school bus, that is the Bournemouth - Airport route. The school bus you're thinking of is the 744, run under contract to BCP.
DeleteYellows changes are on their website. Mostly timetable changes, with reductions to the 3 on Saturdays and 5/5a on Sundays, and changes to the 1/1a/1b to improve co-ordination during evenings and Sundays.
Delete1a will run to Poole Quay and rail station, but miss out the bus station. 4a is withdrawn on Sundays, but the 2 and 6 will both extend on Sundays to Kinson. 2h is also withdrawn.
As an enthusiast what I like to do the most is imagine different scenarios. And today is about the U1 service linking Southampton to the Airport.
ReplyDeleteIn the eventual Scenario where Flybe goes bust, what would happen to the U1 service? I don’t believe it will stay the same. Will they still serve the airport as normally? Or will they make changes ? I know the University have the last word but I imagine an extension to Eastleigh every 30 minutes and all other services terminating at Wessex Lane...
Your talking like the airport will close if flybe go bust.
Deletehttps://www.flightstats.com/v2/flight-tracker/departures/SOU
DeleteBefore you criticise me regarding this issue, inform yourself first and check that virtually every flight in Southampton Airport is operated by Flybe.
95% are flybe to be exact but like anonymous 17:29 said doesn't stop anyone else taking over the operations they want
DeleteI know the airport is concerned about their dependency on FlyBe.
DeleteProblem is finding other operators with the desire to operate the routes and with the right size of plane.
I know easyJet have a winter season weekly flight. But the airport can only handle one plane of that size at a time.
The airport would struggle, with London and Bournemouth airports being close enough for most.
Until technology produces aircraft with less runway requirements, Southampton will remain a small regional airport - it has the excellent transport connections required but can only be expanded with massive investment against massive opposition - but like all small niche operations they are vulnerable to change, Bournemouth would swallow up the extra traffic in the blink of an eye
DeleteI think Bournemouth Airport needs a direct access with a flyover/tunnel over Hurn village (although this sounds awful to be honest).
DeleteThe best alternative is the to rebuild partially the line Christchurch - Ringwood line, as a light tram style, direct from Christchurch to the Airport.
I know everything was tried: Direct bus with limited stop via Wessex Way, direct bus with normal stop via Winton, Northbourne & Parley.
This is different, it is connecting a station from National Rail with little travelling time, I reckon it could link both locations in 5 minutes, could be single track and matching arrivals from the trains with a frequency of every 20 minutes.
With all due respect Claudio, those are, quite frankly, ludicrous ideas! The cost of any of those options would stretch into the tens of millions (if not £100m+) and would deliver absolutely no benefit whatsoever.
DeleteThere aren't that many departures from Bournemouth Airport every day (approx 4 a day) so how could it possibly sustain such a high level of bus/tram service?
The current level of service on the 737 seems more than sufficient for the Airport and nearby business units.
If the service to the Airport did need improving (and it's a BIG if!) the More bus X6 could be diverted between Ringwood, the airport (via Hurn Lane & Matchams Lane) & then to Bournemouth (via Christchurch Road and the A338 then ideally serving the station).
This would allow air passengers heading from Salisbury direction (for trains from Andover, Westbury & Exeter etc) to connect via the X3 in Ringwood.
That would allow passengers from Hampshire, Dorset & Wiltshire to easily connect with the airport using public transport.
This is all futile though as the airport has a good enough bus service at the moment...
Andi! I'm not sure about diverting the X6, as not long ago the journey time for the route was lengthened due to delays. To maintain the existing veh req has made the timetable less than clock face. Adding even more time would need extra resources
DeleteFair point: I was assuming the diversion would be funded by the Airport so the addition of a bus to the PVR would be covered that way!
DeleteThere's little doubt in my mind that diverting the X6 wouldn't work commercially. Just throwing it out there as a more sensible idea if there were to be funding for an improvement in the public transport serving the Airport
Little to no changes will happen to the U1.
ReplyDeleteMore than likely another flight operator will take over the routes they want. Southampton Airport will continue to operate.
In the worst case some routes would be cut back to Wessex Lane, and others continue to Eastleigh, or if you could travel Southampton-Eastleigh for £2 then the U1 could do really well and Southampton-Eastleigh every 10 minutes on the U1 and Bluestar 2 could lose passengers.
I would suspect the core benefit of the U1 at the Airport is to the staff of the businesses at and around the Airport.
DeleteBut then isn't the U1 a university contract rather than a case of 'give and take'
Does anyone remember what the exact route of the Former 101 First Route was?
ReplyDeleteNo.why is it coming back?
DeleteNo need to come back as the U6 is doing a very good job of covering the route vacated by the 101 and beyond to the General.
DeleteThe 101 was similar to First 7 and Unilink U1/U6
DeleteIt went from City Centre, Kingsway, Brintons Road, RSH Hospital, Bevois Valley, Portswood, the side roads to University, University, Burgess Road, Langhorn Road, Wessex Lane, Wide Lane and Airport.
But it won't come back, the U1/U6/7 cover the route well enough
What was the frequency of the route mate? I also believe the route was not contracted to the University
DeleteWho the hell cares Reece.It won't be coming back,so why keep harping on about it.Your as bad as Claudio in fantasy postings
DeleteIt was half-hourly Monday to Saturday and used to finish approx 6-7pm. Can't remember if there was a Sunday Service.
DeleteI don't think the 101 was contracted to the University as the U1 was running back then too. The 101 was withdrawn near the end of 2004. Probably due to how busy the Unilink U1 was.
I still dont know why they gave it such a high number, even back then the services run by First and Bluestar in Southampton stopped in the 20s and 30s
Early university contracted routes were 101,102,103 run by first. Not so busy then as it was before freshers had to have a bus pass included in accommodation fees.
DeleteThere are very few people if any that use the bus and then fly. Anyone using the bus would tend to use the train. So the airport is really irrelevant to the bus service.
ReplyDeleteStudents flying to/from home at the beginning/end of term or for a weekend during term use the bus and fly
DeleteClaudio obviously knows nothing about Unilink U1. 99% of passengers are using the Uni sports ground or the train.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree - it does help if people commenting on a particular service actually use it
DeleteUnfortunately Claudio lives in his own make believe bus world which in most cases has nothing to do with reality
DeleteHe Certainly does :)
DeleteI wasn’t expecting Reece to be a stirrer.
DeleteAt least I gave some life to this blog and ask a question that needs to be answered. Of course the airport is not the biggest of the priorities to Unilink. I know that the service is regulated by the university. I am just wondering about changes to the termini points.
DeleteOnly joking about mate :)
DeleteSouthern Vectis have announced a 16% increase in the number of passengers using it`s Christmas Day services in 2019 compared to 2018.
ReplyDeleteNot surprised by that - the 1016 Ser 5 from East Cowes to Newport was used by 23 passengers
DeleteLooking at the Changes on the Way page, it states that Xelabus route X11 is being withdrawn next month. Are you sure it's not just being retendered to another operator?
ReplyDeleteCan you find anywhere where it's being retendered?
DeleteIf you`re that bothered then you could contact Xelabus and ask them.
DeleteWondering why the muppets at First bothered putting up a timetable case at the New Road stop in town for the 8 route when it terminates in town-they`ve excelled themselves this time!
ReplyDeleteWho posts the tweets for Xelabus?It would seem like a small child as "Center "is American and "Bad Traffic"should be heavy traffic.
ReplyDeleteA lot of tweets from major operators are very poor sometimes in how they are put together as information for the general public.In fact sometimes the posting makes no sense at all and you are left working out for yourself what it means.
DeleteCity Red 11 is to be extended to Central Station.
ReplyDeleteOh goody, yet another First bus waiting it's time there, blocking the bus stops! Complete waste of time and money, and even more fumes for our city. Those using the 17 cross city nearly all go to Shirley or the hospital.
DeleteThink it demonstrates that FirstBus drivers are not having to drive like lunatics and throwing passengers around to stay on time. Always get a better quality Ride from FirstBus compared to Bluestar
DeleteI think there is some truth in what you say, as Blue Star do cut nearly everything too fine, timewise. Apparently they have some young guy doing their schedules, who has never driven a bus, yet he keeps getting brownie points from their managers who are far too close to him, because he saves them money, in theory! However it would not be correct to say that First always give a better ride, as Bluestar have some excellent drivers who put safety above timetable on every occasion. The reality of this young scheduler is that he is costing Bluestar a lot in reliability and lost mileage, which will come to the attention of the regulator very soon....
DeleteSays who?
DeleteThe person who has composed the above, obviously Jack!
DeleteAnon 17:42 I completley agree Thankfully not my depot but one of the managers looks about 19.
DeleteWhats worse is she comes from the complete opposite end of the country hasnt the foggiest about southampton and while she may have a fancy degree in "people management" she knows nothing about buses.
Disgusting these "high flyers" are fast tracked through the ranks without any consideration for us older hands who have been driving buses since they were born.
from what former colleagues at first tell me its the exact same over there with young flashy "talent" being promoted far too quickly.
Bring back the requirement for platform service to progress to the traffic office and management
Some very offensive comments above about certain individuals who are excellent at what they do and have done nothing to deserve being slandered on a public forum!
DeleteBluestar timings are more generous now than they have ever been. I would invite anyone to compare today's timetables with those of 10 or 15 years ago to see just how much extra time has been added.
DeleteOh look. First announces timetable changes.. no extension to central..
DeleteGoing off these comments, it seems some people are saying they can talk the talk, but can they walk the walk? Schedulers are in short supply across the industry, so if you think you can do better, why don't you apply for a vacancy when one arises?
ReplyDeleteJust because someone isn't a driver, doesn't mean they don't know what they are talking about. Data is instantaneous these days, thanks to tracking systems on buses. Plus, all it takes is to ride as a passenger to back these things up.
The Bluestar scheduler so happens to be a friend of mine. He started straight from school, originally as an apprentice. He's learned on the job, he's hard working, and he knows what he's talking about.