Thursday 9 April 2020

Easter weekend, ticket acceptance and more changes


It's no normal Easter weekend by any means. Most operators, including Bluestar, More, Salisbury Reds, Yellow Buses and Southern Vectis, will be running a Coronavirus Sunday service on Good Friday and Easter Monday, but check the operator's websites before you travel just to make sure.


A bit of good news amongst all the service reductions: many of our local operators are accepting each others' tickets. There's a mutual agreement between More and Yellow Buses in Bournemouth. In Southampton, First are accepting Bluestar tickets on common sections of route. In Portsmouth, First are accepting Stagecoach tickets on common sections of their routes. Not yet clear whether Bluestar and Stagecoach have reciprocated, but hopefully they will.

No sign yet of any temporary replacement for Xelabus's service, which are all currently suspended.

More semi-temporary changes are on the way in the next few days:




Stay safe!

  • Please only travel if absolutely necessary, otherwise stay at home
  • Check the bus operator's website to make sure what level of service they are running
  • Please don't use cash. If you can, pay by contactless, smart card or mobile ticketing app

193 comments:

  1. It's quite clearly advertised by Stagecoach that they are accepting First bus tickets on common sections of route within Portsmouth area from 9th April 2020.Bluestar have not yet posted to the fact that First in Southampton tickets will be accepted on their buses.First accept Bluestar tickets as from 10th april 2020.I would presume Bluestar will follow the same line.

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  2. As of today (think they meant Fri!), Bluestar will accept First tickets on common sections of routes. Drivers will need to record this on the ticket machine manually.

    First So'ton say that Bluestar tickets & smart cards will be accepted but how will First record/accept the key?

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    1. Same as Bluestar, First drivers will be recording this manually on their ticket machines.

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    2. Quite easy. If passengers put their key cards on the First bus machine, they can view the tickets on the card to see if the passenger has an active/in date ticket. It’ll say invalid ticket whether they have a ticket on the key card or not. However, the view card option on the machine allows the driver to see if they have active, valid tickets.

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  3. Nice to see services in Fareham and Gosport put back on in revised forms

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  4. At last Bluestar have confirmed they will be accepting First tickets in Southampton.Posted on their twitter site within the last 30 minutes

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  5. Once we start to return to normality I think there may be a few operators we no longer see. Here's who I think could be off the road forever.
    - Xelabus
    - South West Coaches
    - Portsmouth City coaches
    - Southbourne Buses
    - Wheelers
    - Linkrider
    - yellow buses

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    1. Hopefully when/if we return to normality we can stop seeing perpetual negative comments about Xelabus

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    2. It is easier for this people to hide under anonymous disguise to slam the operators. Leave them alone. All are needed, and with your doom and gloom forecasts don't help anyone. I hope you are wrong and if you are on the bus industry I hope you have enough "balls" to step down of your duties.

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    3. If Yellows went under, that would leave More as the only operator in Bournemouth. Would the Monopolies and Merger commission even allow that?

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    4. If a commercial operator closes and another steps in to fill some or all of the breach then there is no merger to investigate, it's just market forces at work. Remember when First was prevented from selling its operations in Barnstaple to Stagecoach, they simply closed down and walked away leaving Stagecoach to register less and employ fewer staff than would have happened if the takeover had been allowed. A similar situation happened in Northampton where First staged a slow withdrawal as it couldn't sell to Stagecoach.

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    5. I only ask because there are only two commercial operators in Bournemouth and it is likely that Morebus would take on Yellow's route if they went bust. If that happened, fare prices in the BCP conurbation would skyrocket and Bournemouth would become one of the largest towns in England to only be served by one operator.

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    6. Southern Vectis and bluestar (outside of Southampton) pricing would happen I’m sure !

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    7. I think that Xelabus will have its work cut out, but I think that they are hard enough workers to survive.

      I don't know why Yellow Buses are on this list, surely it is still too big to crash at the moment.

      As for the others though, I think we will see some disappear, some struggle and maybe some even merge to survive.

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    8. I think Link rider is questionable there was some prospect of financial injection before the coronavirus outbreak but the potential buyer pulled out before a deal could be completed.

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    9. It's ok for Gosport to just have one bus company operating though

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    10. Gosport is a bit of a strange peninsula though Reece. Not a huge amount of competitive options and a gamble for any new operator.

      There isn't much in the way of depot space anywhere nearer than Farlington, unless Lucketts (or is that now National Express Fareham) want to get into local work.....


      .... are National Express Group still in local bus operation outside the West Midlands?

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    11. NEG still have one or two buses running around Dundee

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    12. The next victim turned out to be an unexpected one Alexcars of Cirencester a well established operator. Whos going to be next?

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    13. Deregulation pioneers, TJ Walsh of Halifax, were an early victim - the statement from managing director, Neil Walsh gives a clear indication of the factors that may determine survival or failure

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    14. NX have confirmed they have nothing to do with purchasing sea view coaches.

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    15. So who have then?

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    16. It would appear no-one has. Just another bit of baseless speculation. In any case, what is there to buy?

      The fleet is now being prepared for disposal by the administrators. The Sea View name isn't worth much and the bookings have disappeared anyway.

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    17. Noticed an xelabus bus going through Totton earlier are they running again?

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    18. If they were running they would have informed us all

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    19. Xelabus don't serve Totton

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    20. They if you look at their twitter site yesterday stated they still wont be running for the present in line with Government advice in travel

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  6. I would imagine when and if we return to normal some bus services will never again see the frequency they had before the shutdown.Some will disapear for ever.Travel paterns will have changed in the way people get from A to B in many cases.Wher now for some time places like Durley and Curdridge have had no service for a few weeks now those living there must have found a way to get about I would have thought.The point is will they ever return to the bus.only a few I would imagine.Even before the withdrawel passenger loadings on X10 as an example were poor on most journeys I saw under normal circumstances.In fact daytime they seem to do better on the Saturday 2 hourly frequency in loadings. No one who is bus minded wants to see anything go but I see changes afoot by all operators after we can control coronavirus,if in fact We can?

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    1. People's working habits will change too with many now working at home some companies will see this as efficiencies and use as an excuse to close offices. This will then affect peak loadings etc. It will be many years before the bus industry can return to stable loading levels.

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    2. Life as we know it is over :(

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  7. To paraphrase the information I've seen in documents from the Traffic Commissioners, any bus service that was registered to operate when the lockdown started (i.e. at the beginning of March) including any seasonal enhancements already in the system is effectively frozen. These services are permitted to have their timetables suspended, reduced or increased at 14 days notice to the TC's and Councils, to cater for the levels of traffic on offer, but at the end of the lockdown they must return (in stages if necessary) to the timetable that previously existed as this is still the official registered position.
    Any post lockdown changes must go through the 70 day pre notification 42 day registration process which could of course be started at any time, even now, in anticipation of a different level of service being required post lockdown. The TC's are keeping a close eye on the situation.
    Ken Traveline

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    1. Thank you for the info, Ken. I manage now to understand a bit better the bus industry in the UK.

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  8. First are changing services for Covid19 again in Portsmouth/Gosport/Fareham - including bringing back 28A to Whiteley from 20 APR

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  9. NOTE - Other changes from Sun 19th APR

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    1. What other changes?

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    2. Why not look at the First Portsmouth,Fareham and Gosport website page where it will show you

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  10. It looks like the traveline data is not accessible at the moment.

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  11. That'sbecause no ones travelling

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    1. haha, good one (not)

      Say that to the key workers...

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    2. Not exactly many of them either that I have noticed

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    3. That`s because just like the trains they have become so infrequent that they are of little use to a lot of key workers-hence the rise in car use lately.

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    4. Car use has shrunk dramaticaly as can be observed on the roads.It's nonsense to state that buses are of no use to key workers when most large companies have designed services for key workers and some even offer free travel now to NHS workers.it's a joy to see all these cars off the roads as air quality has improved no end.Should be supporting buses not cars at this time

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    5. Trains haven`t been designed for key workers at present as I`m a key worker and can`t catch one at the end of my shift now as they are so infrequent now.Cars are much safer than buses as the virus can easily be passed on to other bus passengers-if you are in a car by yourself then you haven`t got that risk.

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    6. If you look at the government stats, then car use has increased lately. Although still 60% below normal across the country, it did drop to over 70%. Although buses are for key workers, they don’t tie in with shift patterns, plus it is safer to be in a car.

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    7. Might as well stop all buses if they don't fit in with shift patterns.Considering they run most days from about 0500 until about 2300 can't accept they don't fit in with certain shift patterns for key workers such as NHS

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    8. First Southampton aren`t running buses up till 23:00 at the moment as they are finishing much earlier and key workers include supermarket workers as well-many of them needing public transport home as wages in retail are so poor.

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    9. A large part of most First routes in Southampton are covered in some form by Bluestar.If you have problems as a key worker then get in touch with First and I'm sure they might accomadate your problem

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  12. 6 months later in Public Transport what do we see happening bus service wise?

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    1. Ask Mystic Meg.

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    2. Some women I'm sure have a better idea about running buses than men

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    3. There is a Woman in charge of running buses at UniLink I brefily spoke to her once at an Bluestar Event in the City Centre

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    4. That must have made Her day

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    5. I remember the driving instructor at Citybus a few years ago his view was letting woman drive bus is like letting monkey fly plane. Didn't he get sacked for turning up pissed at work one morning?

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    6. I bet it did my friend

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  13. I don't know Reece.What do you see happening?

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    1. I hope by then frequencies can slowly increase And things slowly get back to normal.

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    2. Given that many operators are constantly responding to passenger's requests, I wouldn't be surprised if all bus travel moved to a demand responsive model until passenger numbers increase.

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  14. Speaking of which, does anyone on here use demand responsive transport? If so, what do you think of it?

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  15. I would think for most it was totally useless.can't imagine anyone useing say Burridge to Hedge End or Chilworth to Nursling

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    1. There was (may still be) a taxi-share HCC Burridge to Hedge End!

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    2. I never understood why those demand responsive services never ran to larger towns. Would have been much more beneficial to give riders the option to travel from Chilworth to Romsey and Burridge to Fareham.

      Oh and by the way Anon 21/4/20 at 16:31, check your spelling. It's using, not useing

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    3. Nothing worse than someone who picks up someone elses spelling mistakes.They must lead very perfect lives.It's quite clear what the person meant even with a slight error

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    4. Nothing worse than someone who makes spelling mistakes. They are so easy to avoid in today's world where we have spellcheck. Sometimes I wonder whether people do it on purpose to seek attention.

      Anon 26/4/20 at 12:36, you might also want to check your grammar because where each sentence ends, you have put no space between the full stop and the first word of the next sentence.

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    5. Oh dear, you lot must be really bored in lockdown!

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    6. Hello Ian how are you my friend

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    7. There you go. Mr perfect at 1447 26/4/20 has told us all to watch how we post comments. So in the future no more spelling or other mistakes please from anyone.

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    8. Hi Reece. All good thanks. How are you managing without your regular rides around? Best to keep safe though.

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    9. I am managing fine mate and yeah I am certainly keeping safe, I walk to every location I go to for the time being.

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  16. No wonder the buses are so empty with so many people able to travel by train for free at the moment-what with ticket machines not working at some stations and no one checking/selling tickets on trains and if you alight at an unmanned station then it`s free-even at Southampton Central they don't seem interested in selling you a ticket for a journey you`ve just had as they are more interested in gawping at their mobiles it seems.

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    1. Don't complain about it just enjoy it whilst it lasts.Like the bus shouldn't be on it unless your journey is neccessary

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    2. In my case it is necessary for work as an essential worker I hasten to add.

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    3. If you insist on paying cash SWR are legitimately free right now, as you have the legal right to do so but they are refusing to take it. However if you're paying by card then technically you must use the ticket machine at your destination or else you could be charged with fare evasion (buses etc. don't have to take cash).

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    4. More than likely on most trains running the guard/conductor is staying as far away from people as they can to avoid contact.Don't blame them under present circumstances.The phrase essential worker in observation seems to apply to a multitude of workers some of which I myself would not have deemed as essential.One of the wose jobs at the moment must be a postman putting letters etc through peoples doors not knowing if those behind the doors have had or got the virus

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    5. Plenty of unmanned rail stations in the area and the operators must loose so much revenue when conductors don`t check tickets -not just during the virus but during normal times when they can`t be bothered to check tickets.

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    6. Talking of checking tickets I wonder when was the last time anyone saw a ticket inspector on a bus was.

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    7. Had an inspector on my Bluestar 17 a couple of weeks before lockdown, but some of the drivers are razor sharp at spotting fare evaders, particularly the older guy who drives the late buses.

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    8. Last time I saw an inspector was in 2017 when the CityRed 2 got extended to Thornhill

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    9. First have no ticket inspectors anymore. There is no need really when we don’t have dual door buses.

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    10. No need for ticket Inspectors as the wage cost doesn't even cover the few they may find trying to avoid payment in todays world

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    11. I think you need to remember that an occasional ticket inspector will act as a deterrent to potential offenders, and that they spot other things that you may not be fully aware of! It's not just the travelling public that they are checking on...

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    12. When was the last time on a bus you saw one. I travel daily and have not seen one in years. You need a lot of them if they are going to act as a deterrent to potential offenders which in cost terms is very expensive to the operator.

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  17. Operators lose revenue when they do not have ticket checks but the proportion of fares lost at the moment must be very small as numbers of passengers has dropped big time! The situation now means OBS on trains do not want to go through the train checking tickets. Maybe Thameslink knew more about Covid19 than others with their driver only trains!
    I can see cash fares being totally eliminated with ALL fares paid by card only. Safer & easier for bus & train co's.
    Frequencies will not go back to pre-Covid19 levels ever as many people have discovered working from home is a better way. People having online Gp/hospital appts through video link etc.

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    1. Those home workers I have spoken to want to return to work as there are too many distractions working from home and are missing interaction with their colleagues.

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  18. Further Stagecoach Portsmouth area change to remove an abnormality in timetable for service 23..."Starting from 26th April, the Sunday evening service will be revised to match the Monday to Saturday evening service. The last journeys will be at 2105 from Leigh Park to Southsea, and 2125 from Southsea to Leigh Park. The Monday to Saturday service is unchanged and will continue to run to the existing emergency timetable."

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  19. Sea view coaches of Poole have gone into administration according to the Bournemouth Echo.

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  20. Does anyone know why there are double dockers on CR3?

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    1. To assist with the distancing thing.

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    2. Yes at present they have three of them

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    3. I’m a driver for City Red. Due to certain journeys being busy in the mornings and to assist with social distancing, we currently have 3 double deck buses on loan for the 3 service.

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  21. Have Portsmouth City Coaches ceased trading?

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    1. Shearings hours away from collapse too

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    2. Still posting on their Facebook page after 9pm tonight

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  22. Portsmouth City Coaches were at the Hard to clap with SC and First. So err no Portsmouth City Coaches are still going

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  23. I would imagine after We get back to near normalmany companies will have disappeared.Those that are left will have an uphill struggle in some cases to regain passender confidence to travel again.With large bus groups such as Go Ahead,First and Stagecoach I suspect frequencies on some routes will never again match pre Covid19 levels as working practises will have changed significantly as will have shoppers habbits.Nothing will return to near normal until a vaccine has been found that works to stop Covid19.All this a long way off as it stands today.We have been lucky recently as the weather has been pretty good so when having to q for shopping it's not been too bad.Not so good though if We get a period of bad wet weather which is likely.We will all pay dearly in the future for this with higher taxes and prices to get back some of the billions so far spent on trying to stop the spread of the virus.

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  24. From 27 April 2020, new early morning duplicate journeys on City Red 6

    Following feedback from key workers and to provide additional social distancing on busy journeys, the first journey of the day from Southampton to Hamble and the first journey of the day from Hamble to Southampton will have a duplicate (extra) bus on Mondays to Fridays only.

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  25. Regarding frequencies, I think that each case will be different, however, the combined 3-minute frequency on the M1/M2 will not return that soon, it will take years until we could even dream of it.
    Other routes that I see nobody mention about is the night routes.
    Unless councils fund it, the N1/N2 (More), Night 1/5 (Yellow Buses), U1N (Unilink), will never ever return.

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    1. Don't agree that nightbuses will never return. Many were busy and will very likely return again when the nightlife does. That won't be for quite a while obviously but it will happen eventually!

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    2. The purpose of the N1/N2 is to accommodate the night staff from the NHS Staff hence why the service would normally be a 24 hour service

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    3. The N1 terminates at Castlepoint and the N2 terminates at Southbourne Fisherman's Walk.
      Both serve Poole Hospital but none serve Bournemouth.
      I think Reece has lack of knowledge of the Bournemouth-Poole area, so I would abstain of making non-sense comments.

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    4. Yes It would seem Reece lives in His own strange world

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    5. Dont think of the N1/N2 night buses in isolation, they are simply three buses that work up to 0100 on m1/m2 then run as n1/n2 and bridge the gap to 0400 where they become m1/m2 again. The drivers work the tail end of the normal service and the start of the next days normal service with the night buses in between. Basically it's just around 3x3 hours of duty time over the normal timetable. There doesn't need to be a large amount of people using them to cover the direct running costs at night bus fares. Vehicle wise once the normal service steps down mid evening three buses can be fuelled and returned to the bus station in Poole then taken by drivers coming off mid evening breaks, and they can run all night and the following day running off again early evening.

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    6. It would seem that someone on here likes me a lot to mention that I live in a strange world.

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  26. I agree it will be near impossible to reinstate night buses when there is no nightlife for the forseeable future. Many high frequency routes will probably reduce to more sensible levels, which will have the added benefit of fewer buses bunching. I can see operators also cutting routes that are wholly duplicated by another operator's route unless a mutual agreement is formed for both to jointly run it, as is the case with Stagecoach and Salisbury Reds' Activ8.

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  27. Regarding Activ8, does anyone know why it was decided to jointly operate the route in the first place, and why haven't other operators done something similar?

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    1. The route was before in NBC days operated by Hants and Dorset prior to deregulation
      Hants and Dorset was split into smaller operating units Andover depot became part of Hampshire bus and Sailsbury and Amesbury part of the New Wilts and Dorset unit now Stagecoach and Go South Coast

      operation always required buses from both ends to operate the service and it is impractical and unrenumerative to operate it solely from one end hence the service is still jointly run

      Joint running still occurs around the country for similar reasons until recently this included Trent and Stagecoach on the Pronto service between Chesterfield and Nottingham

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    2. Interesting the new buses to be operated by Salisbury Reds on the 8 seem to be shades of blue.

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  28. What is the point of the 69 serving Marwell Zoo on Sundays in the present situation.

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    1. Perhaps some staff use the 69 route?

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    2. What would be the point in changing the timetable? It's only going to save a few minutes of running time but would entail the added cost of registering the service change, producing the timetable and amending the schedules.

      It's just not worth not serving Marwell for a few weeks.

      It's worth noting that Marwell Zoo is, of course, closed during the lockdown.

      I suspect the staff will use their own private transport to get to the Zoo - to look after the animals during the lockdown - as there's no weekday bus service to Marwell.

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  29. Bluestar have announced today a bus tracking map on their site. Much the same as the bustimes.org site info.

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  30. The one on Bus.org site is very hit and miss. You pull up say an 18 and find it's going in a different direction to what is displayed. However it is quite handy sometimes.

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  31. Why the change to the First display boards, it does not look right seeing the number on the left side of the board.

    I've never seen it that way before.

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  32. Well you have seen it that way now. Doesn't matter which side it's on as long as it's clear to the public

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    1. DDA regulations state route numbers should only be displayed on the nearside of front bus displays ie on the right hand side when looking from the front
      In the UK

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    2. Like all rules and regulations,there to be broken

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    3. Just goes to show that the managers locally have no idea about DDA rules. Personally I prefer reading the number on the left of the screen, but it seems to have been arranged on the right to assist the visually impaired, which is a fair reason. I am sure First will change it back once someone explains the error to them.

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  33. As a visually impaired person, I can confirm that the number should be placed on the right of the screen - this is because when bright sunlight reflects off and obscures part of the screen, it is much less likely to affect the right hand side

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  34. Well someone better inform First and any other operator of this fact

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  35. Whatever position the route number should be displayed on at front... Hasn't First only changed it since they put up on display, proud of our NHS?

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  36. Under present circumstances who the hell cares wether it's on the right or the left whatever DDA regulations are

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    1. People with impaired visibility!

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    2. So few not worth all the fuss

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    3. I am sure you would not say that if you were one of the unfortunate people with that problem. It's a bit like saying that the next stop system is not worth it for the same reason.... Blow you Jack, I'm alright!

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    4. Quite so in most cases the next stop system doesn't work anyway and is a waste of time. We spend too much time in wasting money on gimmicks that for years We have done without and very few have had a problem without it. There is always someone on a bus more than ready to help someone less able in my experience. Nearly all drivers are more than helpful to those who have difficulties of some form. The problem today is that some customers are stupid beyond belief in how they behave and act. You find those who have any disability tend to be the bright ones as they have had a lifetime of dealing with difficult situations.My vision in old age is not now so bright but I have no problem with the route number whether it's on the right or left even in Sunshine. The problem I have as do many others I speak too is the digital destination display in orange instead of clear white which most vehicles now have. The orange is shocking in any light to read as the bus approaches. Here again We all differ in what We like or dislike as We can't all be pleased.

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    5. Anonymous who says there are so few visually impaired that it is not worth all the fuss should've visited the eye department at the General in pre-lockdown days - always crammed to bursting. Compare your ability to play sport at 20 to that at 60 and that is how much your vision has declined in the same period - many people do not realise this - if you are an airline pilot who has regular thorough medical examinations then you would be aware of this.

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    6. The next stop system is brilliant and is very useful if you are travelling to somewhere unfamiliar. Its main drawback is not being designed properly to cope with operation by human beings - e.g. sometimes drivers set the destination for the next service before they reach the designated terminal point for the previous service which confuses the system because whoever set it up only allows it to correct itself with the latest information when it is apparent that the bus has progressed further along the route - which can be many stops if traversing a lengthy one-way loop around an estate e.g. a driver on a Bluestar 12 service to Calmore changes the destination for the next service to Southampton before/at Testwood Crescent - the system thinks - oh I am a service 12 to Southampton and I have just left Testwood Crescent so my next stop is Stanley Road - and it persists in saying that the next stop is Stanley Road as the bus travels around Calmore until it eventually reaches Stanley Road on the inbound service. What should happen is when the bus leaves the next stop the system should think - um I am have just left Embury Close - something must have gone wrong - since Embury Close is a valid stop on route 12 to Southampton, the next stop must be Bearslane Close.

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  37. With Bluestar 19 having been consigned to the history books for over a month, I wonder what would have been the fate of the route had Coronavirus not happened. There was talk of it being extended to Lordshill to compete with First 3 and possibly upping the frequency to every 10 minutes. Could it have been likely to become another one of their signature routes like B*17 and 18 are now?

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    1. Bluestar 1 is the Flagship Route.

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    2. How do you know that???

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    3. It's a well known fact fella look at the amount of times new bus orders get allocated on the 1 and the fact passenger fares are quite good on it and loads of fare paying passengers.

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    4. (Enter David Attenborough) "And here we observe the classic armchair expert in action. Has zero business experience, but writes about a subject like they actually work for company in question"

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    5. What's wrong with armchair people though? They may have no business experience but could have some of the best ideas in the world, for example the fantasy network planners like us.

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    6. Everyone liked Stephen Hawking who has allways been armchair which is not his own fault at all what so ever

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    7. One Thing Stephen Hawking was good with were Black Holes and predicting the end of Earth with humans living in it

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    8. It would not take Einstein or anyone else to work out that the 1 is Blue stars flagship route, or that the 3 is Firsts.

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    9. I always thought the 18 was Bluestar's flagship route because it is the most frequent

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    10. Frequent means nothing mate it's the route that makes the most money and that Is Bluestar 1 fella

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    11. I bet you know all the flagship routes of other south coast bus companies too, Reece

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    12. Not really buddy

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    13. Aww shame. You would have been great on a certain pub quiz round otherwise.

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    14. Thank you buddy pubs are not open anytime soon so pub quizzes can't happen anyway

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    15. Not in a physical sense, but they can still be done remotely via Skype or Zoom.

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    16. Hahaha, whooooosh

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    17. I still would not do them to be honest mate

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  38. And to add to the above, could we ever see a return of Bluestar 19 once the pandemic is over and passenger levels are back to normal?

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    1. Pretty sure they said it was being axed for good.

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    2. Indeed they did state axed for good.

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    3. They may have said axed for good but strange things happen in this bus world.

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    4. Haven't seen a bus service cancellation registered

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    5. They have never said that it was axed for good. Whenever we get back to anything that resembles normality it will return. It is one of their major target routes.

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    6. It will take years for people to regain confidence in bus travel again as for a very long time people will have social distancing in their minds. Frequencies also will take a long time to recover on many once busy routes. Those living in areas such as Durley and Curdridge will have by now made their own arrangements for getting about as they have had no bus service for weeks now.

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    7. I can see several small communities being replaced with a demand responsive style service.

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    8. Passenger numbers returning to normal in the near future is a now distant dream. Like with small firms many bus operators will go forever. it will take years to recover from what covid19 has done. It's the nail in the coffin for bus operators and in some instances the railways.

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  39. Regards cancelled services, VOSA is behind with registrations. Only say this cos all the current Bluestar covid19 services only appeared on VOSA within the last wk, & are registered until Aug 31st.

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    1. Vosa means nothing now as changes can be made at the last minutes until things start getting back to normal look at bus company Facebook Pages

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    2. Or their website Reece.

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    3. Or their twitter pages

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  40. Who will be downloading the NHS app when it goes live on the Isle of Wight this week?

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    1. Probably just the twenty people on the island who actually own a smartphone.

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    2. I will be downloading it as soon as it becomes available in the rest of the UK.

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  41. What an earth for. Has nothing to do with Southampton Bus Update

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    1. Hardly anything posted on here these days has anything to do with Southampton Bus Update, not least as there are hardly any actual buses running at the moment.

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    2. I have noticed BS17 double decker`s going past with quite a few people downstairs not distancing while the upper deck is empty.

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    3. I saw it on the 18 to on Saturday

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    4. It comes as no surprise to see that on the 18, as these will be the same invincible brigade that seem to have no idea! On the 17 you have probably witnessed NHS staff who are working in each others proximity all day.

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    5. Any 18 I have used the passengers on board have distanced from each other. There are times however it's not been possible as not all are able to use the top deck. The future at present for the bus industry is looking very gloomy so expect drastic cuts on many routes. Some will never return. It's a very sad state of afairs. The worse cases I have noticed in trying to social distance are in large Supermarkets,when you get in and find you are tripping over more staff than other customers. I feel safe in a bus but not in some Supermarkets.

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    6. I could not agree more with you regarding supermarkets. Went to Morrisons at Totton yesterday and was very conscious of staff having no regard for their own nor customers safety. Then they had the stupid idea of making the queue for checkouts snake right through the middle of the store, meaning that it was impossible to avoid everyone. Regarding buses, I think that things will return to almost normal much quicker than most are expecting, once more is known about the virus.

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    7. An Aldis had to close down for a week in Yorkshire due to staff getting Coronavirus

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  42. Xelabus were on rail replacement on Saturday, I wonder if they are planning on resuming services soon?

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    1. I thought they said they had stopped bus operations to keep their drivers safe?

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    2. I wonder if they will still run their proposed new route X21 to Chilworth science park?

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    3. Probally not at the moment

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    4. Not providing there registered services even at a reduced level but ok for them to do rail replacement. I hope the traffic commissioner looks into this and any funding they are receiving for the non operational services is stopped.

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    5. Probally would have been Gareth Blair driving Rail Replacement

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  43. Bluestar are upping the frequency of 17 18 routes again from May 11th.

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    1. Might this have something to do with the very gradual easing of lockdown restrictions which Boris hopes to start from next week.

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    2. It is to ensure social distincing can be maintained

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    3. The government will have to keep chucking large amounts to the bus companies while this 2m distance lasts as it won`t be feasible for private companies to just ferry so few passengers on each journey otherwise.

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    4. Indeed it won't be feasable to carry small numbers of passengers without Government support. However worse to come when the support goes in getting people back onto buses who for a long time in the future will be wary of being to close to others on a bus.

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  44. It would seem that although Bluestar have a very modern fleet of buses,that breakdowns are very common. Not very helpful when services are at present much reduced. I write this as quite a few 18's have been missing today Friday 8th May 2020 so the half hourly frequency has at sometimes become an hour or longer wait for potential customers

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  45. Looking at the news that train operators have been asked to increase services from 18th May, it would seem logical that bus services will also begin to expand from the same date? If so, will the drivers then be expected to ensure that everyone boarding wears a face mask? Could get very messy when someone refuses because they say that they have recovered from the virus.

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    1. Mask`s aren`t compulsory-especially if you suffer from Asthma.

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    2. Buses are mostly very quiet still with plenty of space for customers to space out-underground trains are apparently heaving in places as there is still a skeleton service in place and you would have thought Boris would have made sure they were up to full capacity before telling people to return to work.

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  46. With trains set to be increased on 18 May I wonder whether buses are set to follow.

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  47. Has everyone got a face mask/covering ready to wear from Wednesday on public transport?

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    1. Haven`t seen many bus drivers wearing one-especially on First.

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  48. All the efforts Bluestar have made to try and get people out of their cars and onto buses and now we are told to use the car instead of the bus due to virus spread.

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  49. Wondering what has happened to this blog? A friend posted an anon comment several days ago which has still not been allowed through. Nothing in the news section for weeks despite some changes and much news regarding ramping up of services in a couple of weeks. Please let us all know that you are ok Mr Administrator.

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  50. For those who posted about First Wessex
    having a shortage of double deckers following most of the Scania Omnidekkas suffering from corrosion, 7 Enviro 400s that were loaned to Rotala are going to be repainted for Weymouth depot to use.
    There will also be some for Solent to replace the Geminis

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  51. According to Xelabus web site they are starting services again from 8th June.

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    1. Will they have enough vehicles to run a full service as some have gone missing ��

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