Romsey & New Forest cuts / W&D 65 -> Bluestar 5

Wilts & Dorset have announced the following changes to some of their and Bluestar's routes in Romsey and the New Forest (For some reason some of the Romsey changes only appear on the Wiltshire page - last time I checked it was still in Hampshire!). No mention on Bluestar's website yet and no new timetables from either of them. The following take effect from Sunday 23rd October:

W&D X1/X2 Lymington-Bournemouth

Many evening journeys are being axed. Expect more drink driving.

Bluestar 5 Eastleigh-Romsey

Replaces W&D 65. Service level unknown.

Bluestar 6 Southampton-Lymington

W&D say this will be cut to hourly between Lymington and Rushington. Either this means it will still be every half hour between the city centre and Rushington OR it could mean that the 6 will terminate at Rushington and passengers will need to change to another bus, possibly the 8 or 9, in order to get in to Southampton. We'll let you know as soon as we do.

Bluestar 10/11 Southampton-Cadnam

The combined frequency will be halved to hourly.

W&D 30 Romsey-Halterworth

Withdrawn and replaced by a diversion to route 35.

W&D 34 Romsey-Salisbury

New timetable with fewer journeys. The Saturday extension to Eastleigh will no longer run.

W&D 35 Romsey-Braishfield

New timetable and route, partially replacing route 30, which is being axed.

W&D 36 Romsey-Salisbury

The route will be chopped in two, with the 36 running between Romsey and Lockerley and the 37 running between Lockerley and Salisbury. This puts the 37 outside of our region, so we'll concentrate on the 36, which is being substantially cut. Other than schools journeys, it will only run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

W&D 65 Eastleigh-Romsey

This route transfers to Bluestar and becomes Bluestar 5. Times will also change. Full details when Bluestar let us see the timetable.

W&D 112 Hythe-Lymington

Several journeys will be cut. Other than schools services, the 112 will only continue to run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

W&D 118 Lymington-Ringwood

Timing and route change. Will no longer serve Burley, instead running via Sopley and the Avon Valley.

W&D 119 Lymington-Pennington.

Frequency halved to hourly. Route changed.

We'll do a full analysis of the new timetables as soon as they are available.

Velvet timetables out / Hedge Enders

Velvet have released the new timetables for routes A, C1 and C2, which come in to effect from Sunday 16th October.

On the A, there will be no evening buses on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays. The last bus from Eastleigh will be at 1840. An evening service will run on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays operated by Velvet and extending to serve Oaklands, which was previously only served in the daytime. Boorley Green loses some afternoon services and the core half-hourly frequency between Eastleigh and Hedge End drops back to hourly after 4pm on weekdays and 3pm on Saturdays. As has already been mentioned, the Sunday service transfers from Stagecoach to First and also has a new timetable, details of which are helpfully included on Velvet's.

The C1 and C2 will now offer a combined half-hourly service in the daytimes before 3pm between Eastleigh, Velmore, Chandlers Ford and Hiltingbury. As has previously been mentioned, the C3 is being withdrawn (seemingly without replacement, leaving Valley Park with neither a link to Eastleigh nor Chandlers Ford). Evening services on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are withdrawn, with the last bus from Eastleigh being the C1 at 1820. Evening buses continue on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays only. It's already been mentioned that Xelabus will be running the C1 on Sundays, but some confusion has arisen. According to Velvet's timetable, Xelabus's first Sunday is the 16th, but according to the Department of Transport, it's the 23rd. Fingers crossed Velvet and Xelabus won't be expecting each other to run on the 16th and leave people stranded at bus stops.

Brijan Tours start running between Hedge End and Hamble on Monday 17th October, replacing the section of route that is being dropped from First 26. Confusingly though, it looks like Brijan will also be calling their route the 26. So there could be two separate route 26es in Hedge End running to different destinations and run by different operators. I know this is already the case with several route numbers in Southampton (see the route directory at the bottom of the page). Surely such instances defy common sense and only serve to confuse and deter potential passengers. Maybe that's the idea. Maybe Hampshire County Council, who are subsidising the service, have dictated which route number must be used in order to keep usage low so that they then have an excuse to cut funding completely next time they check the passenger numbers. Good luck Brijan, you'll need it.

On the same day there are timetable changes on Brijan's existing routes 7 and 17. It is expected that the 17 will be cut to running just two days a week, which is bad news for anyone in the Meon Valley. Full details when we have them.

Xelabus appear to be planning to cancel either some or all of their X12/X13 journeys between Southampton and Eastleigh from Friday 11th November. More to follow.

There will be some kind of change to Bluestar 2 from Monday 14th November. We'll keep an eye on this and will let you know if the change is significant.

Cuts: First & Stagecoach release full timetables

First and Stagecoach have released timetables for those of their services affected by the Hampshire County Council cuts. Here are the details:

First services changing from Sunday 16th October (Click for full timetables):

A Eastleigh-Hedge End

The Sunday service transfers from Stagecoach to First, is extended to Maypole and has a new timetable with the same number of journeys operating. First will no longer run the Mon-Sat evening service. It is expected, but not yet confirmed, that Velvet will run the evening service, which will operate on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings only.

5 City Centre-Lordshill North

Only minor timing changes.

8A City Centre-Hedge End Station

Route extended to Central Station in the city centre. Mon-Sat evening journeys extend beyond Hedge End Station to Botley. A knock-on effect is that Bluestar 3's evening journeys to Botley will be withdrawn. The big question is will they just be cut back to Hedge End or withdrawn altogether? Bluestar, it's over you...

16 Southampton-Hamble

The weekday peak hour services running via City College rather than Ocean Village are renumbered 16A.

Stagecoach services changing on Sunday 30th October (Click for full timetables):

32/33 Romsey circular

Services will start later and finish earlier than before (approx. 0930-1630, previously 0835-1720). Reduced from 3 to 2 buses an hour, but sections of route stay with 3 buses an hour due to integrated timetable with route 66.

46 Southampton-Winchester

Route cut back to only run between General Hospital and Winchester. Saturday service completely withdrawn. Weekday service towards Winchester cut from 7 to 5 journeys a day, with some timings changed by an hour. Service towards General Hospital is less changed. Chilworth Village and Nursling cut off from public transport completely.

66 Romsey-Winchester

The late evening journeys on Friday and Saturday evenings are withdrawn. There is no replacement so there's a risk of an increase in drink-driving. Otherwise, just minor timing changes.

69 Winchester-Fareham

Sunday service withdrawn, making Bishops Waltham a bus-free zone on Sundays and cutting Marwell Zoo off from public transport entirely. Some timing changes Mon-Sats.

Your last chance for the foreseeable future to go to Marwell Zoo by public transport is therefore Sunday 23rd October. If you fancy doing just that, you can get Bluestar 2 from Southampton City Centre at 1020 or Eastleigh Bus Station at 1056, arriving at Fair Oak Square at 1115, before getting Stagecoach 69 at 1134, dropping you off at Marwell Zoo at 1143. Return from Marwell on the 69 at 1608, arriving Fair Oak at 1617, exactly when the 2 leaves for Eastleigh & Southampton. If you miss the connection, the next 2 leaves Fair Oak at 1717. Maybe stop off for a pint (The George and the Cricketers Arms are near the bus stop). You can do the whole journey using a Solent Travelcard, which is also valid on all other buses of all operators in most of South Hampshire.

Talking of last chances, Gardbus 39 to Ringwood ran for the last time today. If you want to get to Ringwood from now on, your only option is National Express.

More on the upcoming changes as and when we get more details.

Timetable changes on Bluestar

More timetable changes coming up, this time on Bluestar routes 1, 14 and 18 from Sunday 23rd October. More details as and when we have them.

Cuts to First routes to Hamble, Hedge End, Fareham & Gosport

The first post-cut timetables have been released by First. They take effect on Sunday 16th October, but are only for three routes in our region so far, with more to follow. Here are the details that are confirmed:

26 Hamble-Hedge End-Fareham

This route is being cut back to only run between Hedge End and Fareham. How the section between Hedge End and Hamble will be replaced is anyone's guess. The remaining section is being cut from 8 to 7 journeys a day on weekdays. On Saturdays the cut is to 7 journeys towards Hedge End, but only 6 towards Fareham. As you may have guessed, there will still be no Sunday service.

72 Southampton-Gosport

The Sunday service is being cut from 5 journeys at 2-hour intervals to 4 journeys at 3-hour intervals. Although this is an overall cut, the first journey will be earlier and the last journey later than they currently are.

80 Southampton-Fareham

The Sunday service is being slashed from 6 journeys at hourly intervals to just 3 journeys at 3-hour intervals. Although this is an overall cut, the first journey will be earlier and the last journey later than they currently are.

No confirmation so far of what changes are happening to the other First services due to take effect on the same day. We'll keep you posted.

Don't forget Unilink U6 has a new timetable starting today. Don't be fooled by the timetable section of their website, which still links to the old one, now invalid.

Stagecoach confirm cuts

Stagecoach have confirmed that the Hampshire County Council-induced cuts will take effect on their routes as of Sunday 30th October. As well as many Winchester local routes, the following routes in our region are affected:

32/33 Romsey circular

46 Southampton-Winchester

66 Romsey-Winchester

69 Winchester-Fareham

The changes are summarised in previous posts. Once Stagecoach make the full new timetables available, we'll analyse them and will recap the major points.

So far no mention on the websites of Velvet, Xelabus, W&D, Bluestar, Brijan Tours or First of the cuts which are coming very soon to those of their routes which are subsidised by HCC. We'll keep an eye on them all for you. To make this flood of cuts easier to follow, the panel on the right (which always appears at the top of the page, unlike previous posts) will be constantly updated with a list of all known upcoming changes in chronological order.

Changes confirmed for October: Eastleigh cuts

Some more details on the forthcoming changes due to cuts being imposed by Hampshire County Council on behalf of Nick & Dave:

Velvet/First A: New timetable from Monday 17th October, no longer serving Boorley Green. Instead the daytime service will run between Eastleigh and either Oaklands or Botley. The evening service is expected to only continue running on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Velvet C1/C2: These routes will get a new timetable and a route change from Sunday 16th October. The Sunday C1 service will be operated by Xelabus from Sunday 23rd October. Timetable details have not yet been released.

Velvet C3: Withdrawn after close of service on Saturday 15th October, leaving Valley Park cut off from Eastleigh.

Wilts & Dorset X1, X2, X7: New timetables with reduced services from Sunday 23rd October.

First 5, 8A, 16, 26, 72, 80: New timetables with reduced services from Sunday 16th October.

More details when the new timetables are released.

U6 frequency increase / Fix my transport

Some good news for a change: Unilink U6 will have its frequency increased to every 20 minutes weekday daytimes from Sunday 25th September. New timetable here.

If you've ever wanted to complain about public transport, but haven't been sure how, a new website is here to lend a hand. Fix My Transport allows you to make a complaint, suggestion or give praise relating to any public transport service in the UK. So far the only entry regarding our area's buses is someone reporting the lack of a timetable for routes E1/E2 at a bus stop in St Cross.