Solent Bus Update: Regional Round Up

Here's our monthly look at the bus changes coming up across the wider region, including Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Poole, Salisbury and Winchester. Click the route numbers to see the new timetables:


7th August:
Yellow 24 Bournemouth-Alum Chine
Curtailed to only run on this part of the route only, no longer through to Christchurch and Burton.

More 24 Burton-Fairmile
Replaces Yellow 24 in the Christchurch area on a reduced timetable.

28th August:
Yellow 26/26A Boscombe-Poole

Yellow 41 Boscombe-Throop WITHDRAWN

3rd September:
Stagecoach 6A Winchester-Abbots Barton
No timetable change, but the planned withdrawal of this route is rescinded

Stagecoach 46 Winchester-North Baddesley

Stagecoach 63 Winchester-Owslebury
No timetable change, but the planned withdrawal of this route is rescinded

Stagecoach 36 Winchester-Romsey-Lockerley

The next Solent Bus Update appears on 4th September, by which time we should have more information on the following:

4th September:
Stagecoach 67 Winchester-Petersfield

First X4 Southampton-Portsmouth

First X5 Southampton-Gosport

First 3 Portsmouth-Fareham

First 7 Southsea-Wecock

First 16 Portsmouth Hard-Eastney

First 17 Southsea-Tipner
Tipner loses its Sunday buses

First 18 Southsea-Paulsgrove

First F1 Fareham-Highlands

First 2 City Centre-Millbrook

First 7 City Centre-Townhill Park

First 9 City Centre-Sholing

First 10 City Centre-Hightown

First 13 City Centre-Harefield

Salisbury Reds X5 Salisbury-Swindon
Short journeys between Salisbury and Larkhill are withdrawn

Bluestar 8 Southampton-Calshot

Bluestar 9 Southampton-Langley/Calshot
Late evening journeys now via Marchwood

5th September:
Xelabus X3 Eastleigh-Asda WITHDRAWN

Xelabus X4 Eastleigh-Hedge End

Xelabus X6/X7 Eastleigh-Hiltingbury

Xelabus X9 Eastleigh-Bishop's Waltham

Wheelers 16 Winchester-Stockbridge

Wheelers 87/87A Salisbury-Andover

Stagecoach 7 Winchester-Sparsholt

Stagecoach 21 Portsmouth-Havant

Stagecoach 37 Havant-Petersfield

Stagecoach 66 Romsey-Winchester

Stagecoach 69 Winchester-Fareham

Stagecoach 85 Winchester-Andover

Stagecoach 86 Winchester-Whitchurch

Salisbury Reds R4 Salisbury Local Service

Salisbury Reds X7/X7R Southampton-Salisbury

Salisbury Reds 66 Bemerton Heath-Salisbury-Shipton Bellinger

6th September:
More X1/X2 Lymington-Bournemouth

10th September:
Bluestar 6 Southampton-Lymington

Here are links to the websites of the bus operators serving the wider region:

• Stagecoach South/Swindon
• More
• Salisbury Reds
• First Hampshire/Somerset/Wessex
• Wheelers
• Mervyn's
• Emsworth & District
• Shaftesbury & District
• Herrington Coaches
• Beeline Coaches
• Frome Minibuses
• Yellow Buses
• Discover Dorset

Wider region local transport authorities:

• Hampshire County Council
• Wiltshire Council
• Bournemouth Borough Council
• Poole Borough Council
• Portsmouth City Council

Sale / Beach / Wimborne / Burton

Bluestar have a summer special offer for group travel within Southampton: £5 for up to 5 people to travel all day (after 0930 weekdays).

More 112 has now become the Beach Bus with a far more regular than usual link between Hythe and Lymington for the school holidays. It even runs on Sundays, but only until 4th September, so if you want to visit the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, now's the time to go!

Over in Poole, roadworks have caused More to reroute services to Wimborne for a few months. Full details of the changes to routes 3, 4 and 32 can be found here.

Staying in Poole, there's been a reshuffle of stops at the town's bus station. Details of which More routes have moved stops within the bus station are here.

Down the road in Bournemouth, the county council has pulled the plug on the section of Yellow 24 that runs to Burton near Christchurch, from 7th August. It will still run between Alum Chine and Bournemouth Pier. But, More are going to give the Burton section of route a go on a commercial basis between Burton and Fairmile via Christchurch Town Centre - see their timetable here. The service is much reduced however, confined to weekdays between 9am and 3pm only.

Whiteley whippet / September changes summary / Unruly Purbeck pensioners

There's a lot to catch up on across the region, so let's get cracking.

A new route starts in Fareham on Saturday: First W1 will be a Saturday-only shopper service between the town centre and Whiteley Village. In Fareham it will pick up from stop D at the Bus Station and stop Q at the Railway Station. Here's the timetable:

...and here's where the W1 stops in Whiteley, as well as an idea of what's there:

From our end, you can get to Fareham on First X4/X5 using a FirstDay Hampshire ticket at £6 for an adult, which is also valid on the W1, or you could take the train to Fareham and buy a Fareham Plusbus ticket with your train tickets for use on the W1. On weekdays, you can get to Whiteley on First 28/28A (timetable), but be careful as the last bus back to Fareham is at 1859, while on Saturdays the last W1 leaves Whiteley at 2310.

Many routes are changing right across the region in the first week of September. We don't have all of the details yet, but here's a summary of what we do know:

• Xelabus: X3 withdrawn. X6 rerouted to serve Asda. Other changes on X4, X7 and X9. Full details here.
• First: Changes to Southampton routes X4, X5, 2, 7, 9, 10, 13 and Portsmouth/Fareham routes X4, X5, 3, 7, 16, 17, 18, F1.
• Bluestar: Changes to routes 6, 8, 9.
• Wheelers: Changes to routes 16, 87/87A, W16
• More: Changes to routes X1, X2.
• Salisbury Reds: Changes to routes R4, X5, X7/X7R, 66
• Stagecoach: 6A, 46 and 63 withdrawn. Changes to 21, 36, 37, 66, 67, 69, 85, 86. New routes 68 and 691.
• Yellow: 41 withdrawn, changes to 26/26A.

We'll have more on those as we get it and in our monthly regional round up.

And finally, our region is lucky to have one of the most scenic bus routes in the country, More 50 between Bournemouth and Swanage. It's so noteworthy that our sister website, Great British Bus Routes, has covered it. But the Telegraph reports that it's been blighted by rude pensioners who think nothing of pushing children out of the way in order to bag the best seats. Maybe More could consider allowing fare payers to board first before those with free passes.

Change at Southampton Central

Here's a special post aimed at visitors to our city stepping off the train at Southampton Central railway station.

Here's a map of the nearby bus stops, marked with their two-letter stop name:

Next, which bus routes do you need for major destinations around our city, direct from Central Station?

• University: 
• Unilink U1A/U1W/U1E from stop SF
• General Hospital: 
• First three or Bluestar 17 from stop SB
• St. Marys Stadium: 
• Bluestar 18 from stop SA
• Paulton's Park
• Salisbury Reds X7/X7R from stop SB

Here's a closer look at which routes serve each of the stops:

Stop SA:

This is the stop for cross-city services to East of the Itchen...
Live departure board

First three from stop SA
to Thornhill (Fairfax Court) via City Centre, Woolston, Sholing

• Turn up & go with a bus at least every 10 mins Mon-Sat daytimes, every 15 mins Sunday daytimes.
• Useful for Woolston & Sholing railway stations in case trains towards Fareham aren't running from Central.
• Last bus towards Thornhill at 2339 Mon-Sats and 2343 on Sundays.

Bluestar 18 from stop SA
to Thornhill (Hightown) via City Centre, Northam, Bitterne

• Turn up & go with a bus at least every 10 minutes Mon-Sat daytimes, every 15 mins Sunday daytimes.
• Useful for St. Mary's Stadium, Bitterne Station in case trains aren't running across the river and for Bitterne itself.
• Last bus towards Thornhill at 2354 Mon-Sats and 2254 on Sundays.
• Adult single fares: City Centre £1.50, Bitterne (Lances Hill) £1.90, Thornhill £2.

Stop SA is also served by some routes that terminate just up the hill in the City Centre.


Stop SB:

Several stops have been merged into one here, serving all westbound buses, including those heading to Shirley, Totton or the Waterside peninsula...
Live departure board

First three from stop SB
to Lordshill via Shirley, General Hospital

• Turn up & go with a bus at least every 10 minutes Mon-Sat daytimes, every 15 mins Sunday daytimes.
• Useful for Shirley High Street and the General Hospital.
• Last bus towards Lordshill at 2356 Mon-Sats and 2250 on Sundays.

Bluestar 4 from stop SB
to Romsey via Shirley, Lordshill, Rownhams, North Baddesley

• Half-hourly Mon-Sat daytimes, Hourly Sunday daytimes.
• Useful as an alternative route to Romsey in case the trains aren't running that way, but bear in mind that the bus terminates at the bus station in the centre of Romsey and doesn't serve the railway station.
• Last bus towards Romsey at 2324 Mon-Sats and 1825 on Sundays.
• Adult single fares: Shirley Precinct £1.50, Lordshill £2.30, North Baddesley £4.50, Romsey £5.30.

Bluestar 6 from stop SB
to Lymington via Totton, Ashurst, Lyndhurst, Brockenhurst

• Hourly Mon-Sat daytimes, every 2 hours Sunday daytimes.
• Useful for visiting the New Forest and connecting with the New Forest Tour open top buses.
• Also useful for getting to Brockenhurst or Lymington Town railway stations if the trains aren't running.
• Last bus towards Lymington at 1849 daily.
• Adult single fares: Ashurst £3, Lyndhurst £4.60, Lymington £6.20. 

Bluestar 9 from stop SB
to Langley or Fawley via Applemore, Dibden Purlieu, Hythe, Holbury

• Every 20 minutes Mon-Sat daytimes, hourly Sunday daytimes.
• Useful for visiting Hythe without having to take the ferry, plus for changing there for the New Forest Tour open top bus.
• Last bus at 2314 daily (earlier for Fawley, check the timetable before travelling)
• Adult single fares: Applemore £4.60, Langley £5.50.

Bluestar 17 from stop SB
to Lordshill via Shirley, General Hospital

• Turn up & go with a bus every 10 minutes Mon-Sat daytimes, every 20 mins Sunday daytimes.
• Useful for Shirley High Street and the General Hospital.
• Last bus towards Lordshill at 2340 daily.
• Adult single fares: Shirley Precinct £1.50, General Hospital £2, Lordshill Centre £2.30.

Salisbury Reds X7/X7R from stop SB
to Salisbury via Totton, Ower & occasionally Paulton's Park and/or Romsey

• Hourly Monday-Saturday daytimes. No evening or Sunday service.
• Direct buses to Paulton's Park entrance departing at 0919 and 1019 when the park is open.
• Useful as an alternative route to Salisbury if the trains aren't running that way.
• Last bus towards Salisbury at 1739 on weekdays, 1719 on Saturdays.
• Adult single fares: Totton £3.20, West Wellow £4.70, Salisbury £6. Bluestar tickets valid.

Other local services from stop SB:

• First 1 to Adanac Park via Shirley, Coxford, Lordshill
• First 2 to Millbrook via Shirley
• Bluestar 8 to Calshot via Totton, Marchwood, Hythe
• Bluestar 11/12 to West Totton or Calmore via Totton
• First 12 to Lordshill via Shirley, Millbrook, General Hospital
• Bluestar 18 to Millbrook via Shirley
• Xelabus X11 to Lordshill North via Upper Shirley, General Hospital

Stop SD:

Still under construction when the photo was taken, this stop is only used by buses that terminate up the hill in the City Centre, so if that's as far as you need to go, any bus from this stop will do.
Live departure board


Stop SF:

Use the platform 4 exit for the south side of Central Station and stop SF for buses to the university, airport and Woolston as well as buses to the Isle of Wight ferries.
Live departure board

Unilink U1 from stop SF
to Airport via Portswood, University, Swaythling
or to National Oceanography Centre

• Turn up & go with a bus at least every 10 minutes Monday-Saturday daytimes and every 15 mins Sunday daytimes.
• Useful for the University and the Airport, especially if the trains aren't running through to Southampton Airport Parkway.
• Some daytime buses terminate at Wessex Lane and some late night buses extend to Eastleigh.
• Last bus towards the Airport at 0005 daily.
• Adult single flat fare: £2 any distance. Bluestar tickets valid.

Also from stop SF:

• Bluestar 7 to Sholing via City Centre, Woolston
• Quay Connect to Town Quay for Isle of Wight ferries

Tickets

If you are arriving or leaving by train, then you can buy a Southampton Plusbus with your train ticket. It costs £2.30 for an adult and is valid all day on any bus (except Xelabus) within the city boundary:

If you're not travelling by train, then buy a ticket on the bus. Each bus company has its own range of tickets valid on their own services only - see their websites (links in the panel on the right) for details. Bluestar tickets are also valid on Unilink and Salisbury Reds.

If you need to use the buses of more than one operator, then use a Solent Go ticket at £5 for the Southampton City version or £8 for the regional version valid as far as Winchester, Havant, Ashurst and Calshot.

So we finish back at Southampton Central with a few useful links:

• Station departure board
• Live departures
• Timetable of direct links
• List of all arrivals and departures
• Look up any rail fare in the UK