Overview of all changes this weekend

This weekend is the last of three weekends in which there are major changes to our region's bus services. Here's a full list of what's happening this weekend:

Stagecoach 32/33 Romsey circular

From Monday, services will start later and finish earlier than before (operating 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. New timetable.

Stagecoach 46 General Hospital-Winchester

From Monday, the 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 Saturday service completely withdrawn.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. New timetable.

Stagecoach 66 Romsey-Winchester

From Monday there are minor timing changes. The late evening journeys on Friday and Saturday evenings are withdrawn without replacement. New timetable.

Stagecoach 69 Winchester-Fareham

No buses this Sunday as the Sunday service is withdrawn, making Bishops Waltham a bus-free zone on Sundays and cutting Marwell Zoo off from public transport entirely. From Monday there are some timing changes Mon-Sats. New timetable.

There are big changes also to Winchester's local routes, including heavy cuts to evening services. Winchester's just outside our patch, so I won't go in to details, but if you want to find out more click here.

There has been some interesting feedback on Bluestar and W&D's Facebook pages regarding other recent changes. Here's a selection:

First cut is the deepest: December change details

First have already revealed the new timetables of those routes that are changing in December. My earlier assumption that it may have been extra xmas shoppers' services was wrong. Here's what's really happening as of Sunday 4th December:

1 City Centre-Weston

The last bus of the day from town at 2317 Mon-Sats currently extends to Hamble. It will continue to do this on Fridays and Saturdays only. Sunday to Thursday it will terminate at Weston.

3 City Centre-Townhill Park

Some weekday early morning journeys are retimed.

4 City Centre-Totton

Extended to Totton College on Mon-Sats. Most times are changed. Sundays unaffected.

5 City Centre-Lordshill North

Major cuts. The 5 will only continue to run between the city centre and Aldermoor (Woodman). The weekday daytime off-peak frequency is being cut from half-hourly to hourly. To make it worse, the first bus of the day will be later and the last bus earlier than they currently are. Bakers Drove will now be unserved by First. A couple of morning 21s that currently start from Lordshill will start back from Buchanan Road, but this is still a huge net reduction in buses serving Lordshill North - weekday daytime frequency is down from 3 to 1 bus an hour.

7 City Centre-Bassett Green

The Saturday daytime frequency is being cut from every 20 to every 30 minutes.

11 City Centre-Sholing

The weekday daytime frequency is cut from every 10 to every 12 mins. The Saturday daytime frequency is slashed from every 12 to every 15 mins.

16 Southampton-Hamble

Some evening services are cut. The last bus from town Mon-Wed will be at 2032. The buses at 2132 and 2232 will only run Thurs-Sat and the extended 1 at 2317 will only run through to Hamble on Fridays and Saturdays. The Sunday evening service is slashed, with the last bus leaving town at 1930.

21 RSH Hospital-Lordshill North

With the partial chopping of the 5, Lordshill North is at the mercy of the 21, so those morning journeys that don't currently start from Lordshill North, will do in future. This is a huge drop in overall service to Lordshill North, not helped by the fact that the 21 takes 53 minutes to get to town, compared with just 36 mins on the 5.

No new timetable has been published for the 80, so there might not be any significant changes to that route. We'll keep an eye out anyway.

Overview of all changes this weekend

One weekend of big changes is out of the way, two are still to go. Here is a comprehensive list of all changes to our region's bus services that take effect this weekend:

Bluestar E1/E2 Eastleigh-Winchester

New timetable from Monday with drastic cuts. The combined Mon-Sat daytime frequency is halved to hourly. The E1 will now also run via Stanmore and County Hospital. Some additional journeys will be provided between Eastleigh and Boyatt Wood providing a half-hourly service on that section of route at limited times only (towards Eastleigh in the morning and from Eastleigh in the early afternoon). The Sunday Velvet E2 service has already been withdrawn and the evening Velvet E8 only now runs on Thursday to Saturday evenings.

Bluestar E3 Eastleigh-Winchester

Withdrawn after the last bus on Saturday. Badger Farm loses its direct link to Eastleigh.

Bluestar F Eastleigh-Bishops Waltham

Withdrawn after the last bus on Saturday with no replacement. Most of the route is duplicated by other services. Stoke Common will be cut off from public transport.

Bluestar H1/H2 Hythe circular

New timetable from Monday. These already infrequent services will start later and end earlier than they currently do. The Saturday service is completely withdrawn.

Bluestar H3 Hythe-Calshot

New timetable from Monday. Heather Road in Blackfield is being cut off. The weekday service will be reduced and the Saturday service will be cut entirely.

Bluestar P1 City Centre-Glen Eyre

New service from Monday, partially replacing the withdrawn 14. The first journey from town will be an hour later than it currently is on the 14. Journeys to town are unchanged apart from the fact that they no longer serve Bitterne, Chartwell Green, Mansbridge or Swaythling. Timetable

W&D X1/X2 Lymington-Bournemouth

New timetable from Sunday with minor changes.

W&D X7 Southampton-Salisbury

New timetable from Sunday with some early morning and evening services cut. The Sunday X71 is replaced by the X7 running to the same route as during the week, isolating Cadnam.

Bluestar 1 Southampton-Winchester

New timetable from Sunday with only minor changes.

Bluestar 5 Eastleigh-Romsey

New service from Monday replacing W&D 65 and 34. One early morning and one evening journey are cut. Timetable

Bluestar 6 Southampton-Lymington

New timetable from Sunday. This route will still run every half an hour (Mon-Sat daytimes) between the city centre and Rushington (Cocklydown Lane) only. One bus an hour will continue beyond there to Lymington. The two-hourly Sunday service is unchanged.

Bluestar 8 Southampton-Hythe

New timetable from Sunday with the total loss of Sunday services, leaving Marchwood without Sunday buses for the first time in decades. Route change in Hythe, with some journeys running in a loop from Applemore via Hythe town centre and the hospital instead of serving the hospital twice per return journey.

Bluestar 9 Southampton-Waterside

New timetable from Sunday. Evening services will no longer serve Marchwood, instead running direct via the by-pass. Heather Road in Blackfield is cut off, with its former services going to Langley instead. Curiously, the N9 night bus on Friday and Saturday nights will still serve Marchwood.

Bluestar 10/11 Southampton-Cadnam

New timetable from Monday. The half-hourly frequency is maintained between the city centre and West Totton. One bus an hour will then continue to Cadnam, via either the 10 or 11 route, meaning each section of this part of the route will only have a 2-hour frequency.

Bluestar 12 Southampton-Calmore

New timetable with cuts to some Sunday evening services.

Bluestar 14 City Centre-Bitterne

This service is withdrawn after the last bus on Saturday. Its replacement, the P1, starts on Monday running between the city centre and Glen Eyre only.

Bluestar 18 Millbrook-Hightown

New timetable from Sunday & route change in the city centre, serving New Road instead of Kingsway towards Millbrook. The headline 7/8 minute frequency will now start half an hour earlier, meaning more morning rush hour buses.

W&D 30 Romsey-Halterworth

Withdrawn after the last bus on Saturday. It is replaced by a revised route 35, which has a new timetable from Monday.

W&D 34 Romsey-Salisbury

New timetable from Monday. Service significantly reduced. This Saturday is the last time the 34 extends to Eastleigh on Saturdays, that section being replaced by Bluestar 5.

W&D 35 Romsey-Braishfield

New timetable from Monday. Route change to partially replace the axed route 30.

W&D 36 Romsey-Lockerley

New timetable from Monday. No longer runs through to Salisbury. The non-schools journeys that aren't being withdrawn will only run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

W&D 65 Eastleigh-Romsey

Withdrawn after the last bus on Friday. The 34 will provide its last buses between Romsey and Eastleigh on Saturday. From Monday, both are replaced by Bluestar 5.

W&D 112 Hythe-Lymington

New timetable from Monday. Non-schools journeys will only run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Most journeys will only run between Lymington and Beaulieu, with only one return journey to Hythe on the days of operation. It is no longer possible to use the bus from Hythe to visit the National Motor Museum.

W&D 118 Lymington-Ringwood

New timetable from Wednesday. Remains at one journey a week in each direction. The journey from Lymington now departs Wednesdays at 0953. Rerouted to run via Sopley and the Avon Valley instead of Burley.

W&D 119 Lymington-New Milton

New timetable from Monday. The frequency is cut from half-hourly to hourly, but the route is extended beyond Pennington to New Milton.

There are more changes next weekend too. We'll publish a detailed summary of them next Thursday.

First changes, bungling Bluestar & Xelabus timetable

First are making some kind of change to several of their routes from Sunday 4th December. The routes affected are: 1, 1A, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, 16, 21 and 80. Given the timing, we guess it will be additional Saturday buses for xmas shoppers, but we'll keep an eye out and will let you know as soon as we know for sure.

Bluestar still have an incorrect timetable for route 3 on their website. It misleads potential passengers into believing that the evening buses still run all the way to Botley. Since Monday just gone, they don't. After the 1825 from town, all Bluestar 3s terminate at Maypole roundabout in Hedge End. Botley now gets its evening services from First 8A. OK, it is down to a cost-cutting decision by Hampshire County Council (who subsidise that section of route) rather than a commercial decision by Bluestar, but they knew about this well in advance, so there can be no excuse for not updating their timetable several days after the service has changed. You can find a correct timetable here.

Xelabus now have a timetable for the C1 on their website, after they started the Sunday service this week. Unlike First with the A, Xelabus points out on their timetable that Velvet run the main Mon-Sat daytime service. On both of those routes though, if you want a full timetable, that doesn't omit certain days or times of day depending on who the council have contracted to fill the gaps, the only place to go is Velvet's website.

Who's running the C1 tomorrow?

Either tomorrow or next Sunday, Hampshire County Council are handing the C1 Sunday service from Velvet over to Xelabus. We have a problem though.

According to Velvet's timetable it's tomorrow.

On Xelabus's website, they announce that they will be running the Sunday C1 soon with "details to follow". No timetable. Are they ready?

But wait, according to the service registrations with the Department for Transport, Xelabus don't take over the Sunday C1 until the 23rd.

Traveline's journey planner on the other hand agrees with Velvet, that Xelabus start tomorrow.

Would anyone living on or near the C1 route (Eastleigh-Velmore-Chandlers Ford-Hiltingbury) care to keep an eye out tomorrow and let us know A, whether any bus turns up at all, and B, who's operating it?

W&D new timetables for Romsey & New Forest

Wilts & Dorset have released the new timetables for those of their routes that are changing on Sunday 23rd October:

X1/X2 Lymington-Bournemouth

New timetable.

34 Romsey-Salisbury

Service is significantly reduced. Here's the new timetable.

35 Romsey-Braishfield

Rerouted and retimed to partially replace axed route 30. New timetable.

36 Romsey-Lockerley

No longer runs through to Salisbury. The non-schools journeys that aren't being withdrawn will only run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. New timetable.

112 Hythe-Lymington

Non-schools journeys will only run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Most journeys will only run between Lymington and Beaulieu, with only one return journey to Hythe on the days of operation. It is no longer possible to use the bus from Hythe to visit the National Motor Museum. New timetable.

118 Lymington-Ringwood

Remains at one journey a week in each direction. The journey from Lymington now departs Wednesdays at 0953. Rerouted to run via Sopley and the Avon Valley instead of Burley. New timetable.

119 Lymington-New Milton

The frequency is cut from half-hourly to hourly, but the route is extended from Pennington to New Milton. New timetable.

What W&D have forgotten to put on their website are the changes to the X7 and X71 between Southampton and Salisbury. Several journeys, including the first and last journey of the day Mon-Sat are being cut. On Sundays, the X71 is being replaced with the X7 running to the same route as on Mon-Sats, meaning Cadnam loses its Sunday service. Here's the new timetable.

Overview of all changes this weekend

As promised, here's a full run down of the changes happening to our region's bus services this weekend:

Velvet/First/Stagecoach A Eastleigh-Hedge End/Boorley Green

The Sunday service will be operated by First (instead of Stagecoach) from this Sunday. As of Monday, the evening service will only run on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and will be operated by Velvet (instead of First). Timings are changed on the daytime service, with fewer buses serving Boorley Green and the 30 minute frequency between Eastleigh and Hedge End dropping back to hourly from mid-afternoon. Here's the full new timetable.

Velvet C1/C2 Eastleigh-Hiltingbury

The Sunday service transfers to Xelabus as of this Sunday, but the timetable remains the same. From Monday, there's a new timetable for Mon-Sat services, offering a combined 30 minute frequency for some of the day, down from the current 20 minutes with the C3. The evening service is being withdrawn on Mon-Wed and will only continue to run Thur-Sat.

Velvet C3 Eastleigh-Hiltingbury

This service is being withdrawn after the last bus on Saturday. Valley Park will no longer have a direct link to Eastleigh or Chandlers Ford.

Velvet E2 Eastleigh-Winchester

This Sunday service is being withdrawn after the last bus this Sunday. The Mon-Sat Bluestar service will still run, but gets its own new timetable from Monday 24th October.

Velvet E8 Eastleigh-Boyatt Wood

Effective immediately, this evening-only service is being cut back to only run Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. No change to the timetable.

Bluestar 3 Southampton-Botley

New timetable. From Monday, evening journeys will no longer run all the way to Botley, but will terminate at Maypole.

First 5 City Centre-Lordshill North

A new timetable (Mon-Fri, Sat) from Monday, with only minor changes.

First 8A Central Station-Hedge End Station(-Botley evenings)

New timetable (Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun) from Sunday. Almost all journeys are extended from the City Centre to Central Station. Mon-Sat evening journeys are extended from Hedge End to Botley.

Brijan 15 Hedge End-Hamble

New service from Monday, replacing the cut part of First 26. The buses used will no longer be accessible to wheelchairs. Here's the timetable.

First 16 Southampton-Hamble

New timetable (Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun) from Sunday, with only minor changes, including the pointless renumbering to 16A of some rush hour journeys.

First 26 Hedge End-Fareham

New timetable (Mon-Fri, Sat) from Monday. The section of route between Hedge End and Hamble is withdrawn and replaced by Brijan 15. The remaining section of route will have a slightly reduced service.

First 72 Southampton-Gosport

New timetable (Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun) from Sunday. 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.

First 80 Southampton-Fareham

New timetable (Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun) from Sunday. 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.

We'll do the same next Thursday and the one after that, to help you navigate all the changes that are on the way.

Botley evenings / Eastleigh confusion

Our attention has been gratefully drawn to the fact that Traveline have a new timetable for Bluestar 3. No mention yet on Bluestar's website or Facebook page. But get this, it takes effect this weekend, a whole week earlier than the changes to most of Bluestar's other services. It takes a bit of digging on Traveline to find it, so here is the Bluestar 3 timetable as of Monday 17th October:

In summary, the last 3 to go through to Botley on Mon-Sats is the one leaving Southampton at 1825 and the last one from Botley into town is at 1843. First 8A will serve Botley throughout the evening, but with a longer journey time than you'd have got on the 3. Traveline's journey planner provides this gem:

Rather than get the 1826 8A from town directly to Botley, arriving at 1929, you have time wait 8 minutes and get the 1834 80 to Lowford, wait 15 minutes, then get Brijan 15 to Hedge End and then join the 8A from there. I don't recommend this, as it would certainly work out more expensive (unless you already have a Solent Travelcard). The 8A's long journey time is of course down to its indirect route via Woolston, Peartree, Bitterne, Chartwell Green (with its myriad roundabouts) and West End, whereas the 3 goes direct via Bitterne and Thornhill Park.

Moving on to Eastleigh. Traveline has confirmed that the C1 on Sundays will be operated by Xelabus (taking over from Velvet) as of this Sunday 16th October, and not the following Sunday as we'd previously thought. The timetable remains unchanged.

Staying in Eastleigh, the Velvet E2 Sunday service to Winchester is being scrapped. Velvet have already removed all mention of it from their website, but Traveline confirm it will run this Sunday 16th October for the last time.

Also being partially scrapped is Velvet E8, the evening service to Boyatt Wood. It will still run on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, but earlier in the week, the last bus from Eastleigh to Boyatt Wood will be the Bluestar E2 at 1800. That's from Monday 24th October. This coming Mon-Weds, it'll be the E3 at 1805.