Small Eastleigh operator Xelabus have published their bus service information for the end of the month and it’s good news. A full “pre-covid” timetable resumes as part of their service changes.
You may have noticed before that Xelabus was different to many operators in that it completely shut down scheduled public bus services at the start of the lockdown, much to the dismay of some isolated communities.
Hopefully this won’t mean that the customers won’t come back, and that the local independent continues. Once we get back into the swing of things on Tuesday, these are the long-term changes to the timetable:
X6 diverts away from the direct Leigh Road to serve Eastleigh Colleges on Chestnut Avenue. I presume this will be via the length of Falkland Road like the X7A
X9 extends to/from Eastleigh Colleges on college days (I think) – the notice on the Xelabus website is not entirely clear. Does “most college day journeys” mean most journeys on college days will go to the college or are there new College Day Only journeys?
X10 will no longer serve Horton Heath or Chalcroft
X15 will extend to Eastleigh Colleges on College Days.
College services for Itchen and Eastleigh, and the Winchester TESCO bus are changing as well.
Xelabus is the first local operator to declare their September service levels. Stagecoach have also said they are doing service revisions to take effect the same weekend, but with schools restarting in the following week, you have to hope!