Stagecoach South have announced that this will be the last weekend of their late evening bus services in both Basingstoke and Winchester. This is because of the effects of the 10pm lockdown in pubs, bars and nightclubs, and the lack of revellers wanting a bus home late in the evening.
Confirmation also on the Stagecoach South Twitter feed appears to suggest that Basingstoke and Winchester are the only two areas affected by any changes.
There are some limited night and late services around the Hampshire and Dorset area. Stagecoach still run until midnight in Portsmouth and up in Aldershot they are now running overnight on the Gold 1 between the town, Frimley Park Hospital and Camberley.
What is disappointing me at the moment though, is that the pronouncement has been made on social media, but the Stagecoach Bus CoVID news page has no mention of it at all. They know what services are being cut, but they have not actually told anyone yet.
Edit: Following a moan at Stagecoach’s Twitter account, possibly coincidentally, a Stop Press announcement and the timetables appeared on the COVID page. We had very good timing if it was a coincidence!
Also, don’t go looking for a Bus Shop
Now, I thought there was something going on in terms of bus shops when I pass quite a few of them and find the same notice on each.
All Bus Shops on Stagecoach South are now closed. This does not appear to be a pandemic-related short term thing, but a permanent one. It was something that caught my eye when a customer was complaining, again on the Stagecoach South Twitter feed.
@HantsBus All travel shops are now closed. Kind Regards, Phil
— Stagecoach South (@StagecoachSouth) September 29, 2020
I find it interesting that they do not want to have a local public presence any more.
The Stagecoach tweet seems fine to me – it says those late trips which normally only run on Fridays and Saturdays will temporarily not run. Simples.
I agree with you in some respects. Where Stagecoach publishes it’s Saturday timetables separately though, even if the same as a weekday, the reliance is then on the passenger to compare it to a weekday timetable to work out which buses are cancelled.
Maybe I am just annoyed that I have to get a taxi home now they have cancelled the 2310 number 69.
I’d like to think that Stagecoach will be good to their word and will restore these services when restrictions ease. Those evening 69s were a relatively recent innovation and deserve a fair chance to grow and succeed.
I quite agree with you!
(Eventually) – Why, oh why, is there no pings when comments hit the spam queue.