Grandma got run over by a reindeer, walking home from our house Christmas eve…. I paid Rudolph in carrots.
Welcome back to the blog and if you live or work in Southampton then you might want to know what Bluestar are up to in terms of running buses. As usual, the GoAhead Group brand has volunteers (or the volunteered) to offer services across the city on Christmas Day as well as a fairly full service across the rest of the bah-humbug.
Christmas Eve
It’s a perfectly normal service up until Christmas Eve. There is no changes right up until Friday 24th December.
Saturday Service applies on most routes.
Some extra morning journeys will run on some routes.
Friday Service applies on these routes:
- Services 35 and 39 in Romsey
- Services H1 and H2 in Hythe
- Quayconnect between Central Station and Red Funnel at Town Quay.
Christmas Day (Saturday)
Bluestar will once again be running it’s special services across Southampton and as far as Winchester.
Bluestar 1X is the usual hybrid service covering parts of the routes 1 and 2. The service runs up through Swaythling and Portswood to Eastleigh Bus Station following the number 2 route. It will then cut across to Chandlers Ford Station via Leigh Road and take the usual service 1 route to Otterbourne, the Royal Hampshire Hospital and Winchester.
Bluestar 18X is also running the usual Christmas Day hourly service across Southampton City. The usual route between Thornhill, the City and Millbrook runs, but the service then extends to serve the General Hospital and Lordshill Centre. In Millbrook, the loop will be served in the usual 18 direction both ways.
Although special fares are charged on both of these services, Concessionary Passes and season ticket are also valid
Boxing Day (Sunday)
A restricted Sunday service will run on some routes and a special service on a few others. the service has worked well for many years in this format, so I suspect just changing the year is al that is needed:
Special Service:
- Hourly to Totton and Hythe with alternating Fawley and Langley on Bluestar 9
- Hourly to Totton and Calmore on Bluestar 12
- Every 20 Minutes between Weston, the City, General Hospital and Adanac Park on cross-city Bluestar 17
- Every 20 Minutes between Millbrook, the City and Thornhill on cross-city Bluestar 18
Sunday Service:
- Bluestar core routes: 1, 2, 4, 7, 16 and Quayconnect
Monday 27th & Tuesday 28th December
Sunday services will run on all routes across the Bluestar timetable.
Wednesday 29th, Thursday 30th and New Years Eve (Friday)
Saturday Service applies on most routes.
Some extra morning journeys will run on some routes.
Normal Weekday Service applies on these routes:
- Routes 35, 36 and 39 in Romsey
- Routes H1 and H2 in Hythe
- Routes T3 and T4 in West Totton
- Quayconnect between Central Station and Town Quay RedJet
New Years Day
A Sunday service will run on several routes and a special service on a few others:
Special Service:
- Hourly to Totton and Hythe with alternating Fawley and Langley on Bluestar 9
- Hourly to Totton and Calmore on Bluestar 12
- Every 20 Minutes between Weston, the City, General Hospital and Adanac Park on cross-city Bluestar 17
- Every 20 Minutes between Millbrook, the City and Thornhill on cross-city Bluestar 18
Sunday Service:
- Bluestar core routes: 1, 2, 4, 7, 16 and Quayconnect
Sunday 2nd January & Monday 3rd January
A full Sunday service runs on all Bluestar routes.
Tuesday 4th January
Normal service resumes.