As with all the bus operators across the South, First Bus is not alone in having to alter timetables straight into the New Year in order to keep buses running. Even the lure of having up to a £3,000 signing on bonus for licence holders coming back into the industry is not enough to stop the exodus. Having been travelling on buses and trains all through the pandemic, the number of customers angry at both bus drivers and train guards not enforcing the mask rules appears in my mind to have increased.
Not that bus drivers (or train guards) can do anything. Refuse travel and the passenger will just stand there, or simply walk on to sit down; not a lot the driver can do apart from sit there and refuse to move – cue lots of angry passengers not going anywhere!
Anyway. The lack of drivers through leavers and isolators means that First Solent are changing services across their Hoeford and Hilsea bus depots.
Eclipse E1 & E2
Ignore the date on the First website. If you download the PDF timetable it says from 16th January. Everyone, everywhere, is saying the 9th so I can only assume that the date was changed, potentially at short notice.
Ironically, some frequencies on the Eclipse are increasing and that means more purple buses on the busway.
Gosport – Brockhurst – BRT – Fareham
- Monday to Saturday daytimes – Each route will increase from every 24-ish minutes to every 20 minutes (Combined every 10 minutes on Henry Cort Way)
- Monday to Saturday evenings – from about 1830, the service will start to wind down to every 40 minutes (Combined 20) earlier than it does now
- Sunday daytime – Each service will reduce from every 24 minutes to every 30 minutes
- Sunday evening – Each service will run hourly from approximately 8pm
The Star 7
Portsmouth’s The Star will also see a reduction of service. Something I am surprised in is that the route still extends to the Civic Offices stop in Isambard Brunel Road. It’s an 11 minute turn around time which needs the bus to head down to Portsmouth Central Police Station and use the roundabout. Maybe I am thinking too literally that turning in Commercial Road itself would leave a little more padding room across the journey.
Update: Tom Moore, a Supervisor at Hilsea depot replied on Twitter that it is actually so that drivers have access to the public toilets at the Civic Offices. Likewise services having a layover at South Parade Pier. That makes sense and it is the little things that you don’t think about!
Anyway. I digress. I will also get out of my armchair!
Portsmouth City Centre – QA Hospital – Waterlooville – Wecock Farm
- Monday to Friday weekdays – The afternoon service increase that takes place at 2pm will now not happen. The Star 7 will continue to run every 20 minutes until 7pm. The service will then have slightly different evening times until it get to it’s hourly late evening service starting at 8.45pm
- Saturday timetable – NO changes
- Sunday timetable – Reduced from every 20 minutes to every 30 minutes
- Star 7A Mornings – The bus that starts at Commercial Road will now start at Kings Road Junction. The bus that starts at South Parade Pier will run via Fratton Bridge to North End
- Star 7A Afternoons – One bus will run via Commercial Road, one via Fratton Bridge
The Star 8
The Star 8 will have some punctuality changes to the timetable in the morning and afternoon peaks. A browse of the timetables would suggest that these are in the Gunwharf, Commercial Road, Rudmore Roundabout section. I can only assume that the timetables were tightened up so much during various lockdowns that it is now starting to be an issue.
That means though that although it looks like there might only be one vehicle being removed from the timetable, there are an extra few minutes gap between journeys.
The 15 minute evening peak frequency out of the city centre extends to every 18 minutes for example.
Service 18
While the extension of the service to Copner and Ocean Park (as service 17) has still not resurfaced, the core section of the route gets a very slight reduction in frequency. It appears as though the layover time at the Southsea end of the route has also been tightened up to release a vehicle from the duty board of the service, whether this will all lead to delays through Fratton will be the question.
Paulsgrove – QA Hospital – Fratton – Southsea
- Weekday timetable reduced from every 30 minutes to every 35 minutes. First bus from Paulsgrove is EARLIER at 0550
- Weekend timetable is not changed and remains hourly