Yellow Buses Changes 03 April

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This article was updated on 15 March, after Yellow Buses released timetables and details (view here) Some assumptions made on the basis of the bus service registration were incorrect and we apologise on behalf of the crystal ball.

Timetable variations for Bournemouth independent Yellow Buses will take effect from Sunday 3rd April and I expect this is to bring bus services into a low-season summer service. Hopefully the changes to the COVID rules, with positive tests not requiring a strict isolation, will bring more stability with driver numbers.

So there are some changes, new services and cancellations which could show how the service is going to go over the summer. I am hoping to spend more time with the family in Bournemouth this Summer, maybe getting a spot on the beach unlike last year!

I think the most important thing will be that the “Saturday service on Weekdays” will end and a weekday timetable will begin.

Changes to the ‘Core Services’

I don’t think Yellow Buses actually refer to them as core services anymore, but routes 1 thru 6 (and the various letters before and after them) certainly used to be known as that. They are the ones that have the colour coding and are generally high frequency.

Service 1 (and 1N) – Poole Railway Station – Westbourne – Bournemouth Triangle

Updated – 15 March: Route 1 is extended to serve Poole Quay, but will continue through to Christchurch on it’s half hourly basis. A new later evening departure from Poole Quay is included. Service 1b loses it’s Sunday service – this will be replaced with a service 1

This service is listed as a timetable, route and stops variation. I am guessing from the new finishing point of Bournemouth Triangle that service 1 is going to be split, with only the 1b going on to Christchurch. Considering that Yellow Buses have recently bought two second hand E400’s from Minstrel Bus Sales, I would imagine that they are going on to the 1a and 1b, per the press release last month.

Service 1a (and 1aN) – (Bournemouth ?) – Somerford – Highcliffe – New Milton

Updated – 15 March: It is indeed a timetable alteration with later journeys

Now I am banking that the information sent to register the service might be a bit awry as this service currently runs into Bournemouth, and the service is only listed as a timetable change. This is, if you read the press release linked above, the flagship route!

Service 3x – Bournemouth Triangle – Bournemouth Rail Station – Charminster – Hospital

Updated – 15 March: The service will now serve Charminster and Richmond Park Road – part replacing the 4a

This service is going to run less-express (nearly a song title in there) and become a normal stopping service. There is also a route and timetable variation.

I wonder if this, in part, will replace the 4a?

Service 4 – Bournemouth – Winton – Castlepoint – Ilford – Somerford

It looks like this is going to become an extended service to Somerford. With the timetable variation also taking place on the 1a, I wonder if this is simply a frequency boost between Christchurch (which is not listed as a via, but that is pretty much the only route through) and Somerford.

Service 4a – Bournemouth – Charminster – Westover Retail Park

This service is listed as cancelled from 03 April.

Core Services listed just as timetable variations

• Service 1b – Bournemouth – Boscombe – Christchurch (Actually – the Sunday service will now run as a 1)
• Service 2 (and 2N) – Westover Road – Bournemouth – Boscombe – Bearwood
• Service 3 (and 3N) – Westbourne – Bournemouth – Charminster – Royal Bournemouth Hospital
• Service 5 (& 5a, 5N and 5aN) – Bournemouth – Charminster – Kinson Library
• Service 6 (and 6N) – Bournemouth – Winton – Wallisdown – Wimbourne

Buster goes all Spice Girls!

Yellow Buses will be releasing more details in a week or so – this has not yet been updated

Certainly for the low season, although I can imagine that there will be little change for the Summer, Buster’s Beach Bus has been cancelled as a pair of service 11 and 12, and registered as a single service.

In a 2 becomes 1 way, the new Buster’s Beach Bus will run from Alum Chine to Hoburne Holiday Park in Christchurch. It will run via Boscombe Pier, Hengistbury Head and Christchurch.

This will start a week later than other changes, with the service registered from 09 April.

Buster’s Forest Explorer will also re-start on 09 April, running between Christchurch and Ringwood. Presumably there will be some sort of connection arrangement between the two, and brings Yellow Buses back to villages they recently lost tenders for.

Other Changes

Lurking in the depths of the ‘other services’ category we find the following changes:

• Service 21 – This service is cancelled from the end of July
• Service 31 – the service I remember being introduced as a keyworker service in the pandemic has been cancelled. This service ran from Somerford to Royal Bournemouth Hospital and Castlepoint.
• Service 727 is a new commuter service between Boscombe, Christchurch, Bournemouth Airport and Bournemouth Aviation Park. I say commuter, it actually says one AM and one PM journey in the registration, this could simply mean a lunchtime shuttle!
• Service 737 between Bournemouth Square to Bournemouth Aviation Park and Airport has a timetable variation. Two extra services towards the Airport in the morning, three away in the evening. Paid for by Bournemouth Airport

Now, the mention of….

…. the night bus routes across the core routes (that are not called core routes anymore) might suggest that the night buses are coming back in April. Nightclubs are open, universities are back and technically the buses should be as busy as they were.

Either way, we are waiting with baited breathe for the timetables. We also wait for a shock announcement that Yellow Buses will extend from Ringwood to Southampton – well, we can all dream!