The timetables and details of the changes to the City Reds network have now been published and the newly First South West-d brand will be making these significant changes on Sunday 30th October. It appears, despite the protestations of the Sholing users some of the changes are not going to go down well in some parts of the city.
The full new page can be found on the First Southampton website here. Below the ad is a general roundup of what is going to change.
City Red 1: Although the service will remain half-hourly, every other trip will continue as a service 13 towards Merry Oak and Harefield.
Service 2A: Three new early morning trips will be introduced to operate as a direct service between Weston, the City and the General Hospital. Essentially it will be a 2 to the City Centre, when it be a 3 to the General Hospital.
Presumably, this is to reduce the need for hospital staff to change in the City area and miss connections; whereas it is ‘less important’ for people coming home. To be fair, I think this is a sensible direct worker connection.
‘Cross City’ Red 3: The weekday daytime service for Lordshill – Shirley – City – Thornhill will be increased from Every 12 Minutes to Every 10 Minutes.
The Sunday service on the City Red 3 will now be reduced to Every 20 Minutes, although there will also be an hourly number 8 on the same route.
City Red 7: Will run between Townhill Park and the City Centre Every 15 Minutes on weekday daytimes. This is a reduction from the Every 12 Minutes that the service runs now.
(Now) ’Cross City’ Red 8: is extended to run between Hedge End – City – Shirley – General Hospital – Aldmoor. The service will still run every 30 Minutes and provide a last bus back from the General Hospital at 1900 – Does this tie in with the hospital shift changes?
Looking at the timings, like the new route 2A, the 8 will follow the same route as City Red 3 along the Shirley Road. I would be interesting to see if the passenger flow numbers justify the direct link between Hedge End, Bitterne and the General Hospital which is what the news page PR suggests.
City Red 9 will be withdrawn. Much to the behest of some of the residents of Sholing, this service was once frequent and busy, however over the years the service level has declined to the point of being so irregular that it is unusable.
Some of the service area of the City Red 9 is going to be replaced by a diversion on City Red 13. The service itself is being reduced to hourly, and will run WestQuay – Central Bridge – Itchen Bridge – Merry Oak – Bitterne – Harefield.
This does sound to me that the commercial services to the General Hospital and Shirley Car Park Road are where the money is, and the council support for services East of the Bridge needs to increase in order to be viable. Unfortunately, for the residents of Sholing who rely on the services for direct convenient links to Woolston, that is not enough.
The 8 should have been going through Hill Lane this would had made more sense.
Agreed. It would have put an end to the bus desert in the area as well as being quicker than going via Shirley High Street
First are a private company looking to make a large profit out of areas like Southampton and unlike the days before buses were privatised,the bus operators are there to make a fast buck for shareholders and providing a great bus service in the area is not a priority-hence the numerous cuts to what was once a really comprehensive city bus network.
Personally I can see the 8 being a success in the long term. It brings back a link between Bitterne and the general on a daily basis – something that normally only happens on Christmas Day (re the extended Christmas Day 18).
But the BS 18 & 17 are so frequent a quick change in city centre means a direct link is not really needed.
That’s true for the majority of able-bodied passengers, but the elderly and disabled struggle with changing buses, therefore they generally avoid journeys that require a change of bus.
How many bus services does Shirley High Street need? Extra empty buses adding to already polluted area. At least going via Hill Lane and Winchester Road Dale Rd and A&E side of the hospital it would provide a much needed quick link to and from the city and general hospital. No one wonder these Bus companies struggle financially trying to chase other operators on one city corridor. Hardly a public service either. Maybe one day the government will nationalise bus companies so they actually do SERVE the public and not there coffers.
Each time I use Shirley High Street on a bus, it seems to be lethargic of congested, so I tend to agree.
Looking at the Sunday timetable though, there is a reduction of 1 bus an hour on the 3 and the new 1 bus an hour on the 8. I wonder if the east side of the 3 could cope with two (or three) buses less an hour on weekdays?