‘Tis the season to be jolly,
But I have a cracking headache,
And it’s not a hangover, as I have not been drinking!
I know, the seasonal lull of mood and cold weather is in full swing. When you are standing out in an isolated place in the cold and it says minus 6 on the thermometer, it can feel quite depressing! On the plus side, I am near to a Christmas Day bus service this year, albeit I doubt that the family will appreciate me taking a 30 minute hike to photograph it!
Seasons greetings if I have not seen you yet, seen you in a while, or seen you at all! If you are a City Red driver then I hope Santa has already brought you a Bluestar contract (or other) so you are not worrying about the New Year!
We digress though and I am behind everyone else in telling you that First Wessex (or First South West in Weymouth) (or First South at the Kings Statue) (or How is that Fish and Chip Shop on the corner these days?) have released their Christmas Schedules. The Friends of Wool Station are quite rightly annoyed, so let’s get straight on to why:
Christmas Eve (Saturday)
It is a full and normal Saturday service this year. There appears to be no early close down like in other First Bus areas and that means that if you look up from the last service 1 around Victoria Square…. you might see my fat belly hanging out over the edge of a sleigh.
This does mean though that there is no X54 between Weymouth, Wool, Wareham and Poole.
Christmas Day (Sunday) and Boxing Day (Monday)
No services will run.
Tuesday 27th December (Bank Holiday)
A full Sunday service will run across Weymouth and South Dorset.
This does mean though that there is no X54 between Weymouth, Wareham, Wool and Poole.
Wednesday 28th to Friday 30th December
All services are running to a Saturday timetable, with the exception of service 6 in Bridport and Yeovil which is a weekday timetable.
As a Saturday service, there will be no X54 between Wool, Weymouth, Poole and Durdle Door. (and Wareham)
New Years Eve (Saturday)
It is a full and normal Saturday service.
Once again a lucky driver might get to pull out a glass of non-alcoholic Processo (Nozecco is actually quite nice once you are use to it) and pull a party popper on the bridge off the Isle. I will ask the question though, how busy is the weekend evening service in Weymouth off-season? Is the town busy on New Years Eve normally?
People in Wareham will need to get a train if they want to go to Weymouth or morebus if they want to go to Poole. Wool just has a train (subject to engineering works and strike action).
New Years Day (Sunday)
It’s the standard first Bus policy for First Wessex this year in that there is No Services will Run on New Years Day.
Bank Holiday Monday 2nd January
A Sunday service will operate on Monday 2nd January.
You know what that also means!
Tuesday 3rd January
NORMAL SERVICE RESUMES – including the X54 to…. you guessed it.
The Elephant in the Room
Now, I am not sure if you saw any of the subtle (!) hints about what the elephant in the room is, but for the residents of Wool and the immediate surroundings, that isolates them from the bus network for nearly two weeks – again.
If you live within a walking distance of Wool Railway Station then the £7 return to Weymouth might be a reasonable alternative, but for those living further out or in villages like Winfrith Newburgh, it is a choice of getting in the car, or getting in the car.
It is a shame when Bridport continues to get it’s (presumably contracted) weekday service on the 6, and other parts of the new First South West division even getting a Christmas Day service. Maybe it’s a (tin foil hat time) secret Government plan to stop people getting to close to AEE Winfrith at Christmas?
It’s a shame though, that this is a service that has been forgotten about again, even if it run as a “special service” missing running between Weymouth and Wareham (maybe even connecting with the Breezer 40?)
It’s probably a bit late now….
…. but it’s also probably not something that will ever change, maybe the demand simply is not there for two weeks. Maybe no-one on the route commutes for work between Christmas and New Year?