I remember back last year when Yellow Buses collapsed in the summer, when the more enthusiastic members of the transport community were screaming from the rooftops about how to recast the Bournemouth and Poole service monopoly. In between the calls for various less sensible ideas I said that morebus would probably take about a year to let things calm down.
Please now channel your inner Jeremy Clarkson monologue voice and shout “… and they did!”
Changes from 27 May
For Go South Coast have announced a raft of changes to the morebus network to take effect on Sunday 27th May, which is not dissimilar to being about 56 days away (okay, slightly more) and so we should be seeing these registrations on the formal dispatches shortly.
You will note i have also not gone “Oh My God, look at this the changes are coming” like I have been doing during the lockdown phases of the financial crisis that has caused this. We are now back to a more gentle, focuses look at the changes because they are so far out (and because I find these things out at the same time as the rest of you.
The Easy Bit
So there are some easy the timetable is changing bits that we can get out of the way. You should note that there are no timetables published on the morebus website yet, however a map is already provided to make things look a little easier for the bits we will get to:
(Unless otherwise mentioned, timetable changes are to provide better service reliability)
- Service 1a to Boscombe, Christchurch & Somerford
Extra buses will be run early morning, late evening and during the rush hour. - Service 2 to Boscombe, RBH & Castlepoint
Service renumbered: to 22 - Service 4 to Winton, Muscliff & Castlepoint
Service renumbered: to 12 - Service 6 & 6a to University, Bearwood & Kinson / Wimborne
Timetable changes for reliability & additional journeys - Service 18 to Westbourne, Canford Heath & Broadstone
Service increased to Every 30 Minutes and new Sunday timetable - Service 20 – Poole – Penn Hill – Bournemouth – Charminster
- Service 33 to East Cliff, Littledown, RBH and Christchurch
- Service 36 Talbot View – Bournemout – University – West How – Kinson
- Service 737 to Bournemouth Airport
- Service UniBus U1 for BU
Service number changes only:
- Poole to Tollerford Road service 5 will become service 25
- Poole to Tower Park service 6 will become service 26
Changes to the East
There are also more substantive route changes occurring in different parts of the Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch area.
Services 1, 1b and 1c
For reasons that I can only explain as marketing (see the 7acb) the 1, 1a, 1b will now become the 1a, 1b and 1c. maybe it will be branded the 1abc and will have some kind of alphabet style advertising campaign?
Beyond that though, there are actually changes to the services, routes and timetables. Note that the 1a will only have a timetable change, so the last time we mention it:
Service 1b will be extended every 30 minutes – beyond Christchurch – to Purewell and Burton
Service 1c will be extended to a loop of Hunt Road and Mudeford (in both directions)
Summer Breezer 80 has also been introduced to Mudeford
This replaces both the whole of service 23, and allows the X1 to run a more direct express routing via Somerford Road.
Service 24
The current supported service 24 is having a change at both ends of the route. With the X1 and X2 running along Somerford Road, the 24 will be cut back to Christchurch and terminate in the Two Riversmeet Leisure Centre.
At the other end of the route as well, the service is extended from Fairmile to run through Iford to Royal Bournemouth Hospital and Castlepoint.
Changes to the West
Services 5 & 5a will have a small route revision in the Kinson area with the service terminating at Kinson Library. Having headed up to Kinson yesterday, I am making a presumption that the 5 and 5a will now stop at the stop before the roundabout, then double back on itself.
It also appears that service 14 will instead serve Millhams Road, rather than Kinson Library. This makes a little less sense, as I could only see bus stops one direction, unless the RBH bound bus will only serve the bus stop outside Costa Coffee.
Please fix comments on Soton bus update, which cannot be added to.
The So’ton Bus Update blog and the Hampshire Bus Update blog are two completely separate publications.
I started this one, after SBU went quiet for a period of months during the pandemic, partly as a homage to it.
So unfortunately, you would need to contact the author of So’ton Bus Update.
Not belonging to this topic, but I’m very skeptical regarding a success of route “the 2” registered by Transpora to compete directly with More 2(2).
Sounds very 13a, doesn’t it!