Now that everyone has started buying their First Week bus tickets, First Solent have finally released the timetables that they are planning to operate during the upcoming industrial action.
Bus drivers based at the First Solent depot in Hoeford have been in dispute with the company since before Christmas and as far as I know there has been very little progress with both side claiming they want to get around the table. First Solent have made it clear though that a two-year no strings deal of 7.8% over two years can not be improved upon.
As I understand it though, Unite The Union members would also like access to a toilet in Gosport to be included, especially in the evenings when the public toilets by the Ferry Ticket Office are locked by the council.
Reports from the area continue to be haphazard with buses not tracking properly (or at all) on strike days, including the entire planned Solent Ranger service between Fareham and Southampton. Did it run?
First the caveat!
Firstly the fact that First Solent plans to run a normal service on some routes:
First Bus expects routes 2, 7, 8, 22, Hoverbus (H1), U1, U2 and the Portsmouth Park & Ride (PR1) service to operate as normal.
School/college services PC1, PC2, RED, SD4, SD5 and SD7 will also operate as normal.
Different Timetables – Different Days
There are a number of different timetables that are on offer, and because no-one managed to save them into a handy printable PDF, you once again have an editable spreadsheet with all the details. To start with though, this is the plan.
Some services are highlighted as “May Not Operate – Check on The Day” which is helpful as they are the tendered and supported services relied on by pensioners.
Weekdays
3rd to 7th Feb, 12 to 14th Feb, 17th to 21st Feb, 25th to 27th Feb
Service 1: Southsea to Gunwharf – This service will not run to/from Fareham as a number 3.
Every 20 to 30 minutes 0800 to 1700
Service 3: Fareham to Cosham only
Every 20 to 30 minutes 0530 to 2100
Service 5: Fareham to Gosport via Stubbington & Lee-on-the-Solent
Hourly 0730 to 1830
Service 9: Fareham to Gosport via Rowner & Gomer – There is no service 9a
Hourly 0730 to 1830
Eclipse E1 & E2: Fareham to Gosport via the BRT
Every 30 minutes on each of E1 & E2 0600 to 2030
(Four buses an hour between Brockhurst and Fareham)
The Following services are listed as “May Not Operate – Check Prior to Travel”
They are listed in the First Solent spreadsheet published at this time (lunchtime 29th January) and because the First Solent website has an inane habit of things disappearing and re-appearing, a download is saved below:
Service 21: Fareham – Stubbington – Hill Head
Side Note: I have seen the concept drawing for the re-building of The Osbourne View – Hmmmm – Not sure on that one!
Three Off-Peak Trips subject to available staff
Service 28 & 28a: Fareham – Park Gate – Whiteley
Roughly every 2 hours (1 bus operation with a lunch break) subject to available staff
Service F1: Highlands Circular – Not running to/from Sainsburys
Three trips (shared bus with the 21 by the looks of it) subject to available staff
Saturdays 8th and 22nd Feb
Service 1: Southsea to Gunwharf – This service will not run to/from Fareham as a number 3.
Every 20 to 40 minutes 0900 to 1800
Service 3: Fareham to Cosham only
Every 20 to 30 minutes 0630 to 2100
Service 5: Fareham to Gosport via Stubbington & Lee-on-the-Solent
Hourly 0730 to 1830
Service 9: Fareham to Gosport via Rowner & Gomer – There is no service 9a
Hourly 0730 to 1830
Eclipse E1 & E2: Fareham to Gosport via the BRT
Every 30 minutes on each of E1 & E2 0700 to 2000
(Four buses an hour between Brockhurst and Fareham)
Solent Ranger X5: Fareham to Southampton only
Hourly 0900 to 1800
The Following services are listed as “May Not Operate – Check Prior to Travel”
They are listed in the First Solent spreadsheet published at this time (lunchtime 29th January) and because the First Solent website has an inane habit of things disappearing and re-appearing, a download is saved below:
Solent Ranger X4: Fareham to Gunwharf only
Hourly 0900 to 1800
Sundays 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd Feb
Service 3: Fareham to Cosham only
Every 30 minutes 0830 to 1830
Service 5: Fareham to Gosport via Stubbington & Lee-on-the-Solent
Normal Sunday service – except the 1800 departures will not run
Service 9: Fareham to Gosport via Rowner & Gomer – There is no service 9a
Hourly 0900 to 1700
Eclipse E1 & E2: Fareham to Gosport via the BRT
Every 30 minutes on each of E1 & E2 0730 to 1830
(Four buses an hour between Brockhurst and Fareham)
There are No service listed as “May Not Operate – Check Prior to Travel”
I have already, a number of times posted the excel spreadsheet above, so please do get a copy of it and store it on your phone as the First Solent app and third-party bus tracking sites have been unreliable on a strike day. You can find the whole of the First Solent news piece on their website, and you can also find coverage from the Unite The Union regional team and local reps on the Unite The Union South East Facebook page.
As you know, I try not to get political about things like this here or on social media. The bus drivers do have my support though – and they have taken the decision to go almost the whole month without pay to get better working conditions which were decimated during the COVID lockdowns. They were some of the few out there working and risking catching a deadly disease while the majority were on furlough and being paid to sit at home.
The may or may not operate services are crazy!
Not everyone in Whiteley is a pensioner! Many people work & shop there.
Having a 28 \28A every 2 hours but not knowing if running to me just says “find an alternative anyway” for peace of mind & sanity.
I hope the powers that be who subsidize this service are aware of First failing to fulfill their contract & when looking at passenger numbers regarding further expansion\contraction of the service all the strike action is taken into consideration!
That maybe so, but it was more towards the fact that the elderly are less likely to have a smart phone and so won’t have access to the website or social media.
From what I have read here, I do not think that these strikes are gonna get sorted soon, and I think that passengers that use First Solent should quit using them.
I say this even though I am an advocate of public transport. but from reading today, I cannot see First or unite comming to a reasonable agreement, unite want driver to have access to the toilet at Gosport Ferry Ticket Office, but it seems the council run it, First would have no control over it they cannot grant access to something they do not own or control, so based on this information how can it all be sorted.
I am actually quite surprised that driver facilities were not thought of during the bus station closure. A simple solution would be to deep clean one of the toilets (for clarity – the ones next to the Ferry Ticket office…. not ones in the office) and put a secure keypad on.
Of course, the council agreeing and First Solent paying is another matter.
Is there any information on the X4/X5 during weekdays? The spreadsheet doesn’t mention them except at weekends. Does this mean they’re running as normal or they’re not running at all?
No weekday service as far as I am aware.
I can’t find the answer myself categorically either. If not running that means no bus service for me at all.
Is there anyone willing to do a carshare from Sarisbury area to Whitley Parkway or near it? Thanks.
No bus for a month?!? So I’m having to walk for an hour each morning and night to the train station, that’s 10 hours a week lost.
What a joke! Poor effort bus operators.
First bus strike is a joke, they absolutely does not care about customers suffering from this and how much people get effected by their actions greedy people.
From now on Stagecoach buses is what I’m going to use even if I get to walk 30 minutes on the top of my journey but at least I know I’m getting home, not left to wonder and panic in the cold rainy dark weather 😟😟
Two things boggle my mind (“only two …?”). Firstly, public transport is being supported in a way not seen in a generation, and yet the militants seem blind to the fact they are ‘flavour of the month’ and that the strikes are undoing goodwill. In a minute they’ll be complaining about lay-offs as the public give up on buses. Second, that one of the main points of contention seems to be the lack of loos at the new Gosport bus station. That’s a major design failing, but a failure of client scoping as well – the consultant being asked to “design a bus station” and all you get is a terminus for buses and a glorified bus shelter, no consideration for an holistic approach as to some of the other things a bus station is (loos for drivers being just one).
I have to walk 40 mins in the morning now to get a bus and at home time. My employers are not happy as I’m now getting to work later. I’m so upset this has happened. I rely on the X4 and x5 every day for work. I’m ok with the the odd strike days or 2 days in a row but whole weeks of at a time is disgusting. Please get this sorted out it’s 2025
Why can there not be a temporary Mobil toilet put in at Gosport while work is going on.
Work is completed for the new bus station.
The plan is for there to be no staff room or facilities for the bus drivers.
Well that is disgusting who would want to work for a company like that in 2025 .
Surely health and safety say that facilities must be supplied.