Firstly, extra services planned this weekend in the strike timetable planned by First Solent. I am not sure whether they have parachuted in drivers from other depots, Hilsea drivers are being offered a really big golden carrot, or whether Unite are losing support. Either way:
- An hourly X4 will run between Gunwharf Quays and Fareham Bus Station
- An hourly X5 will run between Southampton Central Station and Fareham Bus Station
- The services are timed to connect at Fareham in both directions
The updated timetable can be found as a spreadsheet on the First Solent strike page. Don’t worry, although it is an editable spreadsheet, writing all over it will not affect the copy other people download.
It is interesting that, just like any announcement about the January strike action, First is not promoting it on their social media channels.
February – new dates
Unite The Union have this week notified the management of First Solent’s Hoeford depot that it is still not happy with any attempts to resolve it’s ongoing pay and conditions dispute. During the early part of this week I had illuded on social media that there were new dates on the horizon. The information coming to me from the Unite drivers branch meeting was confirmed as per the press releases to the mainstream media – it’s fine, I post here as a hobby, not a job.
The dates are now confirmed as being:
- Sunday 2nd February (03:29) to Sunday 9th February (03:28)
- Wednesday 12th February (03:29) to Friday 14th February (03:28)
- Sunday 16th February (03:29) to Sunday 23rd February (03:28)
- Wednesday 25th February (03:29) to Friday 27th February (03:28)
Between these times, drivers involved in the dispute are expected to not report for their duty. This means that there will likely be a strike bus timetable in operation for the school half term in Gosport, Fareham and parts of Portsmouth.
For the avoidance of any doubt, it is expected that services will run as normal on Sunday 9th / Friday 14th / Sunday 23rd / Friday 27th because I would suspect that the first drivers are scheduled to book on just after 03:30 which is why the times are listed as they are.
Last Weekend
A quick review of the strike timetables running last weekend would suggest that most of the planned trips did actually run. I heard various stories of “The bus did not turn up” and “The staff in the bus station said that they did not know if there was a driver for the service yet.”
A look at the historical tracking would suggest that those following the First Bus app to track their services might have the impression that buses were not running. To be honest even on a good day the Frist Bus app can be patchy when it comes to live tracking. On third-party websites though (and I use BusTimes) the number of busses running during the day on the strike timetable appears to correlate with the numbers I expect.
For example; service 5 between Gosport and Fareham was expected to run hourly. Some of the data is malformed on the overall history for Saturday 11th, but going through the maps on the page it appears from the couple of hours I looked at that buses tracked at around the right times. Likewise with the other services, with the exception of the odd trip on Eclipse E1 and E2 I think they all ran.
It is very hard to spoof this level of data so I think most of the timetable was run in full. It would take far more work than it would have done just to hire a qualified driver from an external supplier.
…. and just a final thought ….
As I was not privy to the announcement, only information leaked out from the Unite The Union branch meeting, I have not got any quotes from either side. This is not the place to take sides, although I would not cross a picket line. I would say to talk and listen to what the dispute is really about.
Yes, there might be a part of the discussion about pay, but now the Gosport Bus Station is closed there is nowhere for a bus driver to use a toilet. As far as I recall, the ones next to the Gosport Ferry ticket office are locked by Gosport Borough Council in the early evening… or certainly last time I wanted to use them they were. These are the sorts of things that are brought up as part of “pay negotiations” and I think no-one would want to go 2 hours on a round trip of service 5 needing a wee.
The sheer number of cancellations of buses and trains across the south over recent years due to “a shortage of staff” would suggest that something has not been quite right for quite a while.