As we get closer to the children finishing another school year we are at the time where the open top buses are usually drying out from their rain-based top deck clean and seafronts are stocking up on Mr Whippy. While we all slowly wither into a small punnet of prunes and realise that there is a second three o’clock in the day (well I know there is, I am sat in it writing this) there are a few timetable changes that are coming up.
We all know about the new Southsea Express and the press have also been all over the fact that it will save people half an hour between Fareham and Southsea the new First Solent X3 is just a part of some changes across First Solent and Stagecoach.
Many of the timetable changes are minor and are designed to improve reliability:
- First Solent 1 – The Hard – Fratton – Eastney – Southsea
- First Solent 3 – Fareham – QA Hospital – Cosham – Gunwharf – Southsea
- Stagecoach South 18 – Paulsgrove – North End – Fratton – Clarence Pier
- Stagecoach South 20 – Havant – Crookhorn – QA Hospital – Stamshaw – Gunwharf Quays
Some will also harbour frequency changes though
- Stagecoach South 21 – Gunwharf – Copner – Anchorage Park
- Reduced from every 12 minutes to every 15 minutes
- Still awaiting timetable
The timetables for First Solent are effective from 26th July and Stagecoach South from 2nd August. It should be noted that some of the change to the 3 (and also the 7) are due to the re-opening of Lake Road.
New Forest Show & Bournemouth Airport
There are some new timetables from morebus as well. The first is for the New Forest Show which has a mixture of frequencies throughout the day between Brockenhurst Station and the New Forest Show site. For those looking for potentially unusual buses in New Forest locations, the timetable is here.
There is also a timetable showing for a service YX1 between Poole Bus Station and Bournemouth Airport. At one trip a day, it appears to be for the workers of the industrial areas around the airport area, in a similar way to what the 737 service has become. The timetable is here.
There was a petition to reinstate a more frequent bus service to the airport last year, however I never heard of it going very far. I can not see Bournemouth getting any sort of service like Bristol Airport, or even a new train station like Cardiff re-opened in 2005, but what would come first? More flights or better connections?
Timetables sans Context
There are quite a few timetables that are being shown on the Service Changes page although I have not seen anything other than them. These are updates that are seen by the Bus Open Data Service before the Traffic Commissioner sees the registration:
- Bluestar from Saturday 18th July and Saturday 1st August
- morebus from Monday 27th July
I suspect the July changes are in-part tied to the end of the school year. All of the Bluestar schools and colleges services have changes registered – which I suppress from the page – for 18th July as well. Of course, with the summer season coming many services across morebus will be affected by the lack of intelligent parking and my memory suggests that extra time gets added.
With parts of Bournemouth town centre closed to buses until next year, the chaos may indeed be more chaotic for the next 8 weeks!
and Services sans Timetable
I know, I noticed that although the new First Solent X3 / X4 / X5 combined service has a listing for 1st September, nothing surfaced on the website for the July introduction… my next task now it’s 5am is to go find it!