Firstly; I am sorry to have disappeared on you all! There has been a lot going on, I have not been in the greatest of health, but things are on the mend with the help of some soft core (legal) drugs. So while I re-write history as the victor in that story, it’s soon time for the other man who spends a night on Monster Energy and a Sleigh to make a visit.
The seasonal services for the Christmas season are starting to appear and I thank Clive Shutler for kicking me up the tail and giving me the heads up. He points out that unusually, Stagecoach have beaten GoAhead for the first publication of the year.
These are the planned service levels for Stagecoach Buses over the festive season. There is a normal service until Saturday 23rd December across the Stagecoach South network and this is the rest:
Sunday 24th December
With Christmas Eve being a Sunday, there will be less buses across the region, even before the early wind down. So that means that unless stated below, a full Sunday service will operate.
Andover:
An Early finish on Stagecoach Activ8 journeys (1730 from Andover, 1925 from Salisbury) however later Salisbury Reds trips are running.
Portsmouth:
Last Service 21 leaves Havant at 1930 and Portsmouth (to Farlington Only) at 2035
Last Service 23 leaves Leigh Park at 2005 and Southsea at 2025
Christmas Day
There are special services, presumably supported financially by Portsmouth City Council, will run on services 21 and 23 in Portsmouth.
Last year was the first time that there was a Christmas Day service in Portsmouth, with both First Solent and Stagecoach supplying services. I would suspect a similar level of service will run this year, however I have not yet started to see if the timetables are on Bustimes or TravelineSW.
Boxing Day
A mixed bag, depending on the depot that is local to you on Tuesday 26th December.
A Sunday service will run out of Winchester depot.
A Sunday service also runs out of the Blackwater Valley area, for those services that interconnect around Alton.
Special services will run in Portsmouth on services 21, 23 and 700 – the workers service 725 also runs.
No other services run on Boxing Day
Wednesday 27th December to Friday 29th December
A Saturday service runs out of most Stagecoach South depots between Christmas and New Year. For some services that run only on weekdays, or have a limited Saturday service, this is different:
Andover:
Service 5 will run on Wednesday and Friday, between 0945 and 1620 only
Services 66, 67 and 67X will run their weekday times
Service 7a will run it’s Thursday timetable on Thursday
Basingstoke:
Service 16 will run from Steventon and Dummer on Wednesday and Friday
Portsmouth:
Services 38 and Hoverbus will run a special service
Services 21 and 23 will run a weekday evening service on Wednesday and Thursday – with a normal Friday service (IE – with the additional Friday night extra services)
Winchester:
Services 46 and 49/49h will run – the latter from 0856 only
Saturday 30th December
A normal Saturday timetable will run on all routes.
New Years Eve
A normal Sunday service will run on New Years Eve – except the following:
Winchester:
An early finish is advertised – no details are available yet.
Andover:
An Early finish on Stagecoach Activ8 journeys (1730 from Andover, 1925 from Salisbury) however later Salisbury Reds trips are running.
Portsmouth:
Last Service 21 leaves Havant at 1930 and Portsmouth (to Farlington Only) at 2035
Last Service 23 leaves Leigh Park at 2005 and Southsea at 2025
New Years Day
There are no services across most of the Stagecoach South area, however in our local depots, there are a few exceptions:
Portsmouth:
Special services run again on services 21, 23 and Hoverbus.
The workers service 725 runs normally
Monday 2nd January 2024
A normal Schoolday service returns in Hampshire.
I understand Sussex and Surrey may have different arrangements, so some schools services may vary.
Sorry to hear of your health issues and good to hear the medication helps.
Since Covid, we’ve become accustomed to short-notice registrations of changes, many so short they’re effectively retrospective. But some of the changes in the latest Notices from the West of England Traffic Commissioner (dated 09/11/23) take some beating. There are two “new” special-event services from Go South Coast, one dated May 2015 and one dated Sept 2016 ! And under “Cancellations of Existing Services” we read that services 31/41 in Swindon will cease with effect from 27 Dec 2004 !!! Did these entries fall down the back of the filing cabinet, I wonder?
You can expect a Sunday service from Bluestar ,on Boxing Day(Exc.No.6),Saturday service on Weds(27) to Fri(29),with additional morning journeys.On New Year`s Day you“ll have a Sunday service(special 20 min service on the 17 and 18) and no route 6.
First Wessex Christmas services are now on their website … and YES they’ve made an exception for services (including our X54) which are normally Mon-Fri only, so would otherwise not appear on days when a “Saturday” service is declared. Hooray!