With the new school term due to start on Monday 2nd September, bus companies are (or should be) ensuring that their 56 day registrations are in for the new school year. Now this is one that did not appear in the Notices and Proceedings as far as I remember seeing, but thanks to a few tip-offs there are a number of changes in Southampton. I am convinced that over the last few days they have appeared in the RSS feed of service changes, albeit registered back on 18th July.
There are a number of services that will no longer call at the West Quay bus stops outside the new Bluestar Travel Shop (the round building which was Shopmobility) – which as I was busy summarising the changes occurred to me that this might be to allow work to start on the new bus hub(?)
We covered the plans for the bus hub a looooooong time ago – so long ago in fact that when I set the link I had to actually click on it myself to make sure it was the right one….
Minor Changes to Services
- The 0625 Lymington to Southampton service 6 will now run through to West Quay on School days (rather than terminate at Totton)
- There is increased running time in service 7 between Sholing, The City and Lord’s Hill. This means that buses may run up to 10 minutes earlier. There are also new later evening services between Vincent’s Walk and Sholing Monday to Saturday.
- There are minor timetable changes on service 8 between Hythe, Totton and Southampton.
- Service 10 for Bitterne and Sholing will no longer stop at West Quay (stop BD outbound and BE inbound). The stops in Vincent’s Walk will also change.
- Services 11 & 12 to West Totton and Calmore gains an additional round-trip from Calmore at 0447 with additional retimings pre 0700 Monday to Saturday.
There is also an earlier 0628 departure on Sundays and Bank Holidays. - The Bentley Green morning starts on service 13 in Harefield will now start at Hatley Road.
The evening trips that terminated in Harefield will now continue round to Bitterne Shops. - There are additional hourly trips to and from Hedge End on service 14 at the start and end of all days.
- Service 19 will no longer stop at West Quay in both directions.
- Service 20 towards Southampton will additionally stop in Cobden Avenue before Bitterne Park Triangle.
- There are stand changes in Vincent’s Walk for many services.
Less Minor Changes to Services
Service 9
There is a new timetable on service 9 with buses running between Southampton City Centre, Hythe and Blackfield every 20 minutes and use the new bus lane on the A326 towards Southampton.
The hourly service that currently extends to Calshot Beach will now terminate at Fawley on weekdays, The Square which if I remember correctly is a normal end of summer season alteration I am corrected by Darryl did not happen last year. The other two buses per hour will continue to Langley.
With the timetable enhancement though, once we get to rush hour there are buses going to/from various points in the area including Calshot, which regular users of the 9 will probably know better than me. There is a new later departure from Southampton at 0010 Monday to Saturday as well. Timetable can be downloaded here.
Service 15
There are a number of route changes to service 15 which from a timetable perspective cancel each other out. So the important bit is that although the timetable changes, Saturday service will now run every 30 minutes and no changes to the peak vehicle requirement for the service.
City Centre
There are changes to the route in the City Centre. The service will now start from the South Entrance to Southampton Central Railway station and run via Above Bar to Vincent’s Walk, it then (certainly according to the new timetable) not call at West Quay stop BD with the next stop being Holyrood Church.
On the inbound trips it will stop outside West Quay and ASDA before terminating at Central Station. it’s almost running a sort of loop around the city centre now.
Butlocks Heath
Outside of the city walls, the service will no longer run via Ingleside or Woolston Road in Butlocks Heath. It will instead run along the length of Hound Way.
The new service 15 timetable is here.
I think I caught everything!
Thanks go to Reece on Facebook and Linux Detected on Twitter X.
If you have found something I have missed; drop me a line!
If I’m reading this correctly, then Calshot will be left without a bus service. Prior to COVID the 8 was the main service provider to Calshot with occasional 9s. This changed to being just the 9s.
There is a new bus prioritisation due to open on the Marchwood bypass, which is probably one of the reasons behind the changes. As a Marchwood resident, I fear that this could further reduce the service through the village. Walking to the bypass and watching the buses go past non-stop is a poor substitute!
I cant understand why there is not provision for stops at Twiggs Lane by the pelican crossing, where it would be safe to cross. although not perfect it would give an option for Marchwood on the 9.
Better still would be to run a hybrid version of 8 and 9 in the evening. It is hard to believe a place as large as Marchwood has such a poor service.
Why can’t inbound buses on route 8 carry straight on past Pooks Green and join the Marchwood bypass? Surely with the new bus lane in place, it’d be quicker than going via Trotts Lane.
Personally I’d make routes 8 and 9 both half-hourly with a combined 15-minute frequency. The 9 should also only go to Langley/Lepe, with the 8 re-extended to Fawley/Calshot.
Just seen the new timetables.
The dramatically reduced service to Calshot, looks like it will cause hardship 😞
I’m a Marchwood resident, so diverting evening journeys to Southampton through the village is welcomed. However I am intrigued that a fortune has been spent on the buses only slip road and they are avoiding it.😀
The 15 also gets an increased saturday service to every 30 mins.
The 9’s hourly extension to Calshot remains in place at weekends.
Fare rises from Sept 1st as well.