From Bournemouth’s shores to Poole’s bright bay,
Morebus drives the festive way,
Through Ringwood, Wimborne, day by day,
While Santa checks his Christmas sleigh!
Bluestar glides through Southampton’s light,
To Eastleigh, Romsey in the night,
While Damory’s routes through Blandford wind,
Leaving Christmas cheer for all to find!
Yeah, I thought the witty ditty was not great this time around but I have made sure not to put an AI generated Christmas bus picture at the top, so have a Christmas Ai generated beach scene instead. I need to be more specific with my images or maybe add one or more existing pictures and get the AI to amend the background.
Anyway the Go South Coast seasonal timetable changes have been released and this year we continue to have Christmas Day services and a chance for everyone to get home after too much eggnog.
There is nothing uploaded to the website for Southern Vectis on the Isle of Wight, or Southampton UniLink yet, so that will be a separate post when it appears. Both morebus and Bluestar will run a normal service up to (and including) Monday 23rd December. After that though, this is the amended timetable:
Christmas Eve – Tuesday 24th December
Bluestar will run a Saturday service on most of it’s commercial network. Normal Tuesday timetables will run on the usual group of financially supported services:
- Bluestar 6 through the New Forest to Lymington ( or from Lymington…. as it is managed by morebus’ Lymington depot)
- recently acquired Bluestar 21 and 22 services through Shirly
- Service 35 in Romsey
- Services T3 and T4 in Totton
- Romsey and Salisbury routes X7 and X7R
- Quayconnect
Additionally the N1 nightbus will not run, and a reduced service will run in the evening on services 1, 2, 9, 16, 17, 18 and 20. Bluestar will maintain the last departures on each route.
morebus will also run a Saturday service, except for the following routes
- FE1 “sort of workers service” for Ferndown
- Bournemouth services 18, 24, 33, 737
- Unibus U1 and U3
- Rural services 38
- New Forest services 112, 119, 120, 191, Ringo
- X-brand services X1, X2, X3, X6, X8
There are some additional morning trips on some services, but nightbuses and the 00:10 1a will not run.
Christmas Day
Go South Coast will run their usual special service on the mainland, covering a small number of commercial routes:
- Bluestar 1X – This will run it’s usual route Southampton – Swaythling – Eastleigh – Chandlers Ford – Royal County Hospital – Winchester
The service will run every 2 hours - Bluestar 17X – This hourly service will run the normal 17 route between Weston – Southampton – Lords Hill – Adanac Park
- Bluestar 18X – This hourly service will run the usual Christmas Day extended service following Route 18 then onwards to the General Hospital and Aldermoor Turning Circle
- morebus m1 – Following the normal m1 service hourly
- morebus m2 – Following the normal m2 service and then extended to Christchurch and Two Riversmeet Centre, also running hourly
In all services the fares will be £2 single or £4 return for both adults and children. Concessionary Passes and period tickets will be valid.
Boxing Day – Thursday 26th December
Bluestar run a standard Sunday service timetable – those without a Sunday timetable will not run.
The only exception to this is Bluestar 6 which will not run.
morebus will run a Sunday timetable on most of it’s commercial network:
- Services 1a, 1b and 1c to Somerford, Southbourne and Christchurch
- Services 3, 4, 6 and 13/a for Wimbourne
- Services 5 & 5a for Kinson
- Service 8 & 9 for Turlin Moor and Upton
- Services 14, 16, 17, 22, 25, 26 around Bournemouth and Poole
- Service X3 between Bournemouth, Ringwood and Salisbury
- Service X8 between Poole and Blandford
A special timetable will run on services m1 and m2 (3 buses an hour on each route), Breezer 40 (every 2 hours) and Breezer 50 (every 2 hours)
Friday 27th December
Bluestar will run a Saturday service on most of it’s commercial network. Normal Friday timetables will run on the usual group of financially supported services:
- Bluestar 6 through the New Forest to Lymington (or from Lymington…. as it is managed by morebus’ Lymington depot)
- recently acquired Bluestar 21 services through Shirly
- Service 35 in Romsey
- Services H1 and H2 in Hythe
- Romsey and Salisbury routes X7 and X7R
morebus will also run a Saturday service, except for the following routes
- Bournemouth services 18, 24, 33, 737
- Rural services 38
- New Forest services 112, 119, 120, 191, Ringo
- X-brand services X1, X2, X3, X6, X8
There are some additional morning trips on some services.
Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th December
Normal Saturday and Sunday timetables will run on all routes.
Monday 30th December
Bluestar will run a Saturday service on most of it’s commercial network. Normal Monday timetables will run on the usual group of financially supported and contracted services:
- Bluestar 6 through the New Forest to Lymington ( or from Lymington…. as it is managed by morebus’ Lymington depot)
- recently acquired Bluestar 21 services through Shirly
- Service 35 in Romsey
- Services T3 and T4 in Totton
- Romsey and Salisbury routes X7 and X7R
- Quayconnect
Additionally the N1 nightbus will not run.
morebus will also run a Saturday service, except for the following routes
- Bournemouth services 18, 24, 33, 737
- Unibus U1 and U3
- Rural services 38
- New Forest services 112, 119, 120, 125, 191, Ringo
- X-brand services X1, X2, X3, X6, X8
There are some additional morning trips on some services.
New Years Eve – Tuesday 31st December
Bluestar will run a Saturday service on most of it’s commercial network. Normal Tuesday timetables will run on the usual group of financially supported services:
- Bluestar 6 through the New Forest to Lymington ( or from Lymington…. as it is managed by morebus’ Lymington depot)
- recently acquired Bluestar 21 and 22 services through Shirly
- Service 35 in Romsey
- Services T3 and T4 in Totton
- Romsey and Salisbury routes X7 and X7R
Additionally the N1 nightbus will not run.
morebus will also run a Saturday service, except for the following routes
- Bournemouth services 18, 24, 33, 737
- Unibus U1 and U3
- Rural services 38
- New Forest services 112, 119, 120, 191, Ringo
- X-brand services X1, X2, X3, X6, X8
There are some additional morning trips on some services.
New Years Day – Wednesday 1st January
If you are in the Winchester area on New Years Day – The Friends of King Alfred Buses are running their Mini Running Day; a free heritage service linking the city centre.
This is not a paid advert and i have no connection to the friends of king alfred buses
You can find out more information on the Friends of King Alfred Buses website, as well as finding out more about their history. You can also visit their Facebook Page.
Bluestar will run a Sunday service across much of the network, except:
- No service on Bluestar 3 ( Southampton – Hedge End – Botley – Eastleigh )
- No service on Bluestar 6 ( Southampton – New Forest – Lymington )
- The first Quayconnect service (0735 from Central Station / 0747 from Town Quay) will not run
- A special hourly service on Bluestar 9 to Hythe, Fawley and Langley
- A special every 20 minutes service on cross-city Bluestar 17
- A special every 20 minutes service on cross-city Bluestar 18
morebus will run a Sunday timetable on most of it’s commercial network:
- Services 1a, 1b and 1c to Somerford, Southbourne and Christchurch
- Services 3, 4, 6 and 13/a for Wimbourne
- Services 5 & 5a for Kinson
- Service 8 & 9 for Turlin Moor and Upton
- Services 14, 16, 17, 22, 25, 26 around Bournemouth and Poole
- Service X3 between Bournemouth, Ringwood and Salisbury
- Service X8 between Poole and Blandford
A special timetable will run on services m1 and m2 (3 buses an hour on each route), Breezer 40 (every 2 hours) and Breezer 50 (every 2 hours)
Thursday 2nd January
Normal services resume across Southampton, Bournemouth and Poole. Presumably this is a non-schoolday service as the schools do not restart until the Monday after.
As a Marchwood resident, I always look to see what service through the village is being offered.
I can’t help but feel that the New Years Day service on BS9 is too closely based on a normal Sunday.
They are running buses through the village in the evening, but nothing during the day.
Looking at last years NYD BS9, they alternated the Langley and Fawley terminals last year, but serving both on all trips this year (without researching back into the archive – was this a change that affected the core service earlier this year as well?)
The core of the service has little change though, you would think that the residents of Marchwood would want to take a trip out on the bus…..
Erm . . . my read is that Route 8 will operate a normal Sunday service on New Years Day.
I appreciate that it’s only every two hours or so (with an hourly service in the evenings), but presumably there is only a limited demand on normal Sundays. IMO you’re lucky to get any
Sunday service . . . plenty of places in the Home Counties will get nowt on NYD !!
“Sunday service on Bluestar 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20 and Quayconnect (except the 07:35 from Central Station and the 07:47 from Town Quay which won’t run.)
No other services will operate.”
The BS8 is not listed as a Sunday timetable, so I presume not running