The summer uplift at morebus begins with a more rounded change to a number of the longstanding bus route for residents around Bournemouth and Poole, as well some changes to the usual range of tourist routes… just in time for the late May half term break.
These changes are scheduled for Sunday May 25th – as a starter for 10 morebus already have a New Route Map to help explain their changes:
Minor Service Changes
Firstly there are minor timetable changes to a number of routes. I presume they are in part due to the expected increased traffic, and in part other minor fluctuations identified by AI timetable planners. These affect:
- “The Original more” m1 & m2 – on all days and including overnight services
- Service 10
- Service 12 – a bus stop change in Bournemouth Square
- Service 13 & 13a – the few trips between Wimborne and Merley will no longer run due to the expansion of route 6
- Service X3 – some minor changes but will also extend to Salisbury Railway Station.
Major Service Changes
morebus also have a dedicated news article on their website.
Service 5 & 5a – Ensbury Park & Kinson
The long-standing Kinson service is going to be split into a number of separate routes in the Ensbury Park and East Howe areas. The new service 5 route loses parts of both the existing 5 and existing 5a.
The new route will run from Ensbury Park, via Columbia Road (per current 5a), then Kinson Road to East Howe, and then pick up the (current 5) route at Montgomery Avenue.
New routes 11 & 21 will pick up the slack from the parts no longer being served.
Nightbus N5 – Ensbury Park & BU Talbot
The Nightbus N5 will be extended beyond Talbot Campus to Wallisdown. My understanding of the extension is that the N5 will now loop from Ensbury Park, to Talbot Campus, then continue along to Kinson Road, Columbia Road and back to Ensury Park.
An additional trip will also be added.
Service 6 & 6a – Bearwood & Wimbourne
The Kinson section of the 6a will no longer run, replaced by new service 11. All buses will continue to Wimborne providing a half-hourly service during the week.
The Sunday service will also run through Bearwood to Wimborne on an hourly basis.
NEW Service 11
This new route is replacing parts of a number of routes and provide a more direct route for people travelling between Bournemouth centre and Kinson:
- Bournemouth to Ensbury Park direct via Wimborne Road (as per service 12 to Winton and then Ensbury Park Road)
- Ensbury Park to Kinson via Leybourne Road following route 14 (replacing parts of the 5)
- Kinson – The Bear Cross – Knights Road – King John Avenue (replacing the 6a)
- Then onward to what appears to be a new-ish housing estate on Provence Drive
Service 11 will run every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and hourly on Sundays.
NEW Service 21
This is a partial replacement for service 5 alongside the new service 11 above:
- Bournemouth to Ensbury Park direct via Wimborne Road (as per service 11)
- Ensbury Park to Montgomery Avenue (replacing the existing 5)
- via Verney Road, Fernheath Road and Mandale Road to the Lidl at Turbury Retail Park
It means there are some new connections to Ringwood Road and will run every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and hourly on Sundays. When you add the 11 to the mix that means a new 15 minute service between Bournemouth and Ensbury Park via Wimborne Road.
Most parts of West and East Howe should also, in theory, get a faster service – subject to traffic.
(You Could Call it New) Service 33
Service 33 gets a substantial route extension adding nearly half an hour to the end-to-end journey time, running from Alum Chine to Christchurch. It is supported by a subsidy from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Borough Council, so I wonder if this was where this meandering route has come from.
For locals getting to the beach, a well timed trip might avoid the crowds forcing themselves onto the glory of the open-top Breezer network as the route is still coloured on the new route map in grey.
- From Alum Chine to Westbourne and Bournemouth & East Cliff following Breezer 70 no longer serving Manor Road
- Then via the existing route into Tuckton
- Direct to Kings Avenue (not via Willow Drive) then Christchurch and Two Rivers Meet Leisure Centre
There are also some bus stop changes in Bournemouth Square.
The timetable largely still runs hourly, the Saturday late afternoon service still does not run between Royal Bournemouth Hospital and Christchurch and there will still be no Sunday service.
Withdrawn – Ferndown workers FE1 service
Withdrawn at the request of Ferndown BID from Friday 23rd May.
Breezer Service Uplifts
There are also the usual uplifts to the various Breezer and open-top services in the Bournemouth and Poole area as well as the annual trips down to Weymouth.
- Jurassic Breezer 30 Swanage to Weymouth will return with “minor reliability” timetable changes
- Jurassic Breezer 31 will have an addition trip back from Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove around 7pm
- Campsite Connection 35 will have tweaks to improve connections to Breezer services
- Purbeck Breezer 40 will have later trips with (I think similar to last year) a late bus back from Swanage at 11pm
- Purbeck Breezer 50 returns to half hourly
- Harbour Breezer 60 returns to half hourly
Beach Breezer 70
Now…. when I used the Beach Beezer 70 last year, I can absolutely see why this change is happening:
Boscome Pier, San Remo Towers and Wollstonecraft Road will not be served. This is because the 70 (and last year the Transpora open-top service) would continually get stuck at Boscombe Pier by the council car park.
Once PDF timetables are available I will link them
If I manage to work out Python (or indeed have the time) to pull down the JSON, convert them to CSV, edit them to include helpful “Every 30 Minutes” bands and export them as PDFs…. then you will get HBU branded timetables….. otherwise I will just link to morebus ones.
I think – overall – that there are more buses on the road with increased frequencies for many areas. I admit I have not been to Bournemouth in about 6 months, so I would not be able to comment on the reliability of the existing service.
The seasonal uplift happens every year though for the Breezers, so I am not worried that Go South Coast can not manage it, moreso whether the costs will still add up for the additional duty boards.
I think the new routes and amended routes are a smart move from Morebus, and suggests a move away from the legacy suffix numbering system of Yellow Buses era.
Consolidating the 5/5a routes into a single route 5 will allow this to act as a more local and frequent service, while alternative routes provide faster links between Kinson, West Howe and Bournemouth.
Binning the 6a makes sense as the only unique section of this route required you to travel in the wrong direction to get to Bournemouth. The new 11 route which takes its place will meet users’ needs much better, while allowing the 6 to be improved towards Wimborne.
The 11 will bring back the fast link from Kinson to Bournemouth which has been nonexistent since the withdrawal of Yellow’s 4a route. Extending it to Canford Paddock makes sense with the new homes being built there, although I would have liked to have seen it extended back from Bearwood to Poole along the route of the old 11, allowing the X6 to run fast to Bear Cross again.
The 21 is an innovative move from Morebus since I don’t think any service has followed such a route in the nearly 20 years I have followed buses in Bournemouth. Connecting East Howe Lane and Maclean Road with the Lidl at West Howe will make those shopping trips ever so easier, while in the other direction the direct route into Bournemouth will be welcomed.
My only concern is Morebus are beginning to run out of important sounding numbers, and if this trend continues I expect the Christchurch 1a/1b/1c routes will have to be renumbered eventually. 21/22/23 would have made sense for those before Morebus claimed them for other services, so I expect another creative solution will need to be found.
Overall, a very good revamp from Morebus. Well done!
Route 33 being extended to/from Alum Chine is a great idea as it already had a school days journey starting in Alum Chine (albeit operating a more direct route between Westbourne and Bournemouth and only ever the 1 morning journey from Alum Chine) but this extension also restores a link last seen when the Yellows 24 route operated between Alum Chine and Burton which was withdrawn at the end of the Summer 2016 season. Yes, there are some differences in the route between the two but the main places of Alum Chine, Westbourne, Bournemouth Square, Boscombe, Bournemouth Hospital and Christchurch will all be served by this extended 33 route.
I am going to hazard a guess that with Route 33 extended to Alum Chine via the existing 70 route to/from Bournemouth (minus that School day journey in the mornings which is different) will allow the Breezer 70 to become a Summer only service as it originally was. Also means that we may end up seeing open toppers appear on the 33 occasionally a few weeks before the Summer season kicks off again in 2026… who knows… would probably depend on if the ex-Yellows open toppers (1812 & 1813) are still in the fleet by then I suppose.