Hot on the heels of the kids going back to school, the new cohort of undergraduates will soon be descending on Southampton as the new university year kicks off. Changes to the UniLink network will take effect from Monday 22nd September, with some significant changes to the networks more outlying routes.
Firstly, there are no changes for the U2 and U9.
It’s also a good reminder to maybe not head to the city centre for a few weeks as the students find their feet… and their tolerance levels for alcohol.
U1- NOCS to The Airport
There is a minor timetable change with three new trips:
- 0417 U1A from Town Quay
- 0450 U1C from Southampton Airport
- 0040 U1C from Southampton Airport
U1N – Ocean Village to Swaythling
The NightUniLink service is being extended, something that I was kind of expecting with the introduction of the new Bluestar (or NightStar ?) services.
The U1N for this academic year (as there are not normally mid-year changes to the network) will run:
- from Ocean Village (Admirals Quay)
- via West Quay and Civic Centre
- via Bedford Place (The Giddy Bridge) towards Swaything only
- Royal South Hampshire Hospital, Portswood, and Highfield Campus (same as the N2 outbound)
- Chamberlain (towards Swaything only) and Wessex Lane Halls to Swaythling Station.
So there are quite a few common sections of route between the revised U1N and Bluestar N2. This is a good thing for the uni students as the U1N will only run Tuesday to Saturday nights. As with the N2 there are some variations between the outbound and return trips; for example the N2 does not serve RSH hospital towards the city (U1N does) and the U1N does not serve Bedford Place towards the city (N2 does).
As for the timetable, there are 4 trips towards Swaything, 2 trips back to the City, which is covered by two vehicles. The four trips are … not on a fixed frequency, leaving Ocean Village at 0056, 0147, 0203 and 0303.
U6 – General Hospital to the City (the long way around)
There are minor timetable changes to help reliability.
U7 – Winchester to Highfield Campus
The U7 service for students based to and from Winchester is going to run less due to the demand last academic year.
A note on the service changes list says that “Special tickets are needed” but I am not sure if that means that the service will be restricted to specific clusters of students (such as ones that commute from Halls to Winchester School of Art?) or whether you just need to buy a more expensive ticket. The U7 tickets are also apparently valid on the Bluestar 1.
Trips will run from Highfield twice a day and Winchester three times a day.
U8 replaced by Bluestar 28
The U8 is being withdrawn due to “funding issues from the Science Park” and partly replaced by a new Bluestar service.
Bluestar 28 will run morning trips to the Science Park, a lunchtime round-trip and an evening trip from the Science Park. The route will be:
- Southampton Central Station (North Side)
- via Civic Centre & Bedford Place
- Direct (serving all stops) via The Avenue to Chilworth Roundabout
- Chilworth
- Benham Campus
Best thing about the U6 is that it goes past the ‘back doors’ of the General Hospital (eye dept & the A&E). It used to be the only regular bus but now the BS 19A offers a more direct route from the city.