Bus passengers will see major changes to routes across the Bristol region from today (Sunday, April 2). First Bus announced it will be reinstating 1,600 hours of journeys in Bristol every week following the temporary suspension of journeys in November, which were scrapped due to driver shortages.
Three of its routes in Bristol will be withdrawn, although there are four new services coming in. Stagecoach is also pulling a handful of services, listed below, although some will continue until the end of the academic year to reduce impact on pupils who rely on the routes to get to school. There are also several new services, and dozens of existing services that will see timetable or route changes.
First Bus promised that services will be expanded and punctuality will be improved with the new timetables across the region., saying these represent a "significant investment from First West of England in service improvements". It adds that "the West of England Combined Authority and North Somerset Council are contributing extensive Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding to enhance a number of key routes across the region".
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The combined package includes additional buses into Bristol city centre from Kingswood, Downend, Staple Hill, Whitchurch and Keynsham and Thornbury, and more buses between Twerton and Bath city centre and Midsomer Norton and Bath city centre.
Managing director of First West England, Doug Claringbold said: “These new timetables will significantly increase the service we offer our customers and I’m confident that our investment in new technology will also continue to improve punctuality. We will also be reinstating journeys in Bristol that we had to temporarily suspend last year, as we are starting to see the effect of our major driver recruitment and retention campaign.”
on the TravelWest website here.First Bus
First Bus said passenger numbers were still down by 20 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels and those services which showed no signs of attracting sufficient passengers would no longer operate from today. These are:
- 23 Bristol to Ashton Vale
- 47 Bristol to Yate
- 91 Bristol to Hengrove
These journeys will be restored to most of the routes under the new timetables:
- 1 Broomhill to Cribbs Causeway
- 2 Cribbs Causeway to Stockwood
- 3 and 4 Cribbs Causeway to city centre
- 8 Temple Meads to Bristol Zoo
- 24 Southmead Hospital to Ashton Gate
- 42 Bitton to city centre
- 43 Cadbury Heath to city centre
- 48 Bristol to Emersons Green
- 48a UWE Frenchay Campus to city centre
- 49 Emersons Green to city centre
- 74 Horfield to city centre
- 75 and 76 Hengrove to Cribbs Causeway
- 90 and 92 city centre to Hengrove
Brislington & Portway Park and Ride services will be taken over by Stagecoach West following the award of new contracts by the Combined Authority. First Bus says it will be issuing refunds on First tickets still valid after April 1.
Overnight journeys on the Bristol Airport Flyer service will now serve Bristol Temple Meads Station. A full list of changes to all timetables and routes is available on the First Bus website.
Stagecoach
A Stagecoach spokesperson said: "We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded some additional work on park and ride contracts in Bristol and have been re-awarded some, but not all of the other contracts we currently operate. We will also be making some timetable changes to our existing network in Bristol, to improve punctuality and better the customer experience."
New services:
Route 9 -> Brislington Park and Ride – Bristol City Centre – Portway Park and Ride (every 15 mins)
This service is a combination of the existing Brislington PR and Portway PR services, renamed service 9. Service 9 will run to a 12 minute frequency during peak times Monday to Friday. Stagecoach will be running more journeys to and from Bristol city centre with additional evening journeys too.
Route 505 - > Long Ashton Park and Ride– Southmead Hospital (every 30 mins)
There is no change to the route previously operated by The Big Lemon but this service will be running to a new timetable. Services will run to an improved frequency of every 30 mins Monday to Saturday and hourly on Sundays.
Route 525 -> Yate - North Yate - Emersons Green (hourly)
This is a new service operating hourly Monday to Saturday, Sundays and Bank Holidays. The new route will be as follows:
Emersons Green – Shortwood – Pucklechurch – Westerleigh – Yate South – Westerleigh Road) – Yate Bus Station – North Yate (Church Road – Greenways Road – Eastfield Drive – Leechpool Way – Randolph Avenue – Wellington Road – Greenways – Cranleigh Court Road) – Station Road – Yate Bus Station
Changes to existing services:
Route 10 – Southmead Hospital – Lawrence Western - Avonmouth.
Timetable and route revised. The service will operate between Avonmouth and Southmead. Route 10 will no longer serve Thornbury and Aztec West. Journeys to Bristol Parkway, UWE Frenchay Campus and Severn Beach will be reduced to three a day.
Route 11 Southmead Hospital – Shirehampton - Avonmouth. Timetable and route revised.
Route 12 Severn Beach – Cribbs Causeway – Bristol Parkway. Revised timetable with minor tweaks throughout, service frequency will remain the same. There are no changes to the route.
Route 13 Bristol City Centre – Shirehampton. Revised timetable with minor tweaks throughout, service frequency will remain the same.
Routes 84/85 – Yate – Wootton under Edge. Stagecoach has agreed to continue to operate this route for two months, there will be a revised timetable but the routes remains the same as now.
Route 86 Yate – Emersons Green – Kingswood. Revised timetable with minor tweaks throughout, service frequency will remain the same. There are no changes to the route.
There are also minor timetable changes to 3X and 462 for punctuality, there are no changes to the route.
Axed services
Stagecoach says the following services are currently financially supported by WECA, and their funding has now expired. It states: "We understand WECA are looking for temporary operators to continue services 622 in the short term and advise passengers to check here for the latest updates.
"Regarding school services 680, 963 and 967, WECA are working with other operators on possible replacements until the end of the school year."
Route 513/514 – Knowle – Brislington
Route 622 – Chipping Sodbury – Cribbs Causeway
Route 663/664/665 – Somerdale – Keynsham
Route 680 – Yate – Filton College. "We have been informed that this service will be operated by Transpora Group until the end of the academic year only"
Route 948 – Puckchurch – Oldland Common Sir Bernard Lovell School. Passengers on service 948 will be able to use the new on-demand ‘WEST Link’ service to Digitech Studio School, Kings Oak Academy and Sir Bernard Lovell School from Pucklechurch and Shortwood – further information will be available on this service prior to launch.
Route 963 – Patchway – Winterbourne School. "We have been informed that this service will be operated by Transpora Group for the end of this year and from the start of the new school year."
Route 967 – Westleigh – Yate Brimsham Green School. "We have been informed that this service will be operated by Transpora Group for the end of this year and from the start of the new school year."
In February, Bristol Live launched our campaign 'Better Buses for Bristol' to address the on-going cuts in bus services. The campaign called on Metro Mayor Dan Norris to take back control of Bristol's bus system to provide an efficient and sustainable transport for the city's residents.
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