Substantive bus service withdrawals post-Covid

[_toommm_]

Changes to the network in Rotherham and Sheffield means Brinsworth has been cut off entirely on Sundays with the loss of the 73 and the 208. Thorpe Hesley is I believe in the same boat, with the 135 or 136 (I never remember which) withdrawn.

Whiston loses another bus on Sundays, the above 208. A shame as when I lived there we had lots of buses, especially when I was younger with the likes of the 23 to Sheffield, 34 to Rotherham every twenty minutes, 10 to Rotherham, 87 to Meadowhall, X7 to Sheffield.

 

[RELL6L]

RELL6L, I am being pedantic but route 7 Aldershot - Reading is/was run by Stagecoach South. Not South East, which is Kent/East Sussex based.

The Aldershot to Reading route was also not strictly a pandemic casualty either - it was split in half (with a short overlap in the middle) back in April 2018. Stagecoach continued running the southern half Aldershot - Fleet - Hartley Wintney, but Reading Buses took over running the northern half Fleet - Hartley Wintney - Reading. Both operators used the 7 number, but the through Aldershot to Reading route had therefore already been severed nearly two years prior to the pandemic.

What has happened since the pandemic is Reading Buses withdrawing the Fleet to Riseley section of their northern half of the old route.

You are right, my continued error. I have amended the table in my post above - which I think I did before - and I have amended the underlying word document I have stored and update, which I failed to do last time!

Changes to the network in Rotherham and Sheffield means Brinsworth has been cut off entirely on Sundays with the loss of the 73 and the 208. Thorpe Hesley is I believe in the same boat, with the 135 or 136 (I never remember which) withdrawn.

Whiston loses another bus on Sundays, the above 208. A shame as when I lived there we had lots of buses, especially when I was younger with the likes of the 23 to Sheffield, 34 to Rotherham every twenty minutes, 10 to Rotherham, 87 to Meadowhall, X7 to Sheffield.

It looks like the 135/A is withdrawn in the evenings while the 136 has an evening service added. The 136 evenings is run by Stagecoach, the daytime by First. They show several different timing points but I think actually the route is identical! The madness of South Yorkshire. Actually the loss of the hourly First 32/32A in Sheffield looks quite a loss, this circular tour of parts of the northern suburbs away from the trunk routes puts quite a few places further away from any bus route without any replacement, notably in Parson Cross and Brightside and connections to the hospital.

 

[Geordie driver]

Getting usage up to 80% or there abouts of pre pandemic levels sounds great, but it was that last 20% where the profit lay. My local bus has gone to 3 an hour from 4 during the day and one an hour in the evening, from 2, a 50% reduction on the latter.

But who is traveling in the evening during the week? It used to be mainly people going to the pub or bingo, plus workers who don't have a car. Now we are left with just the workers, no where near enough numbers to turn a profit.

If I had money to invest, the last place I would be putting it is the UK bus industry.

 

[Dai Corner]

Getting usage up to 80% or there abouts of pre pandemic levels sounds great, but it was that last 20% where the profit lay. My local bus has gone to 3 an hour from 4 during the day and one an hour in the evening, from 2, a 50% reduction on the latter.

But who is traveling in the evening during the week? It used to be mainly people going to the pub or bingo, plus workers who don't have a car. Now we are left with just the workers, no where near enough numbers to turn a profit.

If I had money to invest, the last place I would be putting it is the UK bus industry.

I'm very much in the minority but I go to the pub in the evening during the week by bus. I try to come home by bus as well, but it's less than a 50/50 chance of getting a DRT one and that's all there is after 1845.

 

[Busaholic]

The Aldershot to Reading route was also not strictly a pandemic casualty either - it was split in half (with a short overlap in the middle) back in April 2018. Stagecoach continued running the southern half Aldershot - Fleet - Hartley Wintney, but Reading Buses took over running the northern half Fleet - Hartley Wintney - Reading. Both operators used the 7 number, but the through Aldershot to Reading route had therefore already been severed nearly two years prior to the pandemic.

What has happened since the pandemic is Reading Buses withdrawing the Fleet to Riseley section of their northern half of the old route.

It's death by the metaphorical thousand cuts: very sad.

 

[Typhoon]

Depends on the development. Some can be served easier than others and some can be served at minimal time penalty.

Case by case basis but there are many instances where a bus could be provided at minimal impact on current passengers.

Certainly. We have quite a few where the developer pushes the 'countryside' location, green surroundings, no other housing in sight (until the next development) perhaps water features*. Road design with plenty of curves because they want to move away from straight line roads for the photographs (even if it means that residents have stupid shaped gardens) as well as for road safety, with plenty of cul-de-sacs making them bus-unfriendly.
These developments are, necessarily, built in stages, a few roads (or part roads) at a time, residents move in, no bus service so use the car(s), bike (developers push 'bike friendly'), get a lift (like kids to school); more residents move in, the originals have developed a non-bus life, so the newbies have to adapt, and so it continues. Once it becomes large enough, the development might get tagged on to the start or end of a school run. That's it!

Increasingly bus services will be dominated by the old and young (school kids). Even in the former case, some of these new 'retirement living' estates do all they can to keep you on site, restaurants, events and clubs that I bet you are encouraged to join in, special on-line shopping arrangements. To me it sounds like hell (and, as I'm expecting to go there in the afterlife, I'd rather not go in this) but for others it might be fine.

* - they can sell these for more if they can make it seem rural; gravel pits become lakes, ditches become streams, If the council object, the developers take it to the Planning Inspectorate, who rubber stamp it (usually) or to whoever is Levelling Up nowadays who does the same.

 

[Dai Corner]

they can sell these for more if they can make it seem rural; gravel pits become lakes, ditches become streams, If the council object, the developers take it to the Planning Inspectorate, who rubber stamp it (usually) or to whoever is Levelling Up nowadays who does the same.

The water features are often required for flood management reasons. Developers may as well make a virtue out of a necessity and if they've got to pay for them anyway.

 

[Typhoon]

Arriva (Kent & Surrey) have announced the cancellation of service 113 (Chatham - Wigmore) from 28th August.

Stagecoach South East have announced the cancellation of three of its Thanet based services:-
11 - Canterbury to Westwood via Stour Valley (and a load of small villages): 5 a day
33 - Margate - Ramsgate via Kingsgate: hourly, shopping hours
37 - Margate - Broadstairs via Westwood Cross: roughly 6 a day (not all journeys are complete, one end to the other)

These are from Notices and Proceedings.

Additionally the section of route 9 between Monkton and Canterbury will cease to run. Most (but not all) is covered by the 8s. (From Kent County Council updated 'Bus Service Changes' - https://www.kent.gov.uk/__data/asse...72/Summary-of-the-changes-to-bus-services.pdf

 

[RELL6L]

Arriva (Kent & Surrey) have announced the cancellation of service 113 (Chatham - Wigmore) from 28th August.

Stagecoach South East have announced the cancellation of three of its Thanet based services:-
11 - Canterbury to Westwood via Stour Valley (and a load of small villages): 5 a day
33 - Margate - Ramsgate via Kingsgate: hourly, shopping hours
37 - Margate - Broadstairs via Westwood Cross: roughly 6 a day (not all journeys are complete, one end to the other)

These are from Notices and Proceedings.

Additionally the section of route 9 between Monkton and Canterbury will cease to run. Most (but not all) is covered by the 8s. (From Kent County Council updated 'Bus Service Changes' - https://www.kent.gov.uk/__data/asse...72/Summary-of-the-changes-to-bus-services.pdf

Bad - leaves quite a few villages without any bus service, even more without a bus to Canterbury. Sadly the village of Plucks Gutter will no longer be served.
But the withdrawal of the 477 - seemed particularly daft - appears not to be happening.

A lot of bad news coming up in Hampshire if the Southampton Bus Update blog is to be believed...

 

[ChrisC]

I'm very much in the minority but I go to the pub in the evening during the week by bus. I try to come home by bus as well, but it's less than a 50/50 chance of getting a DRT one and that's all there is after 1845.

Going back quite a few years, there always used to be quite a crowd of people waiting at the bus stop in the village where I live, for the 6.40pm bus into town. This included people going to the pub, bingo, theatre and concert venues. They all returned on the 10pm or 11pm buses. Now that there are no return buses after 7pm, the once busy 6.40pm bus into town is almost empty, even on Friday and Saturdays. People have made other arrangements. Many now go out to the pub on Friday and Saturday afternoons and return home at around 6pm. I’ve even started going to the theatre for the afternoon matinee performance, despite it often being full of party’s of school children. I used to go out by bus with a group of friends for a meal and the pub about twice a month, but now there are no late evening buses back we take it in turns to drive and that person doesn’t drink alcohol. Habits have had to change as the last bus home has got earlier and earlier but that also means people no longer use buses early evening to travel to get there.

 

[duncombec]

Arriva (Kent & Surrey) have announced the cancellation of service 113 (Chatham - Wigmore) from 28th August.

It's a Medway Council tender, and will be replaced by Nu-Venture (it's also not really substantive):

Bus services | Bus services | Medway Council

Check bus timetables for services across Medway. Includes school timetables.

www.medway.gov.uk

113

Wigmore, Chatham

Service to be operated by Nu-Venture, and increased frequency to hourly.

The 33 and 37 are mostly "nice to have" shopping services and with few exceptions, there are other, frequent, bus services in reasonable walking distance. There have pretty much always been fewer passengers from Ramsgate to Canterbury than Margate to Canterbury, hence the current frequencies. The "village losses" on service 11 are Wickhambreaux, Ickham, Preston, Stourmouth and Plucks Gutter - the largest of which is Preston, with Wikipedia populations of 485, 437, 674 and 268 combined (last two). Were it not on the withdrawal list, the first two could be easily served two days a week by diverting the 544!

 

[Typhoon]

The 33 and 37 are mostly "nice to have" shopping services and with few exceptions, there are other, frequent, bus services in reasonable walking distance. There have pretty much always been fewer passengers from Ramsgate to Canterbury than Margate to Canterbury, hence the current frequencies. The "village losses" on service 11 are Wickhambreaux, Ickham, Preston, Stourmouth and Plucks Gutter - the largest of which is Preston, with Wikipedia populations of 485, 437, 674 and 268 combined (last two). Were it not on the withdrawal list, the first two could be easily served two days a week by diverting the 544!

I was actually on both the 11 and the 9 on Saturday (the 9 only because it came along before an 8). On a Thanet bound journey the 9 dropped off several after leaving Sarre, including in the soon-to-be unserved section; not stacks but people who will be inconvenienced, Canterbury will be a trek or a train away. Of course, bus services cannot be run so that people are not inconvenienced but these are sure signs that there is retrenchment, that in more places the choice of where to go will be down to Hobson.
The point about Wickhambreaux and Ickham is well made. Additionally Regent provide a vehicle more suited to those roads than Stagecoach's double-deckers.
There are parts of Broadstairs which are covered by both the 33 and the 37 and are some distance from the Loop so this may come as a shock to some. The success of the latter has been a boon to those who live near it, perhaps at the expense of those that don't. Also, as I found today, it is not getting to the bus stop, it is getting back, laden with shopping. Still, more business for on-line shopping.

 

[RELL6L]

I was actually on both the 11 and the 9 on Saturday (the 9 only because it came along before an 8). On a Thanet bound journey the 9 dropped off several after leaving Sarre, including in the soon-to-be unserved section; not stacks but people who will be inconvenienced, Canterbury will be a trek or a train away. Of course, bus services cannot be run so that people are not inconvenienced but these are sure signs that there is retrenchment, that in more places the choice of where to go will be down to Hobson.
The point about Wickhambreaux and Ickham is well made. Additionally Regent provide a vehicle more suited to those roads than Stagecoach's double-deckers.
There are parts of Broadstairs which are covered by both the 33 and the 37 and are some distance from the Loop so this may come as a shock to some. The success of the latter has been a boon to those who live near it, perhaps at the expense of those that don't. Also, as I found today, it is not getting to the bus stop, it is getting back, laden with shopping. Still, more business for on-line shopping.

On the 11 it would be possible to divert the odd journey on the 43 to serve Wickhambreux and Ickham. It's a shame that the council and Stagecoach can't work together to save a return shopping journey, eg the existing 9.06 from Westwood returning at 12.33. A vehicle and driver after a school run could do this, the driver could cover some reliefs on either the 8 or local services in Canterbury for a period, then return at lunchtime in plenty of time for the afternoon school run. The marginal cost ought to be very low. But with computer scheduling I guess you tell the computer what you want and it schedules it - you can't say 'it would be nice to add this in if the cost is marginal'. Maybe a smaller operator could do this, but they don't have the flexibility of other things a driver could do while in Canterbury.

The losses of the 33 and 37 and reductions to the 9 will reduce buses in parts of Thanet substantially, especially around Broadstairs, although it looks like the 45 will be extended to cover some parts. I don't suppose Kent or Thanet are going to step in to help anything here.

 

[SSmith2009]

Centrebus have handed the tender for RutlandFlyer service RF1 and Oakham service 9 back to Rutland council from 28th August with partial replacements starting from 29th August, some other services around Rutland are being renumbered with an R prefix before a number

New Rutland bus timetable to be introduced from September | Rutland County Council

www.rutland.gov.uk

Melton Mowbray town services 14 and 15 are also showing as cancelled from 28th August although they are in part subsidised services.

PF1056524 – CENTREBUS NORTH LTD – bustimes.org

bustimes.org

 

[Typhoon]

The losses of the 33 and 37 and reductions to the 9 will reduce buses in parts of Thanet substantially, especially around Broadstairs, although it looks like the 45 will be extended to cover some parts. I don't suppose Kent or Thanet are going to step in to help anything here.

There is more detail at https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/south-east/service-changes-in-the-thanet-area. In particular, what this indicates is that the 9X will operate in peak hours (a shame Kent County Council- KCC - didn't make that clearer).
KCC don't have the money, I cannot remember Thanet ever subsidising bus services. As regards diversions to the 43, there seems to be a reluctance to offer variations on the route (except in an effort to cover all parts of Sandwich) - the 43 being the result when they decided remove the diversion via Staple (the 14?) and concentrate everything on the main road. From having an hourly service until fairly recently, it looks like Staple will be left with just a school bus in the autumn.

 

[duncombec]

On the 11 it would be possible to divert the odd journey on the 43 to serve Wickhambreux and Ickham. It's a shame that the council and Stagecoach can't work together to save a return shopping journey, eg the existing 9.06 from Westwood returning at 12.33. A vehicle and driver after a school run could do this, the driver could cover some reliefs on either the 8 or local services in Canterbury for a period, then return at lunchtime in plenty of time for the afternoon school run. The marginal cost ought to be very low. But with computer scheduling I guess you tell the computer what you want and it schedules it - you can't say 'it would be nice to add this in if the cost is marginal'. Maybe a smaller operator could do this, but they don't have the flexibility of other things a driver could do while in Canterbury.

We get back to the salient point: yes, they could, but how many passengers do they get from two villages with a combined population of less than 1000 people? Is it worth the longer journey time and lack of clockface timetable, which may affect return times and interworkings for the handful of passengers they might get out of it? The fleet is fairly intensively worked, and those vehicles that are available 'tween peaks are often diagrammed as traffic spares (e.g. for delays) or sent back for light maintenance.

Don't get me wrong: as a non-driver, I'd also like network coverage from everywhere to everywhere, and for as many places as possible to retain some sort of service, but we also have to face up to the reality of the situation we're in. Is the 50p rise in fares this year going to save my commercially operated route from a frequency reduction? We'll have to see!

The losses of the 33 and 37 and reductions to the 9 will reduce buses in parts of Thanet substantially, especially around Broadstairs, although it looks like the 45 will be extended to cover some parts. I don't suppose Kent or Thanet are going to step in to help anything here.

It's important to note the words of the Kent (KCC) cabinet member for transport at the subsidised services meeting. "There is no money". Having voted for a budget cut, there simply isn't the ability to step in to save lightly used commercial services, and those services that have been "saved" so far are, as far as I can recall, entirely school services and thus funded from the education budget.

I have raised the point before, but we are no longer in the days of having to send someone out to count passenger numbers and then getting complaints that numbers were lower that day because it was the WI outing and there are usually 20 people more on the bus. With computerized ticket machines Stagecoach (and any other operator) will be able to track exactly how many people are getting on, when, and where - not only over the route as a whole, but farestage-by-farestage (if not stop-by-stop).

It will likely fall to Thanet District Council to fund the local services if their residents complain about it loudly enough. Whether they have any money to do so....

 

[Statto]

Bus companies are a business, not a charity, no bus company is going to operate services at a loss, some services breaking even before covid hit, are now making losses because passengers haven't returned to pre covid numbers, so the bus company is going to cut or withdraw the service.

This is were councils step in & fund services they think are necessary, that the bus company won't operate commercially, however councils themselves are struggling for money given government cutbacks, & don't have a big pile of cash for bus services.

Some seem think it's easy to run a bus service on a whim, why doesn't this divert through here, & all that, maybe they should run a bus company & see how easy or not, it is to run one for themselves.

 

[RELL6L]

Centrebus have handed the tender for RutlandFlyer service RF1 and Oakham service 9 back to Rutland council from 28th August with partial replacements starting from 29th August, some other services around Rutland are being renumbered with an R prefix before a number

New Rutland bus timetable to be introduced from September | Rutland County Council

www.rutland.gov.uk

Melton Mowbray town services 14 and 15 are also showing as cancelled from 28th August although they are in part subsidised services.

PF1056524 – CENTREBUS NORTH LTD – bustimes.org

bustimes.org

Rutland have been pretty supportive of bus services even though it is a very rural county, and it looks like this will continue with the RF1, Oakham 9 and some other services continuing with reduced timetables but with different operators. This won't leave Centrebus much around Melton Mowbray any more, just the 8/8A Loughborough-Melton-Grantham and the 23/25 from Melton to Stathern and Bottesford. Are they giving up on the area? It can't be good bus territory!

 

[SSmith2009]

Rutland have been pretty supportive of bus services even though it is a very rural county, and it looks like this will continue with the RF1, Oakham 9 and some other services continuing with reduced timetables but with different operators. This won't leave Centrebus much around Melton Mowbray any more, just the 8/8A Loughborough-Melton-Grantham and the 23/25 from Melton to Stathern and Bottesford. Are they giving up on the area? It can't be good bus territory!

They have the 55/56 Melton to Grantham and 100 Syston to Melton too.

The amount of cancellations relating to the Melton network services recently makes me wonder if they've ended the RF1 to put the drivers onto other routes to ease issues?

 

[RELL6L]

There's an update on Diamond Buses' website dated yesterday. Notably on some of the Worcestershire cuts due at the end of August "Alternative proposals for services marked * have been submitted by Diamond Bus to Worcestershire County Council, we are currently awaiting feedback from the local authority on these proposals."

Let's see what that means....!

Diamond Midlands Review August | Diamond Bus

www.diamondbuses.com

Confirmed changes in August:​

Service	Route	Change Date	Proposed Change
002	Weoley Castle - Merry Hill	28/08/22	Timetable change, frequency reduction to every 20 mins
4/4H	Walsall - Blackheath / HayleyGreen	28/08/22	Timetable changes. 4H service to Hayley Green will be reduced to half-hourly. 4 Service extended to Blackheath. A combined frequency of 4 & 4H will be upto every 10mins between Walsall to Blackheath.
10	Kidderminster - Spennells	28/08/22	Timetable Improvements for commuters to provide better connections with Birmingham train services
13	Merry Hill - Halesowen	28/08/22	Some minor timetable changes
15	Tamworth - Hurley	28/08/22	Service will be withdrawn, due to being unsustainable at current passenger levels.
16S	Castle Bromwich - Kingsbury School	28/08/22	Service will be withdrawn, due to being unsustainable at current passenger levels.
X16	Birmingham - Tamworth	28/08/22	Service will be withdrawn, due to being unsustainable at current passenger levels.
X20	Stratford - Coventry	14/08/22	Will operate current timetable in full until 14/8/22. From 14/8/22 Diamond will operate between Coventry to Solihull only on behalf of Transport for West Midlands. X20 services between Solihull and Stratford will be operated by Stagecoach on behalf of Warwickshire County Council.
34	Kings Health to Birmingham	28/08/22	Withdrawn due to end of TfWM contract**
35	Lichfield - Walsall	28/08/22	Service will be withdrawn, due to being unsustainable at current passenger levels.
89	Solihull to Coventry	28/08/22	Withdrawn due to end of TfWM contract**
94	Birmingham to Chelmsley Wood	28/08/22	Some timetable changes.
202	Halesowen - Bromsgrove	28/08/22	Some Minor timetable changes to Saturday mornings
226	Merry Hill - Dudley	28/08/22	Service will be re-routed on a trial basis to serve Wall Heath during Mon-Sat daytimes. Frequency reduced to every 30 mins. Evening & Sunday services will be renumbered 226A and operate as per current 226 not serving Wall Heath
424	Perry Barr to Asda Queslett	28/08/22	Withdrawn due to end of TfWM contract**

** For information on alternative routes, please contact TfWM

Service changes still under proposal:​

Alternative proposals for services marked * have been submitted by Diamond Bus to Worcestershire County Council, we are currently awaiting feedback from the local authority on these proposals.

Service	Route	Change Date	Proposed Change
2	Bewdley - Kidderminster	28/08/22	Service to be reinstated following withdrawal of the 8*
8	Bewdley - Kidderminster	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn*
11	Redditch - Washford Mill	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn*
12	Redditch - Astwood Bank	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn*
52	Redditch to Kidderminster	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn*
52A	Alexandra Hospital to Bromsgrove	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn*
62	Redditch Circular	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn*
67	Redditch to Studley	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn*
76/76A	Tamworth to Hurley / Sutton Coldfield	28/08/22	Service 76 is due to be retendered from 30th August, currently with a proposal to operate both Tamworth to Sutton Coldfield and Tamworth to Hurley on behalf of Warwickshire County Council. The results of this tender bid are currently unkown therefore this information may be subject to further change
247	Redditch - Evesham	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn*

Our service review will continue over the coming weeks and months, the information detailed above may be subject to change, therefore we recommend that customers continue to check back for information regularly and follow us on Facebook or Twitter for latest updates.

 

[DelayRepay]

Going back quite a few years, there always used to be quite a crowd of people waiting at the bus stop in the village where I live, for the 6.40pm bus into town. This included people going to the pub, bingo, theatre and concert venues. They all returned on the 10pm or 11pm buses. Now that there are no return buses after 7pm, the once busy 6.40pm bus into town is almost empty, even on Friday and Saturdays.

It's similar here, except our last bus to town is now at 17:30 - pretty useless really.

I own a car but I used to catch the bus to work as there was nowhere to park. Now the car parks are half empty, and I can no longer catch the bus as the last one back is 17:50 and I sometimes end up stuck at work until 6pm. And if I'm not using the bus every day, then it makes me less likely to use it at all; there's no value in buying a weekly ticket.

 

[johncrossley]

It's similar here, except our last bus to town is now at 17:30 - pretty useless really.

I own a car but I used to catch the bus to work as there was nowhere to park. Now the car parks are half empty, and I can no longer catch the bus as the last one back is 17:50 and I sometimes end up stuck at work until 6pm. And if I'm not using the bus every day, then it makes me less likely to use it at all; there's no value in buying a weekly ticket.

Can you park somewhere where you can walk to work, or where you can get a more regular bus?

 

[Class360/1]

First Essex 66/s3 has been halved in frequency during the day

 

[PTR 444]

Xelabus have announced huge cuts to their network in Eastleigh from the 5th of September. Covered in detail on the Southampton Bus blog:

Endangered

Recent rumours of imminent widespread cuts to bus services that are subsidised by Hampshire County Council appear to be true. The Hants Bus ...

sotonbus.blogspot.com

X4 - Sunday service withdrawn, but extended to Velmore to replace the X6/X7.
X6/X7 - Completely withdrawn, leaving Hiltingbury and Chandler’s Ford without a bus to Eastleigh. This could however be part-replaced by a new route operated by Southampton Mini Link dependent on whether funds can be raised for it.
X8 - Withdrawn. This leaves Boyatt Wood without a Sunday service, although Bluestar 5 will continue to serve the estate during the week and on Saturday.
X9/X10 - Reduced to 1 bus every 2 hours
X15 - Withdrawn. No surprise as most of the route is covered by Bluestar 3
X17 - Withdrawn. This ends the long-standing link between Petersfield and Bishop’s Waltham (once part of a through route to Southampton), but it was very lightly used anyway.

 

[RELL6L]

It's not been a good week!
Yellow Buses out of business, although most routes duplicate or will be covered
Powells and CT Plus - I think some routes will be lost here although most to fairly marginal urban areas.
Notice of cuts in Bristol / Avon, eg the 126.
No good news on Diamond's proposed Worcestershire cuts or Stagecoach SE's Kent cuts
Carousel look like they are cutting the 103 between Beaconsfield and Amersham now
Although Dumfries-Edinburgh is OK for the moment and it looks like the Manchester area cuts will all be taken on with support.

I think we are going to be in for a torrid few months.....

 

[Deerfold]

Carousel look like they are cutting the 103 between Beaconsfield and Amersham now

Definitely. But it's going to Slough, instead. Looks like it's just going to be competition to the X74 which First beat Arriva on with double their frequency. The 103 now looks rather like Arriva's old 74, withdrawn in 2018.

Service changes from 4th September 2022

Following discussions with Buckinghamshire Council, we’ll be making changes to several Carousel bus services from Sunday 4th September 2022.

www.carouselbuses.co.uk

 

[Chris 76]

The 103 now looks rather like Arriva's old 74, withdrawn in 2018.

And like the London Transport/London Country 441 High Wycombe-Beaconsfield-Slough (which continued to Windsor and Staines). This change to the 103 seems an improvement, as First's X74 bypasses Beaconsfield so currently there are no direct buses between there and Slough. Hope there's enough demand to make it work in that affluent area.

 

[RELL6L]

And like the London Transport/London Country 441 High Wycombe-Beaconsfield-Slough (which continued to Windsor and Staines). This change to the 103 seems an improvement, as First's X74 bypasses Beaconsfield so currently there are no direct buses between there and Slough. Hope there's enough demand to make it work in that affluent area.

It’s always seemed a bit odd that, since the 74 was withdrawn, there’s been a bus all the way up the A355 from Slough but it doesn’t go to Beaconsfield, but maybe the demand isn’t there and people prefer to go to Wycombe on the X74. Let’s hope this proves otherwise.

Clearly this has been on the cards since the last changes. The amended 103 will arrive at Slough at xx.03 and depart at xx.50. Funnily enough the 106/107, already operating, arrives at xx.45 and departs at xx.10, so undoubtedly they will interwork.

 

[Deerfold]

And like the London Transport/London Country 441 High Wycombe-Beaconsfield-Slough (which continued to Windsor and Staines). This change to the 103 seems an improvement, as First's X74 bypasses Beaconsfield so currently there are no direct buses between there and Slough. Hope there's enough demand to make it work in that affluent area.

There wasn't in 2018. Good luck to them,

 

[richard13]

Xelabus have announced huge cuts to their network in Eastleigh from the 5th of September. Covered in detail on the Southampton Bus blog:

Endangered

Recent rumours of imminent widespread cuts to bus services that are subsidised by Hampshire County Council appear to be true. The Hants Bus ...

sotonbus.blogspot.com

X4 - Sunday service withdrawn, but extended to Velmore to replace the X6/X7.
X6/X7 - Completely withdrawn, leaving Hiltingbury and Chandler’s Ford without a bus to Eastleigh. This could however be part-replaced by a new route operated by Southampton Mini Link dependent on whether funds can be raised for it.
X8 - Withdrawn. This leaves Boyatt Wood without a Sunday service, although Bluestar 5 will continue to serve the estate during the week and on Saturday.
X9/X10 - Reduced to 1 bus every 2 hours
X15 - Withdrawn. No surprise as most of the route is covered by Bluestar 3
X17 - Withdrawn. This ends the long-standing link between Petersfield and Bishop’s Waltham (once part of a through route to Southampton), but it was very lightly used anyway.

On the positive side Xelagroup bought Yellow Coaches in Bournemouth yesterday and the surplus buses will do very nicely for the school contracts they will need to run there.