Features / Transport
metrobus is pretty in pink as third route begins
It was impossible to miss this particular bus as it pulled into its stop on the centre soon after 9.30am on Monday morning.
In dashing bright pink livery, the m1 from Hengrove to Cribbs Causeway is the third metrobus route to launch in Bristol.
With some of the pay stations – known as iPoints – at the bus stops still not ready, if this is cause for celebration then free rides on Sunday were a treat for passengers on the first day.
is needed now More than ever
Despite this route run by Bristol Community Transport, it is operated under contract to First, whose managing director James Freeman was on the 9am from Cribbs Causeway to ensure a smooth ride.
Heading south, the route went along Malago Road past a double decker bus that has been given a new lease of life by Help Bristol’s Homeless as a shelter.
Sitting on the back seat, a brother and sister reminisced about family gatherings of old as the sister in a red leather jacket ensured that her box of a dozen doughnuts from Greggs got safely to their final destination.
They got off at Novers Lane, the stop for Imperial Retail Park, shouting their cheers to the drive despite like other metrobus buses having to alight from the central doors.
The view from the back seat
A hot balloon was floating serenely overhead as the bus went down Filwood Broadway, where a woman in a pink dressing gown having a fag outside her house watched the pink bus as it went by soon after 10am.
The route took us round the back of the Bottle Yard, by fields that probably will not remain as fields for too much longer. Development is everywhere here, including more than 250 new homes as part of Kier’s new Urban Quarter.
Announcing each stop in a warm Bristolian burr is Fran Edwards, the receptionist at First’s Lawrence Hill depot.
As the bus arrived at Hengrove Park, she said: “We have now come to the end of this journey. Thank you for travelling by metrobus. Cheers!”
The m1 at Hengrove Park
Travelling back on the same bus, now the 10.20am to Cribbs Causeway, it was time to ride on the top deck, with Freeman still an interested passenger, on his phone as the bus pulled away.
Two pairs of friends had nabbed the front seats, while downstairs talk of bus timetables from white-haired men in anoraks mixed with the sound of excited children on their way into town for a day trip.
Back in the centre, a few soldiers in fatigues and cadets in full ceremonial uniform were posing for photographs on a stationary m1 with Bristol Community Transport on the front LED screen.
“Can you stop the bus?” asked a reporter from ITV who had just set up her shot before the bus pulled a few yards forward to let another one in behind it.
First Bus West of England managing director James Freeman enjoying Sundays day of free travel on the m1
“This is the last piece of the jigsaw,” said Freeman, as he and other invited dignitaries including metro mayor Tim Bowles did some mingling on the centre.
Bristol Community Transport operations manager Jimmy Sommerville added: “We’re all really excited about the m1.
“It’s a great opportunity to serve the communities of Bristol and South Gloucestershire, helping people to get out of their cars and onto public transport.”
Read more: All aboard the new metrobus route
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