Campaign to replace axed Bristol bus service

Bristol City Council (BCC) and First Bus have bowed to public pressure over the axing of a “vital” bus service by announcing a new service to take its place.

Councillors joined forces with campaigners to express their “shared anger” over plans to axe the number 20 service run by First from Southmead to the city centre at the start of this month.

A group of 11 councillors from across the political spectrum wrote an open letter to complain about the “quite deplorable decision” to axe the 20 service and Wessex’s 15/15A service from UWE to the centre.

They said the removal of the services would “remove crucial community links and will have a heavy social consequence”.

First had said it was axing the number 20 service on August 31 as the route had “despite alterations over a number of years designed to improve its performance and respond to local needs, continually failed to cover its costs”.

Yesterday, BCC announced they had reallocated existing bus subsidies so that First would run a new service, the 520, which would operate along most of the route previously covered by the number 20 service.

The 520 will provide an hourly service from 6.30am to 6pm between Westbury-on-Trym and Lewins Mead in the Centre on Mondays to Saturdays. It will operate along the previous number 20 route between the Centre as far as Westbury, providing key links to the BRI and other hospitals.

Assistant Mayor for Transport, Cllr Mark Bradshaw, said the strength of feeling had forced the council to act.

“The response to the withdrawal of Service 20 made it evident that an important public transport link between Westbury-on-Trym and Bristol city centre was being lost,” he said.

“As well initiating action to identify an operator for the new 520 service, I’m glad to say that we have done this without any impact on the limited financial resources the council has for directly subsidising bus services.

“We will be monitoring punctuality and reliability on the 520 very carefully to ensure it meets the service standards we have specified and hope that local people will use the new service and report any issues.

“I am grateful to residents and local councillors for highlighting the impact of losing the Service 20 and to our officers and bus operators in working with me to seek a way of keeping vital bus connections in place.”

Paul Matthews, Managing Director for First West of England, added: “There was considerable strength of feeling around the loss of service 20. We understand this and while we would reiterate that it was not possible to retain service 20 on a commercial basis – as it had not covered its own costs by some margin for some time – we are pleased that the council been able to find a resolution to this issue.

“This will no doubt please those who have campaigned hard for a replacement. We have taken steps to implement the replacement service 520 as soon as possible.”

A registration has been submitted for the new 520 service to start operation on September 15, with a timetable and route map published shortly.