First reveal which Bristol bus services will be scrapped

Falling passenger numbers and “acute” driver shortages are behind the decision by First to scrap a number of bus services across the Bristol area.

First West of England managing director Doug Claringbold said that “the very last thing any transport operator wants to do is reduce or cut any services”.

“We recognise the impact these changes will have on some of our communities and we are truly sorry for those who will be affected.”

From October 9, a number of services will be scrapped and others reduced.

Claringbold added: “We had high hopes that, as we moved beyond the pandemic and Covid restrictions, we would see a stronger recovery in bus use.

“Unfortunately, the world has changed more than we predicted and we are still seeing a significantly lower level of bus use, as well as different travel patterns across our network.

“On top of this, like the rest of the bus industry and other sectors, we are operating against the backdrop of rising business costs and labour shortages that are particularly acute in our area.

“Our data shows that passengers do not use these services in sufficient numbers and are unlikely to return in the future.

“Along with the significant driver shortages, this means we simply have no choice but to withdraw or reduce those services and ensure we focus on running buses where there are enough customers travelling.”

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Read more: Underground railway network could be ‘transformational’ for Bristol

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These are the affected services:

Bristol and South Gloucestershire

• Services 5, 72a, 96, 178, X2, Y3, Y4 and Y5 are withdrawn.
• A new service 47 will provide a partial replacement for services 5, Y3, Y4 and Y5
• Service 379 will provide a partial replacement for service 178
• No more Sunday services on 12 and 622
• 17 will extend from Southmead Hospital to Bristol Bus Station via Gloucester Road
• 36 will terminate at St Anne’s
• 48a will increase in frequency from September 19 for the start of the new academic year at UWE
• 70 will extend to terminate at Bristol Temple Meads
• 71 will be withdrawn and replaced with Service 74, which will operate between UWE, Frenchay Campus and Bristol city centre
• One journey in each direction on service 349 will extend to Midsomer Norton for students attending St Brendan’s College
• A1 will increase in frequency
• There will be an additional service A3 journey departing at 2.15am from Weston-super-Mare
• m3 will double in frequency to every 10 minutes, Monday to Friday, between UWE, Frenchay Campus and Bristol city centre from September 19
• Three m3x journeys will be introduced for the afternoon/early evening peak between Bristol city centre and Emersons Green
• T1 will now terminate at Bristol Bus Station
• U1 will resume from September 19 for the start of the new academic year at the University of Bristol
• U3 will be reintroduced from September 19 to provide late night Monday to Saturday journeys between the city centre and UWE via the M32
• Service X5 will no longer continue to Bristol. Passengers are advised to change to the X4 in Portishead to continue their journey to Bristol
• Y1 will now terminate at Bristol Bus Station
• Y6 will extend from Southmead Hospital to Bristol Bus Station via Gloucester Road

Is your bus affected by the changes? – photo: Betty Woolerton

Bath and North East Somerset

• Services 22, 42 and 178 will be withdrawn
• 379 will replace service 171 and provide a partial replacement for 178
• Service 4 journeys will be extended to Odd Down Park and Ride to cover the loss of Service 42.
• 2 will increase in frequency
• 3 will no longer serve Elmhurst estate
• 4, 4a and 4b will no longer serve the full length of Eastfield Avenue due to ongoing problems with the road surface
• 8 will reduce in frequency
• First will no longer operate 11, 12, 20 and 82 services
• 172 will operate hourly
• 174 will have a revised timetable and will serve Chilcompton on Sundays
• D2 Sunday frequency will be reduced to every two hours with a reduced evening service
• U1, U2 and U5 will increase in frequency for the start of the new academic year at the University of Bath and Bath Spa University

North Somerset and Somerset

• Services 126 and X2 are withdrawn.
• 1 and 20 will have their normal winter changes, with reduced frequencies and no Sunday service
• 7 will extend to additionally serve Weston General Hospital
• X5 will no longer operate to Bristol, instead operating from Weston-super-Mare to Portishead via Clevedon

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• Traffic lights on bridge have not worked for more than a week
• Boss of First apologises for lack of reliability
• Lifeline community bus services suddenly axed

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