News / metrobus
Start date for south Bristol MetroBus service announced
The date for when the latest MetroBus route, linking Long Ashton and Temple Meads, will be up and running has been revealed.
From Monday, September 3, people in south Bristol will be able to travel aboard the new service, which stops at Ashton Gate Stadium, SS Great Britain, Wapping Wharf, Temple Meads and Cabot Circus.
The announcement follows months of disruption and “unforeseen problems” that saw the start date delayed after it was discovered that buses would not fit along the newly-prepared route and adjustments needed to be made.
is needed now More than ever
The south Bristol route remains shrouded in controversy since the Ashton Vale to Hengrove link fell by the wayside and disappeared from original plans.
But transport bosses say the latest announcement is good news for passengers and marks a new era for bus travel in the city, with its new guided busway and buy-before-you-board ticketing. It follows the opening of the m3 route in May.
First will be operating the latest MetroBus services that replaces the current council-subsidised 903 Service between Long Ashton park and ride and the city centre.
James Freeman, Dai Powell, Mhairi Threlfall and Colin Hunt with one of the new biogas buses
“We are looking forward to taking MetroBus to the next level and start operating the m2 service,” said James Freeman, managing director of First Bristol.
“Since we started operating the m3 MetroBus service from Lyde Green to City Centre at the end of April, we have been delighted to see steadily growing passenger numbers with around 120,000 journeys made so far; and appreciated a lot of positive feedback from customers.
“A key benefit for future customers, including current 903 Service users, is that all of First’s wide range of day, season and group tickets will be accepted on Metrobus m2, allowing through travel onto other services.”
In the first two weeks, First will be offering m2 customers discounted travel with a promotional m2 week ticket for £10 – a 41 per cent discount off the normal FirstWeek ticket, which costs £17.
The guided busway that caused the engineering problems has steel guiderails mounted on both sides, keeping the bus tightly in position with no additional steering by the driver. This allows buses to pass through narrow spaces with complete accuracy every time.
Freeman added: “We have been working in collaboration with the council and their contractors during the building and testing of the guideway over the past months, and more recently when some engineering modifications were being put in place.
“We’re now fully satisfied that the guideway is safe to operate, conforms to the required standard for guided busways and meets the build quality to sustain heavy use – the guided busway is anticipated to be used more than 10,000 times every month by the m2 service as well as other services in the future.”
He adds that First has invested “significant resources” to the guided busway project.
The m2 service will run from 6am on Mondays to Saturdays, with the last bus leaving the Long Ashton park and ride at 9.30pm.
During peak times, it will operate every 10 minutes, going to every 12 minutes during off-peak hours, and three times per hour after 7pm.
On Saturdays, the service will run every 12 minutes between 10am and 6pm, and three times hourly at other times.
Read more: When Bristol’s MetroBus routes are finally due to open
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
