Bus shake-up: Bitterne Hoppa withdrawn; new route to link east with city

By Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter

xelabus hoppa 1 sign BCU 600px P1030010New bus routes, service changes and some withdrawals will take effect across Southampton from Sunday, August 30, particularly impacting the east of the city.

 

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The Bitterne Hoppa routes provided by Xelabus will be withdrawn.

A new Bluestar 6 service will provide a more regular service in Peartree Avenue, with a bus every 30 minutes during the day Monday to Saturday connecting Townhill Park, Bitterne, Woolston and the city centre.

An additional cross-city route to Southampton General Hospital through St James’ Road will be created by extending the Bluestar 16 route.

Changes to the Bluestar 10 will a quicker journeys to the city centre from Sholing.

The Polygon area will be served by alterations to the Bluestar 21.

Further afield, the launch of the Bluestar N9 will see a night service for the Waterside.

Money allocated by Hampshire County Council from the bus services fund will see an additional Whiteley service on the Bluestar 26 running from the city centre through Bitterne, Hedge End and Botley.

Jacqui Rayment, Labour city councillor responsible for transport, said: “The end of August will see changes to some of Southampton’s bus services to the east of the city, managing the end of the Bitterne Hoppa services as well as responding to feedback from local people about improvements they would like to see.

“While not a like-for-like replacement of the Bitterne Hoppa services, the updates to the Bluestar 6, 10 and 16 will maintain a high level of coverage in the areas currently served by the Hoppas.”

 She added: “All together, these changes will offer improved frequencies and new connections making the bus an easier and simpler option for many local journeys.”

 Full timetable details are yet to be released by Bluestar.


ldrs logo 200px This article is from the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Some alterations/additions may have been made by our site - a  BBC Local News Partnerships member. BBC-funded LDRS journalists cover local authorities and public service organisations, with content shared by all partners.


 

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