First West of England (Bristol, Bath & The West)

[diffywood]

Changes for Jan 22 2023 have appeared online

January 2023 service changes

January 2023 service changes There will be changes to services 19, 70, 73, m1, m2, m3/m3x and Y6 in Bristol from Sunday 22nd January 2023. New metrobus service m4 will start operating from this date.

www.firstbus.co.uk

January 2023 service changes
There will be changes to services 19, 70, 73, m1, m2, m3/m3x and Y6 in Bristol from Sunday 22nd January 2023. New metrobus service m4 will start operating from this date.

Route m4 will operate between Cribbs Causeway and Bristol City Centre, linking The Mall, Bristol Parkway Station and University of the West of England with the centre of the city. Works along the m4’s new route – which include the installation of a new railway bridge and brand-new bus lanes on Gipsy Patch Lane, as well as upgrades to bus stops – have been carried out by South Gloucestershire Council with funding from the West of England Combined Authority and mean faster and more direct links to the city centre from new areas can be provided. The service will in the future serve the new Brabazon development at the old Filton Airfield site. To start with, buses will operate via Hayes Way.

The upgraded bus stops along the route will all feature real-time information and the installation of iPoints (combined ticket machines and information displays), along with landscaping, will be completed over the next few weeks. Like existing metrobus services, the m4 will operate as a Buy Before You Board and Tap On, Tap Off service for faster journeys. For more information on metrobus ticketing please see travelwest.info/metrobus

Service m1 Hengrove Park – Bristol City Centre – Cribbs Causeway. A revised timetable will be introduced to improve punctuality. Buses will be given more time to complete their journeys, including having more time to get through the City Centre. The new timetable will be available to view here soon.

Service m2 Long Ashton Park & Ride – Bristol City Centre. A revised timetable will be introduced to improve punctuality. The new timetable will be available to view here soon.

Services m3 and m3x Emersons Green – Bristol City Centre. A revised timetable will be introduced to improve punctuality. Buses will be given more time to complete their journeys. Due to this, we have had to alter the timings of some weekday m3x peak time journeys. There will still be three journeys each way a day. The majority of short workings between the City Centre and UWE Frenchay only will no longer operate and will be replaced by service m4. Evening services to and from Emersons Green will have better spacing than at present. The new timetable will be available to view here soon.

Service m4 Cribbs Causeway – Bristol City Centre. New service, operating every 20 minutes during the main part of the day on Monday – Saturdays, with buses every 30 minutes during the evening. Buses on Sundays will run every 30 minutes, with an earlier finish. The new timetable and route map will be available to view here soon.

Service 19 Bath – Cribbs Causeway. This service will no longer operate between Bristol Parkway Station and Cribbs Causeway. Customers from the Bristol Parkway and Stoke Gifford areas will be able to use new service m4 to make this journey. Service Y6 will continue to serve Little Stoke on its way between Cribbs Causeway and Bristol Parkway Station and will additionally serve Charlton Boulevard (see below). Customers wishing to travel to and from Cribbs Causeway can change buses at UWE Frenchay Bus Station onto service m1 and m4 onwards to Cribbs Causeway or alternatively at Bristol Parkway Station (m4 and Y6). Buses will be given more time to complete their journeys to improve punctuality. The new timetable and route map will be available to view here soon.

Service 70 Bristol Temple Meads – UWE Frenchay. This service will have a revised timetable to improve punctuality and the service interval along Filton Avenue. The new timetable will be available to view here soon.

Service 73 Bristol Temple Meads – Cribbs Causeway. This service will no longer operate between Bradley Stoke North and Cribbs Causeway. Buses from Bristol will terminate at the Eagles Wood stop on Woodlands Lane. Customers from the Bristol Parkway and Stoke Gifford areas will be able to use new service m4 to and from Cribbs Causeway at a higher frequency. Customers from Bradley Stoke can use service m1 to reach Cribbs Causeway or change buses at the Willow Brook stop between services 73 and m1. Buses will be given more time to complete their journeys to improve punctuality. The new timetable and route map will be available to view here soon.

Service Y6 Bristol – Southmead Hospital – Yate – Chipping Sodbury. This service will have a revised timetable. Between Cribbs Causeway and Filton, buses will operate via Highwood Road and Charlton Boulevard, rather than Hayes Way, replacing service 19. The new timetable and route map will be available to view here soon.

 

[Class 33]

Conflicting info about the M4 on whether it will operate between Centre and Cribbs Causeway, or just Bristol Parkway and Cribbs Causeway according to the recent news article on the Evening Post website. If it operates between Centre and Cribbs Causeway, that will take some pressure off the M1 and M3 which can get absolutely packed at times from the UWE to the Centre with the amount of students getting on there. If though the M4 just operates between Bristol Parkway and Cribbs Causeway, I can't see there being much demand for that service as it's barely only about 2 and a half miles! That's a very short route for a MetroBus service!

 

[father_jack]

How will ticketing work on the 73/M4, say you want to go to Cribbs Causeway from top of Filton Avenue, you've now used your two tap ons on the outward so you've gone up to a day ticket to come back, bit of a hike

Conflicting info about the M4 on whether it will operate between Centre and Cribbs Causeway, or just Bristol Parkway and Cribbs Causeway according to the recent news article on the Evening Post website. If it operates between Centre and Cribbs Causeway, that will take some pressure off the M1 and M3 which can get absolutely packed at times from the UWE to the Centre with the amount of students getting on there. If though the M4 just operates between Bristol Parkway and Cribbs Causeway, I can't see there being much demand for that service as it's barely only about 2 and a half miles! That's a very short route for a MetroBus service!

Think the Evening Post had the wrong end of the stick there.

 

[-Colly405-]

It is definitely Centre to Cribbs. Taking over the m3 shorts (as I suspected it would!). Per First website...

January 2023 service changes

January 2023 service changes There will be changes to services 19, 70, 73, m1, m2, m3/m3x and Y6 in Bristol from Sunday 22nd January 2023. New metrobus service m4 will start operating from this date.

www.firstbus.co.uk

Will be interesting to see what capacity at the southern end of the route is like, with it taking over existing m3 journeys as far as UWE, yet additionaly carrying people between town and Parkway, Stoke Gifford and Little Stoke.

 

[Citistar]

The original project that WECA (West of England Combined Authority) was trying to sell to operators (about four or five years ago) was purely for a Parkway to Cribbs shuttle, but once the M1 and M3 became established, it was obvious that it would end up being tagged on to the end of something else.

What surprises me more about this situation is that everyone seems so readily willing to accept the loss of any through service and ticketing from Bath and anywhere in East Bristol to Cribbs after almost 25 years of operation, ever since the Mall opened. And with Dan Norris leading WECA having brought us the £3.70 interurban single fare, it now goes back up to £5.70 when you have to change buses, or from £2 to £4 from Kingswood to Cribbs.

But at least WECA and South Glos have completely solved all the traffic issues at Cribbs Causeway so the M4 will never get delayed and miss a connection at Parkway.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I'd advise you to read the article in full. Yes, the headline says "New m4 metrobus service from Cribbs Causeway to Bristol Parkway to launch next month" and the first line says that but the article then says

A new metrobus route linking Bristol Parkway and Cribbs Causeway will officially launch in January, it has been revealed today (December 8). The West of England Combined Authority has confirmed that the new m4 metrobus route will run from Sunday, January 22.

First West, which will operate the service, claim that m4 buses will run every 20 minutes from Monday to Saturday and every 30 minutes on Sundays and Bank Holidays. It will run between 6am and 11 pm on weekdays, with a later start at weekends.The route will provide a link between Cribbs Causeway and Bristol city centre via The Mall, Bristol Parkway Station and the University of the West of England, serving communities in Patchway and Stoke Gifford. But initially the service it will operate via a temporary route via the A38 and Hayes Way.

"Work started on the project in 2014 to provide an alternative, fast and direct bus route between Parkway Station, The Mall at Cribbs Causeway and Bristol city centre, and I am very pleased that the new service will start early next year supporting our residents making the switch to public transport. I can’t wait to see this new bus service in operation, helping the residents of Patchway and Stoke Gifford go about their daily lives and hopefully encouraging more people to consider bus travel.”

 

[-Colly405-]

What surprises me more about this situation is that everyone seems so readily willing to accept the loss of any through service and ticketing from Bath and anywhere in East Bristol to Cribbs after almost 25 years of operation, ever since the Mall opened.

And likewise for the 73 - those parts of Bradley Stoke that are too far for certain people to walk to the m1 or Y6, and where Filton Ave is too far for them to walk up to the A38.

The original project that WECA (West of England Combined Authority) was trying to sell to operators (about four or five years ago) was purely for a Parkway to Cribbs shuttle, but once the M1 and M3 became established, it was obvious that it would end up being tagged on to the end of something else.

Don't forget that the metrobus map that has been live since virtually the service began (both at bus stops and online) shows Harry Stoke - Parkway North - Parkway as "Future route" (along with the link between the m1 at Hengrove and the m2 at Long Ashton).

 

[Tom Clayton]

Not the best photo. But the m4 route and stops

 

[heathrowrail]

What a stupid idea cutting the 19 from Parkway and replacing it with the M4, why not just improve the frequency of the 19 between Parkway & Cribbs? To me it seems Bristol City Council are desperate to replace all First bus routes with "Metrobus" routes bit by bit.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

What a stupid idea cutting the 19 from Parkway and replacing it with the M4, why not just improve the frequency of the 19 between Parkway & Cribbs? To me it seems Bristol City Council are desperate to replace all First bus routes with "Metrobus" routes bit by bit.

Except this is in South Gloucestershire Council's area.

The 19 is operated by Bath depot. Adding in short workings would be difficult to do from Bath (drivers' hours) and it's nowhere near a depot so that maybe a consideration.

Don't know how many passengers come from Bath but certainly you can expect that from places like Kingswood and Staple Hill to Cribbs will be disappointed. Another regressive step after the loss of the 16 and 18 in recent years.

 

[matt_splat]

Loadings on the 19 are quite decent as well at the moment between parkway and Cribbs, with people regularly waiting In Charlton Hayes. The change will mean a long winded trip via Cribbs to get to Parkway. Also, why doesn't the m4 call at the stops in Hayes way until the new estate is open?

 

[-Colly405-]

Loadings on the 19 are quite decent as well at the moment between parkway and Cribbs, with people regularly waiting In Charlton Hayes. The change will mean a long winded trip via Cribbs to get to Parkway. Also, why doesn't the m4 call at the stops in Hayes way until the new estate is open?

The Charlton Hayes bit of the 19 to Parkway will now be covered by the Y6 (from Filton via Royal Mail, up Charlton Boulevard, left onto Highwood Lane to Cribbs, then back along Highwood Lane to Patchway Rbt, Parkway).

Yes, totally agree re Hayes Way - the new stop on near Aerospace won't served at all now, with the Y6 being re-routed between Filton and Cribbs via Charlton Boulevard.

I do wonder whether anyone will now publicise the Parkway North P&R now that it will have a 20 min frequency service...

 

[matt_splat]

It's a long detour in the wrong direction for Parkway. I've been noticing a lot of people using it onto places such as the UWE and onwards. I guess the M4 will cover that but isn't any use to anyone who isn't going to walk far to get on the M1. The Hayes Way stop could have been good to use on a temporary basis until the new road is ready for the M4 through the estate.

 

[-Colly405-]

It's a long detor though in the wrong direction for parkway, I've been noticing a lot of people using it onto places such as the uwe and onwards I guess the M4 will cover that but isn't use to anyone who isn't going to walk far to get on the M1 the Hayes way stop could have been good to use on a temporary basis until the new road is ready for the M4 through the estate

Agreed!

 

[heathrowrail]

Except this is in South Gloucestershire Council's area.

The 19 is operated by Bath depot. Adding in short workings would be difficult to do from Bath (drivers' hours) and it's nowhere near a depot so that maybe a consideration.

Don't know how many passengers come from Bath but certainly you can expect that from places like Kingswood and Staple Hill to Cribbs will be disappointed. Another regressive step after the loss of the 16 and 18 in recent years.

I know I used to live there but all Metro bus ops are controlled by BCC "Bristol City Council". Most of the 19 workings are from Bath but I have know Bristol to do some of them in the past. It could have easily been done since they are already doing it by splitting the route up into the M4, lots of people from Kingswoods, Downend, Frenchay actually work in Cribbs so this is going to make their life a lot more difficult. Sunday buses are usually rammed as Bath for some reason chucks E200s or Solo SRs on instead of double deckers.

 

[Marcus Fryer]

I see that according to bustimes.org 39321 hasn’t been in service since 4 November and likewise 39338 hasn’t been in service since 17 November. Are these perhaps also being re-liveried for the m4?

 

[Buses in Bath]

I know I used to live there but all Metro bus ops are controlled by BCC "Bristol City Council". Most of the 19 workings are from Bath but I have know Bristol to do some of them in the past. It could have easily been done since they are already doing it by splitting the route up into the M4, lots of people from Kingswoods, Downend, Frenchay actually work in Cribbs so this is going to make their life a lot more difficult. Sunday buses are usually rammed as Bath for some reason chucks E200s or Solo SRs on instead of double deckers.

they havent been putting E200s or Solos on the 19 for at least at least 18 months now. That was a temporary measure when they still wanted to give Penn Lea a service on a Sunday and so diverted the 19 requiring smaller buses

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I know I used to live there but all Metro bus ops are controlled by BCC "Bristol City Council". Most of the 19 workings are from Bath but I have know Bristol to do some of them in the past. It could have easily been done since they are already doing it by splitting the route up into the M4, lots of people from Kingswoods, Downend, Frenchay actually work in Cribbs so this is going to make their life a lot more difficult. Sunday buses are usually rammed as Bath for some reason chucks E200s or Solo SRs on instead of double deckers.

I still live there. The whole Metrobus extension was controlled by WECA - West of England Combined Authority. The extension to Cribbs and the metrobus route was very much an SGC project https://beta.southglos.gov.uk/cribbs-patchway-metrobus-extension

As has been said, they only put short vehicles on the 19 when it had the short lived diversion round a bit of Penn Lea. Now it's deckers or Eclipses - the latter prevalent at the moment as they are desperate for deckers on the P&R with the markets, and the repowered e400Hs off the road.

 

[heathrowrail]

I still live there. The whole Metrobus extension was controlled by WECA - West of England Combined Authority. The extension to Cribbs and the metrobus route was very much an SGC project https://beta.southglos.gov.uk/cribbs-patchway-metrobus-extension

As has been said, they only put short vehicles on the 19 when it had the short lived diversion round a bit of Penn Lea. Now it's deckers or Eclipses - the latter prevalent at the moment as they are desperate for deckers on the P&R with the markets, and the repowered e400Hs off the road.

Thanks for clarification. Why are the E400H's off the road again? Although the last time I went on one in September they were awfully slow & underpowered.

 

[Whiteway215]

Thanks for clarification. Why are the E400H's off the road again? Although the last time I went on one in September they were awfully slow & underpowered.

They have cracked chassis allegedly arising from their conversion to diesel Euro6. They have been towed or in the process of being towed to an unknown destination for modification.
If anyone has further information please share with us.

 

[WelshBluebird]

I really shouldn't be but I keep being amazed how much they seem to want to keep the Metrobus services away from Temple Meads. The M2 is the only service that goes nearby and even that interchange is a bit of a pain as you need to cross the very busy Temple Gate. The M1 technically has an interchange announced on the bus at Redcliff Hill but in reality that is about a 12-15 minute walk, so I seriously doubt that many people are doing that. The M4 is a perfect chance to add some connectivity to the services given they could have made the city centre part a loop around Temple Meads to the Centre to Bond Street (or the other way around). I realise the Metrobus services aren't supposed to serve everywhere (if they did then they would just be normal bus services!) but it does feel to me they are missing a trick here by cutting off a large number of potential passengers that could join at one of the main entry points into the city.

As for the 19 - yeah that hasn't gone down well locally (as someone who used to live in Bath and have colleagues living in and around the area it serves between Bitton and Kingswood.

 

[freetoview33]

As said before, from the original metrobus plans to what we have now are quite different.

 

[heathrowrail]

They have cracked chassis allegedly arising from their conversion to diesel Euro6. They have been towed or in the process of being towed to an unknown destination for modification.
If anyone has further information please share with us.

Seems odd; surely Euro 6 engines would be lighter. Either way, a cracked chassis would normally be a write off I would have thought.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Seems odd surely Euro 6 engines would be lighter, either way a crack chassis would normally be a write off I would have thought.

Could be something like excessive vibration and the impact on engine mountings? Recall that Optare Vectas had a problem with that (not their only design weakness we should add).

As for @WelshBluebird, I can only guess that they are concerned that they struggle to get through the traffic to Temple Meads and impact reliability.

 

[Whiteway215]

Seems odd; surely Euro 6 engines would be lighter. Either way, a cracked chassis would normally be a write off I would have thought.

At only ten years old they are too young to be written off but if they can’t be repaired / modified / rectified perhaps they will end up stored until depreciated?

 

[Citistar]

Seems odd; surely Euro 6 engines would be lighter. Either way, a cracked chassis would normally be a write off I would have thought.

It is possible that there is some sort of warranty claim being pursued against the conversion installers.

 

[Whiteway215]

It is possible that there is some sort of warranty claim being pursued against the conversion installers.

I wonder who actually did the conversions?

 

[Class 33]

How will ticketing work on the 73/M4, say you want to go to Cribbs Causeway from top of Filton Avenue, you've now used your two tap ons on the outward so you've gone up to a day ticket to come back, bit of a hike

To solve this problem(and similar instances where people need to get two buses to get to their destination), First should come up with a new ticket, such as a 2 Hour Ticket(at a £2 cost) similar to the bus/tram/metro tickets in countries such as Germany and the Netherlands.

 

[-Colly405-]

Is there any directive on which drop off bays different services should use at Cribbs?

Just arrived on an M1, and there were no buses on the central island at all, yet the driver stopped at the first bay, making every passenger walk the length of the bus station to get to the shops.

As the bus has to travel the full length at some point, surely this was either (I) by directive, or (ii) a deliberately awkward driver.

Any thoughts from drivers as to whether there is an operational reason for this?

 

[Citistar]

To solve this problem(and similar instances where people need to get two buses to get to their destination), First should come up with a new ticket, such as a 2 Hour Ticket(at a £2 cost) similar to the bus/tram/metro tickets in countries such as Germany and the Netherlands.

I wholeheartedly agree. This was proposed as an all operator Rider ticket before Metrobus was introduced, back in the halcyon days where the councils were proposing that Rider tickets should be the default products on the iPoints. Now Dan Norris arranges ticketing schemes with one operator behind closed doors and everyone else suffers the consequences. How times change.