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The 127 and 59 service contracts are also ending and will not be renewed from April, but alternative services are in place.
North Somerset Council recognise these bus routes are currently used by some school children. As alternative services are in place, there should be little disruption.
For young people who use the 59, an alternative service is available on the X4 bus, along with a safe walking route to Sheepway Station Road where a return journey on X5 has now been provided to match school day start and finish times.
For the 127, all students using the service with transport entitlement will be transferred to home to school services.
These changes have been made to better support the wider North Somerset bus network and help ensure routes become commercially viable so that residents continue to have access to services as national government subsidies come to an end.
Commercial operators, with support from the council, review the existing bus network every year in April and September to update services in accordance with usage level and community needs. This process formalises commercial bus operator decisions and allows the council to react to any gaps in the network where possible with council funded supported services.
Bus network maps and detailed timetables for individual bus services are available to view online at travelwest.info. This will be updated shortly to show the April service changes.
In summary, service changes are:
1: Weston Town Centre – Sand Bay
- Monday to Saturday service increased from every 60 minutes to every 30 minutes. Sunday service reinstated running every 30 minutes.
5: New Weston Town Centre – South Road serve
- New service taking over the X5 South Road loop with an updated timetable.
6: Weston Town Centre – Upper Bristol Road – Worle Retail Park
- Revised times throughout to integrate better with service 7. No changes to frequency or days of operation.
7: Worle – Weston Town Centre – Locking Parklands
- Additional early morning journey from Worle Retail Park at 6.05am, to allow for earlier connections to the hospital. Timetable changes and Sunday service increased to every 30 minutes.
9: New shopper service West Wick – Worlebury – Town Centre
- Provides three off-peak journeys on weekdays, started on 2 January 2024.
20: Weston-super-Mare – Burnham-on-Sea
- Frequency increased from 60 minutes to every 30 minutes. The Sunday service will be reinstated at a frequency of every 60 minutes.
59: Nailsea – Portbury – Gordano School
- This service will end on 31 March 2024. An alternative service is available on the X4 bus, along with a safe walking route to the Sheepway Station Road where a return journey on X5 has now been provided to match school day start and finish times. These bus services provide a higher frequency service for children at the school.
- The X5 service runs from Sheepway Station Road at 07:59am to serve Gordano School for 08:18am. In the afternoon, the X5 serves Gordano School at 03:28pm, reaching Sheepway Station Road at 03:46pm.
126: Weston-super-Mare – Wells
- Timetable changes to improve reliability. Additional morning journeys have been provided to give Winscombe and Sandford access to Weston-super-Mare for commuters and for students accessing Weston College.
127: Churchill Academy – Wrington
- To restructure the 126 service, the 127 contract will end and not be renewed. Students transferred to home to school services.
X1: Weston-super-Mare – Worle - Bristol
- Timetable changes throughout to improve reliability. No changes to frequency or days of operation.
X5: Weston-super-Mare – Yatton - Clevedon – Portishead
- Service is re-routed to now serve Claverham on all journeys.
- The X5 is also rerouted in Clevedon via Kenn Road to serve the new Pottery Retirement village at the request of residents. As a result, the service no longer serves Southern Way, Old Church Road and Great Western Road. Southern Way and Old Church Road will continue to be served by the X6 and X7 services.
- Service rerouted in Portishead via Wyndham Way in both directions (Harbour Road no longer served). The service will now terminate and start from Portishead Sainsburys.
X6: – Bristol – Clevedon
- Timetable changes throughout to improve reliability. No changes to frequency or days of operation.
X7: – Bristol – Nailsea - Clevedon
- Timetable changes throughout to improve reliability. No changes to frequency or days of operation.
X8: Bristol – Backwell - Nailsea
- Timetable changes throughout to improve reliability. No changes to frequency or days of operation.
X9: Bristol – Nailsea
- Timetable changes throughout to improve reliability. No changes to frequency or days of operation.
X10: Clevedon – Portishead – Cribbs Causeway – Southmead Hospital
- Due to the successful trial for the X10, Transpora Bus will take over and expand this service to Southmead Hospital at the request of local residents. The hours of operation are also extended to cover both morning and evening peak times.
Cllr Hannah Young, Executive Member for Highways and Transport at North Somerset Council, said: “Reviewing local bus services twice a year with the commercial operators of those services is part of North Somerset Council’s commitment to improving bus access to the wider region in a sustainable and cost-effective way. Considerations include access to local services, connecting communities, and ensuring value for money.
“With single bus fares capped at £2 until December 2024, April’s service updates are an opportunity to try a new way to commute or visit some of our wonderful area. We want to make travelling by bus accessible to as many people as possible.”
Working in partnership to deliver Bus Service Improvement Plans, North Somerset Council and the West of England Combined Authority want to encourage everyone to ‘walk or wheel’ where possible, helping to reach a carbon neutral goal by 2030. When that’s not possible, bus travel is encouraged to be the first choice over car usage, helping to ease traffic congestion and creating a greener way to travel.
More information on the Bus Improvement Service Plan can be found on the council website: Bus service improvement plan | North Somerset Council (n-somerset.gov.uk)
