No Sunday bus services from Nailsea to seaside

 

Nailsea will be connected to Clevedon by an hourly bus service from Monday, April 25.

After waiting six months and following lots of complaints a nearly full service is being restored between the two towns.

Getting to work, visiting the elderly in hospital or a care home or going shopping had become almost impossible by public transport between the two towns.

But anyone fancying a trip to the seaside at the weekend will be disappointed to know that there is still no Sunday service to Clevedon so forget going to the Curzon or the pier by bus on that day.

Other changes include the little used airport service is being withdrawn but there is no change for people hoping to stop buses being routed along some narrow residential roads at Nailsea.

There were long queues at a bus roadshow at Somerset Square earlier this month hosted by representatives from North Somerset Council and First Bus.

The local bus operator faced a barrage of complaints especially from Hazlebury Road residents who saw their front gardens churned up when a driver took a detour to avoid parked cars.

Ruth Eager, of Coombe Road, said: “I didn’t think they were going to budge this time but while there is no change as present in the new timetable we are going to keep petitioning the bus company to stop using our roads.

 “It would be better if the nearly empty buses weren’t so frequent or always travelled in the correct direction.

“The bus company tells me they are profitable but I don’t know how.”

First bus west of England & Wales public relations manager Chris Hanson said: “We had quite a bit of feedback at our Nailsea event: much of it was positive about our new service 6 which will operate Nailsea - Clevedon once an hour.”

Back in August 2015 there was a furore when the bus company introduced a new bus timetable and people found out for the first time buses would be going back and forth along Hazlebury Road missing out schools and the sheltered housing along Silver Street.

Then it was discovered the link to Clevedon on Sundays had been cut and that Nailsea School students living at Tickenham faced a 90 minutes wait for a bus home.

In the interim North Somerset Council was forced to organise free school transport for the children living more than two miles away from their nearest secondary school – and pick up an additional bill!

A spokesman said at the time: “Following a review of the service changes made on Sunday, August 23, in the Nailsea area First West of England and North Somerset Council have listened to comments and suggestions from our customers.

“While the changes to the Nailsea network are for most people overwhelmingly positive we are seeking to respond to comments with a number of minor adjustments.”

The key changes in November were:

• Service A2 retimed to allow for journeys to and from Tickenham and Nailsea School;

• Additional journeys provided between Clevedon and Nailsea;

• The route of the service X9 will be modified to go one way along Hazelbury Road and on its return loop along Silver Street;

• More buses will go along Queens Road and Stockway South; and

• More buses will link Long Ashton and Nailsea School.

Now there is another new timetable being introduced from Sunday, April 25.

First Bus Bristol general manager Jenny MacLeod said: “This is the first time we have properly consulted with our customers before making changes to services.

“We had a huge response to both consultations which is really encouraging.”

“Congestion in Bristol is at an all-time high.

“We have tried to give buses more time, where possible, to complete their journeys to compensate for this.”

Details of the service changes for Nailsea:

New North Somerset Service 6 – Nailsea – Clevedon

This service will operate hourly between Nailsea and Clevedon following the withdrawal of Service A2. This doubles the number of buses between the towns, something often requested by local residents.  

First West of England has depots in Bristol, Bath, Weston-super-Mare and Wells.

As a company, First Bus is committed to delivering a safe, reliable and punctual service for its customers. It operates 580 vehicles and employs approximately 1,900 members of staff.

FirstGroup is the leading transport operator in the UK and North America with revenues of more than £6.7 billion.

It is one of Britain’s largest bus operators with around a fifth of bus services outside London.

It has a fleet of some 6,300 buses carries approximately 1.7 million passengers a day in a huge number of communities including 40 of the UK's largest towns and cities.

And it operates some US-style yellow school buses and a fleet of coaches available for charter.