Bath is set to benefit from new cross-city transport links later this year thanks to a number of changes to the bus network, First West of England has said.
Beginning on Sunday 1st September, the city’s largest bus operator has announced that service 3 (city centre to Bathford) will be extended to the Royal United Hospital (RUH) and Upper Weston to provide an east-to-west cross-city route.
There will also be changes to the timetable to improve punctuality.
Another new cross-city link will be created through the extension of service 13 (city centre to Elmhurst) to Foxhill, taking in Batheaston and London Road to provide a north-to-south connection. There will also be an extra journey in the mornings to Ralph Allen School.
Service 2 (city centre to Mulberry Park) will also be extended out to Foxhill, with the frequency of buses increasing to every 12 minutes.
The changes are part of a bi-annual review of routes by First West of England.
Other changes include:
- Services 4A and 4B (Weston to Odd Down Park & Ride) will be replaced by newly extended services 2 and 13, with the 13 following the same route as the 4A but running hourly instead of half-hourly, and the 2 extending into Foxhill to provide more frequent buses into the city centre. The 3 and 4 will both run in the evenings, providing a service every 20 minutes between the city centre and RUH.
- The route of service 19 (Bath city centre to Bristol Parkway via Bitton) will change to create faster journeys and avoid severe congestion around the Avon Ring Road (A4174). On its route to Bath, the service will bypass Frenchay, and instead travel from the University of the West of England (UWE) via Coldharbour Lane and Filton Road. A new service 50 will connect Frenchay more comprehensively from September.
- The frequency of services D2 and D2x (Bath to Frome) will be improved to almost every half hour Monday to Saturday daytimes, and some journeys will be quicker as a result of bypassing the village of Rode during quieter periods. Daytime trips on the D2 service will also finish at Christchurch in Frome.
The D2x will be operating on diversion from September as a result of the estimated six-month closure of the A36 between Limpley Stoke and Monkton Combe.
As a result, the service will not serve the Clink estate in Frome and instead will divert via Whatcombe Road, the A362, A367 and Orchard Way in Peasedown, before continuing into Bath like service 172/3/4.
Rob Pymm, commercial director for First West of England, said: “With these improvements and adult and child single fares still at £2 and £1 respectively we’re making bus travel accessible to all to encourage our existing customers to use the bus more and new customers to give the bus a go.”
First Bus consulted on the new routes with local authorities, including the West of England Combined Authority.
Detailed timetables will be available in the coming weeks, and customers are advised to check their routes before travelling.
