Public Transport - Winchester Town Access Plan

Promoting greater use of public transport was one of the main objectives of the original Winchester Movement and Access Plan and is likely to continue to be a core part of the new access plan. Public transport improvements are being delivered through Quality Partnerships between the County Council, the City Council and Stagecoach and Southwest Trains. Waiting facilities for passengers and travel information have been improved, both for rail and bus users.

Bus

The bus network in Winchester is well established with a number of high frequency routes serving the centre and its environments, most of which are operated on a commercial basis and are not under controlled by either the city or county councils.

'Quality Partnerships' between operators and the local authorities have helped increase bus patronage on a number of routes through improved frequencies and passenger facilities. The most recent improvement in the city is the installation of a new real time information system.

Rail

Winchester benefits from excellent rail services but this can bring its own pressures particularly in terms of access to the station. Winchester is on the main line to London with frequent services to the Capital and the South, as well as cross country services to the Midlands, the North and Scotland.

The main operator, Southwest Trains, has seen a 50% increase in patronage over the last ten years Whilst this growth is very much supported, it does raise other issues, particularly in terms of access to the station.