Evening bus boost from City Council
Winchester Park & Ride buses are set to fill some of gaps created by cutbacks to evening services.
Cuts announced to Hampshire County Council funding affect a number of evening buses, including the No.5 to Badger Farm and No.1 to Stanmore which are no longer running after 8pm.
Winchester City Council has asked Stagecoach to stop on request the Park & Ride bus services after 8pm at five extra places along the Romsey Road and Badger Farm Road.
The Park & Ride buses at 8:10pm and 8:35pm from the Railway Station will stop on request at Romsey Road at the Police Headquarters, the Hospital, Queen’s Road, Sleeper’s Hill, Battery Hill and at the Badger Farm Road/Oliver’s Battery Road stops.
The 8pm and 8:25pm from South Winchester Park & Ride will stop on request at Badger Farm Road/Oliver’s Battery Road South, and then on Romsey Road at Battery Hill, Sleeper’s Hill, Queen’s Road, the Hospital, Police Headquarters, and Railway Station on the way back to The Broadway and onto St Catherine’s Park & Ride.
The services are due to start on Monday 2 February.
Cllr Mike Southgate, the City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Communities & Transport, said: These services will help Stanmore and Badger Farm residents to get into town or back home after 8pm. We have been working with bus operators to provide some form of additional evening bus services. Both the Stagecoach 66 and the Bluestar One continue to provide late evening services to and from Stanmore and St Cross respectively.
This proposal allows us to provide some additional services at no extra cost although they will only stop on the main roads. The evening disruption to the popular Park & Ride services should be minimal. We are continuing to discuss options with operators for other parts of Winchester.”
The City Council will put posters at town bus stops to advertise the new services and promote them on social media.
Passengers will need a valid Park & Ride ticket, Stagecoach pass or concessionary pass or else they will pay the standard commercial fare for their journey.