Changes made to bus services between Bristol, Chepstow and MagorA number of changes are being made to bus services operating between Bristol, Chepstow and Magor from Sunday 21 July.
At present Service 14/X14, operated by both First and Stagecoach, provides an hourly service between Bristol, Chepstow and Newport, with reciprocal ticket arrangements between First and Stagecoach in place. However from 21 July Stagecoach is withdrawing the journeys it operates on the route.
To ensure that customers, and particularly those commuting to and from work, are still able to make their full journeys though First has stepped in to alter its service and provide a number of additional journeys from the same date.
From 21 July, First will provide the following services between Bristol, Chepstow and Magor:
Service X10 (Bristol - Magor via M32, Bulwark and Chepstow): This service will continue to operate, providing a journey from Magor (Withy Walk) to Bristol Bus Station via Chepstow Bus Station at 0654 hours (Monday - Friday) and a further journey from Chepstow Bus Station to Bristol Bus Station at 1650 hours. From Bristol Bus Station buses will leave at 0805 and 1715 hours Monday to Friday - the 1715 hours departure will be extended to serve Magor (Withy Walk). Notably the X10 journey that previously operated on Saturdays is being removed from the timetable but it is replaced by an extra journey on Service X14. Finally, from 21 July buses operating on Service X10 will stop at Cabot Circus in Bristol in both directions - this change is in response to many customer requests.
Service X11 (Bristol - Chepstow via Bishopston, Filton, Patchway, Cribbs Causeway, Aztec West, Bulwark): This service will continue to operate Monday to Fridays with a journey from Chepstow Bus Station at 0702 hours and a return journey from Bristol Bus Station at 1800 hours (this is five minutes later than the current journey). The Saturday X11 journey (at 0711 hours) is being withdrawn but it is replaced by an extra X14 journey (at 0715 hours).
Service 14 (Chepstow - Newport): This service, which provides journeys from Chepstow to Newport will cease to exist after 21 July. Instead customers wishing to travel between Newport and Chepstow will be able to use the new Service 74/X74 operated by Stagecoach. Customers travelling to or from Bristol wishing to use Service 74/X74 should note that they will be required to change buses in Chepstow from 21 July. Similarly they should note that while connections between Service 14 and X14 were previously guaranteed, this wont be the case between Services X14 and 74/X74.
Service X14 (Bristol - Chepstow via UWE, Cribbs Causeway, Bulwark): There are a number of changes being made to this service as all the journeys previously operated by Stagecoach will be withdrawn. First is amending the timetable though to provide alternatives in most cases. Specifically buses will run hourly during the daytime Monday - Saturday at 45 minutes past the hour. The last X14 bus to leave will do so slightly earlier in both directions on all days of operation and for this reason customers are advised to check the new timetable carefully. In addition to this, the route that buses take is being changed slightly. From 21 July all Service X14 buses will call at the University of the West of Englands Frenchay Campus, providing another link to the university site from Chepstow. In addition buses will serve stops close to Cabot Circus, Filton College and on Gipsy Patch Lane in North Bristol.
Talking about what is happening, Simon Ford, Regional Network Manager, First, says: "Following the loss of the Stagecoach service we have made some changes to our X10, X11 and X14 services. On the whole, customers should not be overly concerned by these changes though as in most cases the Stagecoach journeys that have been withdrawn are being replaced by us. The biggest change will be loss of the joint ticketing arrangement that was previously in place. This means that customers will not be able to travel on both First and Stagecoach services using either operators tickets. To help customers out though we have come to an arrangement with Stagecoach whereby customers will be able to travel using either operators ticket until 3 August - this gives customers two weeks to understand the impact of what is happening and make alternative arrangements where necessary. The other important change that customers should be aware of is the fact that once the alterations take effect the guaranteed connections that currently exist between Services X14 and 14 (whereby buses wait for each other) will no longer be in place. This means customers will need to consider how they plan their journeys and onward connections more carefully to avoid disappointment.
"We would strongly advise those people who use Services X10, X11 and 14/X14 to get a copy of the new timetable for the services before the changes take effect so that they understand the impact of what is happening."
Timetables for the new services will be available to view online - on Firsts website,
www.firstgroup.com/bristol - from the 12 July 2013
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