Local First buses in the South West

[whole diary]

[grahame]

I'm looking at network connectivity ... can I make a journey on First buses all the way from Wiltshire to ... Land's End?

Heading West, I seem to run our of connections at Tiverton, with a gap to Totnes / Dartmouth.    Then I see to run our again in east cornwall - gap to St. Austell.   To the Southampton area from Bristol Bath, do I have a gap to jump from Salisbury?

[mfpa]

To the Southampton area from Bristol Bath, do I have a gap to jump from Salisbury?

The Journey planner at <http://www.travelinesw.com/swe/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en&timeOffset=15> finds no route from Bath to Southampton if you only select bus and only select operators with "First" in the name.

[JayMac]

Here's a possibility, minimising mileage on other operators:

Melksham - Bath 271/272
Bath - Bristol 38/39/X39
Bristol - Wells 376
Wells - Yeovil 377
Yeovil - Bridport 47
Bridport - Exeter X53

Then the gap to Kingswear/Dartmouth that would have to be filled by Stagecoach and the ferry across the Dart.
(Exeter - Paignton X46)
(Paignton - Kingswear 120)
(Ferry)

Dartmouth - Plymouth 93
Plymouth - Launceston 76

Then Western Greyhound to Truro via Wadebridge.
(Launceston - Wadebridge 510)
(Wadebridge - Truro 594)

Truro - Penzance 18
Penzance - Land's End 1

[LiskeardRich]

Here's a possibility, minimising mileage on other operators:

Melksham - Bath 271/272
Bath - Bristol 38/39/X39
Bristol - Wells 376
Wells - Yeovil 377
Yeovil - Bridport 47
Bridport - Exeter X53

Then the gap to Kingswear/Dartmouth that would have to be filled by Stagecoach and the ferry across the Dart.
(Exeter - Paignton X46)
(Paignton - Kingswear 120)
(Ferry)

Dartmouth - Plymouth 93
Plymouth - Launceston 76

Then Western Greyhound to Truro via Wadebridge.
(Launceston - Wadebridge 510)
(Wadebridge - Truro 594)

Truro - Penzance 18
Penzance - Land's End 1

Western greyhound wadebridge to Newquay, then pick up first in Newquay to Truro to get a little more First time.

First have no presence in mid Devon or East Cornwall.

[JayMac]

Slight correction to my summary. I forgot about the 173 from Bath - Wells. Scratch going via Bristol.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I forgot about the 173 from Bath - Wells..

Going off at a complete tangent, that reminded me of Edmund Blackadder, in the first series, who tried to cover up a mistake in his post-battle boasting of those he claimed to have slain by saying, Oh, you mean the Bishop of Bath and Wells ... 

[rogerw]

Yeovil - Bridport 47

Not any longer. Service withdrawn at the end of June.  Do First still do Wells - Taunton?  If so you can then do 30 Taunton to Axminster, X31 Axminster to Lyme Regis then X53 Lyme Regis to Exeter

[JayMac]

You're right. Serves me right for looking at an out of date map.

Yes the Wells-Taunton service 29 still runs.

So, as far as Exeter with First you have:-

Melksham - Bath 271/272
Bath - Wells 173
Wells - Taunton 29
Taunton - Axminster 30
Axminster - Lyme Regis X31
Lyme Regis - Exeter X53

You could go via Bristol also:-

Melksham Bath 271/272
Bath - Bristol 38/39/X39
Bristol - Weston-super-Mare X1
Weston-super-Mare - Taunton 21
Taunton - Axminster 30
Axminster - Lyme Regis X31
Lyme Regis - Exeter X53

[grahame]

Thanks for those inputs ... I am receipt of a couple of First South West "Go anywhere" type tickets as a result of my little problem of the driver overcharging me that's been aired in "Frequent Posters" (for those who can't see this next thread, you need to contribute around 10 posts and then you can!)  and I wondered how far the could get me.  They don't quite say "From Penzance to Bristol" but rather "and First bus from Penzance to Bristol" and I was wondering what the difference was.  I will probably end up using them just in the "West of England" which runs out around Weston-super-mare, due to the time taken by services as they go round gathering up passengers in all the nooks and crannies.   Which is what buses are best for, of course ... rail services work much better for me over longer distances, and form more or less a true network.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=14287.0

[mfpa]

Thanks for those inputs ... I am receipt of a couple of First South West "Go anywhere" type tickets as a result of my little problem

Do you have to use them by 31st August, or else cash them in for "West of England" tickets?

[mfpa]

Melksham - Bath 271/272
Bath - Wells 173

Or

Melksham - Frome 234
Frome - Wells 161

[grahame]

Thanks for those inputs ... I am receipt of a couple of First South West "Go anywhere" type tickets as a result of my little problem

Do you have to use them by 31st August, or else cash them in for "West of England" tickets?

Don't believe so ... issued within the last week or so, and dated through to 2017 with no indication of a need to turn them in.  "From Penzance to Bristol, from St Ives to Southampton and all First buses in between (*). FirstDay South West tickets are valid for virtually unlimited (*) travel for one day on all First services throughout the West Country".  (*) - "local restrictions may apply - please check with your First Travel shop before travelling"

<pedant>I would presume it to mean "all First BUS services" rather than "all First services" ... the 'unlimited' statement is an interesting one seeing as the buses operate in isolated, not connected pockets ... and how do I get to the Travel shop before travelling?</pedant>

[LiskeardRich]

Thanks for those inputs ... I am receipt of a couple of First South West "Go anywhere" type tickets as a result of my little problem

Do you have to use them by 31st August, or else cash them in for "West of England" tickets?

Don't believe so ... issued within the last week or so, and dated through to 2017 with no indication of a need to turn them in.  "From Penzance to Bristol, from St Ives to Southampton and all First buses in between (*). FirstDay South West tickets are valid for virtually unlimited (*) travel for one day on all First services throughout the West Country".  (*) - "local restrictions may apply - please check with your First Travel shop before travelling"

<pedant>I would presume it to mean "all First BUS services" rather than "all First services" ... the 'unlimited' statement is an interesting one seeing as the buses operate in isolated, not connected pockets ... and how do I get to the Travel shop before travelling?</pedant>

Maybe worth checking if valid on first trains, as the first ride Cornwall ticket is also valid on trains. You won't get nowhere near that far in a day, takes about 2 hours for the 14/18 from Truro to st Ives/Penzance alone.

[JayMac]

FirstDay SouthWest tickets are not valid on First rail services. It would've been a ridiculously cheap product at ^7 to include rail travel. The FirstDay SouthWest is no longer available to buy (except apparently in South Somerset) but there are still scratchcard types out there issued for various reasons. The wider area Day tickets issued by First in the west and south-west are now much more restricted in their area of use.

West of England Day (^7) is valid in South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, parts of Wiltshire, and some services that go out of area.

West of England Plus Day (^10) covers the above, plus the Buses of Somerset.

1Day Somerset, (^10) covers all Buses of Somerset routes.

A FirstDay Devon, (^7.40) covers Devon, services crossing into Cornwall, and the X53 to Poole.

1Day Cornwall (^10) covers Cornwall.

First Day SouthWest, purchased in South Somerset (^7.60) Valid in all the above areas, at least according to the website.

Dorset area. No Day tickets.

What First have succeeded in doing is to remove one ticket valid across all their services in the West and SouthWest and replace it with various tickets with much less validity than before. Unless you live in South Somerset apparently.

A complete horlicks. 

[LiskeardRich]

The 1 day Cornwall ticket at ^10 covers use on first and western greyhound buses, and also all train services in Cornwall and valid on through services from Cornwall into Plymouth.
It is railcard discountable when bought at a rail ticket facility at ^8.30 becomes excellent value for money.

I did this just over a week ago, and got in the open top from lands end to Penzance. A HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) from Newquay to par and all sorts of intermediate bus and train services.
Had I planned better it would have been even better value, but it was a last minute decision to do the day.