Swanmore residents criticise council's replacement bus service

Villagers say the new service is both less frequent and poorly connected. Hampshire County Council is funding the new Stagecoach service, offering five daily round trips, to replace the Xelabus X9 and X10.

However, residents in Swanmore have already criticised the new 49 service ahead of its first trip on Monday, April 3.

Stuart Jones posted on the Facebook group Swanmore Village Chat Room: “The X9/X10 services finish this week. Yes, there were issues with the routing and timing of these, but the intended replacement 49 service is even less frequent and doesn't provide connections either at Botley or Hedge End. No Saturday service either.

“Public subsidy money is tight, but suggested minor changes to the timetable could have at least provided some connectivity. These have not been accepted by Hampshire County Council (HCC). As it stands, the intended service does not align to agreed HCC policy.”

READ MORE: Hampshire County Council funds Waltham Chase to Hedge End bus service

Mr Jones is referring to the council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan which states an ambition for buses to be “more frequent, more reliable, easier to understand and use, better coordinated and cheaper, providing a fully integrated service.”

Meanwhile, a parent of two Swanmore College pupils said she has received little information from the school and is unsure what the changes mean for her kids.

Care home manager Hannah Dear, of Marlow Road, said: “I don’t know how I will get my children to and from school. My job requires me to be flexible and I rely heavily on the service to ensure my children can travel safely.

“This will have a huge impact on us as a family. Safety is a huge concern as there will be no doubt occasion when they will need to walk and the pavements are not all suitable.”

Hannah along with other Swanmore College parents received an email from the school on March 28, two weeks after Cllr Nick Adams-King, county council executive lead member for universal services, confirmed the 49 service would be taking over.

SEE ALSO: Anger at bus service from Bishop's Waltham to Swanmore College

The email read: “We have been made aware that the X9 service from Bishop’s Waltham will no longer be provided by Xelabus as their contract is ending at the end of March. We are awaiting an update from HCC about the new service provider for this route and will update you as soon as we have any further information.”

Fellow parent Alison Trott agreed with Hannah and has been in contact with Hampshire Transport for clarity. Alison, whose child gets the bus from Albany Road in Bishop's Waltham, said: “As a parent, I have very little knowledge of what’s happening. We had no communication from Hampshire Transport. We’ve been left hanging as to what will happen, it’s absolutely disgusting that the kids don’t know how they will be getting to school after Easter.

“The latest update from the school indicated that they don’t really know anything. Some parents haven’t even considered that their child’s bus pass might no longer be valid.

“It’s a large school with lots of children and there already weren’t enough bus routes. To expect children to walk, regardless of the distance, is very dangerous because of the road.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said: “Pupils who are eligible for assisted home-to-school transport are eligible to use the new Stagecoach 49 service. Bus passes are in the process of being sent to pupils ready for the Summer term. The X9A service, provided commercially by Xelabus, also includes journeys to and from Swanmore College on school days that can be used by anyone who needs to travel. However, students with a bus pass issued by Hampshire County Council are not able to use this on the X9A service.”

The X9 and X10 services ran for the last time on Friday, March 31 but Xelabus has confirmed the X9A from Eastleigh to Bishop’s Waltham Square will continue for students to use until the end of the academic year.

To view the new 49 timetable which covers roundtrips to Bishop's Waltham, Swanmore, Waltham Chase, Durley, West End, Botley and Hedge End areas go to tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/South/Winchester/.

The county council has been asked to comment.