Citybus Changes

From the 27th July 2008 Plymouth Citybus will be implementing a number of changes to its Network, these are:

Service 23/D & 24

due to ongoing problems accessing Charles Church from Ebrington Street these services are to be withdrawn from Ebrington Street and will instead operate between Mount Gould and the City Centre via Tothill Road and Exeter Street. It is anticipated that during periods of heavy traffic in Charles Street mainly on Saturdays that these services will operate to the City Centre from Charles Church via Exeter Street Viaduct instead of Mayflower Street. For a number of months now during busy periods Services 23 & 24 have been operating via Tothill Road instead of Ebrington Street.

Service 26

is to be withdrawn from the Devonport Torpoint Ferry Terminal and is to instead operate in Yellowtor and Latchbrook Saltash. Services that currently terminate at St Budeaux will instead terminate at the top of Pemros Road. Service 26 together with outbound Service 46/A, and inbound Service 47/A have been retimed to provide a bus every 10 minutes for most of the day through Devonport Plymouth. This retiming should greatly improve passenger journey times.

Services 29/D/S & Services 43/A/B

These Services from the 27th July 2008 are to operate to the City Centre from Saltash Road, via Cobourg Street, Charles Street, Exeter Street to Royal Parade. Passengers wishing to alight on Western Approach will be able to remain on the bus and alight on its outward journey.  Operating this route to Royal Parade is expected to improve reliability in terms of frequency gaps on Wolseley Road services, especially during peak hours Monday to Fridays. It is anticipated that on some Saturdays due to congestion on Cobourg Street caused by cars waiting to access the Drake Circus Car Park, that for brief periods of the day Services may need to operate via Western Approach to the City Centre.

Service 42/A/D

Service 42D is to be replaced with the Service 42. Service 42/A are to operate into the Derriford Business Park Monday to Saturday. Please note that due to ongoing problems with parking it is highly likely that these services will be withdrawn from Leatfield Drive in the not so distant future.

Service 46/A/S 146 and 246

are to be withdrawn from Mayflower Street and will instead approach the City Centre via Drake Circus and Exeter Street. Service 46/A will also now include the Tamar Science Park near Derriford Hospital.

Service 47/A

is to operate into the Tamar Science Park Monday to Saturdays. These services have been retimed to generally depart 5 minutes earlier and further compliment Service 26 in Devonport. These changes are to provide a bus every 10 minutes for most of the day between St Budeaux, HMS Drake Devonport to the City Centre Monday to Saturday daytime, with evening and Sunday Services operating every 30 minutes.

Service 56S and Service 85

Plymouth Citybus will no longer be operating Service 56S and Service 85 from the 27th  July 2008.

City Centre Services

During periods of heavy congestion in the Charles Street area of Plymouth which is generally on Saturdays between 11:00 & 14:00 usually due to traffic waiting to enter the Drake Circus Car Park. In order to maintain service reliability Services 21, 23,
24, 50/A & 51 may need to operate to the City Centre via Exeter Street Viaduct and not via Mayflower Street and Western Approach. Services 16, 29, 43/A/B may also need to operate via Western Approach instead of Charles Street to Royal Parade. Plymouth City Council has initiated a number of works which has significantly reduced the times we have needed to operate the diversion. It is hoped that further works will be completed to eliminate the need to operate the diversion.

Free Shopper Services

Plymouth Citybus will no longer be operating the free shopper services for Asda & Tesco with the last day of operation being Friday the 25th  July 2008. For Asda Plymouth Citybus operates Services 46/A, 47/A and the Service 50/A. Plymouth Citybus also operates a number of Services to Tesco Transit Way these are Services 26A,  29, 61 and the Service 62. 

Changes to School Services from the 1st September 2008

Plymouth Citybus will no longer be operating the following School Services Service 56S, SAL1, 2, & 4. Grammar School Service 122 is to be withdrawn from St Anne’s Chapel and will instead terminate at Kelly Bray.

It is interesting, and useful to see the 42 now going into Derriford Business Park. We are slowly seeing more buses down this estate which will only see more growth over the coming years. It can add to journey times though at peak times as traffic can take a while to get onto Tavistock Road from the estate. Cant see them picking anyone up on a Saturday though!

The 46/47 diversion into Tamar Science Park is interesting too. The current Northern Connect service also serves this estate - I have only ever seen one passenger catch the bus from there. At least it will only add a minute or two to the journey time.