New bus changes coming in for Midsomer Norton buses from April : Big changes to the 172

Bus operator First West of England has announced a significant increase in the number of buses operating in the region from Sunday 2nd April.

However it will mean some major changes to passengers using some Midsomer Norton routes:

Specifically:

Service 172 Bath – Midsomer Norton – Bristol – as a result of funding provided following the successful award to the West of England Combined Authority and North Somerset Council Bus Service Improvement Plan, a revised Service 172 will operate. There will be no changes to the route between Bath and Midsomer Norton. From Midsomer Norton, the route will be extended into Paulton and on to Bristol along the route of Service 376, replacing Service 379. The 172 will operate half-hourly during the day and alongside the 376 will provide a combined 15-minute frequency along the A39 from White Cross via Whitchurch into Bristol on Monday-Saturday. When combined with services 173, 174 and the new service 522 (see below), this will also give customers a combined 12-minute frequency between Midsomer Norton and Bath, Monday-Saturday

Service 172 will operate hourly into the evening, with early morning and late evening journeys continuing to operate to and from Wells. This service will no longer serve Midsomer Norton Tesco.

In Bristol City Centre, the route will operate between Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Bus Station via Victoria Street and Bristol Bridge, giving passengers travelling between the City Centre and the Wells Road common bus stops with services 2, 2a and 92. Stops served towards the City Centre will be: Temple Meads Station (T2), Victoria Street (R6), Bristol Bridge (R8), Wine Street (B17) and Bristol Bus Station. Stops served towards Midsomer Norton and Bath will be: Bristol Bus Station, Wine Street (B18), Bristol Bridge (R9), Victoria Street (R7) and Temple Meads Station (T1).

Service 379 Bath – Midsomer Norton – Bristol – this service will be replaced by that revised Service 172

Service 522 Bath – Midsomer Norton – Keynsham – Bristol – as a result of funding provided following the successful award to the West of England Combined Authority and North Somerset Council Bus Service Improvement Plan, new service 522 will be introduced. This will operate hourly, Monday-Sunday, between Bristol Bus Station and Bath Bus Station via Keynsham, Timsbury, High Littleton, Paulton, Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Peasdown St. John. This will give customers a 12-minute service between Midsomer Norton and Bath when combined with routes 172, 173 and 174. There will be additional journeys running between Bristol and Keynsham town centre, which when combined with service 349, will give a 15-minute frequency between Bristol and Keynsham, doubling the number of daytime buses compared to now.

The new timetable and route map will be available to view soon.

Overall the company says that the changes will add over 3,000 hours of bus journeys to routes across the region every week, with the operator's buses travel ling over a million and a half extra miles every year.

Despite the improvements to many services, passenger numbers are still down by around 20% on pre-pandemic levels and although many services are showing good growth, a very small number have shown no signs of attracting sufficient users to cover their costs. As a result, services 23, 47 and 91 i the cities will no longer operate from Sunday 2nd April.

Doug Claringbold, Managing Director of First West of England, said: "These new timetables will significantly increase the service we offer our customers and I'm confident that our investment in new technology will also continue to improve punctuality. We will also be reinstating journeys in Bristol that we had to temporarily suspend last year, as we are starting to see the effect of our major driver recruitment and retention campaign. "