New night bus allows North Somerset residents to enjoy weekend nights out

From April 6, a new service X14 (Bristol to Weston via Portishead and Clevedon) will offer trips from Bristol Bus Station at 1.15am and 2.15am on Fridays and Saturdays, allowing residents in North Somerset to get the bus home later after enjoying Friday and Saturday nights out in Bristol.

The service will pick up at stops on The Centre, Anchor Road, Hotwells Road and then run via the Portway to Portishead before continuing to Clevedon, Worle and Weston-super-Mare. When leaving Bristol, the bus will stop at Shirehampton and Avonmouth using all the stops along the Portway. 

Working closely with transport authorities, service changes are put in place every April and September, basing changes on passenger numbers and community needs as part of North Somerset Council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), funded by the Department for Transport. The latest changes will come into effect on Sunday 6th April.

• Service X5 (Portishead to Weston-super-Mare) will be re-routed via the M5 providing quicker connections between Portishead, Clevedon and Weston. All journeys will run through Weston College and Weston General Hospital.
• Service X6 (Clevedon to Bristol) will double in frequency to every 30 minutes, resulting in three buses per hour between Clevedon and Bristol between services X6 and X7. A new hourly Sunday service will also be introduced on the X6.
• Service X7 (Clevedon to Bristol) will be re-routed via Backwell to provide better connections between towns and villages in North Somerset including Clevedon, Nailsea and Backwell.
• Service 7 (Worle to Locking Parklands) will have significant changes to its route and timetable, including its removal from the seafront to improve reliability. The changes will be complemented by the introduction of new services 7H and 7B to provide a service every 15 minutes between Oldmixon, Weston General Hospital and Weston town centre.
• Service 7H (Weston Interchange to Hutton via Weston Hospital and Loxton Road Campus) and 7B (Weston Interchange to Bleadon via Weston Hospital and Loxton Road Campus) are two new services, which will be coordinated with service 7 to offer improved frequency to Weston General Hospital and Loxton Road campus.
• Service 126 (Weston-super-Mare to Wells) will be re-routed to provide quicker journeys into Weston from Cheddar and Wells, and better access to the Weston College Skills campus.

There are changes to other services and timetables, and customers are advised to check their routes before travelling from April 6. Further details about all the changes are available on the First West of England website, and detailed timetables will be published in the coming weeks.

George Burton, Head of Network for First Bus in the West of England, said: “The night-time economy is really important to our region, so we’re pleased to be announcing a new bus service which will allow even more people across North Somerset to enjoy weekend nights out knowing they can get home on the bus.

“This new service comes alongside a host of other changes we’re making to services across North Somerset from April 6. We review our bus network twice a year, and we use data, our own expertise, insight from local authorities and feedback from the public and stakeholders to decide where improvements can be made. Where we are amending some timetables, we have made changes elsewhere to minimise disruption to customers and ensure they are able to continue travelling by bus.”

First Bus has consulted on the new routes with local authorities, including North Somerset Council, ahead of them coming into effect in April.