Road, Rail & Access Issues

[TheLocalYokel]

Service A2

From 11 January the two-hourly Bristol/Weston-super-Mare service 121 via Bristol Airport operated by First West of England ceased to operate.

In its place the niche A2 buses that served the airport from surrounding towns and villages in the mornings and later each afternoon have been extended in scope and frequency.

The A2 now follows the former 121 route (with minor variations) between Weston and Bristol Airport before carrying on to Nailsea via Backwell. The service is hourly in both directions and runs from around 0500 until 2300 with a reduced service on Sundays.

The A2 connects with Weston, Worle and Nailsea & Backwell railway stations. It will also connect with the Airport Flyer at the airport and with the X1, W1 (both Weston-Bristol routes) and X8 (Clevedon-Bristol) buses at Backwell for travel into Bristol itself.

So to summarise the bus services now serving BRS are as follows:

A1 Bristol Airport Flyer between airport and main Bristol rail and bus stations, operated by First Bristol on behalf of the airport 24 hours a day, with frequency every 8/9 minutes from early morning until mid evening then lesser frequency.

A2 Operated between Weston and Nailsea/Backwell via airport by First West of England, hourly frequency between 0500 and 2300.

A4 Air Decker operated between Bath and airport by Bath Bus Company, hourly frequency between 0300 and 0050.

Service 100 Operated between Swansea, Cardiff and Newport by First Greyhound, hourly/two hourly frequency between 0345 and 2330.

In addition the overnight National Express services London-Penzance and Penzance-London call at the airport in the early hours of each morning.

 

[tpm]

Who's brilliant idea was it to call this A2 instead of, say A3, A5 or whatever?

If I'm not mistaken there used to be an A2 service into the centre that would run along Anchor Road, and there are still websites that imply A2 is a valid option to get into Bristol city centre.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Who's brilliant idea was it to call this A2 instead of, say A3, A5 or whatever?

If I'm not mistaken there used to be an A2 service into the centre that would run along Anchor Road, and there are still websites that imply A2 is a valid option to get into Bristol city centre.

You're right. The Flyer used to run alternately as A1 and A2 with the A1 operating the direct route to the country bus station via Temple Meads and the A2 operated from the airport to Temple Meads and the bus station via Clifton.

A couple of years ago it was reorganised to operate a common route as A1 and that still obtains. There are some unofficial websites that still refer to the A2 operating to the city.

The 'new' A2 started operating about a year ago but was very much a local bus service from the airport to Backwell/Nailsea in one direction and to Langford, Congresbury and Yatton in the other. It ran until late morning and restarted in late afternoon. It's run by First but with local authority support.

First has previous in the Bristol area for putting out confusing bus numbers. A year or two ago it renumbered the 'stopper' Weston-Bristol service from 352 to 1. (I do a lot of walking and the buses are very useful for linear walks. If you take the car you have to come back to it.) I told First that their Bristol-Weston 1 service stopped at an adjacent bus stop on the Tramway Centre to their city 1 service (Broomhill-Cribbs Causeway).

They've now renumbered their Bristol-Weston 'stopper' from 1 to W1 but it still serves largely the same route as their express X1 Bristol-Weston. I have no doubt some people who are not regulars on the journey find that confusing.

 

[superking]

a post on a welsh forum site states that the greyhound service from wales to brs airport has been pulled.
i can find nothing any where to confirm this.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

a post on a welsh forum site states that the greyhound service from wales to brs airport has been pulled.
i can find nothing any where to confirm this.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/b ... en-8571845

The source is the above newspaper link.

The Greyhound seemed variable in its loads whenever I saw it. In summer it could be near full but at other times there were just a handful of passengers. It also ran at a two-hour frequency for much of the day meaning that anyone arriving by air into BRS for South Wales who'd just missed the previous coach had a two hour wait for the next one.

They might as well have gone to Temple Meads by the Flyer (runs every few minutes) and catch the train to South Wales (at least two every hour). Furthermore, the train and the Greyhound are operated by First. I don't think BRS will suffer in its passenger figures because of this as there are viable alternatives.

The Bath A4 Air Decker seems no better loaded than the Greyhound whenever I see it but it does run as a normal bus along the route and picks up a lot of non-airport passengers. Even here its hourly frequency can mean a longish wait at BRS for passengers going to Bath so going to Temple Meads by Flyer then train to Bath (just eleven minutes by the fastest trains to Bath Spa station from TM) can be quicker overall. The return A4 fare is £20 so it doesn't need too many at this fare to make the service viable.

 

[kraktoa]

Roadworks starting next week outside the airport on the A38.

A traffic light is going to be placed at the congested area from A38 left on to Downside road. It was always a mess there with long delays.

The roundabout will get a face lift. Hope they dont change the LED monument.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Roadworks starting next week outside the airport on the A38.

A traffic light is going to be placed at the congested area from A38 left on to Downside road. It was always a mess there with long delays.

The roundabout will get a face lift. Hope they dont change the LED monument.

It can be very awkward getting onto the A 38 at that point. I'm guessing that the new lights will be paid for out of the s 106 payments made by the airport to the local authority in connection with the major expansion planning approval. I believe the total s 106 sum will amount to several million pounds in due course.

 

[Aviador]

What is the LED monument? I never recall seeing it when I was passing a couple of years back?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

What is the LED monument? I never recall seeing it when I was passing a couple of years back?

It's a sculpture on the roundabout on the A 38 that leads into the airport's main entrance. It's illuminated at night. It's fairly recent in origin and may not have been there when you passed by.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

This is the notice on the BRS website regarding the A38 roadworks.

[textarea]A38 Improvement Works

From February until early May, improvements are going to be carried out on the A38 immediately north of Bristol Airport.

The planned works will include:

Traffic signals being installed on the junction of the A38 and Downside Road, with the aim of enhancing traffic flow and safety.

The removal of the footbridge and replacement with a safe pedestrian crossing point.

Improvements to the airport entrance roundabout.

These road improvements, which are being funded by Bristol Airport at a cost of over £1million, will ultimately deliver enhanced access to the Airport, minimising delays and disturbance caused by traffic congestion to the benefit of local residents, airport staff and passengers.

While we will be working with the contractor to minimise the impact on local residents and road users, please be aware that some disruption may occur while work is taking place.

To minimise delays to road users the majority of work will take place outside peak daytime hours. The contractors, Griffiths, will be following the Considerate Constructors Scheme Code of Practice in order to keep the night-time disturbance to nearby properties to a minimum. However, should you have any concerns during or in advance of this work being carried out, please contact the dedicated helpline on 0845 8622327.

Work is expected to commence on Monday 9 February for completion by early May.

To view the plans, please click below:

Plan 1
Plan 2
Plan 3
Plan 4[/textarea]
http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/about-u ... works.aspx

 

[superking]

talk on the dried plum that national express doing coach servives from south wales. no other details.

what is the difference from national express and greyhound.
coach to be in brs livery.

 

[tpm]

It's going to be NationalExpress according to the airport's twitter post:

I don't know about Wales, but I think in general NationalExpress has much more brand recognition than Greyhound. Also, this is only Cardiff - Newport - Bristol Airport, without the Swansea - Cardiff bit, which must have been the 'thin end' usage-wise, so this should be operationally a bit more efficient.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

New National Express service Cardiff-BRS

It will be a 12 x daily service according to a newspaper report.

The First Greyhound ran from very early morning until late in the evening each day at either hourly or two-hourly intervals, depending on the time of day. Its loads were variable as is the case with the Flyer and Air Decker.

Having to wait two hours at the airport for the next coach if you'd just missed the previous one is not a good experience to put it mildly. I wonder how much this had an effect on usage. The frequency of the new service has not been published so far as I know.

I still think the Flyer which is almost an on-demand service for much of the time to Temple Meads and then onto one of the 3 x hourly TM-Cardiff rail services is a better potential option. No doubt it would be down to the respective costs in most cases.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

New National Express service between Cardiff, Newport and Bristol Airport

BRS has now issued a press release on its website regarding the new service which began yesterday according to the press release. It's certainly possible to book for this week and onwards on the National Express website. It's an extremely short lead-in period and according to another part of the BRS website the First Greyhound service from South Wales continues until 17 May.

There are 12 direct return journeys available each day roughly every two hours and they run pretty evenly around the clock. There are also about an additional six return journeys that require a change at Bristol bus station onto the BRS Flyer. The one hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes journey times of the direct service are much quicker than those that require a change at Bristol bus station and take over two hours.

The new service will be number 216 in tribute to the number of the last UK Concorde (G-BOAF) built at Filton, where she now lives, which is also the last Concorde to fly. The coaches will be in a Bristol Airport livery - per the picture in tpm's earlier post.

The full press release can be read at

http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/media-c ... press.aspx

 

[Aviador]

Any new bus service that improves connect-ability can only be a good thing, however, the two hourly service might not be enough to get people to utilise the service. I don't think I would be comfortable waiting potentially up to two hours for a bus home. Time will tell though I guess.

Lovin the airport livery on the bus though!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Any new bus service that improves connect-ability can only be a good thing, however, the two hourly service might not be enough to get people to utilise the service. I don't think I would be comfortable waiting potentially up to two hours for a bus home. Time will tell though I guess.

Lovin the airport livery on the bus though!

The Greyhound South Wales service was two-hourly for much of the day (hourly at certain times) and I posted earlier that this might have been a drawback.

All the bus/coach services serving BRS are liveried in different ways that include their airport connection:

The A1 Flyer between airport and Bristol main rail and bus/coach stations (operated by First for the airport as a 24-hour service at 8/9 minute frequency from early morning until mid evening then more spread out)

The A2 local link that connects the airport with Weston-super-Mare and local towns and villages (operated by First at one hourly frequency from early morning until late evening)

The A4 Air Decker double deckers between airport and Bath but with en route stops (operated by Bath Bus Company at one hour frequency from 0300 until after midnight)

The new National Express service 216 between airport and South Wales

 

[tpm]

One strange thing I noticed: the journeys that include a transfer onto the A1 at Bristol Bus Station include 30 minutes transfer time, when that service runs ever 8-9 minutes during the day. That seems rather a lot and a bit unfortunate, since 1:58h would probably look much better than 2:18h, especially compared to getting to Heathrow.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

One strange thing I noticed: the journeys that include a transfer onto the A1 at Bristol Bus Station include 30 minutes transfer time, when that service runs ever 8-9 minutes during the day. That seems rather a lot and a bit unfortunate, since 1:58h would probably look much better than 2:18h, especially compared to getting to Heathrow.

Indeed - it seems strange although I suspect that punters could get on the first available A1 Flyer. The transfer journeys in the early hours are obviously different with the A1 hourly at that time.

I was at the airport this morning and saw the First Greyhound from South Wales arrive about 10.15. About 25 passengers got off. Two or three minutes later the new National Express arrived from Cardiff and Newport with about half a dozen passengers. It appears that both services will operate in tandem until the Greyhound finishes - on 17 March according to the airport website.

Whilst outside the terminal I spoke to the driver of the A4 Air Decker from Bath that came in around the time of the two Welsh coaches. He said that the service will go half hourly (from hourly) later this month. There is nothing specific on the bus company website except that they carry a news item about new buses joining their fleet for the airport service so maybe the route will expand its frequency.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

A4 Air Decker

It's now confirmed that the A4 Air Decker service between BRS and Bath will increase to a 30 minute frequency (up from one hour) for much of its operational day which is around 22 hours in each 24. Some new Volvo double deckers are being drafted in to increase the frequency.

 

[superking]

well known poster on prune saying new taxi company operating from the airport. arrow cars i think.