First to change Bristol route

After its new service structure in Bristol went live, First in West of England has agreed to change the route of Service 40/40A (Cribbs Causeway/Avonmouth – Broadmead) at the earliest opportunity to restore services to Julian Road in Sneyd Park. The change follows discussions between the operator and the local resident group, city councillors, the Mayor of Bristol and Charlotte Leslie MP. The services were re-routed away from the area in September as the company took steps to address the persistent operational issues it had faced accessing the area due to problems with parked cars. However, its reorganisation caused widespread concern amongst local residents. Following strong local petitioning and, significantly, commitments made by the Council to address the parking issues, First has agreed to reinstate the service along the original route. The changes are expected to be made in early February 2014, following registration and approval by the Traffic Commissioner.

MD for First in West of England, Paul Matthews, said, ‘We are pleased that this matter has been resolved. Local residents clearly felt very strongly that buses should serve Julian Road rather than Stoke Hill and it is in our interests to go where our customers want to go. However, we have to also marry that with the ability to run punctual and reliable services for the benefit of all passengers along the line of route. We have experienced significant and long standing issues with buses being delayed by poorly parked cars in and around Sneyd Park in the past but following commitments from the city council we are confident that they can be resolved in the coming months. While we would have preferred to await the implementation of the parking and highway issues before restoring the service, we offered an earlier introduction as a gesture of goodwill and in view of resident’s concerns about the colder, darker winter mornings and nights.’