Bus operator First West of England has announced changes to the timetables of the 73 and X73 services, with effect from this Sunday (24th April).
The frequency of the 73 service between 10am and 3pm Monday through Friday will be reduced to ‘every 15 minutes’ (currently ‘every 12 minutes’). The frequency on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays will remain the same.
On the X73 service, the current 5.20pm journey from Bristol city centre to Bradley Stoke will depart five minutes later at 5.25pm.
The new timetables are available online from First Group and Traveline South West.
Jenny MacLeod, General Manager for First in Bristol, said:
“In reviewing our services recently we realised that many of our buses on Service 73 are running with a very small number of customers during the off-peak part of the day. To reflect this we will slightly reduce the frequency from every 12 to every 15 minutes (still providing four buses an hour).”
“At peak times, the current 12-minute frequency will remain, providing five buses an hour throughout the rush hours. These very minor changes to the 73 are part of a range of actions we are taking to create a more sustainable timetable that can withstand the extra congestion everyone in Bristol is facing at the moment.”
The off-peak frequency of the 73 service was reduced from ‘every 10 minutes’ to ‘every 12 minutes’ in August 2014, at the same time that the X74 service was introduced (and the Wessex 13 service withdrawn).
This article originally appeared in the April 2016 edition of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine, delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
we only have two different buses instead of cutting the time put smaller buses on to be more better fuel wise
Any idea where I can get detailed route maps for the 73 and X73 that show ALL the stops? The official PDFs just say “Bradley Stoke, Newleaze” and “Bradley Stoke, Willow Brook Centre”.
@Jim, One way of getting a timetable showing ALL stops is to use the Timetable Lookup feature on Traveline South West (link in article). Having found the right service, be sure to click on ‘Timetable’ rather than ‘PDF’. Then you should see a button to select ‘All Stops’. After clicking that, you can click on ‘Print Version (PDF)’. A bit long-winded, but it worked for me!
It’s a shame they haven’t reinstated the 16:50 X73. I am very much looking forward to MetroBus.
Good luck with the Metrobus, 4 stops in Bradley Stoke, and ok if all you want to do is go into the centre of Bristol. By the way it has to be up and running by April 2017, if it isn’t finished by then the Government are going to recover the remaining funding they have put into the project.