Bus operator First West of England is making further changes to its MetroBus Bristol services from Sunday 5th January 2020, in particular the M1 MetroBus which links Bradley Stoke with Cribbs Causeway and Bristol city centre.

The company says the changes are designed to better reflect the pattern of customer demand across all hours of MetroBus service and improve reliability and punctuality.

The number of customers using the city’s MetroBuses has grown steadily, with more than four million passengers carried across the three routes (M1, M2 & M3) since the launch of the services.

The M1 MetroBus service between Cribbs Causeway and Hengrove, which passes along Bradley Stoke Way, has seen varying customer demand across peak and off-peak times. Additional peak capacity was added to the busiest sections of the route in September 2019, however this was only of benefit to passengers from Bradley Stoke travelling in the direction of the city centre during the morning peak.

With peak demand continuing to grow, the number of buses between Bradley Stoke’s Patchway Brook stop (near Aldi) and the city centre will be increased from January to provide extra capacity in both directions, and in the evening peak as well as the morning peak. Furthermore, some of these extra buses will start or terminate at Parson Street Station in Bedminster rather than the city centre.

This will mean a bus will run every 7-8 minutes on this section of the route at all weekday peak times compared to the current 10 minutes, an increase of 33 percent in the number of seats provided.

Outside of peak times on this section of the route, and throughout the day on the remainder of the route, the weekday M1 service will now operate every 15 minutes (a downgrade from the present ‘every 12 minutes’). Late evening services (after about 7pm) will continue to run every 20 minutes.

On Saturdays, buses will operate every 20 minutes at all times of day throughout the route (a downgrade from the present ‘every 12 minutes’ between approximately 10am and 5pm).

There are no changes to the frequency of buses on Sundays and public holidays.

More: M1 MetroBus one year on: Your views »

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The operating frequency of the flagship M1 MetroBus service, which links Bradley Stoke with Cribbs Causeway and Bristol city centre, looks set to be reduced for the second time in just over four months, the Journal can reveal.

No formal announcement has yet been made by First West of England or its sub-contractor Bristol Community Transport, but the following brief statement about the M1 service has appeared today (27th November) on the Travelwest website:

[With effect from 05/01/2020]

“Monday to Friday frequency reduction from ‘every 10 minutes’ to ‘every 15 minutes’.”

“Additional peak journeys between The Centre [in Bristol] and Patchway Brook [near Aldi in Bradley Stoke].”

“Saturday frequency reduction from ‘every 10 minutes’ to ‘every 20 minutes’. No Changes on Sundays.”

At the time of writing, no timetables were available for the revised service.

When it started on 6th January 2019, the M1 service ran every 10 minutes between 6am and midnight (Mon-Sat) and every 20 minutes between 9am and midnight on Sundays.

However, from 1st September 2019, the Monday to Friday off-peak and Saturday daytime frequency was reduced from ‘every 10 minutes’ to ‘every 12 minutes’. At the same time, the Monday to Saturday evening frequency was reduced from ‘every 10 minutes’ to ‘every 20 minutes’.

In contrast to off-peak times, passenger numbers at peak hours remain high and a small number of additional morning peak journeys were introduced from 15th September 2019 on the route section between Patchway Brook and Broadmead. These journeys are run using vehicles which aren’t MetroBus-branded.

Photo: The very first timetabled M1 MetroBus to enter Bradley Stoke arrives at the Patchway Brook southbound stop at 9.12am on Sunday 6th January 2019.

UPDATE (28th November 2019)

First West of England says new timetables will be available on its website from Friday 6th December 2019.

UPDATE (14th December 2019)

M1 timetable from 5th January 2020 [PDF; 5.7MB N.B. Large file!]

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The off-peak frequency of the M1 MetroBus service which runs between Cribbs Causeway, Bradley Stoke and Hengrove, via the city centre is to be reduced from 1st September due to low passenger numbers.

Finally starting operations in January 2019, more than three years after major roadworks began in Bradley Stoke to create the necessary infrastructure for the route, the M1 service has been required to run every 10 minutes through the day on weekdays, in order to meet the service levels set out in the MetroBus Quality Partnership Scheme.

The service is said to be very popular during the morning and afternoon peak times, but First West of England says there is a significant drop off in passengers outside of these times. To better reflect this pattern of demand, from 1st September, the Monday to Friday off-peak and Saturday daytime frequency will be reduced from ‘every 10 minutes’ to ‘every 12 minutes’. At the same time, the Monday to Saturday evening frequency will be reduced from ‘every 10 minutes’ to ‘every 20 minutes’, with the transition in frequency taking place between 7pm and 8pm.

On a more positive note, on Sundays and public holidays, the M1 service will start operating two hours earlier, at 7am, and run every 30 minutes between 7am and 9am.

Prior to the introduction of the M1 service, First initially said that it would be axing its existing peak-hours-only X73 service once the M1 started. It later changed its mind and the X73 was retained, albeit with one fewer journey each day and rebranded as the T3.

Having operated the T3 service for over six months, First has concluded that the service is not commercially viable and has announced its withdrawal from 1st September.

More: Additional morning peak journeys from BS to city centre »

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A new traffic lane on a main road through Bradley Stoke is having to be resurfaced less than three years after it was created due to substandard materials being used in its construction.

What is now the southbound lane of Bradley Stoke Way between Patchway Brook Roundabout (near Aldi) and Savages Wood Roundabout (near the leisure centre) was created as part the MetroBus project by taking land from the adjacent verge. It received its final surfacing in September 2016 after which it was brought into service for general traffic.

But on Tuesday last week (21st May), South Gloucestershire Council announced on its StreetCare Facebook page that it would be closing the aforementioned stretch of road overnight for five nights from Monday 27th May “to carry out carriageway resurfacing”.

The post attracted a torrent of comments with people demanding to know why “the best road in Bradley Stoke” and “the only road in the area without potholes” should need resurfacing.

The council replied with the comment:

“The closure is for remedial works – we need to carry out investigations as we have detected defects underneath the carriageway which can cause potholes and other problems on the road surface,”

which only led to further questions asking why other roads in the area which already have potholes haven’t been repaired.

In reply to an enquiry from the Journal, an SGC spokesperson explained further:

“This is MetroBus remedial work that is being carried out at no cost to South Gloucestershire Council. The contractor used the incorrect material specification for the stone mastic asphalt (SMA) which would result in a reduced life span of the surface.”

Asked if the issue might affect other stretches of road created during the MetroBus project, the spokesperson added:

“The issue of incorrect material being used during the MetroBus work applies only to the southbound section that is being resurfaced this week.”

More: Overnight closure on Thursday for white lining »

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