A new express bus service linking Bristol city centre with Thornbury is set to become the first regular service to make use of the new Stoke Gifford Transport Link (SGTL, a.k.a. Stoke Gifford By-Pass) and the new bus lanes on Bradley Stoke Way that have been created principally for MetroBus.
Commencing operation on Sunday 27th May, First’s new T1 service will operate every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime and every 60 minutes Sunday / Public Holiday daytime.
Service T1 will start and terminate at Colston Street in Bristol city centre and will not stop in Bristol Bus Station. This means that customers from Thornbury and along the A38 (Thornbury to Aztec West) will benefit from direct access to and from the city centre, as opposed to Bristol Bus Station.
The route of Service T1 will be via the M32, A4174, Stoke Gifford Transport Link and Bradley Stoke Way to Aztec West, where the current Service 78/79 route will then be followed to Thornbury town centre.
During the day, service T1 journey times from Bristol City Centre to Thornbury town centre will be 45 minutes, providing a considerably quicker journey than at present.
Bradley Stoke residents will also be able to benefit from service T1, which can be accessed from all regular bus stops along Bradley Stoke Way, as well as the Willow Brook Centre.
Draft timetables seen by the Journal on the Traveline SW website show a journey time of just 26 minutes from the Willow Brook Centre to Bristol city centre in the middle of the day, increasing to 32 minutes during the morning peak. For travellers wishing to reach the city centre as quickly as possible, these journey times will make the T1 a very attractive alternative to the 73 and even the X73 (which also uses the M32 but takes a longer route through Stoke Gifford ‘village’ to reach it).
A First West of England spokesperson said:
“We envisage this service will be much quicker than travelling by car by virtue of the fact that the route will be using dedicated bus lanes on parts of the route. We have allocated some of our newest high-spec Euro VI double decker vehicles to the T1 service, which means much more seating for passengers (effectively doubling the capacity).
Once introduced, the MetroBus M1 route, running every 10 minutes will provide the town’s main service to the city centre.
This article originally appeared in the May 2018 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine (on page 31). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to ALL 8,700 homes in Bradley Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
UPDATE (23rd May 2018)
Official timetable for the T1 & T2 services [PDF] (First)
Willow Brook Centre to Bristol city centre journey time: 23 to 28 minutes
UPDATE (24th May 2018)
Stops between Almondsbury and Bristol city centre for T1 service:
- Almondsbury, The Swan (S-bound)
- Almondsbury, Almondsbury Depot (S-bound)
- Patchway, Aztec West Roundabout (Stop C)
- Bradley Stoke, Patchway Brook* (SE-bound)
- Bradley Stoke, Willow Brook* (S-bound)
- Bradley Stoke, Savages Wood Roundabout (S-bound)
- Bradley Stoke, The Bridge (S-bound)
- Bradley Stoke, Webbs Wood Roundabout* (SE-bound)
- Great Stoke, Great Meadow* (SE-bound)
- Great Stoke, Great Stoke* (S-bound)
- Harry Stoke, Harry Stoke* (S-bound)
- Cabot Circus, Cabot Circus (S4)
- Kingsdown, Bristol Royal Infirmary (H1)
- Bristol City Centre, The Centre (C14)
* This is a new MetroBus stop.
N.B. Doesn’t go into the Willow Brook Centre itself, but stops at the adjacent MetroBus stop on Bradley Stoke Way.
Source: Traveline South West
Discussion about this article on the BSJ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BradleyStokeJournal/posts/1852993681417466
It appears that the full length of Brook Way is still not being served with a regular service during the day except the number 77, that only runs every hour and takes a long time to reach the centre is it not possible to extend the times of the X73 during the day
Just seen the new T1 bus in Bradley Stoke.
First Bus are obviously using new stock. The “destination board” has white letters and is very easy to see.
But the most important change is the two separate doors. Presumably to enter at the front, and to alight from the middle.
The bus shown in the above picture is not the bus I saw.
@Moe, Please note that the image used in the article is a generic one and is not intended to accurately reflect the appearance of vehicles used on the T1 service.
From your description, it sounds like the vehicle being used is of the type that will be used on the MetroBus routes.
Love this route! Only thing that would make it better would be for it to go in the evenings.
Confirmed that service stops at *all* stops on Bradley Stoke Way, including the new MetroBus stops.
N.B. Doesn’t go into the Willow Brook Centre itself, but stops at the adjacent MetroBus stop on Bradley Stoke Way.
A bus service needs to be sort out around little stoke after certain times and sundays as its a joke