Tuesday 12th March 2024
I paid a visit to Somerset last Wednesday to investigate an interesting development in that county’s bus scene. Both Somerset and North Somerset Councils have used some of their BSIP funds to reinstate route 126 between Weston-Super-Mare and Wells.
Regular readers may recall I took a ride on the route just before it was withdrawn in October 2022 albeit a tender was subsequently awarded to Libra Travel for a shorter six-journeys-a-day service at the eastern end of the route between Axbridge, Cheddar and Wells.
Despite this, the clamour for a full reinstatement of the route continued, so Councillor Mike Rigby, Lead Member for Transport and Digital (interesting combination) at Somerset Council said “we know losing this important connection between Wells and Weston-super-Mare was a hammer blow to a lot of communities along the route. We have done what we can to keep communities between Wells and Axbridge connected, but we know getting the whole route back has continued to be a priority for residents and bus user groups. It’s great we’ve been able to join forces with North Somerset and make this happen, thanks to the Government’s Bus Service Improvement Grant.”
The updated route takes a more circuitous route at the Weston-Super-Mare end doing a tour of Uphill and Weston General Hospital as well as Hutton adding to the journey time, but a tightening up of running time between Sandford and Axbridge means overall end-to-end journey times are fairly comparable.
It’s a two bus operation on Mondays to Fridays with just one bus on Saturdays providing only four return journeys compared to seven on the previous timetable.
This was the previous timetable until October 2022….
…(Update from retired bus driver Peter from Wells in the Comments …. the above was the pandemic timetable; an hourly timetable with double deckers was restored prior to the route’s withdrawal in October 2022)… and this is the one reintroduced at the beginning of January 2024.
I caught the 12:28 journey from Weston-super-Mare railway station. I was the only passenger boarding with six other passengers joining at the town centre ‘bus interchange’.
The new route heads south along the seafront Beach Road to the community of Uphill, where the bus does a circuit of the village before continuing to Weston General Hospital and then Oldmixon.
We dropped one passenger off on Beach Road and two at the hospital (where two also boarded) and another from the town centre alighted in Oldmixon leaving four on board.
I then expected the bus to follow an easterly route via Hutton as per the timetable and route maps.
But whereas we’d followed the designated route (in blue on the above map) up to that point we then headed back northwards towards the new residential area of Haywood Village on the disused Airfield before joining the A371 and by-passing Locking (shown in green). There was no explanation of why we took that route and I didn’t spot any road closed signs but I guess Hutton was inaccessible for some reason.
(Update from Robin in Comments – “From 22 February Oldmixon Road and Hutton Hill in the village of Hutton …closed due to a landslide” . Now back to normal.)
Three of our four passengers alighted in Banwell – they were all college students – and the fourth got off in Winscombe, leaving just me on board until we reached the delightful village of Axbridge which had the benefit of the service continuing after October 2022 thanks to a contract operated by Libra Travel.
Residents of Locking, Banwell, Sandford and Winscombe hadn’t been in bus-isolation during the October 2022 to January 2024 disappearance of the 126 as First Bus tendered route 125 provides a limited five journeys a day service together with a college journey on route 62 through the villages while Weston General Hospital is served by the local town route 7 every 20 minutes and hourly route 20.
The only stretch of road without a bus was between Banwell and Sandford but as we passed along I couldn’t see many opportunities for custom.
(Update from the Comments – Locking was left bus-less for a tome after October 2022 until route 51 which has used the by-pass was diverted to run through the village.)
We picked up three passengers in Axbridge and one in Cheddar. One of these alighted in the village of Draycott and the other three continued to Wells.
Where we arrived just ahead of schedule at 13:50.
It had been a quiet journey but I noted there was a good crowd waiting in the city’s small bus station for the return journey at 14:05 which only goes as far as Sandford allowing the bus on school days, I assume, to then carry out a school journey. A school commitment at both ends of the route no doubt helps with the finances.
It’s nice to see a direct connection between Weston-super-Mare, Cheddar and Wells back on the bus map and I hope this Spring and Summer brings more passengers on board to use the route, which travels through some lovely Somerset countryside, very close to Cheddar Gorge and Caves and very attractive villages along the way.
Somerset and North Somerset Councils have done well to use their available funding to reinstate the route. It now needs heavily promoting with a big marketing boost as the tourist season approaches to make people aware of its existence.
Roger French
Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS
Comments on today’s blog are welcome but please keep them relevant to the blog topic, avoid personal insults and add your name (or an identifier). Thank you.
BusAndTrainUser 
When I lived in Shepton (worked in Wells) almost all journeys that I saw were busy at Wells. The ones that I rode on were very busy indeed. I don’t know if the withdrawal was for “political” reasons. At the time First were threatening to withdraw two routes (this and the 174) and then decided to only withdraw one. Perhaps that was the plan but if both were losing money (the reasons given) why not withdraw both? At the time, the PVR on each was 3.
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Slight correction – it was the 173 (Wells to Bath via Binegar) that was also threatened with withdrawal. My recollection is that 126 was said to be lossmaking whilst the 173 was marginal.
BW2
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Thanks. I know that the local MP got involved in the issues and managed to not save the service that served the town in which he lived. I wonder how much was abstracted from the n173 when the 174 was introduced. Shepton is a far better traffic destination. We were moving from Somerset when the changes were mooted.
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No worries. I assume it was James Heappey – MP for Wells, rather than the disgraced David Warburton, or MP for the 18th century, Jacob Rees-Mogg! At least the pressure brought to bear had some sway on Somerset Council for a one vehicle contract; the issue was always with North Somerset Council who are incredibly insular, and not supportive of bus services at all.
It’s hard to say what impact the 174 had on the 173 but they’d had a few years of operation; might have been 2013 when things changed. The 174 did eventually assume the Wells to Shepton section until the short 161 (later 175) was dropped, and it did allow Somerset CC to withdraw the 776 even though it barely shared the same route from Shepton to Midsomer Norton.
BW2
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I recall a protest being organised, in Shepton, by people who then had to ask the time of the bus that they wanted to stand in front of to protest against it being withdrawn. There must have been about 50 and 2 of them got on the bus!
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Not being a car driver I’m looking forward to giving this a go when the rain stops and the sun decides to shine! Hopefully the trains will be running for the first leg of my journey 🤔
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I think you’ve missed the last train to wells by about 60 years!
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But, if you need to buy a bed the old engine shed sells them.
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Re your post on the 126. Your pre 2022 timetable was incorrect. For over a year the service had been restored to run hourly, and with double deckers, making it expensive to run. Many felt that the 90 minute pandemic period should have been reintroduced rather than withdrawing the service. The timetable is being changed next month to remove the annoying Sandford short working.
Rogers diversion round Hutton was probably due to flooding at Elborough between Hutton and Banwell.
Timekeeping has been quite poor but passenger numbers are improving, especially at the Wells end.
Peter Cowlyn, retired First driver from Wells
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Many thanks for clarifying about the timetable Peter; I’ll update the post.
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I see the passengers’ friend, bustimes.org, says that “Road closure Oldmixon & Hutton Hill – From 22 February 2024
Oldmixon Road and Hutton Hill in the village of Hutton is currently closed
to service 126 until further notice due to a landslide”. Buses are now again following the registered route.
Robin Bence
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Many thanks for that info Robin.
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This is a surprising bit of good news in Somerset, a council whose finances are in a desperate state with widespread cuts in services planned, across the board.
Petras409
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This isn’t their money. It is BSIP and what happens in three years time is anyone’s guess.
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It’s obvious from Rogers excellent piece it will no doubt be withdrawn unless tendered after the funding ends. No one ever asks on this blog being in the main being armchair pundits who never use the bus as thier main transport ” Why Did First Withdrawn The Service In The First Place? ” The answer is of course it was uneconomic & losing money so this BSIP plan is obviously a total waste of Tax Payers Funding as no one will ever utilise the route fully & its just an election bribe.
On a lighter note for public transport Andy Street CBE visited the demolition of Dudley Bus Station yesterday & announced the massive expansion of West Midlands Metro & Sprint in areas that do actually use public transport tight across Birmingham & The Black Country.
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Thanks for the update re yesterday’s announcement Richard. Something I hope to cover in a future blog so for this thread it will be appreciated it we can curtail further comments on that news. Many thanks.
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Yes of course Roger look forward to it & being part of Andys team am happy to ask him about any possible comment you may wish on this matter for a future blog.
If you are interested or anyone else on the blog are interested, Centre For New Midlands are hosting a Mayoral Hustings in Coventry on 17th April which all the West Midlands Mayoral candidates have been invited too & part of the discussion will be of course transport which is directly controlled by whatever Mayor is elected in May. It is open to all & registration is below:
https://www.sustainabilitywestmidlands.org.uk/events/west-midlands-metro-mayor-hustings-2024-housing-communities-regeneration/
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It isn’t clear, from the press release of 11th March 2024, from where the 10 field increase in public transport is coming from. The Somerset local elections are not due for another three years. The West Midlands Mayoral Election takes place on 2nd May 2024. I wonder what the final five words of your first paragraph mean?
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And my lighter note is that I travel on every service bus that passes my house – except when I am on holiday. It isn’t difficult as we have a circular service that runs, twice, every Friday.
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Roger has asked me not to comment on this further which I fully respect and fully observe so I consider this thread closed with immediate effect despite your constant baiting which is so unbecoming. I will be making NO further comment on this matter at Rogers behest.
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One good thing with the bus route coming back is that it is easier to get to Cheddar to walk the old railway line path towards Yatton
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It’s also commendable to see the quality of First West of England’s on-line publicity with every timetable having a clear route map. Something not all areas of First do.
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The interesting thing is what will happen in England when the £2 fare goes?
Data on the impact of the £2 fare is scant. It seems to have made little difference to passenger numbers which is no great surprise given the very limited service in much of the UK. It is also difficult to unpick what is down to the post Covid recovery and what is down to the £2 fare
Perhaps after the £2 fare they have a simple zonal fares system lets say
0-3 miles £2
3 to 6 miles £3
6 to 10 miles £4
Over 10 miles £5
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Bus growth nationally was around 19% up on the previous year (DfT figures). To suggest this has nothing to do with the £2 fare cap being in operation is hardly credible.
Dan Tancock
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The published data show passenger numbers are still well below pre Covid levels so the £2 fare appears to have done little to improve bus usage
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But it could have only been a 5%, 10% or 18% increase without the £2 fare. I am just reporting what operators have told me.
Dan Tancock
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Living in the area, I can assure Richard Jones that the 126 is most certainly a required service with a clear need albeit not commercial. Doubtless, there are many examples where services are provided in the West Midlands (and indeed elsewhere) that outside of the commercial realities. However, rather than get clogged up with more Brum-centric statements, we’ll keep on topic.
The 126 has always been a service that has operated on the margins of viability. Back in the day, it was one of the last refuges of Bristol REs and has long been home for fleet that was either fully depreciated or with a low book value. The conversion to using double deckers in later years seemed to be for operational convenience – all other vehicles based at Wells depot were DDs so retaining three singles for the 126 was probably less ideal. However, higher fuel consumption and depreciation were a downside, and the post-Covid decline in passengers spelt the end. Picking up on Peter Cowlyn’s and Andrew Rainsford’s comments, there was a view that the 126 as well as being loss making was also sacrificed in order to free up resources given that driver shortages were resulting in missing journeys on the trunk 376 service. I’m sure Peter will know better than myself, but the 126 used to have a bedrock of local residents (invariably ENCTS holders – cue questions on remuneration), then a cohort of local ENCTS tourists who’d appear at 0930 in Weston on a fine day, as well as number of fare paying tourists. Certainly not enough to justify deckers, nor sustain the service commercially. That said, knowing the staff at Libra Travel, they began the operation and were surprised quite how busy it could be.
Now I’d love to share Roger’s sentiment (nay hope) that the service will be effectively promoted. However, since the departure of James Freeman, that really doesn’t happen in First West of England. Well, it does in terms of more generic online corporate promotion through email and the website. Printed media is largely absent and the promotional approach that used to be evident at Wells bus station (e.g. vinyls, and even a banner) has gone. In fact, FWoE seems to be in a state of suspended animation in terms of promotion with rationalisation of brands, as if waiting to see what comes from the centre in terms of branding? Being balanced, I will say that roadside publicity is kept up to date by First, as Somerset Council has neither the money nor desire to get involved with that.
If Roger would like to really have an eye rolling exercise, he should return when the next changes take place in a months’ time. Then the half hourly 376 (currently a 2hr, or 2h02, or 2h04 run, depending on AI, from Bristol to Street) with deckers is being extended. Half will terminate at Street, but every other one will continue to Taunton or Bridgwater over routes whose usual patronage could be accommodated with a Solo. Lord knows what that will do in terms of service reliability…. watch this space. Of course, it is being trumpeted as an improvement with greater connectivity (an as yet untapped market to travel on a 12 year old E400 from Chewton Mendip to Taunton – who knew?)
Once again, thanks to Roger for focusing on this truly beautiful corner of the West Country. When BSIP funds run out, I fear buses in Somerset will be as common as the Yangtze River Dolphin but let’s applaud these few positive steps whilst we have them.
BW2
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I have found timetables and information in general to be woeful at wells bus station.. out of date or non existent timetables being the order of the day at the bus shelter stands, and the information office closed.
I for one am looking forward to the 376 come 29 or 75 with through journeys to TTN and B/Water…
If it was operationally convenient to
Use deckers on the 126 before, are they likely to return this time, or is it being operated in a different way? (I don’t do solo’s!)
Mackay
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The timetables were current last time I was there but the travel office is closed.
I’m not looking forward to the 376 being extended as a 374/375. It makes for a journey of about 3 hours, and it’s bad enough with delays in Bristol impacting on the latter part of the current service. Making it that long makes it ripe for delays, and arguably, it ain’t much better in Taunton.
As an example, the 0757 from Bristol will fight the traffic and arrive in Taunton at 1107 and have 6 minutes turnaround time.
Like I say, the 126 is one initiative that Roger will do well to watch, but my lord, the 376 changes will be one to behold!
BW2
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The way things are going it is looking as if the UK will move to a Franchise model for its bus services. Scotland and Wales are looking to go down that road as are several regions in England. Certainly in general the Enhanced Partnership model is failing to deliver
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May I remind you the Enhanced Partnership route is currently the preferred model in the Uk’s 2nd City & operating very successfully in the West Midlands with some of the highest frequencies and lowest fares outside London.
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I think I prefer the Partnership Model – does it work better for those “cross border” services ( or those where 2 or more local authorities have a route through both areas ) than no “co-ordination/ full subsidy or franchise ?
As to Digital and Transport being a mixed portfolio, maybe no, as we have seen with WFH the supply of communications (and in rural that is digging the trenches to the residence/workplace) has an impact on transport, both public passenger services and multi-drop delivery services.
Looking at the map one would have thought that a mix of through journeys and half route splitting at Cheddar might give more ridership and services ,especially on Saturdays, and scope for 5 journeys on summer sundays ? – But I do note that staffing seems to be a limiting factor at the present time
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Part of the problem before was a disconnect (literally) where Somerset Council tendered the route from Wells to Axbridge. North Somerset simply weren’t interested doing anything so that half disappeared (though there was an existing tendered service to Winscombe and then up to Wrington.
Splitting the service at Cheddar wouldn’t be a great idea as there are quite a few who travel from Axbridge into Wells. Summer Sundays were once a feature with one vehicle on a three hourly circuit but I can’t see that coming back; it’s been a struggle to get any service!!!
BW2
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I think I prefer the Partnership Model – does it work better for those “cross border” services ( or those where 2 or more local authorities have a route through both areas ) than no “co-ordination/ full subsidy or franchise ?
As to Digital and Transport being a mixed portfolio, maybe no, as we have seen with WFH the supply of communications (and in rural that is digging the trenches to the residence/workplace) has an impact on transport, both public passenger services and multi-drop delivery services.
Looking at the map one would have thought that a mix of through journeys and half route splitting at Cheddar might give more ridership and services ,especially on Saturdays, and scope for 5 journeys on summer sundays ? – But I do note that staffing seems to be a limiting factor at the present time
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Hi Roger, thanks for an excellent article. A small correction, that Locking was left bus-less for a time after the withdrawal of the 126 (with the exception of a college service to Bridgwater College). At that time the 51 went along the Locking by-pass without serving the village itself. Only later did it run via Locking village.
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Thanks for that info. I wasn’t aware. Will add to the blog.
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Interesting read, thanks Roger!
I think it was towards the end of last year, I was looking at booking a holiday sometime this year, and I started looking at Weston-Super-Mare. Of course, being a non-driver, I have to look at public transport options/availability, and my research found a nice little network of buses around the town.
If I do find myself down that way this year, I’ll definitely give this route a try for a bit of a day out!
Stu – West Midlands Bus Users
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Last time I used the service the bus was marketed as the West Mendip Way with good all over branding.It is a very useful bus if you are walking the West Medip Way but the driver did not understand which bus stop I needed. A tourism place lIke Weston s Mare needs a booklet of times easily available so that vistors are encouraged onto the buses.
I wrote to the company with ideas but no reply!
Long Distance trails and the new coast path are a huge potential for buses if someone would take notice.
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Pre-pandemic the service was marketed as The Mendip Xplorer and generally had much better loadings than you observed. I still have a timetable from 2015 when there were 13 return journeys operating hourly on Mondays to Saturdays and four, with three hour intervals on Sundays & Public Holidays (excluding those in the Christmas/New Year period). Most services operated on the hour from Weston and on the half hour from Wells. Not long before this the local authorities also supported Monday to Saturday evening services with a last departure from Weston at 23:15 allowing village residents an evening out in the town. There is still a major disconnect between transport policy over the last 25 years which aims to encourage people to make fewer car journeys and the reality of public transport, especially bus, service cuts.
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The Mendip Explorer was a name that was given to all services operated from Wells depot, not just the 126. In the early days, there were 8 deckers allocated to the 376 to Bristol, with a number of B7RLE single deckers of which most were 6 yr old examples allocated to the Bath corridor. The 126 had 3 older examples (11 yr old) that again reflected the marginal nature of the service. All the vehicles were in MX colours, with interior cove advertising courtesy of Best Impressions.
By 2018, patronage had increased on the Bath corridor so that deckers were needed whilst the 376 Streetdecks were failing. Therefore, virtually all the fleet was changed between then and 2020 mainly though only gained livery NOT the interior promotion.
Since James Freeman left in 2021, the whole Mendip operation has declined. In terms of the 376, what was once a flagship route receiving new fleet every 6 years is operated by a mix of 10/12 year old e400s, and some even older B9s. That said, a planning application has been made to electrify Wells depot though still no news on any vehicle changes.
Clearly, the 126’s economics have changed with post Covid decline in numbers allied to increased staff costs. However, do I think there will be much likelihood of the concerted marketing effort that Roger wants…? Nope
ps just before Covid struck, the 126 was due to be rebranded from Mendip Explorer to The Strawberry (reflecting the Strawberry line that was used to move fruit from the Mendips). That never happened.
BW2
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Why did First withdraw this service? Well post pandemic with the reduced number of passengers
it was probably losing money.First are not a charity, and at that time short of drivers so they cancelled it as presumably both local authorities refused to provide a subsidy. Cross boundary routes often suffer badly because getting two LA’s to work together is very difficult.
BSIP money was made available for exactly this purpose, to support routes that had been reduced or withdrawn during the pandemic. With passenger numbers back to pre-pandemic numbers , and in our area fare payers are about 20% above, routes like this do have a chance, and this is just the kind of route where the £2 fare scheme may boost numbers. I see the X7 Witney – Chipping Norton operated by Pulhams which was withdrawn several years ago, and double figure passenger numbers are now seen.
What Richard Jones clearly does not understand is that this year about £55m of the same BSIP money will be used to keep Andy Street’s bus on the road in the West Midlands, and fares down. Without that money there would be been significant service cuts and fare rises. Bearing in mind the forthcoming Mayoral Election that could be seen as ‘an election bribe’. It will be interesting to see if Andy Street wins, he will suffer from the Tory mess in Central Government, but be helped by the beyond incompetence of Labour controlled Birmingham City Council. From the Public Transport viewpoint he is a safe pair of hands so continuity would be good news. Then he can introduce franchising like all the other Metropolitan Counties, why else would TfWM have bought Walsall bus garage.
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It would be interesting if the Somerset scores, in this survey, could be revealed. The headline best and worst are shown but with no trends being shown. So, are the best getting better? Are the worst getting worse? And, we have no idea about Somerset (or any other rural area)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68543962
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Personally I would take Transport Focus surveys with a pinch of salt & not worth the paper they are written on. They are an unelected quango led by Alex Robertson who from my personal dealings with wouldn’t recognise a bus even if a Diamond Bus reversed over him. He certainly isn’t worth the 6 figure salary of tax Payers money. I have no knowledge of Transport Focus ever collating statistical data on users of West Midlands Bus & never ever come across them in West Midlands County. Even more laughably they featured in thier last publication an NXWM Bus on a route that hadn’t run since before Covid-19 at a Centro Bus Shelter! Quite simply watch Yes Minister episode when Sir Humohrey is trying to find the retiring Sir Arnold a quango & you will understand just how laughable the so called Transport watchdog is. I frankly find them like a bunch of characters from a 1976 show from ATV NETWORK LIMITED I forget its name…..
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The survey contains results for 55 operators. In the Overall satisfaction by operator table Stagecoach Portsmouth is no 1, First in West of England is number 46, National Express West Midlands 47, and Diamond Bus number 54 out of 55.
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The information about NXWM 47 & Diamond Bus 54 was supplied by Transport for West Midlands own Data Collectors who are out on West Midlands Bus most days & form part of the statutory returns too the DfT. I repeat I am not aware of Transport Focus ever collecting data in the West Midlands County or have never ever met a passenger who have spoken to this totally useless unelected quango who are quite simply a total waste of taxpayers money and run by civil servants who are quite simply on the gravy train to quote the Rt Hons James Hacker.
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Wells is beautiful and a significant tourist destination thanks to the cathedral. It doesn’t have a railway station, but Bristol, Bath, Weston-super-Mare, and Castle Cary are all served by GWR. Who owns GWR you may ask. First Group do. Hurrah! marketing bus connections to Wells (and Cheddar) aimed at rail passengers should be easy, include through ticketing, (just add £2 to rail fare), and timed connections (Bath bus station is next to Bath Spa Station) would boost ridership on these bus routes improving their bottom line. The LTAs need to understand how this would help their economies, and reduce their bus subsidy budgets.
Peter Brown
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For many years First Midland Red ran the travel centre at Worcester Foregate Street Railway Station which run by First Great Western. The booking office would never answer questions about buses or the travel centre about trains . I doubt whether synergies as you suggest would ever be achieved by separate FirstGroup operating companies due to Firsts complex management structure.
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Don’t know timed connections at Bath is such an issue with the 173/4 combining to provide a half hourly frequency. Or which rail services you coordinate with – the mainline to London, or the busy line from Portsmouth/Salisbury?
The 126 has been extended to/from Weston station; in fact, that’s the location of the final photo of the article! However, the LAs do have to balance the potential rail to bus patronage with the need to serve the local market AND the school working that the service is partially built around.
BW2
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I agree with comments made by BW2 re the 126 and Wells depot. I worked there from2001 to 2011 and drove the 126 which was often very busy.
The forthcoming through journeys to Taunton and Bridgwater will be a disaster as problems in one place affect everything. This is happening now with some trips from Bath going off to Yeovil, so people in Ilchester going to Yeovil often have big delays. And as 172s from Bath becomes 376s at Bristol roadworks in Radstock last month’s made 376s so late that many terminated at Wells leaving big gaps to Street.
AI is to blame for much of this as it is leaving no margin for delays.
Wells is currently in a poor state with. multiple breakdowns leading to many cancellations, but at least we still have a pretty good service towards Bristol and Bath.
Peter Cowlyn
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It now looks all but certain that West Yorkshire will move to a Franchise model and joining a growing number of regions moving to franchising
WECA is also looking at going down the franchise route
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No doubt what happens in Brum & the West Midlands County will be dependent on who actually wins the Election for Mayor in the City in May although the current truly excellent holder of the office; Andy Street CBE ; has repeatedly said in terms of buses nothing is off the table……….
The West Midlands Combined Authority have already taken of the work & responsibilities of the Office of Traffic Commissioner within the West Midlands County & gained further powers of the regulation of buses within the county in the last Devo Deal.
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‘The only stretch of road without a bus was between Banwell and Sandford but as we passed along I couldn’t see many opportunities for custom.’. Well, I disagree. There is the St Monica Sandford Station retirement village and associated care home with around 200 residents (most of whom couldn’t use the bus, but a significant minority who do) and goodness knows how many staff who can, and do use the bus. Also, at Mead Lane, it crosses the Strawberry Line, so an excellent stop for walkers and holidaymakers to join this delightful pedestrian / cycle route which is off road all the way to Yatton and off road all the way to just before Axbridge. (https://www.thestrawberryline.org.uk/). On weekends and bank holidays, The Sandford Railway Heritage Centre is open (April thru October) with museum, small café, stationary train and model railway. (https://sandfordstation.co.uk/). There used to be a Sunday bus service but, no more – particularly annoying for holidaymakers but, on the positive side, the timetable changes for the better on April 7th (https://nationaljourneyplanner.travelinesw.com/swe-ttb/XSLT_TTB_REQUEST?language=en&command=direct&net=swe&line=39126&sup=%20&project=y10&outputFormat=0&itdLPxx_displayHeader=false&itdLPxx_sessionID=0&lineVer=2). On my most recent trip to Wells (last Saturday) the bus towards Wells was fairly full initially with standing room only from Cheddar and beyond. Returning, again standing only from Wells but fairly thin on the ground (in the bus!) by Winscombe. Use it or lose it!
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Fair points, and these aren’t perhaps immediately apparent.
Your experience is probably reflective of the fact that the 126 did at least survive in some form east of Axbridge. West of Winscombe, and the through traffic, will take some concerted effort to rebuild patronage lost by its absence.
Whether FWOE, led by Doug Claringbold as opposed to James Freeman, has the leadership and energy to achieve that, I am doubtful
BW2
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Radio 4’s Today programme came from Somerset yesterday, and included interviews in Wells with Route 126 users who were not happy about its timekeeping or reliability. Clearly room for improvement by the operator on both fronts. Graham L.
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It is run under contract to a timetable specified by the local authorities…
It is being amended from April to extend running time.
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