Big changes to Devon bus services

East Devon Council spends half a million pounds on better links with Exeter

Following months of consultation, massive changes to Stagecoach services across Exeter and East Devon – including a ‘ground-breaking’ service that takes in Exeter St David’s, the city centre, the Science Park, the Sky Park and Exeter Airport – start today (Monday 3rd September).

Earlier this year, East Devon District Council’s cabinet earlier approved spending £536,250 to enhance the frequency of buses connecting Exeter to the East Devon Enterprise Zone area. They have joined forces with the East Devon Growth Point and Devon County Council in what they says is ‘a ground-breaking arrangement.’

The 56 bus runs between Exeter St David’s, the City Centre, Met Office, Science Park, Sky Park and Exeter Airport, before travelling onto to Woodbury and Exmouth and will now run from 5am and runs through to 11pm  every half hour at peak times, designed to fit around shift patterns and flight times. The route will be branded ‘CONNexIONS’ and buses will feature a bespoke external and internal livery design plus free Wi-Fi.

Other major changes include  a new anti-clockwise service in Exeter, the ‘I’, being introduced to link with the ‘J’ to provide a circular route connecting the city centre with IKEA in both directions. Changes will also be introduced the to Exmouth and a number of other East Devon services.

The bus changes in detail 

Route 5 Exeter – Cowley Bridge – Crediton

The first journey from Crediton and Cowley Bridge will operate 5 minutes earlier than present. This is to maintain a city centre connection with the new 56 timetable.

Route 56 Exeter St David’s – City Centre – Exeter Airport – Woodbury – Exmouth

From Monday to Saturday the off-peak frequency will double to every 30 minutes, matching the peak time Monday to Friday frequency. There will also be new journeys very early in the morning and a new evening service introduced to provide connections for all flights and associated key worker hours.

The route between the Met Office and Airport will be amended to serve Clyst Honiton instead of the A30.

Combined with route 4, this will provide twice the number of buses serving the Science Park.

The timetable is coordinated with route 4 to provide a regular 15-minute Monday to Saturday frequency from Exeter. There will also be some minor changes to the timetable between the Airport, Woodbury and Exmouth, with one additional journey than at present.

In Exmouth buses will start and finish at the Parade, and will no longer serve the Leisure Centre.

Route 56B & 56E Exmouth – Hulham – Byron Way

The 56B is a new service that will complement the existing 56 service in Exmouth. It will run hourly during the daytimes along Mount Pleasant to Hulham and Byron Way.

The 357 evening journeys which currently extend to Byron Way will be renumbered 56E between Exmouth town centre and Byron Way, forming part of the overall combined timetable.

Route 57B Exmouth – Bicton College

This college journey will be renumbered 357 and extended to start from Hulham.

Route 57C/58C Exeter – Topsham – Budleigh Salterton – Bicton College

This college journey will be renumbered 58C and will also run during school holidays to simplify the overall timetable between Exeter and Budleigh Salterton.

Route 58 Budleigh Salterton – Littleham – Sowton – Exeter

To provide better connections for workers, all journeys into and out of Exeter will serve Sowton Industrial Estate and Honiton Road Park & Ride instead of Middlemoor. A new evening journey from Exeter will be introduced at 7pm.

For non-college passengers, school holiday journeys will be replaced by year-round route 58C journeys via Rifford Road and Topsham Road.

One early morning journey to and from Exmouth will be kept but every other journey will continue to and from Budleigh Salterton.

Route 98 & 98A Exmouth – Littleham

The frequency on the route will be reduced from every 20 minutes to every 30 minutes. Following customer feedback, one journey per hour will use a minibus, allowing it to continue to serve the current 98 route and maintain a regular service along Moorfield Road.

The second journey each hour will become the 98A and will use larger single deck buses to help maintain capacity, despite the reduced frequency.

The size of these buses means they cannot use the current 98 route and will serve Withycombe Village Road instead.

In Littleham, they will not serve Roseway but will run directly to The Green along Capel Lane and then extend to Rodney Close to provide a new service to this area.

Connections will be provided onto routes 157 (from 98A) and 357 (from 98) at the Parade during the daytime, creating new through links to Rolle Street and Salterton Road / Cranford Avenue.

Route 99E Littleham – Exmouth – Brixington

We provide this evening and Sunday service on behalf of Devon County Council and it will continue unchanged.

Route 157 Exmouth – Budleigh Salterton – Sidmouth

There will be some changes to the timetable to improve reliability. These include daytime journeys leaving Exmouth 10 minutes later and Sidmouth/Budleigh 20 minutes later than the current timetable. These changes will also allow buses on routes 157 and 357 to leave both Exmouth Parade and Budleigh Salterton on an even 30 minute frequency. Departures in the morning and afternoon peaks will be broadly similar to the current timetable.

Route 157 buses will also provide through connections onto route 98A. As a result buses will no longer serve the Leisure Centre, instead starting and finishing at the Parade.

Route 357 Exmouth – Budleigh Salterton

There will be some minor changes to the timetable to improve reliability between Budleigh and Exmouth. Buses will generally leave Exmouth 10 minutes later and Budleigh 20 minutes later than the current timetable to create a regular 30 minute frequency between Exmouth and Budleigh when combined with the 157.

Buses from route 357 will also provide through connections onto route 98 during the daytime. As a result, the occasional journeys that extended to the Leisure Centre will no longer do so. Instead, all journeys will extend from Rolle Street to start and finish at the Parade.

Other journeys will be served by the 56B and 56E.

Route I & J Digby Tesco – IKEA – The Rydons – Countess Wear – Exeter – Whipton Barton – Hill Barton – Digby Tesco

Funding from the Rougemont Park housing development on Hill Barton Road will allow the J to extend from Whipton Barton via Hill Barton Road and through to Digby. Here, it will meet buses from the other direction to create a circular route.

Buses running clockwise (outbound along Pinhoe Road and inbound along Topsham Road) will be route J. Buses running anti-clockwise (outbound along Topsham Road & inbound along Pinhoe Road) will be route I.

Buses will run every 20 minutes in both directions, providing a combined 10 minute frequency from IKEA to the City Centre. When combined with route K, there will also be a 10 minute frequency between Countess Wear, the City Centre and Whipton Barton.

Route K Countess Wear – Exeter – Whipton Barton – Science Park

Funding from the emerging Tithebarn development will allow this route to be extended from Whipton Barton to Cumberland Way, Tithebarn Lane and Exeter Science Park. It is anticipated that the route will evolve in future years to serve other developments in the area. Buses will continue to run every 20 minutes along the extended route.

Route R & S Exeter – Rifford Road

Due to the significant increase in the number of buses serving Heavitree Road, R and S frequencies will be reduced from every 12 to every 20 minutes in each direction. They will still combine to give a 10 minute frequency from Rifford Road to the City Centre. Routes D and H also provide alternatives from some parts of these routes.

There are no changes to other Exmouth routes 57, 95 or 257.