It is recommended that Members note the progress and developments in public transport provision within the Borough during the past 12 months.
This report highlights the changes to public transport services and provides information on usage and development of services since the last report to this Panel in November 2014.
Statutory Powers
Transport Act 1985, 2000
1. This report outlines issues of relevance to the Panel since the last report in
November 2014 and in particular changes to transport services within and through the Borough during that period.
2. Competitive bid funding is now a key way that the Department for Transport allocates much of its funding for transport schemes and initiatives. Bid funding is also a key source of funding at a local level for improvements to public transport (and for sustainable travel and transport improvements in general).
Unfortunately bid funding results in an unpredictable flow of funding for major schemes and initiatives.
3. Between 2012 and 2015 there was a great deal of additional funding for public transport improvements in the South Hampshire Area (including Eastleigh) , through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF), the Better Bus Area
Fund (BBAF) bid and the Clean Bus Technology Fund CBTF). Solent
Transport and Southampton City Council in particular were successful in making funding bids which brought in external funding for projects benefitting the area.
4. Eastleigh Borough Council was active in supporting some of these bids and in some cases implementing the projects that resulted, helping to gain extra
Eastleigh Borough Council

value for Eastleigh residents above what might otherwise have been achieved.
5. Unfortunately most of this funding has now expired and there has been very little new bid funding made available to replace it. Additionally Local Growth
Deal funding passed to the Solent LEP (a potential source of funding for sustainable transport schemes) has to date not been used for public transport improvements, with the exception of the interchange improvements scheme at
The Hard in Portsmouth.
6. As a result activity on high profile (and high benefit) capital improvements is significantly reduced compared to the last few years.
7. A bid by Solent Transport for a one year extension to LSTF funding for the
15/16 financial year was unfortunately unsuccessful.
8. Some of the benefits of this expenditure between 2012 and 2015 will endure into the future- for example:

Real time bus information screens at many stops on core routes;

Major improvements to Eastleigh rail station forecourt;

Installation of lower emission retrofit hybrid systems on many buses operating out of Bluestar’s Barton Park depot (primarily on Southampton city routes);

Improvements to cycle infrastructure and some limited provision of signal based bus priority within the Borough;

Creation of the Solent Go multi-modal smartcard;

Improvements to buses including interior refurbishments and LED lighting;

The expansion of the Eastleigh Co-wheels car club;

Provision of town centre wayfinding signage;

The continued use of th e “My Journey” brand in travel communications and awareness initiatives
9. Unfortunately some bid-funded projects (especially those which were revenue-dependent) have not endured. One item in particular which has been a disappointment was the implementation (and subsequent withdrawal) of the Chandler’s Ford Commuter Bus service.
10. This service- a link between rail stations and the major employment centre at
Chandler’s Ford- was a Council aspiration for some years, and was something that major employers in
Chandler’s Ford had repeatedly identified as a connectivity improvement that they wished to see provided. The route was intended to improve connectivity to rail services from this major employment hub (around 8,000 jobs) that is remote from rail stations and is only served by one frequent bus route.
11. The service was implemented with “kickstart” funding from the LSTF, with some additional financial and planning support from Eastleigh Borough
Council. The service was operated by Xelabus (route X5) following a tender process. The route was the centrepiece of a wider area travel plan network for Chandler’s Ford (which has also now ceased due to end of funding) and was free for use by employees at around 20 businesses in the Chandler’s
Eastleigh Borough Council

Ford area. It linked
Airport Parkway station with Chandler’s Ford station via
Chestnut Avenue, Hampshire Corporate Park and School Lane.
12. It was hoped that this service would help make commuting by train a realistic alternative to driving to work for some staff at businesses in this area, thus working to reduce serious traffic congestion and parking issues in parts of
Chandler’s Ford which are currently generated by high levels of single occupancy car commuting to some of these workplaces.
13. Following a one year demonstration of the route’s potential it was hoped that some of the major employers in the area would provide continued support for the service beyond the end of year one. The unsuccessful 2015-16 LSTF bid had included a request for a second year’s worth of funding for the service.
There was also (unrealised) potential to combine the X5 service with some of the employers own privately contracted park and ride services to Eastleigh
Football Club, to help reduce duplication of park and ride services and generate savings for these employers.
14. The X5 service was launched in September 2014 and despite a positive start, the service was undermined by poor reliability, largely as a result of severe traffic congestion between Chandler’s Ford and Airport Parkway station/ M27
Junction 5, but also due to difficulties at times operating the service on the part of the operator. As a result, despite a lot of early interest, many staff who tried using the service (many of whom formerly drove to work) did not become regular users due to regular delays and cancellations. The lack of any form of bus priority on the route meant that buses had no journey time advantage over driving the same route and no means of avoiding traffic issues.
15. A new, less frequent timetable was introduced in November 2014 which reduced (but did not fully solve) reliability issues, at the cost of a less frequent and less attractive service.
16. Unfortunately, despite some attempts to secure funding from major employers for continuity of the service, no financial support was forthcoming and the service was not financially self-supporting. As a result the service was withdrawn after funding ran out at the end of August 2015.
17. Despite these setbacks there are still some (smaller) success stories to report:

A South West Trains bid to the Cycle Rail fund, with support including match funding from Eastleigh Borough Council, was successful in securing funding for improvements to cycle parking at Chandler’s Ford and
Bursledon stations. These improvements will be included by the end of the 2015/16 financial year. The original bid had included requests for funding for cycle facility improvements at other stations in the Borough but unfortunately these elements were not funded.

A bid was submitted by EBC to Carplus for funding from their “Developing
Car Cl ubs in England” (DCCE) fund and was successful. This funding will help deliver a £75,000 scheme to provide 2 electric vehicles (EVs) on the
Eastleigh co-wheels car club, located at bays next to Eastleigh bus station.
These vehicles will replace 2x older diesel Ford Fiestas based at Eastleigh
House and will be fully accessible to public users. The scheme will also
Eastleigh Borough Council

provide bays and charge station capability to support another one or two
EVs in future.
Whilst not a traditional form of public transport, car clubs do support the uptake of public transport through helping to reduce levels of car ownership and by offering new travel options- research has shown that car club members are significantly more likely to also use public transport (or walk, or cycle) than members of the public are in general.
18. Additionally, Eastleigh Borough Council is supporting a bid for Office for Low
Emission Vehicles (OLEV) funding that has recently been submitted by Solent
Transport. One element of this bid, which has received
£20,000 of match funding from the Council, as well as technical assistance with the bid, is replacement of the existing fleet used on the Bluestar 2 route with a fleet of brand new ultra-low emission hybrid buses which comply with the latest Euro
6 emissions standards.
19. If the bid is successful this new fleet would enter service in 2017 and would result in reduced emissions from buses on the Bluestar 2 route passing through the Southampton Road Air Quality Management area (AQMA). It would also enable existing buses used on the Bluestar 2, some of which are less than two years old, to be “cascaded” to other routes in the Borough (for example Bluestar routes 3 and 5), displacing older vehicles and resulting in reduced emissions, together with provision of newer vehicles, on these routes too.
20. There is an increasing focus on tackling air quality issues at present and several other bid funding streams relevant to public transport have been announced. Whilst Eastleigh Borough Council is keen to take advantage of funding opportunities wherever possible, unfortunately the criteria and requirements surrounding these other bid funding opportunities have meant that there has been little possibility of the council putting together a viable bid, either on its own or in conjunction with partners.
21. The Council and its officers will continue to seek to submit funding bids, or participate in partnership bids, for suitable projects as and when viable opportunities arise.
Eastleigh Borough Council

22. The Transport and Engineering Unit regularly responds to various consultations on public transport and related topics on behalf of the Council.
It also on undertakes pro-active discussion with public transport operators to identify opportunities to improve services which operators themselves may not have considered.
23. These activities help ensure that both by itself, and in partnership with other key actors in the sub-region, the Borough has a voice at a strategic level and has input into high level strategies and planning which will shape public transport provision in the area into the medium and longer term. Work undertaken over the last year or so has included:
 Preparing responses to Network Rail’s consultation on Route Studies for the Wessex Route and also Sussex and Great Western routes, in partnership with other authorities and key stakeholders- identifying and making the case for improvements to rail services in the Borough above and beyond that being proposed by Network Rail;
 Preparing responses to DfT’s consultation on train franchise service specifications- most recently the Great Western rail franchise- again in conjunction with partner organisations and seeking to make the case for improvements to services beyond that proposed in the draft specifications;

Participation in the SCC led bus punctuality task force for Southampton, with a focus on schemes to improve reliability of cross-boundary routes also used by EBC residents;

Preparing a consultation response on behalf of the Southampton Airport
Consultative Committee to the Parliamentary Select Committee on
Transport’s inquiry into surface access to airports- again making and repeating the case for improved surface access to Southampton airport by public transport;

Regular meeting and consultation on a variety of issues with the main local bus operators (First, Bluestar and Xelabus);

Lobbying of train operating companies regarding minor-but useful- improvements to train schedules (especially the operation in passenger service of trains that currently or previously ran as Empty Coaching Stock movements). This has resulted in the addition of new station calls, or in some cases entirely new services, to the benefit of rail passengers around the Borough and beyond; and

Lobbying of and support for rail operators regarding station facility improvements.
Eastleigh Borough Council

24. Table 1 below summarises the regularly scheduled rail service patterns on weekdays and Saturdays; Sunday service is similar but with reduced frequency and no additional morning or evening peak trains.
Table 1- Rail services in the Borough of Eastleigh
Route (not all calling points listed)
Portsmouth -FarehamBotley-Hedge End-
Eastleigh -Winchester-Basingstoke-
Farnborough-London Waterloo
Poole-Bournemouth-Brockenhurst-Totton-
Southampton Ctl- Southampton Airport
Parkway-Eastleigh - Winchester-
Basingstoke-Farnborough-London Waterloo
Weymouth-Poole-Bournemouth-
Brockenhurst-Southampton Ctl-
Southampton Airport Parkway -
Winchester-Basingstoke or Woking-London
Waterloo
RomseyChandler ’s Ford-Eastleigh-
Southampton Airport Parkway -St Denys-
Southampton Central-Romsey-Salisbury
Bournemouth-Brockenhurst-Southampton
CentralSouthampton Airport Parkway -
Winchester-Basingstoke-Reading-Oxford-
Banbury-Coventry-Birmingham- Stoke on
Trent-Manchester
Southampton CentralSouthampton
Airport Parkway -Winchester-Basingstoke-
Reading-Oxford-Banbury-Coventry-
Birmingham-Derby-Sheffield-York-
Newcastle
Portsmouth-Fareham-Swanwick-
Bursledon-Hamble-Netley - Woolston-St
Denys-Southampton Central
London Victoria-Gatwick Airport and
Brighton-Worthing-Barnham-Chichester-
Havant-Fareham- SwanwickBursledon-
Hamble-Netley -Southampton Central
London Victoria-Gatwick Airport and
Brighton-Worthing-Barnham-Chichester-
Havant-FarehamEastleigh-Southampton
Airport - Southampton Central
Normal Weekday / Saturday
Frequency
Every 60 minutes; approx. every
30 minutes northbound (AM peak) / southbound (PM peak)
Every 60 minutes and some extra AM & PM peak services
Every 30 minutes, some extra
AM & PM peak services
Every 60 minutes
Every 60 minutes
Every 120 minutes
Every 60 minutes
Several morning commuter services & one evening service to Southampton call at Netley; one also calls at Bursledon &
Hamble.
One Southampton-Brighton train each day runs via Eastleigh and
Southampton Airport Parkway / vice versa. Additional services run via this route on Saturdays
One train each way per day in the evening.
Cardiff-Bristol-Bath-Westbury-Salisbury-
Romsey-Southampton Central-
Southampton Airport Parkway Eastleigh -
Fareham-Portsmouth
25. The Borough has a total of seven rail stations within its boundaries, all managed by South West Trains:

Eastleigh
 Chandler’s Ford
Operator
South West
Trains
South West
Trains
South West
Trains
South West
Trains
Cross
Country
Cross
Country
South West
Trains
Southern
Great
Western
Eastleigh Borough Council


Hedge End

Netley

Hamble

Bursledon

Southampton Airport Parkway
26. In addition Botley Station, whilst located within Winchester District, serves a catchment within the Borough.
27. Overall the level of service on the rail network serving the Borough is broadly unchanged since last year’s report. Members of the public will have experienced relatively few changes. Rail operator representatives will have the opportunity to advise the Panel of notable items from their perspective- however from the Council’s perspective, changes of note are:

Completion of the Eastleigh rail station forecourt improvements scheme in
September 2015, significantly improving the station’s public realm and frontage onto the town centre;

Opening of an extension to the EBC-owned/controlled car park at Hedge
End station in November 2014, increasing parking capacity from 114 spaces to 152 spaces;

Introduction in December 2014 of two additional late evening services operated by Great Western, between Southampton Airport, Eastleigh and
Portsmouth / Salisbury, improving direct accessibility to Southampton
Airport and removing major gap in the evening timetable between
Eastleigh and Fareham. This service was implemented following lobbying from the Council and partners. It is hoped that a call at Hedge End will be incorporated in the southbound service from December 2015, filling in a current 1 hour 20 minute gap in southbound trains calling at Hedge End, and removing a significant weakness in the evening schedule at the station.
 On the busiest services between Chandler’s Ford, Eastleigh and
Southampton, from the December 2014 timetable, declassification of First
Class seating to provide a small amount of additional seating and standing space to help slightly reduce overcrowding on these trains;

Also from December 2014, on Saturdays some of the busiest Chandlers
Ford trains have been strengthened from two to four carriages to cope with demand from football fans and shoppers heading to/from Southampton, and an additional Southampton-Eastleigh-
Basingstoke “relief” train runs at
1739, about five minutes behind one of the busiest Chandlers Ford services;

Introduction of Automatic Selective Door Opening (ASDO) on South West
Trains’ electric units from October 2015. This system allows boarding to
/alighting from more carriages at stations with short platforms. Under the old system it was possible to open the doors on either 4, 5 or 8 carriages
Eastleigh Borough Council

of the train. Under the new system all doors that are adjacent to a platform will open. This system helps speed up boarding/alighting, helps more evenly spread passengers throughout carriages in a train, and helps reduce passenger confusion about being in the correct carriage for some stations;
 Provision of additional carriages on some peak hour / “shoulder peak” mainline SWT services as a result of introduction of new rolling stock by
SWT. This programme of capacity enhancement has taken much longer than originally anticipated but is now nearing completion. It has also resulted in some services which were previously diesel operated (despite operating over electrified lines) going over to electric operation, with benefits for journey times, passenger capacity and for the environment. A number of formerly diesel operated South Hants local services which were overcrowded (for example the 0813 Hamble to Portsmouth departure and the 0845 Hedge End to Basingstoke departure) are now significantly less crowded as a result of being operated by 4 carriage electric, rather than 2- or 3-carriage diesel trains. These services are also now notably more punctual.
28. At a more strategic/ longer term level, provision of sufficient capacity and infrastructure to cater for existing let alone future demand, and provide improvements which may help rail serve new markets, is an ongoing challenge. Whilst extra capacity has been provided on many SWT services, the network, especially closer to London, is now essentially full in the peak period and very little further growth will be possible without major investment which may be a decade or more away.
29. It should be noted that this area is directly competing with other areas
(especially the north of England) for this infrastructure funding. At present the north of England has made a considerably stronger case for rail infrastructure and service improvements than has been made by stakeholders in the Solent area.
30. In the Solent area, rail is increasingly being seen at a strategic level (for example by the LEP) as having potential to act as more of an alternative to the chronic congestion issues on the M27 and other major roads in the area, but efforts to secure necessary improvements to local rail services (via rail franchise specifications and the recent Network Rail Wessex Route study) have not been fruitful to date.
31. The content of Network Rail’s new Wessex Route Study (which has now been adopted by Network Rail as its established strategy for the area) in particular is a disappointment for this Council as many enhancements for local travel which we and partners had requested be included, have not been considered and do not feature. The strategy is instead primarily concerned with London connectivity and if realised as written would offer limited improvements for rail travel within the Borough and for more local commuting movements (which are much more numerous than commuting journeys from the Borough towards London are).
32. Some other major improvements (for example the proposed “Electric Freight
Spine”, which offers potential not just to improve rail services but also may
Eastleigh Borough Council

provide opportunities to improve certain problem bridges over rail lines in the
Borough) have been set back and their future delivery may be uncertain, as a result of problems with other electrification schemes.
33. Additionally the DfT’s rail franchising process has suffered various delays and setbacks. One event affecting this area was the failure of DfT and South
West Trains to agree a planned extension to the South West Trains franchise to 2019. As a result the current SWT franchise will terminate in February
2017 and a tender competition for a new franchise after this date will occur.
This competition is in the early stages now. It will be important for this
Council, working with other partners, to be as active as possible in making the case for enhanced services at local stations in the Borough to be specified in the 2017 rail franchise.
34. In the meantime, South West Trains continue to be active in working to improve their offer, and we are working with them in particular to try to provide improvements to waiting facilities at Hedge End and also minor improvements at some other Borough stations.
35. Rail station passenger figures are published on an annual basis by the Office of Rail Regulation. There is a one year lag in rail station entry / exit figures, so the most up to date data is for 2013 to 2014. Station usage in the Borough increased by 3.1%, to 4.3 million entries / exits per year. Table 2 below gives details.
Table 2- Passenger figures at rail stations serving the Borough
Station Passengers,
2012-13
Passengers,
2013-14
% increase
Eastleigh 1,532,000
Southampton Airport Parkway 1,540,000
472,000 Hedge End
Chandler’s Ford
Botley
239,000
142,000
Netley
Hamble
Bursledon
Totals
102,100
126100
59,600
4,213,800
1,600,000
1,604,000
460,000
244,000
143,000
110,300
122,100
65,200
4,348,600
4.3%
4.1%
-2.5%
2.1%
0.7%
8%
-3.2%
+9.4%
+3.1%
36. Overall, patronage growth at stations in the Eastleigh area continues to lag behind the national average (5.7% growth in 2013-14) as has been the case for several years now. It is worth noting that substantial investment and improvements in service have been occurring in other areas, wheras it is recognised that the rail network in the Hampshire area has seen underinvestment for some years.
37. There may be some under-counting in the figures provided in table 2 as they are based on ticket sales data and there is a certain proportion of ticketless travel. As none of the stations in the Borough currently have ticket barriers this may be more prevalent at Borough stations than elsewhere on the network. It is known that there are particular issues with ticketless travel at Hamble.
Eastleigh Borough Council

38. Passenger figures at Eastleigh and Airport Parkway grew by over 4% over the year. It is worth noting that Airport Parkway is essentially a park and ride for
London, and draws passengers from a very wide catchment, but Eastleigh serves a more local market- so the growth at these stations is likely to be driven by differing factors.
39. The strong growth at Bursledon and Netley is difficult to explain although these stations have low usage and hence higher percentage growth rates are more easily attained. Similarly the drop in usage at Hamble is difficult to explain although work by Three Rivers Rail Partnership and Eastleigh
Borough Council and the has established that around 50% of the total usage of this station is by Hamble College Pupils so the variation may reflect changes in the intake of pupils from year to year.
40. Usage at Chandlers Ford has been growing slowly for some years now, following rapid increases in usage immediately following its reopening in 2004.
It is felt that Chandlers Ford station has limited potential for significant further usage growth until train frequency (or, at the very least additional capacity on existing trains to tackle overcrowding) can be improved.
41. Passenger figures contracted slightly at Hedge End and grew very slightly at
Botley. It is likely that passenger figures here were affected by the Botley landslip which occurred on 1st February 2014 and resulted in no train services operating until March 15th 2014. It is expected that the growth trend seen at these stations previously will have recommenced once the line re-opened.
42. One of our partners is the Three Rivers Community Rail Partnership, a voluntary organisation that has adopted most of the stations in the Borough.
43. The Three Rivers Community Rail Partnership has now been in existence for
8 years and is grateful for the continuing support which Eastleigh Borough
Council has given to the group to help promote and develop stations and their role within the Borough’s communities. During this period passenger numbers over the entire partnership area from have risen from 8.3m to 13.3m per annum. This is obviously not down to the Partnership alone, but it is felt that the partnership has raised the profile of those local stations and services that is has promoted. The Partnership currently has around 100 volunteers,
225 identified stakeholders, 13 Steering Group members, 294 Facebook Likes and 123 Twitter followers.
44. On 1 October 2015, officers and volunteers from the Three Rivers Community
Rail Partnership attended the annual awards ceremony of the national
Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACORP) in Torquay. Having originally submitted 9 entries for various categories of awards, 6 submissions made the final shortlisting and two from Swaythling and Romsey won second place accolades. A couple of entries covering Eastleigh made shortlisting for
Best Marketing (Station Walks guide) and Passengers Matter (Rail Bus integration including the Marwell to Eastleigh service-see paragraphs 48 to
50).
Eastleigh Borough Council

45. It is hoped that the Netley Station 150th anniversary celebrations which will take place in March 2016, and which are being planned by the Partnership at present, may have “award winning” potential at next year’s awards.
46. Local promotion of rail services was once again undertaken, including a stand at the Fryern Funtasia in May and a mini “Community Rail in the City” event stand at Eastleigh Station in October. These resulted in many leaflets being distributed to the public publicising the work of the partnership, rail bus links and general rail information, which otherwise would not have been available.
47. The Three Rivers Community Rail Partnership continues to produce a variety of publications to encourage greater usage of local railways, stations and attractions. The revised Line Guide now includes the additional stations and attractions around Netley, Hamble and Bursledon, reflecting the partnership’s work at these stations. Work has now commenced on updating the popular
Pub Guide to include these additional stations. Rail bus link leaflets supporting the Marwell Wildlife services have also been published and distributed the Partnership.
48. The recently published Station Walks Guide, which details many walks from stations in the Borough, was produced with significant input from Eastleigh
Borough Council Officers. Over 500 have so far been sold to the public and many positive comments have been fed back to the Partnership. Stocks are sold through the local railway stations and the Royal Victoria Country Park but work is ongoing to find additional outlets through which to sell these professionally produced guides
49. Activities at stations in the Borough include:
Chandlers Ford:

Station tea stall each morning which now employs on a self- funding basis one member of staff;

Disused platform clearances and gardening, including a day in July when volunteers from the Department for Transport spent a day helping out as part of their CSR responsibilities;

Ongoing poetry displays and second hand book stall and cards in station building
Eastleigh:

A second hand book stall has been provided in the waiting area between platforms 2 and 3;

A mini Community Rail Stand was held in October to distribute partnership leaflets; and

The Marwell Rail Link Bus was routed from the station at weekends and school holidays from Easter to end of August.
Netley:

Volunteers are providing and maintaining flower planters for the station and reestablishing the Old Station Master’s Garden as a Wildlife and
Wildflower area;

The second hand book stall has expanded;
Eastleigh Borough Council


A vibrant volunteer group including local residents, Local History Society members, model railway club enthusiasts, contacts from the Royal
Victoria Country Park and Miniature Railway and ex railway staff has been established to plan and implement the station’s 150th anniversary celebration in March 2016; and

Plans are being worked up to reopen some disused rooms in the station building, as well as the brick built waiting room on one of the platforms.
Bursledon:

Tourism links have been established with the Bursledon Brickworks,
Windmill and the local Parish Council and it is hoped that these will all join together to provide a rail bus summer link in 2016 should an application to the Fieldfare LEADER Project through Eastleigh Borough Council be successful
50. The partnership continues to undertake minor works at all the stations it is involved with, including litter picking, gardening and landscaping and much thanks is owed to the many volunteers who give up their time to run these various activities.
51. 2015 saw the 7th year of operation of the Eastleigh to Marwell Zoo service M1 summer rail bus link. The service operated this year between Easter and the end of August. Following the changes in bus operators the previous year a new contract was awarded to First Bus who in addition decided to run service
M2 from Southampton to Marwell on a commercial basis.
52. Subsequent to this the Partnership also worked with the South Downs
National Park Authority to provide a third service M3 from Winchester Railway
Station to Marwell during August and September to create a network of bus routes to this popular tourist attraction, while encouraging less car borne traffic.
53. Possibly owing to these additional services, passenger usage on the M1 unfortunately was not as high as in previous years, but still managed to attract significant numbers.
54. The partnership continues to attend the Parliamentary All Party Rail Group at the Houses of Parliament each month and has held promotional stands this year at the Department for Transport and at Waterloo Station as part of the
May
“Community Rail in the City” event. In addition, the partnership has responded in depth to the Wessex Route Study consultation earlier in 2015 and continues to hold dialogue with South West Trains, Great Western Trains and the Department of Transport over future franchising specifications. Given the close links between the partnership and this Council, the partnership is a valuable voice supporting our own at high levels of planning and government.
55. The Partnership also attends meetings of Solent Transport and courses held by the national Association of Community Rail Partnerships throughout the year. It also took part in DEFRA consultations over the provision of public transport to rural tourist attractions in the spring, and has been closely involved with LSTF-funded workplace Travel Planning projects within
Chandlers Ford and Eastleigh.
Eastleigh Borough Council

56. First, it is necessary to put the role of the bus relative to the railway in context: there are over 3 times more bus journeys than rail journeys annually in the
UK, and around 6 times as many bus journeys as rail journeys in England outside London. However bus services receive substantially less government funding than the railways per year, despite being required to provide free concessionary travel. Bus services also provide links to the many areas where there is no rail access.
57. Most of the bus services in the Borough are provided commercially, however the nature of the Borough’s geography, demographics and economy means that some socially and economically important bus services are not commercially viable. Historically a range of supported bus services have been provided by Hampshire County Council, with additional support for certain routes provided by Eastleigh Borough Council in instances where HCC is unable or unwilling to provide support.
58. As a result of financial pressures on local government, the level of support that is possible has been reducing in recent years and these pressures are likely to continue.
59. Table 3 below outlines those services in the Borough which receive financial support from Eastleigh Borough Council and Hampshire County Council.
Eastleigh Borough Council

Table 3
– Supported Bus Services in the Borough
Service
Eastleigh Borough Council Contracts
Southampton- Eastleigh – Fair Oak (Sunday evening services, late night services Monday to Saturday)
Southampton-Portswood-Airport Parkway-Eastleigh (extension to Eastleigh) late night service on Friday & Saturday nights
Eastleigh-Chandlers Ford- Fryern Hill (Sundays & bank holidays)
Eastleigh-Boyatt Wood (Thu, Fri, Sat evenings and Sunday/ bank holiday daytimes)
Operator/Route no
Bluestar 2
Uni-link U1N
Xelabus X7
Xelabus X8
Hamble to Southampton (Thursday to Sunday evenings) First 6
Medical Transport Service – ELAC, BFOHH, HEWEB & CFH A2B Express Travel
EBC Contributions to HCC Contracts
Hamble-Netley-Bursledon- Hedge End – Botley-Boorley GreenXelabus X15
Horton Heath-Fair Oak- Eastleigh (Monday to Friday)
Eastleigh – Hedge End (Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings)
Eastleigh to Hedge End (Sunday)
Xelabus X4
First A
Xelabus X7 Eastleigh-Chandlers Ford- Fryern Hill (Thursday, Friday,
Saturday evenings)
Fryern Hill to Hiltingbury (Monday to Friday AM & PM peak journeys)
Xelabus X6/X7
Southampton-West End-Bishops Waltham (Monday to
Saturday)
Taxishare 44 Chalvington Road / Campbell Road-Eastleigh
Eastleigh Borough Dial-a-Ride service (Monday to Sunday);
Parish Link and Shopping Trip Dial-a-ride services
Medical Transport Service – BHH
HCC Contracts (no EBC contributions)
Eastleigh-North Baddesley-Romsey
Eastleigh-Botley-Bishops Waltham (Mon-Sat)
(Eastleigh-Boyatt Wood)-Allbook-Winchester (Mon-Sat daytime)
Winchester-Hiltingbury-Valley Park-North Baddesley
School & college contracts- HCC fund a number of contracted journeys to/from schools & colleges in the area.
Burridge to Botley and Hedge End
Xelabus X10
(Formerly Brijan 7)
Sapphire Taxis
One Community
Transport
Grainger Taxis
Bluestar 5
Xelabus X9 (Formerly
Brijan 8)
First E1/ E2
Stagecoach 46
Various
Taxishare 26
60. Changes to EBC contracted services since November 2013 are listed below:

January 2015: Xelabus X4 evenings- Evening journeys changed to operate direct along Southampton Road rather than via Derby Road,
Passfield Avenue and Chestnut Avenue in order to help improve punctuality over the rest of the route;

February 2015: Surrender of contract for route W56 (Southern Parishes to
Eastleigh via Botley & Boorley Green, Thursdays only) by Wheelers
Travel. Service retendered by EBC- two routes set up as a replacement
(Xelabus X56 and Brijan service 8B); and
Eastleigh Borough Council


September 2015: Following insolvency of Brijan Tours, combination of
Xelabus X56 and Brijan service 8B with Xelabus (formerly Brijan) route
15, to create a five day per week through service operated by Xelabus
(route number X15) between the Southern Parishes area and Eastleigh via Botley and Boorley Green. This service is operated under contract to
HCC with a contribution from Eastleigh Borough Council.
61. Changes to HCC contracts, some of which receive (or received) contributions from EBC, are listed below:
HCC Passenger Transport review 2014 (most changes below implemented
January 2015):

Reduction in support for Brijan 7/8 (now Xelabus X10, X11) on Saturdays- reduction to frequency of every two hours (from hourly) on Saturdays.

Reduction in support for Brijan 15 (Now Xelabus X15) - reduction to three days per week service (from previous six days per week) and reduced timetable on operational days operating off-peak only.
Xelabus took over this route following Brijan’s insolvency, and have at their own commercial risk increased the days of operation back to five days per week and combined the service with EBC support in order to extend the service to Eastleigh as part of route X15.

First 6 Southampton-Netley –Hamble- withdrawal of support for Sunday service. Route now operates commercially at a 60 minute frequency
(formerly 30 minute frequency service) on Sundays.

Service E1/ E2 Eastleigh to Winchester: Service retendered; tender won by Wheelers Travel at lower cost than previous contract held by Bluestar.

Stagecoach 46 Winchester-Hiltingbury-Chandlers Ford reduced to 4 daily round trips (from 7) and now terminates at North Baddesley (previously operated to Southampton General Hospital).

First route 26 Fareham-Botley-Hedge End service withdrawn and replaced by a limited Taxishare service between Burridge and Hedge
End.

Renegotiation of the contract for the Xelabus C3/C4 routes between
Fryern Hill and Hiltingbury (now part of their X6/X7 route) with revised route and timetable but fundamentally similar level of service.

Changes in the conditions of the English National Concessionary Travel
Scheme (ENCTS) administered by the County, with free travel for passholders now commencing at 0930 (was previously 0900).

Changes to Eastleigh Dial-a-Ride services (see paragraph 75).
Eastleigh Borough Council

62. Other HCC contracted service changes affecting the Borough, which have occurred due to reasons other than the County’s Passenger Transport
Review, are as follows:

January 2015: First 8: (Hedge End-West End-Townhill Park-
Southampton) Sunday service is reduced from a half-hourly service to hourly. Additionally service 8B (Monday to Saturday evening extension to Botley) earlier last journey from Southampton now leaving at 2245 rather than 2340. These changes were made as a result of Developer
Contribution (DC) funding from the Dowds Farm development for enhancement of this service running out.

July 2015: First service 8B
– Monday to Saturday evenings between
Southampton and Botley: Service withdrawn between Hedge End and
Botley and last services operating earlier than previously (approx. 2025 rather than 2245)- again these changes were made as a result of DC funding supporting the service running out.

September 2015: Brijan Tours insolvency: Xelabus takeover of most
Brijan contracted routes. Some service reductions to Brijan contracts from January 2015 reversed.

September 2015: Xelabus X5 (Airport Parkway- Chandlers Ford Business
Parks- Chandlers Ford station (commuter shuttle). Service withdrawn following end of LSTF funding.

September 2015: Xelabus X6/X7 service between Fryern Hill and
Hiltingbury withdrawn on Saturdays (terminating instead at Fryern Hill).

October 2015: Route E1/E2 (Eastleigh-Winchester) contract surrendered by Wheelers; route retendered and contract won by Firstbus. Withdrawal of one round trip from the timetable and extension of the first and last two journeys to/from Portswood.
63. Many of the remaining HCC bus service contracts in the Eastleigh area (some of which are part funded by Eastleigh Borough Council) are due to terminate on 15th October 2016 and subsequently will be the focus of a retendering exercise led by HCC, with EBC participation, in advance of this date.
64. The large majority of bus services in the Borough are provided on a commercial basis with no financial input or control from any Local Authority.
Although bus operators do tend to work on a partnership basis with Local
Authorities, they do so at their own financial risk.
65. Eastleigh has for some years had an unusually competitive bus market for the size and nature of the Borough, and at one point was served by as many as 8 separate bus operators. However the number of operators involved in the bus market has reduced in the last year as a result of the bankruptcy of two of the smaller locally based operators- Velvet bus and Brijan Tours, and the withdrawal of Wheelers Travel from services within the Borough.
Eastleigh Borough Council

66. Velvet was in financial difficulties more than a year ago following a very difficult winter in 2013-2014. Xelabus took over a number of former Velvet routes in early 2014. Velvet ceased trading briefly in July 2014 but was not formally liquidated and was taken over by new owners and remained on the road, operating a small fraction of their former network. However the company continued to struggle, and ceased trading on January 10th 2015.
67. Brijan Tours also were in financial difficulties for some time prior to ceasing trading on 14th August 2015. Again, Xelabus were involved in the “rescue” of a number of Brijan routes.
68. There have been several key results of these events (and indeed the several years of instability prior):

A lack of consistency, through frequent changes to bus routes and timetables, as a result of operators ability to serve a route (or indeed an operators existence) being in question- with the result that a number of routes within the Borough have seen multiple timetable changes, some days of no service at all, and changes in operator on the route, all within a year or so;

For those routes which did remain, in some cases poor quality unreliable service as a result of some operators being unable or unwilling to run the operate advertised services (this was especially the case on the Velvet service between Hedge End and Southampton in the later days of Velvet).

In combination with more general problems such as traffic congestion and quality/frequency of service that is viable, a loss of confidence amongst passengers in bus services in some areas, and in many cases significant reductions in patronage on the affected routes. This has been most pronounced on routes in and around the Hedge End area where the network is significantly smaller and “thinner” than it was several years ago.
 Consolidation of most of the “non-core” routes with one locally based operator (Xelabus) who have expanded considerably in order to take on those routes which are judged to remain viable.

Job losses at some bus operators based in the Borough- although in many cases staff have subsequently been able to get jobs at other bus operators.
69. The realignment of the “non-core” bus market in the Borough has resulted in a period of somewhat greater stability in recent months but at the cost of reduced levels of service, and questionable viability of some of the remaining routes as a result of a diminished market for bus services.
70. Xelabus have been instrumental in continuing service on many of the routes where operators have become insolvent. It should also be noted that Xelabus have made (for a business of their size) very substantial investments in nearly new , low floor, easy access buses- and thus have considerably raised the
Eastleigh Borough Council

vehicle quality on many of the “non core” routes compared to that provided by
Brijan or in some cases Velvet. This is a major benefit for many of the users of these types of route (concessionary pass holders using bus services to go shopping) and it is hoped that this will help to bring some passengers back onto these routes.
71. Commercial bus operators do not openly publicise their passenger figures as this is commercially sensitive. However our understanding is that many of the
“core routes” (radial routes from Southampton passing through areas with higher potential usage eg Bluestar 1, 2, First X4/X5) are doing well, but usage of the “non-core” routes has contracted as a result of the difficulties of the smaller operators detailed above . Traffic congestion and lack of bus priority at congestion hotspots continues to seriously hamper punctuality and service quality for all operators.
72. Data on overall bus patronage is not available at Borough level- the most granular data available is at the Hampshire County level which grew from 32.1 million passengers in 2013/14 to 32.4 million passengers in 2014/15.
However much of this growth is likely to be due to major schemes elsewhere, such as the Eclipse busway in Fareham and Gosport and “Star” routes between Portsmouth and Waterlooville.
73. Similarly bus punctuality data is published by the DfT but not at Borough level.
The latest available data from the DfT shows that bus punctuality in
Hampshire during 2014/15 was 83%, compared with 86% in 2013/14. A bus is defined as running on time if it operates no more than 5 minutes late compared to its timetable.
74. The representatives of bus operators present will be able to update the
Committee on developments relating to their own companies. Some other highlights from the last year are listed below:

First are introducing a fleet of brand new buses on the X4/ X5
Southampton-Bursledon-Fareham –Portsmouth/ Gosport routes in addition to ongoing fleet renewal which has benefitted other routes in the Borough;

Bluestar increased frequency on the Bluestar 1 (Southampton-Chandlers
Ford-Winchester) route from every 20 minutes to every 15 minutes in
September 2015;

Bluestar also introduced four brand new buses to the Bluestar 2
(Southampton-Eastleigh-Fair Oak) route replacing four older vehicles
(this is a renewal of 50% of the vehicles used on this route);

Xelabus have added a significant number of three to five year old low floor, high quality buses to their fleet, replacing much older vehicles on most routes;

Xelabus have assisted the Council in realising one of its aspirations for local bus services- restoration of a regular daily service between Eastleigh and the Southern Parishes, in the form of service X15, which provides 3 /
Eastleigh Borough Council

4 daily journeys between Eastleigh, Boorley Green, Botley, Hedge End,
Bursledon, Hamble and Netley.
75.
Operators’ investments in new/ nearly new vehicles are of particular benefit to air quality, a topic of major concern now, given that there are several AQMAs in the Borough through which bus operators run services.
76. The Eastleigh Dial-a-Ride service provides an important additional layer of public transport, available to people who find it difficult or impossible to use normal public transport. Eastleigh Dial-a-Ride is operated by One Community
Transport.
77. The Eastleigh Dial-a-Ride service is split into several distinct services, namely:

Dial-a-Ride: the main demand responsive transport service, which aims to be able to provide a door-to-door transport service within the Borough and to/from selected external destinations, for people with a mobility or sensory impairment which prevents them from using other public transport services;

Shopping trips: a semi-flexible, pre-bookable service providing service on set days from specific areas to certain key shopping destinations which supplements the main Dial-a-Ride service; and

Parish Link: a service from Bursledon, Hamble-le-Rice and Hound, Hedge
End, West End and Botley and Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath areas to Eastleigh Town Centre, operating to a set timetable and route but with some flexibility to provide door-to-door service.
78. These services are jointly funded with Hampshire County Council, with both
EBC and HCC contributing 50% of the cost of operating the services.
79. The Monday to Saturday Dial-a-Ride service is unchanged since the last report to this Committee; however the Sunday Dial-a-Ride service was withdrawn in January 2015. This change was made as a result of the HCC
Passenger Transport Review. The withdrawal of the Sunday Dial-a-Ride service was assessed as having negative impacts on a minimal number of service users, some of whose travel needs could be provided via alternative means.
80.
One Community Transport’s fleet is now based at the EBC site at Dutton Lane
(former UPS site). One Community for many years had no permanent base of operations, but were able to set up a temporary base on leased land near
Airport Parkway in 2012-13 with financial assistance from the Council.
However this site was sold in 2015 and as a result One Community needed to find an alternative base. The Council have been able to assist by providing parking for minibuses at the new Dutton Lane site.
81. In 2014/15, there was a maximum of 1,380 registered users for Eastleigh Dial-
A-Ride- a small increase on increase on las t year’s figure of 1,324.
Eastleigh Borough Council

82. The Eastleigh Dial-a-Ride service is the second most-used service in
Hampshire. In total, residents of the Borough made 17,734 passenger trips on Dial-a-Ride and Shopping Trips services between April 2014 and March
2015. This is a 10% reduction on the 19,763 passenger trips in 2013/14.
The number of trips involving a wheelchair user also dropped somewhat, to
2046 trips (from 2246 trips in 2013/14).
83. Two out of the three vehicles used to provide the Dial-a-Ride service have been replaced with brand new vehicles in the last twelve months- an investment of around £93,000 into the service by HCC & EBC. The third vehicle operating the service is only 4 years old. As a result the service is now operated by very modern and efficient vehicles.
84. In addition to operating Dial-a-Ride and related services, One Community
Transport also operates a group hire scheme which hires out accessible vehicles to groups, clubs, schools and not for profit organisations affiliated to
One Community. This scheme also provides transport to Day Centres throughout the Borough.
85. The Group Hire scheme is operated under contract to Hampshire County
Council, who cover some admin. and transport staff costs.
86. A total of 12 accessible vehicles are used to run this service, with a large volunteer driver base. It is one of the largest Community Transport Schemes in Hampshire, with over 378 different groups and organisations utilising the service. There were 43,784 passenger trips undertaken and 66,797 miles travelled in 2014-15.
87. This supported taxi service provides a link for patients attending medical appointments at doctors’ surgeries, hospitals or medical centres or those visiting sick family and friends in hospital. Access from various parts of the
Borough to main local hospitals by public transport is poor. There are no direct bus links from within the EBC area to Southampton General Hospital, the major hospital for the area. Bus links to other centres for health provision are also very limited.
88. The Medical Transport service is provided by two operators in the Borough,
A2B express travel in BFOHH, ELAC, CFH and HEWEB and Grainger Travel in BHH. The BHH service is part funded by Hampshire County Council and partly by Eastleigh Borough Council. Services in the other LAC areas are wholly funded by Eastleigh Borough Council.
89. The EBC-administered part of the Medical Transport Service was retendered in summer 2014, with the contract to operate the service won by A2B Express
Travel (the incumbent operator). This re-tendering brought some reductions in fares to key destinations and as a result slightly better value for money to the
Council.
90. The service was used for 4,653 trips between April 2014 and March 2015- a
6.5% increase on the 4,365 trips made in 2013/14. The most popular
Eastleigh Borough Council

destinations are Southampton General Hospital, Royal South Hants Hospital in Southampton, Royal Hants County Hospital Winchester, and the Blackthorn
Medical Centre in Hamble.
91. Four Taxishare services operate in the Borough. These provide a public transport service for areas where bus services are not economically viable, or for areas where the nature of the road network is unsuitable for buses.
92. Passengers must register to use the service and must book a seat on the journey the day before travel. Passengers are able to travel for free on all carshare journeys if they have a Concessionary Fare pass.
93. The Chalvington Road and Campbell Road Taxishare (service 44) links these areas to Eastleigh town centre including the Swan Centre, Newtown Road
Health Centre, the bus station and the railway station. The service operates between Tuesday and Saturday with a total of 27 journeys per week. It receives financial support from HCC and EBC.
94. A total of about 2,955 journeys were made on Taxishare 44 in 2014/15, a decline on 3,307 journeys in 2013/14 and 4,000 in 2012/13. This ongoing decline in usage compared to previous years is likely due to a reduction in the number of weekly journeys provided on this service in August 2013.
95. The Valley Park Taxishare (service 43) provides transport for residents living in the Flexford and Valley Park areas, travelling to Fryern Hilll, Eastleigh town centre or Asda superstore. It is funded by HCC. The service operates once a day in each direction on Tuesday and Friday. 59 trips were made using this service in 2014/15, compared to 125 trips in 2013/14.
96. The Stoke Common Taxishare (service 42) provides transport for residents living in the Stoke Common area travelling into Eastleigh town centre. It is funded by HCC. The service operates once a day in each direction on
Wednesday and Friday. 227 trips were made using this service in 2012/13, compared to 98 trips in 2013/14.
97. The Burridge-Hedge End Taxishare (service 26): This service replaces the withdrawn no 26 bus (Hedge End to Fareham) and provides transport for residents living in Burridge, with journeys to Botley, Hedge End town centre and Hedge End superstores. It is funded by HCC and operates on Tuesdays and Thursdays giving a total of six journeys per week. The service started in
January 2015 so no annual passenger figures are available yet.
98. During the 2014/15 financial year , £184,808 was spent by the Council on improvements to public transport infrastructure around the Borough. This funding has been secured from Developer Contributions, the Council’s
Community Infrastructure Programme, and the Borough Council’s public transport initiatives fund, and in some cases with support from Parish Councils as well.
Eastleigh Borough Council

99. Improvement work with EBC funding/ contributions has been carried out at the following locations:

Hedge End rail station (car park extension, cycle parking, motorcycle parking improvements);

Eastleigh rail station forecourt (contribution towards LSTF scheme budget);

Winchester Street Botley southbound (opposite Holmesland Drive) – provision of bus shelter ;

Sandy Lane Fair Oak near Winchester Road northbound
– provision of bus shelter;

Sandy Lane Fair Oak near Victena Road northbound – provision of bus shelter; and

Winchester Rd opposite Thornden School- additional bus stop cycle parking stands.
100. The Council has been opportunistically phasing out older shelters (MAN and
Warwick) or retrofit the panels of the shelter using our existing preferred supplier (Queensbury) in a bid to reduce maintenance costs and improve the standard of shelters throughout the Borough. It is intended that this will continue as and where funding permits.
101. Eastleigh Borough Council’s public transport webpages provide comprehensive information and links to all public transport services in the
Borough. These pages are updated regularly with new timetables and information. For the most recent period (July to September 2015) these pages were receiving around 2,450 hits per month
– about 1.5% of the total use of the Council’s website.
102. Also, the Council’s Twitter feed, Facebook page and other social media channels have been used to disseminate information and news, for example regarding timetable changes, and also on occasion answer questions from the public.
103. We also provide limited printed publicity for certain services, for example the
Medical Transport Service and bus services between the BHH area and
Eastleigh.
104. Resources from the Public Transport Budget are allocated according to funding available and consistency with the Public Transport Strategy. The total budget for Public Transport support is £272,650 in 2015/16, down from
£288,590 in 2014/15.
105.
£246,508 of spending is committed of which £95,900 is for Dial-a-Ride and it is expected that the remainder of the budget will be committed by the end of the financial year.
Eastleigh Borough Council

106. A saving of just o ver £10,000 compared to the previous financial year has come from the following changes:

Withdrawal of Sunday Dial-aRide service: £4,250 p/a

Withdrawal of Xelabus service X6/X7 between Fryern Hill and Hiltingbury on Saturdays:
£400 p/a

Cost reduction through renegotiation of Xelabus contract for Hiltingbury section of X6/X7 route (part of HCC Passenger Transport Review):
£5,362 p/a

Slight (circa 5%) cost reduction per trip on Medical Transport service following retendering – essentially offsetting inflation
107. Additionally, whilst there was no saving on financial support for bus links between the BHH LAC area & Eastleigh, it was possible to secure a significantly improved level of service following the insolvency of Brijan Tours, at no additional cost to the Council. This was achieved through combination of
EBC support with an existing HCC contract which was being transferred to
Xelabus, and some additional commercially operated elements.
108. The result is that the same level of support from EBC now provides five days per week links from BHH and Botley/Boorley Green to Eastleigh ( 35 journeys per week) compared to the previous one day per week operation giving 6 journeys per week. This is much better value for money than we were previously achieving.
109. For other existing contracts, costs have increased by inflation only compared to last year’s expenditure.
110. The planned HCC Eastleigh area bus network re-tenders has been delayed as a result of ongoing upheaval in the Borough’s bus market and will now occur in 2016, with new contracts planned to be in place from October 2016.
111. There is a risk of services failing due to contracts not being honoured.
Contracts are awarded in accordance with the provision of the Transport Act
1985 and current contracts cover most local operators.
112. As referred to in the Financial Implications section, services continue to be monitored and reviewed by the Borough Council. The current economic and local government funding climate presents a degree of risk to service continuity from all parties.
113. In one instance (the insolvency of Velvet bus) good links between Eastleigh
Borough Council and Xelabus ensured journeys contracted to be operated by
Velvet, which would have otherwise been cancelled, were operated at very short notice (less than an hour’s notice in one case) by Xelabus instead, ensuring continuity of service and avoiding passengers being stranded.
114. Additionally, in this and other instances, EBC had the resource to monitor onsite that services which were ordered did indeed operate as planned despite the short notice change of operator.
Eastleigh Borough Council

115. The use of high-floor buses is now dwindling. Nationwide, all high floor single deckers must be phased out of use by January 2016, and all high floor double deckers by 2017.
116. The main beneficiaries of use of low floor buses are people with disabilities or mobility problems, and people with infants or small children in pushchairs.
These groups make up a substantial proportion of all bus passengers on some routes.
117. As a result of the near-universal use of low floor buses now, many groups with mobility issues that made bus travel difficult should now find it easier to do so.
However access to buses for passengers with mobility issues can still be impaired, especially by sub-standard bus stop infrastructure. Eastleigh
Borough Council has recently been working with Xelabus and Eastleigh
District Disability Forum to identify stops at which, even with low floor buses, access remains problematic.
118. Additionally the bus use experience for users with mobility issues etc will be influenced by the individual driver of the bus they are using- the helpfulness of drivers towards people with mobility issues is generally good but on occasion we have received reports that high standards of service have not been upheld. This is a matter for bus operators to deal with as required although it has been a concern for the Council on occasion.
119. The County and Borough Councils continue to invest in bus stop infrastructure such as seating, shelters and access kerbs to improve accessibility and make public transport facilities as user-friendly as possible.
120. There may be equality impacts as a result of the reduction in bus services, especially supported services which are no longer affordable for Councils.
Whenever this Council has been involved in considering such efficiencies, part of the process for undertaking these has been to work with operators to identify changes that would affect the minimum number of users, and where possible to ensure that mitigations (eg service operation on other days or at other times) is in place, in order to limit any potential impacts.
121. This report has provided a comprehensive update on public transport provision and development in the Borough over the last year, and the role that
Eastleigh Borough Council has played in this.
122. This has included financial and technical support in various forms for public transport services across the Borough. We work proactively with partners including HCC, public transport operators, and other stakeholders, on topics as varied as service improvements, infrastructure works, and lobbying at a higher level for more strategic improvements to be delivered in the longer term.
Eastleigh Borough Council

123. Funding availability is now a significant constraint on what we and our partners can achieve especially in the short term. In particular the paucity of bid funding opportunities to replace the LSTF and related funding streams means there is now a significant reduction in the pace of development and improvement activity that occurred between 2012 and 2015, and which was possible through external funding.
124. This is unfortunate as there are still a great many areas where much more could be done to develop public transport in the Borough and across its borders.
125. As ever, we will continue to work proactively with our partners to maintain the current level of service and facilities enjoyed by Borough residents, and provide improvements wherever we are able.
ED VOKES
Head of Transportation & Engineering
Date:
Contact Officer:
Tel No:
E-mail:
Appendices Attached:
Report No:
2 November 2015
Richard Pemberton
023 8068 8280
Richard.Pemberton@eastleigh.gov.uk
None
EN1243
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 - SECTION 100D
The following is a list of documents which disclose facts or matters on which this report or an important part of it is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report. This list does not include any published works or documents which would disclose exempt or confidential information.
None.
Eastleigh Borough Council