New express service from First Bus expands faster travel to Portsmouth Harbour and Southsea

First Bus is launching a new express service to expand faster connections between Fareham, Portsmouth Harbour and onwards to Southsea.

From Sunday 26 July, Service X3 will begin operating from Fareham with the express service almost halving the travel time to South Parade Pier in Southsea. Trips will take 35 minutes to the harbour and Hard Interchange in Portsmouth.

George Burton, Head of Network, said: “Our new express will expand further fast transport connections and complement existing train travel, giving customers added stopping points along the route.

“This has been purposely planned to provide excellent connections from the early morning and late into the evening. We believe it will prove popular with commuters and also visitors as the summer holiday season gets underway.”

Journeys on the express will be available every 30 minutes Monday-Saturday on a route linking Fareham and Portchester with the city centre and Southsea. Services will begin at 7:25am and operate until 11:45pm. The X3 will complement the existing half-hourly X4/X5 service, providing a fast bus every 15 minutes between Fareham, Portchester and the city centre.

The Saturday trips will bolster the current Service 3 timetable and are designed to appeal to leisure travellers.

Portsmouth City Council has part-funded the new X3 express service as part of its wider investment in bus travel, supporting new routes and improvements that help connect people to jobs, education and leisure across the area.

Cllr Peter Candlish, Cabinet Member for Transport at Portsmouth City Council said: “We’re pleased to support the introduction of the new X3 express service, giving residents and visitors a faster and more convenient way to travel between Fareham, Portchester and Portsmouth.

“At the start of the summer, I'm especially pleased it will give another fast bus route to the fantastic new Southsea seafront.  Through our Bus Service Improvement Programme, we’re investing in better, more reliable services across the city which helps to make bus travel a more attractive choice to key destinations. This is already making a difference, with bus journeys increasing by 53 per cent in the last three years.”

Cllr Candlish added: "By part-funding services like this, we’re making it easier for people to leave the car at home and choose a convenient, more sustainable way to get around.”

To introduce the express service, First Bus is adjusting the frequency of Services 1 and 3 to run every 12 minutes from the current 10 minutes and has completed a review of the X4 and X5 timetables to improve punctuality.

“We are balancing available resources to create stronger overall options for customers and best meet demand and future travel on this popular route,“ added George Burton.

Full details can be found on the First Bus website Service Changes from 26th July | First Bus

Picture captions:

First Bus X3 Express 1: X3 Express bus at The Hard Interchange

First Bus X3 Express 2: Cllr Candlish (centre) with George Burton and Mark Lovell, Head of Operations at The Hard Interchange, Portsmouth.

First Bus X3 Express 4: A quick trip to the seaside: (l-r) Mark Lovell, Head of Operations, Cllr Candlish, George Burton and First Bus Network Planner, William Neal and his daughter enjoy an ice cream at Southsea.  

First Bus X3 Express 4: X3 Express bus at the stop outside Southsea’s South Parade Pier.

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