Coronavirus in Portsmouth: First Solent buses reduced to Saturday timetable and South Western Railway announces changes to services

First Solent made the decision in a bid to 'sustain services' while the area is under pressure due to coronavirus. It follows cancellations announced yesterday.

Government has urged people to avoid non-essential travel.

At the same time, Hampshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council have lifted restrictions on bus passes, meaning they can be used after 9.30am.

Passenger numbers have dropped, First Solent said. Updates may not appear on its app so the company is directing people to its website, firstgroup.com/portsmouth-fareham-gosport

South Western Railway is reducing services from Monday, March 23 as more of its staff are self-isolating or unwell.

First Solent managing director Marc Reddy said: 'The number of people travelling has reduced significantly and is continuing to diminish, making this an extremely dynamic situation which is changing day-to-day, hour-by-hour.

'To help our customers and give them clarity, we are reducing our Monday to Friday services to a Saturday timetable. Where we can, we will add extra buses into peak travel periods to ensure that workers are catered for.'

He added: 'This is not a decision we take lightly.

'However, with more and more people choosing or being directed to stay at home, this is the most sensible approach to ensure services continue running and are as close to ‘business as usual’ as we can possibly make them.

'Customers can be assured we will endeavour to keep services running through this unprecedented time of uncertainty.’

University of Portsmouth services U1 will stop on March 27 and the U2 stops on March 25.

A Stagecoach South statement said it will run school holiday timetables in Hampshire from Monday.

A SWR statement on March 19 said: 'We will reduce the number of services we will be running from Monday, March 23, following the government’s announcement urging people to avoid all but essential travel in order to help limit the spread of the highly contagious virus.

'The spread of the Covid-19 means that like at most other organisations, more of our staff are having to follow advice to stay at home unwell and self-isolate for up to 14 days.

'By reducing the number of trains running, we can focus on ensuring a reliable timetable for passengers who still have to travel, especially healthcare professionals, police and fire service workers.

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