A new bus route which merges two existing services will start next month.
The 18, which serves Queens Park, and the 50, which serves Hollingdean, will combine into the new 20 service, which will run between the two neighbourhoods via the city centre from Sunday, 14 June.
Most stops in the existing routes will still be served – although a small chunk of the 18’s route through Seven Dials will be missed out, and it will not stop at Churchill Square.
The stops it uses at Brighton Station will also differ from the old services and it will go towards Hollingdean via North Road, not North Street.
It will run every 15 minutes during weekdays and Saturdays, every 20-25 minutes on weekday evenings, and every 30 minutes on Sundays.
Brighton and Hove Buses’ commercial director Nick Hill said: “We can now confirm that new route 20 will replace routes 18 and 50 from 14 June, running from Queens Park to Hollingdean via the city centre, Brighton Station and London Road Shops.
“It will be extended to Lewes Road Sainsbury’s at certain times.
“It will operate at the same headline 15 minutes frequency as the 18 and 50 but provide several new links, such as Hollingdean to Brighton Station, Lewes Road Sainsbury’s, St James’ Street and Edward Street.
“Queens Park Road will gain a service to London Road Shops.
“Following engagement with the city council, community groups, councillors and Brighton Buswatch, several changes were made to the initial proposal.
“These are that it will serve Imperial Arcade in both directions, it will serve stop N1 in addition to N4 on North Street, and will be extended to Lewes Road Sainsbury’s in the late morning and lunchtime on weekdays to provide a much-requested link from Hollingdean.”
A map of the route would be useful.
Here you go
https://images-brightonhove.passenger-website.com/downloads/20%20tube%20map%20FINAL.pdf
It’ll be quicker to walk to London Road from Queens Park/Hanover than catch this new bus, and I’m saying this as a disabled person! Going the back way to the station via Imperial Arcade (and I presume seven dials – the timetable in the link seems to only list some of the stops) also seems like an unnecessary diversion! I still say the 18 would have been better off half merged with the number 2 route – a 2A situation that serves Queens Park instead of Queensway, and Brighton Station/Seven Dials instead of Churchill Square.
You do realise that route 20 is not the only bus route in Brighton. You do not need to walk to London Road, route 21 will take you from Queens Park to London Road in a few minutes, like it’s always done for years. Other buses exist y’know.
This is just an excuse to save money, 2 routes turned into 1. Every 15 mins . No stop in North St.. Takes twice as long to get to Hollingdean The people of Hollingdean WERE NOT CONSULTED
Everley and disabled people in Hollingdean hate this idea. Service to Hollingdean was awful anyway.. Never stuck to timetables and tuned up whenever.
This will make service worse. Hollingdean Residents Association.
As a disabled life long Queens park resident this is yet another blow to mine and many people’s lives, I used to get the 18 from at James’s st to Queens park rd on a daily bases now to ridiculously high prices, £3+ to go 3-4 short stops coupled with the totally random arrivals, ask anyone who uses the 18 or 22 the regularly disappear from live times so in actuality the average wait time is 45mins , means that I get a taxi instead. So much for being a greener society!!! Hopefully by the time I have saved up electric scooters will be legal as I have lost all faith in so called public transport.
2 routes amalgamated, but no thought given about the 4 G.P practices which may move to Preston Road Barracks development.
The 50 service is the worst one in Europe now we’ll have to wait twice as long as we normally have to in order to get out of hollingdean and back again
As another person commented the 50 service was awful anyway so can’t see how this will be an improvement and as a hollingdean resident with caring responsibilities and mild disabilities who cannot afford to run a car and who relies heavily on overpriced bus services (as does all of my family) i was not consulted whatsoever on this 🙁 not happy