New Weekend Park and Ride to open on Saturday 20 September

Southampton City Council, working in partnership with University Hospital Southampton (UHS), and Bluestar, and funded by the Department for Transport’s Bus Grant Fund, are set to start a new Weekend Park and Ride service on Saturday 20 September

The Southampton Weekend Park and Ride will be located at the Adanac Park site currently used during the week by University Hospital Southampton (UHS) and will only cost £5 for all day parking and bus travel, tickets can be bought on the bus or the Bluestar app.

The new ‘PR1’ service will run between Adanac Park and the City Centre stopping only at Southampton Central Station and Westquay or Albion Place Bus Hub on Saturdays, Sundays, and bank holidays.

On Saturdays:

• The car park will be open from 6.30am to 9pm
• Buses will run up to every 20 minutes from 7am to 7pm, and then up to every 30 minutes until 8.30pm

On Sundays and bank holidays:

• The car park will be open from 8.30am to 7pm
• Buses will run up to every 20 minutes from 9am to 6pm

There will also be a weekend match day service for Southampton Football Club home games called the ‘PR2’ which will run between Adanac Park and Kingsway only. This service will run for three hours before kick-off and for two hours after the end of the game.

Peter Baker, commercial and enterprise director at UHS, said: “We’re delighted to see the park and ride facility at Adanac Health & Innovation Campus now extending its service to the wider public on weekends and bank holidays, providing convenient access to the city of Southampton. During the week, the facility continues to support hospital staff commuting to our clinical and training sites. This phased approach marks an important step in improving connectivity and sustainability and, by working in partnership with Southampton City Council, we’re helping to create a transport solution that benefits our staff, the local community and visitors to the city.”

Richard Tyldsley, Bluestar general manager, said: “We are pleased to have been chosen to provide these much-anticipated park & ride services. This is an opportunity to build on our excellent partnership with Southampton City Council, and further enhance the network of bus services we operate across the city.

“We also hope this new weekend park & ride offering will encourage more people travelling from outside the area to choose this more sustainable transport option - helping to reduce congestion and improve air quality across the city centre.”

Councillor Christie Lambert, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “I am delighted that our ambition for a Park & Ride service into Southampton city centre, one of the pillars of our Local Transport Plan and Bus Service Improvement Plan, and highly desired by local people, will shortly be ready to offer people a new convenient, sustainable and affordable option for visiting the city centre.”