January Service Changes

This last week has seen a new batch of service registrations including a batch of changes for January. We also have the usual timetable upgrade for Christmas shopping of the Coypool Park & Ride.

Licence	Route	Start Point	End Point	Effective	Notes	Operator
PH0000135.164	10	Plymouth	Polperro	04-Jan-2026	Revised timetable for reliability	PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD
PH0000135.166	11	Dobwalls	Plymouth	04-Jan-2026	Revised timetable for reliability	PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD
PH0000135.162	12 12A	Plymouth	Callington	04-Jan-2026	Revise timetable for reliability	PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD
PH1020951.455	19	Plymouth Royal Parade	Plympton	09-Nov-2025	To add The Park bus stop Outbound to operate from Sun 9th November.	STAGECOACH DEVON LTD
PH0000135.008	42 42A 42D	Royal Parade	Tamerton Foliot	04-Jan-2026	Revise timetable - additional journeys to Broadley PArk Road	PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD
PH0000135.149	42C 42B	Royal Parade	Roborough	04-Jan-2026	Provide additional journeys to Industrial Estate at Broadley Park Road	PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD
PH0000135.386	55	Bodmin	Camelford	04-Jan-2026	Timetable Change	PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD
PH0000135.378	76A	Launceston	Callington	04-Jan-2026	Revise Timetable for reliability	PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD
PH0000135.161	76	Launceston	Bude	05-Jan-2026	Timetable revised for reliability	PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD
PH0000135.187	77 77S	Liskeard	Polperro	05-Jan-2026	Timetable Change	PLYMOUTH CITYBUS LTD
PH0005305.115	96	Marine Estate bus stop, Meeting Lane, Lympstone	Parade, Exmouth	04-Jan-2026	NEW REGISTRATION: Monday to Saturday	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH0005305.114	97	Anson Road, Exmouth	Anson Road, Exmouth	04-Jan-2026	NEW REGISTRATION: Monday to Saturday	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH1017984.143	173	Court Street Car Park, Moretonhampstead,	Cheeke Street, Exeter	05-Jan-2026	NEW REGISTRATION: Mon - Sat,  Excluding Public Holidays	ALANSWAY COACHES LTD
PH1020951.368	200	Coypool Park & Ride	Plymouth, Royal Parade	13-Nov-2025	To provide an enhanced Service leading up to Christmas 2025, with services up to 2030 on Thursdays, and a Sunday service from 0900 - 1700, on the following dates :-  Thursday - 13th November. 20th November, 27th November, 4th December, 11th December & 18th December Sunday - 16th November, 23rd November, 30th November, 7th December, 14th December & 21st December.	STAGECOACH DEVON LTD
PH0005305.118	348	Tiverton Bus Station, Tiverton	Tiverton Bus Station, Tiverton	04-Jan-2026	NEW REGISTRATION Monday to Saturday	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH0005305.116	349	Tiverton Bus Station, Tiverton	Tiverton Bus Station, Tiverton	04-Jan-2026	NEW REGISTRATION Monday to Saturday	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH0005305.119	360	Sidwell Street, Exeter	Pound Lane,Bridford	04-Jan-2026	NEW REGISTRATION Monday to Saturday	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH0005305.117	369	Church Street, Witheridge	RD&E Hospital, Exeter	04-Jan-2026	NEW REGISTRATION Monday to Saturday	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH2008096.021	663S	Back Lane, Health Centre, Chulmleigh	Community College, South Molton	05-Jan-2026	NEW REGISTRATIONSchool days only	LINDEN HOLDINGS (DEVON) LTD
PH2008096.022	660	Broad Street, South Molton	Glebelands Villas, Bishops Nympton	05-Jan-2026	NEW REGISTRATION Monday to Saturday	LINDEN HOLDINGS (DEVON) LTD
PH2008096.023	856	Broad Street, South Molton	East Street, Bridge, North Molton	05-Jan-2026	NEW REGISTRATION Monday to Saturday	LINDEN HOLDINGS (DEVON) LTD
PH2008096.025	855	Howard Close, South Molton	Broad Street, South Molton	05-Jan-2026	NEW REGISTRATION Monday to Saturday	LINDEN HOLDINGS (DEVON) LTD
PH0005305.041	694	HONITON, DOWELL STREET CAR PARK	HONITON, LACE WALK	04-Jan-2026	Variation to timetable	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH0005305.025	863	Broadhembury	Broadhembury	04-Jan-2026	Cancellation	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH0006159.414	X51 X53	Bridport Coach Station	Axminster Rail Station	26-Oct-2025	Variation to timetable	FIRST HAMPSHIRE & DORSET LIMITED

We dont yet have any details for the Plymouth Citybus changes, but these will no doubt appear shortly.  As usual you can click through to the route pages for more details including most of the new timetables

Devon Bus do have an update for services due to change in January – which includes most of the above..

From 4 January 2026

• 6A Okehampton – Whiddon Down – Tedburn St Mary – Exeter (Stagecoach)
  • Stagecoach will only operate the 0730 Okehampton to Exeter and 1635 Exeter to Okehampton on Exeter College Days.
  • All other Monday – Saturday journeys will now be operated by Dartline as service 66. The new timetable includes a two-hourly off-peak frequency and a new earlier arrival in Okehampton. The Sunday service will continue to be operated by Stagecoach, but as service 66. Please note that roadworks in Okehampton in January are likely to affect this service when it starts – details and timetable will be posted shortly.
• 6B Tavistock – Okehampton (Stagecoach)
  • Service withdrawn. Alternative journeys available on service 118.
• 42C: Woolwell – Plymouth (Plymouth Citybus)
  • Minor changes to timetable.
• 96: Lympstone – Brixington – Exmouth (Stagecoach)
  • The daytime Monday-Saturday service 96 will now be operated by Dartline with minor changes to timetable. View timetable.
  • The evenings, Sundays and Public Holidays will continue to be operated by Stagecoach with an unchanged timetable.
• 97: The Marles – Exmouth – Masey Road (Stagecoach)
  • Service 97 will now be operated by Dartline with an unchanged timetable.
• 173: Moretonhampstead – Chagford – Exeter (Stagecoach)
  • Service 173 will now be operated by Country Bus with an unchanged timetable.
• 348 and 349: Tiverton – Cowley Moor – Higher Moor Circulars (Stagecoach)
  • Service 348 and 349 will now be operated by Dartline with minor changes to timetable. View timetable.
• 352 and 353: Tiverton – Wilcombe – Tidcombe Circular (Stagecoach)
  • Service 352 and 353 will now be operated by Dartline with an unchanged timetable.
• 360: Bridford – Christow – Ide – Exeter (Stagecoach)
  • Service 360 will now be operated by Dartline with an unchanged timetable.
• 369: Morchard Bishop – Sandford – Crediton – Exeter (Stagecoach)
  • Service 369 will now be operated by Dartline with minor changes to timetable. View timetable.
• 368: Broadhembury – Honiton (Dartline)
  • Details coming soon.
• 387: Sidmouth – Feniton – Taunton (Dartline)
  • Details coming soon.
• 660, 855, 856 and 859: South Molton – Bishops Nympton / North Molton / Town Service / Chittlehampton (Stagecoach)
  • These services will be operated by MD Buses with an unchanged timetable.
• 694: Honiton – Cullompton Circular (Dartline)
  • Details coming soon.
• 863: Awliscombe – Exeter (Dartline)
  • Details coming soon.

From 10 January 2026

• Stagecoach Night buses
  • The following Night Bus services will operate from Saturday 10 January:
    • N1: Plymouth – Tavistock (no change to timetable)
    • 1A: Exeter – Cullompton (minor changes to timetable)
    • 4: Exeter – Cranbrook (new service)
    • 5: Exeter – Crediton (minor changes to timetable)
    • 21: Barnstaple – Bideford (no change to timetable)
    • 21B: Barnstaple – Ilfracombe (no change to timetable)
    • 57: Exeter – Exmouth (minor changes to timetable)

From 26 January 2026

• 52: Seaton – Beer – Exeter (AVMT Buses)
  • Service 52 will now be operated by Dartline. No change to timetable.

New Solos for Stagecoach Devon?

As many visitors to this site have commented over the last year, investment in brand new buses has all but dried up. Stagecoach as not had any new buses since 2018 and the ones that were due last year were diverted up North.

However, it seems that there are some brand new diesel buses due very shortly.

I actually came across this when checking The Devon Bus web site and found the notes from the BUS (Bus Users and Stakeholders) Forum, 12th October 2023

The document itself is well worth a read as it summarizes future plans in Devon, however the section I noticed was part of a Q&A section as answered by Peter Knight, Stagecoach MD.

Q: Are our buses all old ones from elsewhere in the country. I went on the bus to Okehampton and it broke down
one stop short of my destination. The driver said it had happened before. I am getting reports from other
councillors that buses have broken down and/or been cancelled leaving people stranded.
A: (Stagecoach) the vast majority (90%) of vehicle started their life in the SW. You can spot local registrations starting
with a ‘W’. Regrading reliability and breakdowns, they are machines and failures do happen despite 28 day
inspections. The performance of vehicles in Devon are within the top 5 or 6 in the Stagecoach group. In rural areas it
does take longer to get to a vehicle when an incident happens which causes disruption to passengers. Stagecoach
are committed to investing in the fleet going forwards

Q: Stagecoach had to severely cut back on capital investment in vehicles during Covid. Has this improved?
A: Stagecoach is no longer listed on the London Stock Exchange and is now supported by private investment. There
are 10 new vehicles coming to the South West in 2024; there are plans to invest £1.5m in the fleet.

I do like the answer to Q1 although I make it less than 90% (nearer 75-80% which is still pretty good compared with other operators in the area – Citybus is nearer 65%) but I do hope people wont be looking out for all of these new local buses by looking for those starting with a W. He is right in that local area registrations do start with W but all Stagecoach new buses are centrally registered and have been for many years! Go Ahead being unusual in that it still generally tries to register buses locally.

Having found this document and made notes to post it this week, this evening I see that there is another new letter published on the Devon Bus site

BUS (Bus Users and Stakeholders) Forum, 11th January, 2024

The Q&A section

Q: Any news on the new vehicles coming in the Spring? Is it dependent on winning the ZEBRA 2 bid?
A: 10 new diesel vehicles are still coming to Devon very shortly.
Q: Will new vehicles have audio announcements?
A: Yes, they will be equipped with next stop information and a hearing loop. This is a government requirement for
any new passenger service vehicles which are purchased

So it does appear that these new buses are due pretty soon. Its not mentioned what these buses will be or where in Devon they are heading. Stagecoach are placing a large batch of Enviro 400s at the moment but of course the Devon allocation was reassigned so its probably not them. More likely they will be Optare Solos as Stagecoach have placed a group order for 60 this year. The SC Devon fleet does still have a few elderly Solos from back in 2004.

[https://cbwmagazine.com/70-vehicle-switch-order-to-include-60-optare-solos-for-stagecoach/]

47089 seen back in 2019 but I believe still part of the fleet, but presumably for not much longer.

Like I said its well worth following the links to the two news letters and having a good read.

PT Library copies:

• 12 October 2023
• 11 January 2024