Southern Vectis route 7

Southern Vectis route 7 is a bus service operated by Southern Vectis between Newport and Alum Bay via Yarmouth, Freshwater and Totland. The general daytime frequency of the route is every hour each direction. There has been significant local concern over the withdrawal of route 7 from some villages in September 2010. Double-decker buses are normally used to operate the route.

Island Explorer 1993-2006
Until April 2006, the route number 7, and its associated 7A and 7B numbers, were used to flag buses providing services on the Island Explorer (or Explorer) route, a circular service around the whole Island. This route was started in the 1993 when the 7 and 7A Ryde to Alum Bay routes were extended, through mergers with other routes, to form a circuit around the Island.

The full Island Explorer route was from Ryde bus station to Shanklin mainly on the A3055 road, then via Wroxall to Ventnor and from there to Blackgang. From 1993-95 the Ryde to Shanklin section ran via Bembridge rather than on the A3055. After Blackgang, buses ran to Freshwater Bay, Totland and Alum Bay. From there the route returned to Totland, then ran on to Yarmouth, Newport and back to Ryde via Havenstreet.

A service ran both ways around the loop, with full circular services running every hour in summer and every two hours in winter. There were additional services, also numbered 7 and 7A, which only ran part of the route. Thedifference between service 7 and service 7A was the route taken between Newport and Yarmouth; route 7 serving Shalfleet and service 7A routed via Calbourne, Newbridge and Wellow.

Briefly in the mid 1990s and from January 2001, a service operated on the route in the interim known as service 12 and part of service 6 between Shanklin and Ventnor. It was numbered 7B and added to the Explorer group. This never provided a round-the-island service, and so it is questionable whether the branding was appropriate. However, the change revived a link which existed up to 1992 through service 1B (and in the 1960s by service 28) with buses running from Totland, via Freshwater Bay and Brighstone, to Newport and Ryde. With the former service 6 dropped north of Ventnor, services from Ryde to Ventnor via Shanklin and Bonchurch were also numbered 7B at this point, and although some through services were run, the two sections seemed to run as separate routes. Service 7B did not continue south of Ventnor, and from 2003 ran on as service 3 through Wroxall to Newport, thus prefiguring the current through running of route 3 from Ryde to Newport via Ventnor.

The main 7/7A service between Ryde and Newport was also re-routed via Staplers at this time - partly because resurfacing work on the road through Havenstreet had raised the surface under the steam railway bridge to the extent that double decker buses could not reliably pass underneath.

West Wight Circular 2006-2010
Southern Vectis completely recast their network for the Summer 2006 timetable, and most bus routes saw major changes or were entirely replaced. From 1 April 2006, the new route 7 continued with most of the Explorer services west of Newport, except those along the Military Road east of Brook (towards Blackgang), which was initially left without any bus service - re-introduced in 2007 as the Island Coaster. All other sections of the Explorer routes were assigned new route numbers. The 2006 route 7 was perhaps best described as a circular service with some variations. The suffixes -A and -B, for journeys via Calbourne and Brighstone respectively, were dropped in March 2006 and were not reinstated: All buses on the route operated as service 7, irrespective of the variation they served.
 * On leaving Newport bus station, all buses initially followed the same route to Carisbrooke. At the Waverley Inn roundabout the route split, with one variation turning to the north, one continuing west and the other proceeding south-west.
 * All buses travelling clockwise turned to the south-west and passed through the rest of Carisbrooke, then served Shorwell, Brighstone and Brook before joining the A3055 road to Freshwater Bay, where the route continued on local roads to Freshwater, then to Totland and Alum Bay.
 * Services in the anticlockwise direction took one of these two variations
 * Northern variation passed through Gunville then turned to the west to serve Shalfleet.
 * Middle variation passed through Calbourne then turned to the north-west to serve Thorley and Wellow.
 * Both then served Yarmouth, Totland and Alum Bay.

On reaching Alum Bay all buses then returned to Newport (in the same clockwise/anticlockwise direction) via the other half of the route.

An hourly service was operated in each direction; Brighstone and Yarmouth were served by one bus per hour to Newport, Totland, Alum Bay and Carisbrooke by two. Generally, services via Yarmouth alternated between the Shalfleet and Calbourne branches, so each received only one bus every two hours. Alum Bay was only served between 09:00 and 18:00 daily. Outside of these times, buses turned around at Totland. All but two journeys completed a circuit of West Wight.

When the revised route 7 began operation Newport bus station was in the process of being redeveloped, and so along with most of Southern Vectis' other routes, it operated from Newport's temporary Litten Park bus stands. The route remained relatively unchanged between April 2006 and its withdrawal and September 2010, but a route change around Freshwater did occur in September 2009 which involved buses using Pixley Hill to travel between Freshwater and Yarmouth. This road had previously been used by route 11, causing controversy among local residents. Despite the fact that buses were not timetabled to meet each other along the route, when route 7 was diverted to use the road, complaints still arose.

Despite improvements in the level of service to the West Wight provided by this version of route 7 compared to levels pre-2006, bus provision to the area was often criticised for failing to meet demand by local residents. Connections for ferry travel from Yarmouth have also been brought up as a problem, particularly with early morning sailings.

Current Route
The route as of 5 September 2010 saw further major changes. There are now no regular route variations and the service no longer runs on a circular route.

Due to reductions in payments to Southern Vectis from the Isle of Wight Council for supporting rural bus services, all journeys on the most southerly branch of route 7 serving Brighstone, Brook and Freshwater Bay were withdrawn and replaced by a new service 12. This only runs every two hours with no evening service. The change also left residents of Calbourne, Newbridge and Bouldnor with no regular bus service at all, as the remaining 2 variations were combined, cutting these communities off. An attempt has been made to compensate for this by Isle of Wight Council-run Wightbus, but this is viewed by some as inadequate.

Today's route 7 travels between Newport and Alum Bay (daytime) or Totland (early morning and evening) in an indirect fashion. There are no variations in the route except for school requirements. On leaving Newport bus station, all buses travel to Carisbrooke before turning north at the Waverley Inn roundabout through Gunville. After that the route passes through Shalfleet, before turning south again to reach Thorley and Wellow to the West. Yarmouth, to the north-west of Wellow, is the next destination, then buses travel south down Pixley Hill to Freshwater before turning North-West again to reach Colwell Bay and finally heading South to Totland and Alum Bay.

Services
Alum Bay is only served between 09:00 and 18:00 daily. Outside of these times, buses turn around at Totland. The frequency is generally hourly all day.