First Buses has just announced (5th March) changes to their bus services 184, 234 and 267 that affect passengers in Frome and Rode village. From April 13th, the changes mean that the 267 Bath-Frome service will no longer serve Rode, and will instead use the A36 between Woolverton and Beckington.  Although Rode would still be served by the 234 between Frome and Chippenham, the service to Bath would be lost, so Rode residents would need to get the 234 and change (at Beckington or Woolverton?), which would extend journey times considerably.  The 234 and 267 also have changes to routes between Market Place and Critchill Road in Frome, and will no longer serve Sainsburys.  The 184 will still serve Sainsburys but will change to a less frequent service – at least there was a consultation on that.  I will be in touch with First and our local county councillors on this. I believe there has been no consultation the changes to the 267 or 234, and there should be.

A petition has been started online here, by County Councillor Sam Phripp (Lib Dem, Frome North) and there is also one to sign in person in Rode Post Office, to save the Rode 267 service.

First’s announcement can be found here: and the relevant parts are repeated below:

“Service 184 (Bath – Frome): Following a council consultation the route and timetable of this service is changing slightly. Specifically the Monday – Saturday daytime frequency of journeys beyond Midsomer Norton to Frome will be reduced: from April there will generally be one bus every two hours between these two points. Monday to Friday peak time journeys will be unaffected though, remaining as they are. Journeys operating between Bath and Midsomer Norton will be similarly unaffected, they will continue to operate hourly, but on arrival in Midsomer Norton will terminate at Old Mills Tesco.

Service 234 (Frome – Chippenham): The route and timetable of this service is changing. From April buses will no longer serve the section of route between Frome (Market Place) and Frome (Sainsburys). Customers who wish to travel between will be able to use Services 184 and 267 (although they should note that Service 267 will operate a circular route from the Market Place via Critchall Road, not serving Sainsburys). In addition to this the timetable is being tweaked in places, and while departure times from Frome and Chippenham will be broadly similar to what they are now customers are advised to check the timetable carefully before travelling to ensure they understand what is happening.

Service 267 (Bath – Frome): The route and timetable of this service is changing. From 13 April buses will no longer serve Rode but instead will use the A36 to travel between Woolverton and Beckington. Service 234 will provide some alternative for people in Rode wishing to travel to and from Frome, but the opportunity to travel directly to and from Bath will be lost. The changes are being made because demand for services in Rode is low and the alteration allows for the overall journey time to be reduced making the service more appealing to others using it.

In addition to this the route that buses take around Frome itself will change. Buses will operate a circular route from the Market Place via Critchall Road. They will no longer serve Sainsburys.

Finally, the timetable is being adjusted. From April buses running Mondays – Saturdays will generally leave Bath at half past the hour (15 minutes later than at present) and Frome (Market Place) at 36 minutes past the hour. Customers are advised to check the timetable carefully before travelling to ensure they understand what is happening.”

“The new timetables for all the affected services will be available on our website, www.firstgroup.com/bath, by mid March and available to pick up from First Travel Shops by the beginning of April.”

The new proposed timetables are not yet available online.