(Late!) Anniversary of the X42

First Hants & Dorset have been operating route X42 (Portsmouth Hard - South Downs College, via City Centre, M275, QA Hospital, Crookhorn and Waterlooville) for a year now, with the X42's birthday on 29th September. Naturally, I completely missed this date last month but a photo I took of an X42 today prompted my memory.

The cynical amongst us saw the X42 as a route introduced only to compete with Stagecoach's then recently introduced route 20, connecting Portsmouth Hard with the QA Hospital and Havant, using the M275. Also, in a time where cutting services is more popular than introducing them, some of us thought the X42 may go the way of the X41 or the X57 when introduced - originally high frequency services now cut back to peak journeys.

Instead, the X42 has gone from strength to strength. Apart from a few early morning Saturday journeys being withdrawn, the service has retained its half-hourly frequency and apparently seen steady ridership growth according to sources within First Hants and Dorset. An early morning X43 extension from Clanfield has even been introduced as the route developed to serve this new demand.

The X42 interworks with route 17 and 18 from The Hard, which means that the usual allocation are Scania Omicities based at Hoeford depot. The 17 and 18 also see Volvo B10BLEs and Dart SLFs - so you can find this type of bus on the X42 also. Before the introduction of the X42, Darts were very rare in Waterlooville and Crookhorn - the odd 40C or 138/145 into Waterlooville but that was it.

So here to to my photo taken today on the X42 - one of only two photos I took today as the sun got the better of me in both Havant and Portsmouth (It was a very frustrating day!). I hope the route continues to grow - more buses on the road operating on more routes are always welcome!

Images:

First image: 65011 (YN54NZG) pictured in Crookhorn. The X42 arrives in Waterlooville, does a loop of Crookhorn and South Downs College before returning to Crookhorn.

Second Image: Another Omnicity on the X42 - this time 65022 (YN54NZW) pictured in Waterlooville town centre. 65022 is instantly noticeable as the only Omnicity with a repainted front, having suffered front end damage in an RTA.

Third Image: I was very pleased to get this photo as former First Glasgow 40822 (R642DUS) has just been repainted. I've only got this photo of the X42 operated by a low floor Dart although it is fairly common.

Last Image: Another Scania Omicity - this time 65009 (YN54NZE) pictured today in Portsmouth along Queen St, having just left Portsmouth Hard. As the X42 interworks with the 17 and 18, each working is operated by a different bus, meaning each half hour arrival will throw up something new!