Changes to bus services in and around Eastbourne

From Sunday 30^th March we’re making some changes to bus services in and around Eastbourne. New timetables will apply on most routes and there’ll be some new bus route numbers.

These changes are designed to help improve punctuality and make services more resilient to the impact of delays caused by traffic congestion – the biggest cause of disruption to bus services in the Eastbourne area.

In some areas there will be adjustments to match service levels with lower demand for travel. We are unable to continue running services where there is insufficient income to cover the costs of operating them.

Some school-time buses are changing too - please check the updated timetables or use our journey planner before travelling.

You can view a PDF of the new Eastbourne bus network route map here.

Here's what's happening in more detail:

Scroll table horizontally to view table content

Route number	Route description	Details
LOOP	Town Centre – Langney – Hampden Park – Eastbourne District General Hospital – Town Centre	There will be some changes to the timetable. View the new LOOP timetable here.
1/1A	Hamlands – Town Centre – Shinewater	There will be some changes to the timetable to help improve reliability. View the new 1/1A timetable here.
1X NEW 1B	Roebuck Park – Hailsham – Langney – Eastbourne	This route will be renumbered 1B, and the frequency will be adjusted to run hourly during the daytime. 1B buses will also serve the new housing estate at Bulrush Lane. Evening and Sunday journeys on this route will continue to be provided with support from East Sussex County Council. View the new 1B timetable here.
3/3A	Meads – Town Centre	This service will no longer run between the town centre and the Sovereign Centre/Birch Road. The core service between Meads and town centre will continue to run every 30 minutes during peak times, but during the daytime the frequency will be adjusted to 3 buses an hour. While much of this service is operated by Stagecoach on a commercial basis, East Sussex County Council will support part of the daytime frequency and will continue to support some off-peak journeys. View the new 3/3A timetable here.
4	Cornfield Road – Gildredge Road	There will be some changes to the timetable. View the new 4 timetable here.
5/5A/NEW 5B	Sovereign Harbours – Bridgemere Road – Town Centre	There will be a new route arrangement for this service: Route 5 will run between the North Harbour and the town centre. Route 5A will run between the South Harbour and the town centre, but will no longer serve Beatty Road. Instead, buses will run via Prince William Parade (serving the new bus stops near Blakes Way) and Lottbridge Drove between the South Harbour and Seaside Tesco. New route 5B will serve both North and South Harbours operating in the mornings and evenings. On Sundays, route 5B will run hourly, offering an improved service for the harbours. We hope these changes will help to simplify the service offering. View the new 5/5A/5B timetable here.
6/6A	Town Centre – Polegate – Stone Cross – Langney Shops	There will be some changes to the timetable. View the new 6/6A timetable here.
NEW 7	Winkney Farm – Town Centre	This new route will provide one bus journey each weekday morning from Winkney Farm to Eastbourne town centre. The route will connect in Eastbourne with the route 3A to Meads. View the new 7 timetable here.
8	Pevensey Bay – Westham – Langney – Winkney Farm – Town Centre	There will be some changes to the timetable. View the new 8 timetable here.
51	Eastbourne – Heathfield – Tunbridge Wells	The frequency of this service will be adjusted to run hourly with all buses serving Rotherfield. In the Eastbourne to Hailsham section, all journeys will run directly along the A2270 and will no longer serve Farmlands Way. Farmlands Way will instead be served by new route 52 (see below). The frequency of buses between Eastbourne and Hailsham will remain unchanged with buses about every 15 minutes on routes 51, 52, 53 and 54 combined. From Tunbridge Wells, all Eastbourne-bound buses will now depart from Royal Victoria Place. On school day mornings, a 51 bus will extend from Royal Victoria Place to Bennett Memorial School. For Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys, please see new route 251. Evening journeys that run between Eastbourne and Hailsham will be re-numbered route 52, to avoid confusion with longer journeys to Heathfield. View the new 51 timetable here.
51X	Eastbourne – Heathfield	This route will no longer operate, journeys will instead form part of the main route 51 timetable.
NEW 52	Eastbourne – Polegate – Hailsham	This new route will run hourly from Eastbourne to Hailsham via Farmlands Way and Dittons Wood. Early morning and evening journeys on the route will provide extra journeys to and from Roebuck Park and Anglesey Avenue - see route 1B above. The evening 52 service will serve the new housing estate on Bulrush Lane. View the new 52 timetable here.
53	Eastbourne – Hailsham – Herstmonceux - Bexhill	There will be some changes to the timetable. The first journey towards Eastbourne on weekday mornings will start from Windmill Hill instead of Herstmonceux, and Sunday journeys will be renumbered 53A (see below). View the new 53 timetable here.
NEW 53A	Eastbourne – Hailsham – Herstmonceux - Bexhill	This new route will provide a Sunday service, mostly following the same route as the existing 53 service. It will also serve Farmlands Way and Dittons Wood. View the new 53A timetable here.
54	Eastbourne – Hailsham – Uckfield	Route 54 buses will no longer run via Dittons Wood, offering quicker journey times between Eastbourne and Uckfield. In Uckfield, buses will return to serve Uckfield Bus Station after running via Nevill Road and Browns Lane. Sunday journeys will be renumbered 54A (see below). View the new 54 timetable here.
54A	Eastbourne – Hailsham – Uckfield	This service will operate on Sundays, and there will also be two weekday morning journeys. Buses will follow the 54 route but will make additional stops at Farmlands Way and Dittons Wood. Current 54A early morning journeys will be incorporated into the new route 52 (see above). View the new 54A timetable here.
57	Langney – Pevensey Bay – Westham – Stone Cross – Willingdon Community School	There will be some changes to the timetable, with the morning journey starting 6 minutes earlier to allow students more time to arrive at school. View the new 57 timetable here.
58	Stone Cross – Polegate – Willingdon Community School	There will be some changes to the timetable, with the morning journey starting 8 minutes earlier to allow students more time to arrive at school. View the new 58 timetable here.
NEW 251	Heathfield – Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys	This is a new school day only service connecting Heathfield and Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys. This journey is provided with support from East Sussex County Council. View the new 251 timetable here.
501 NEW 59	Shinewater – Langney – Town Centre	This route will be renumbered 59, and morning journeys will be adjusted to improve reliability. View the new 59 timetable here.

A note about buses around Hailsham

As a result of the changes to routes 51 and 1X, there will be some associated changes to the frequency of buses serving Anglesey Avenue at Hailsham.

From 30th March, Anglesey Avenue will be served by 2 buses every hour on routes 51 and 1B. Hawks Road will continue to be served by route 53 every hour. Battle Road will continue to be served by route 54 every hour.