First Bus has announced changes to local bus timetables in a move, the company say, to improve the punctuality and reliability of its services, which will go into effect from the end of next month.

Speaking about the changes, James Freeman, Managing Director of First West of England, says: "We are adjusting the timetables of some of our services from 29th March in a real effort to tackle the problems that we have seen recently with services not running as they should do.

"We have recently had particular problems with the 13 service serving Foxhill, the city centre and Bathford and with the Bath – Bristol corridor so we are adding resource, in terms of buses and drivers to improve our reliability.

"The alterations are intended to resolve some of the ongoing punctuality and reliability concerns we've had, as well as alleviating some capacity issues on the most popular commuter routes between Bath and Bristol. In addition, we can announce that there will be extra early evening journeys between Bath and Bristol on Service X39 when these changes come in to force.

"Meanwhile, we have been working with B&NES Council to make further improvements to bus service provision to the smaller towns and villages. As a result, the residents of Writhington will see an improved service with all journeys on Service 179 buses extended to there from the end of March."

Changes locally include to the Service 178 (Bath – Bristol), evening timetable, specifically the 23.55 journey from Bath (Dorchester Street) to Paulton, which currently only operates on Fridays and Saturdays, will soon be six days a week instead, from Monday – Saturday.

In addition, the 23.15 journey from Bristol to Radstock, which operates Monday to Saturday, is being extended beyond Radstock to terminate in Bath, providing the opportunity for a later last journey.

Both the route and timetable of the 179 Bath – Writhlington route is being adjusted. All journeys will be extended beyond Midsomer Norton to instead start and terminate at Writhlington and the frequency of buses on the route will be increased. There will be eleven departures a day from Bath (an increase from eight) and ten departures from Writhlington (increased from seven). The route that buses take in Timsbury is also being amended, so that most Monday to Saturday daytime journeys will also serve Greenvale Close.

New timetables will be available via: http://www.firstgroup.com/bath">www.firstgroup.com/bath from early March (under journey planning/timetable booklets) and will be available in hard copy format from mid-March.