Buses in the city will be down to one an hour
17:08, 12 Sep 2025Updated 17:53, 12 Sep 2025
A Citylines bus pictured in Bristol earlier this month(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
Bristol’s bus services will be reduced to one bus an hour for most of next week after unions and First Bus failed to reach an agreement over a new pay deal and some bus drivers voted to go ahead with their threatened strike. The industrial action will affect the Citylines services in Bristol – the regular bus services – from Tuesday September 16 to Friday September 19.
Cityline bus drivers rejected a revised pay offer on Friday and the strikes, which had been called for earlier in September and were put on hold, are now back on. Drivers with the Badgerline section of First Bus West of England, based at the Bristol Bus and Coach Station, voted to accept the offer on the table and will be working next week, but there will be severe disruption to almost all of the bus services for four days.
First Bus said it expects all services in Bath and North East Somerset, Wells, Weston-super-Mare and the wider North Somerset area to operate as normal, but Bristol will be worst hit by the strikes. In Bristol, the full Metrobus service will operate, as well as the Y and T services connecting Thornbury and Bristol, and Yate and Bristol.
But First has told Bristol Live that they expect a reduced level of service on all other Bristol routes, with frequency down to just one bus an hour between 7am and 7pm. First Bus is now planning an emergency revised timetable as soon as possible, and is urging passengers to check its website or app before travelling.
Busy week as students return
The bus strike looks set to bring Bristol to a standstill next week – one of the busiest weeks of the year with students back for Freshers Week and the onset of autumn temperatures and weather conditions sending many cyclists and walking commuters back onto the buses or their cars.
With one bus an hour on all routes, those buses will almost certainly be too full to carry the passengers, especially at rush hour, so many commuters will attempt to drive to work from Tuesday, bringing expected gridlock to the roads.
The managing director of First Bus West of England is Doug Claringbold. He said he was ‘disappointed’ that the Citylines drivers have rejected the pay offer. “Firstly, we are pleased to hear that our Badgerline colleagues have voted to accept our full and final pay offer, which has resulted in them calling off their planned strikes and helped reduce disruption to customers,” he said.
Doug Claringbold, Managing Director for First West of England(Image: Western Daily Press)
“However, we are disappointed to be told that our Citylines colleagues have rejected the pay offer, and therefore their planned strikes for four days from Tuesday 16th to Friday 19th September inclusive will go ahead.
“We have put together revised timetables to reflect the much lower level of service that we will be able to operate on these days. Details of these will shortly be available on our website and we advise customers to check for updates before travelling.
“While this was our full and final pay offer, we still hope to find a solution with the trade union which encourages them to call off these disruptive strikes,” he added.
There is one issue for First Bus that could yet see the strike affect Metrobus and Yate/Thornbury services too. Bristol Live understands Unite union drivers were balloted at all the depots around Bristol, and the pay offer was rejected by all, except for the drivers that operate out of the central Bus and Coach Station.
That means the Metrobus services, and the express routes to Thornbury, Yate and Keynsham will still have drivers arriving for work on Tuesday, but one issue is that the buses themselves are stored overnight at the Lawrence Hill depot, where drivers will be on strike – and union drivers at the bus station are expected to refuse to cross those picket lines to get the buses.
Bristol will be ‘brought to a standstill’
The Unite union, which represents 600 bus drivers at the Citylines depots around Bristol said the strike will bring Bristol to a standstill.
The drivers at Lawrence Hill and Hengrove run all the city bus services – as well as the Airport Bus service – and the uni buses, along with bespoke services out to the Avonmouth distribution warehouses.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “First Group is a very profitable company and can afford to come back with an improved offer that is acceptable to our bus drivers. Unite will fully support our members throughout their strike action, which has been caused by the employer putting profits over people.”
Unite said First West of England is part of First Group PLC. Last year, First Group PLC had an operating profit of £204.3m and share dividends were increased by 45 per cent compared to the previous year.
Unite’s drivers had voted to strike earlier in September – from the 4th to the 8th – but that was called off at the last minute when First Bus submitted a new pay offer. That has now been rejected so the planned strike is back on, this time from Tuesday September 16 for four days.
“Due to the number of drivers involved, industrial action will cause a lot of cancellations and delays to bus services,” a Unite union spokesperson said.
Unite regional officer Ken Fish added: “There is still an opportunity for First West of England to come back to the negotiating table to stop this disruptive strike action.”