![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_TCB160925FullBusBRI_02jpeg.jpg\")
A CityLines bus in East Bristol with a ‘bus full’ sign heads towards Bristol City Centre, on the first morning of a four-day bus strike, on Tuesday, September 16(Image: Paul Gillis\/Bristol Post)<\/p>\nThere were long queues<\/p>\n
14:22, 16 Sep 2025Updated 14:22, 16 Sep 2025<\/p>\n
A CityLines bus in East Bristol with a ‘bus full’ sign heads towards Bristol City Centre, on the first morning of a four-day bus strike, on Tuesday, September 16(Image: Paul Gillis\/Bristol Post)<\/p>\n
Bristol\u2019s traffic was brought to a standstill slightly more than it usually was on Tuesday morning, and tens of thousands of bus passengers were left walking, driving or working from home as the first day of a four-day bus strike hit Bristol<\/a>.<\/p>\n Around 600 drivers based at two of the city\u2019s three depots walked out and manned raucous picket lines<\/a> at Lawrence Hill and Hengrove<\/a> at the start of the first major bus strike in a generation in Bristol. First Bus scrapped CityLines 16 routes entirely, and cut back another 18 routes to one bus every half an hour or an hourly service, as managers estimated that between 70 per cent and 75 per cent of buses didn\u2019t run at all.<\/p>\n The first day of the four-day dispute over a stepped pay increase saw huge delays on many of the main roads into Bristol – particularly on the A4 Portway, the A37 Wells Road, the A370 Brunel Way and the A420 Church Road from Kingswood<\/a> into East Bristol. Passengers were left scratching their heads at bus stops as they found some services cancelled altogether, and bus services that were running scaled back to one bus every half an hour.<\/p>\n That meant many buses were already full as they approached inner city Bristol, but with Metrobus.<\/p>\n For the very latest updates on the Bristol Bus Strike, visit our updates blog here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWith the other depots at Marlborough Street and outside of Bristol all working, we estimate that we\u2019ve got 60 per cent of the buses the West of England would normally have, out on the road this morning,\u201d First\u2019s managing director Doug Claringbold told Bristol Live. \u201cAt Hengrove and Lawrence Hill, we have somewhere between 25 per cent and 30 per cent of buses running, that\u2019s drivers who want to accept the offer and are happy to work.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m apologising to passengers, and I\u2019m very frustrated for them. We\u2019re doing everything we can to negotiate with Unite, which is very challenging,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re very happy to talk to Unite but people\u2019s expectations about what this business can afford need to change.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: Bus strike in Bristol under way- LIVE updates<\/a>READ MORE: How long the Bristol bus strike will last<\/a><\/p>\n At the picket line at Lawrence Hill, a steady and slow flow of drivers trundled past on Easton<\/a> Road, but many beeped their horns in support of the striking drivers, who packed both sides of the road outside the bus depot.<\/p>\n Branch union convenor Nick Rawlings said he also regretted the impact on people in Bristol. \u201cOf course we feel for the people that rely on our services to take them to work, people that do important jobs, nurses, doctors and teachers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the same time, there comes a point where you\u2019ve got to do something to look after your own house. That\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to achieve. It\u2019s really frustrating because we are that close.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an important job and we take it extremely seriously, and we don\u2019t take this sort of action lightly. It\u2019s a considered action. We took an industrial ballot a while ago, and suspended that action because of a secondary offer, and unfortunately that was rejected, rightly or wrongly, and we\u2019re now moving on from that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re almost there, but not quite. We absolutely hope that we won\u2019t have to do four days. We believe that tomorrow or Thursday that senior management will call me and my colleagues back in and we\u2019ll hopefully come to a satisfactory conclusion to this,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The strike has been called by the union after 600 members at the two affected depots rejected – twice – the finer details of a pay offer from First\u2019s management. On both occasions the union reps who negotiated the deal then put it forward to their members with a recommendation that it be accepted, but both times a majority of the drivers at the two depots voted to reject it – and that meant a strike for all union drivers.<\/p>\n The point of dispute is not about how much of a pay rise over two years the drivers should receive, but the way in which it will be implemented.<\/p>\n First and Unite have agreed that drivers should see their basic pay of \u00a316 an hour rise to \u00a317 an hour by April, and on to \u00a317.40 the following year. That is an increase of 4.7 per cent this year and another 4 per cent next year. But the disagreement is over the speed of those increases, with drivers wanting the bulk of the increase loaded into this year – and therefore backdated to April – and First wanting to spread out the pay rise over the two years with a stepped rise this year to \u00a316.50 and then \u00a317 an hour in stages.<\/p>\n For a full list of the affected services, whether they are running or not and how often, visit our dedicated list here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"FIRST](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_BRI_PG_160925bus_strike-200.jpg\")
FIRST Bus drivers picket outside Lawrence Hill Depot in Bristol this morming, Tuesday 16 September 2025, on a proposed four day strike.(Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n