Portsmouth: Extra buses and new 24-hour routes set for city

The council hopes the extra bus services will reduce car use across Portsmouth

More bus services, including two 24-hour routes, are set to be rolled out in Portsmouth.

Stagecoach's number 23 route between Leigh Park and Southsea, alongside the number 2 First Bus from Paulsgrove to The Hard will run round the clock.

Several other routes across the city will run more frequently during the week and at weekends.

The changes, which start on 18 February, have been funded by a £48m Department for Transport grant.

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the council's transport cabinet member, said: "This is about making sure that the residents in this city have better service so they get into the habit of using the bus instead of using a car.

"I think it is absolutely brilliant - it's a long-term plan to encourage people to use these services so that when the government money stops as it will, enough people will be using this to make these services commercial."

Funding for the expanded services runs until March 2026 - bus firms have agreed to run them for a further eight months to December.

Starting on February 18:

• Stagecoach's number 23 bus service, connecting Leigh Park to Southsea, will run 24 hours

• First Bus route, number 2, travelling from Paulsgrove to The Hard, will run 24 hours

• A new daily evening service and increased Sunday timetable for Stagecoach's 13/14 bus services

• The number 18 Stagecoach route, connecting Paulsgrove to Southsea, will run every 30 minutes on weekends. Five evening trips will be added Monday to Saturday

• The First Bus service number 7, operating from the Civic Centre to Wecock Farm, will run every 30 minutes from 20:00

• The number 8 route, covering The Hard to Clanfield Drift Road, will run every 30 minutes from 20:00

In April First Bus number 1 and 3 routes between Fareham and Southsea will have a daytime service every 10 minutes.

The changes have been put together through a collaboration between the council and bus firms Stagecoach South and First Solent.

It is part of the national £200m Bus Service Improvement Plan that aims to make public transport more sustainable.

A clean air zone was brought in for central Portsmouth in November 2021.

The zone fines high-polluting HGVs, buses, coaches, taxis and private hire vehicles when entering the city centre.

Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].