Bus services to East Wichel are provided by Swindon’s Bus Company service 11 and Stagecoach service 9.
Swindon’s Bus Company buses run every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday day times and early evenings, reducing to hourly in the late evening. The service runs every 30 minutes on Sunday with no evening service.
Stagecoach buses run every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday day times, reducing to hourly in the early evening. There is no service on Sundays.
The combined service gives buses every 10 to 30 minutes during the daytime between Wichelstowe and Swindon town centre, dropping to 3 buses an hour in the early evening and an hourly service in the late evening. The journey from East Wichel to Swindon town centre takes 15 to 20 minutes.
Service 9 route between Middle Wichel and Swindon town centre is: Foxham Way ↔ East Wichel Way ↔ Croft Road ↔ Devizes Road ↔ Victoria Road ↔ Regent Circus ↔ Princes Street ↔ Fleming Way ↔ County Road ↔ Manchester Road ↔ Bus Station.
Service 11 route between Middle Wichel and Swindon town centre is: Foxham Way ↔ East Wichel Way ↔ Pipers Way ↔ Marlborough Road ↔ Newport Street ↔ Devizes Road ↔ Victoria Road ↔ Regent Circus ↔ Princes Street ↔ Fleming Way ↔ County Road ↔ Manchester Road.
There will be a Sunday service on Bank Holiday Mondays.
During the holiday for the queen’s platinum jubilee the following bus services will operate.
There will be a Saturday service on Good Friday and a Sunday service on Easter Monday.
Scroll table left to right for other times.
Service 11 runs from Taw Hill and Oakhurst via Redhouse, Haydon Wick (Orbital Centre) and Pinehurst.
15 From Swindon Bus Station as service 15 via Swindon College, Northern Road, Woodhall and Haydon End.
Scroll table left to right for other times.
Service 11 runs to Haydon Wick (Orbital Centre) via Pinehurst. Evening services are extended to Taw Hill via Redhouse and Oakhurst.
15 Continues from Orbital Centre to Swindon Bus Station as service 15 via Redhouse, Oakhurst, Haydon End, Woodhall, Northern Road and Swindon College.
Scroll table left to right for other times.
Service 11 runs from Taw Hill and Oakhurst via Redhouse, Haydon Wick (Orbital Centre) and Pinehurst.
15 From Swindon Bus Station as service 15 via Swindon College, Northern Road, Woodhall and Haydon End.
Scroll table left to right for other times.
Service 11 runs to Haydon Wick (Orbital Centre) via Pinehurst. Evening services are extended to Taw Hill via Redhouse and Oakhurst.
15 Continues from Orbital Centre to Swindon Bus Station as service 15 via Redhouse, Oakhurst, Haydon End, Woodhall, Northern Road and Swindon College.
On Sunday 22 October only, there will be no bus services until approximately 3 pm owing to road closures for Swindon Half Marathon.
There is no service on Stagecoach Service 9 on Sundays.
No service on 25th December or 1st January.
Service 11 runs from Taw Hill via Oakhurst, Redhouse, Haydon Wick (Orbital Centre) and Pinehurst.
On Sunday 22 October only, there will be no bus services until approximately 3 pm owing to road closures for Swindon Half Marathon.
There is no service on Stagecoach Service 9 on Sundays.
No service on 25th December or 1st January.
Service 11 runs to Taw Hill via Pinehurst, Haydon Wick (Orbital Centre), Redhouse, and Oakhurst.
Thamesdown service 11 was the first bus service to serve East Wichel. The initial service was every 15 minutes during the daytime, continuing every 40 minutes until after 10 pm.
Evening services after 9 pm were withdrawn from 6 June 2011, following the removal of subsidies by Swindon Borough Council. Additional evening services on route 11 were added from 19 September 2011, but these were for North Swindon only.
The service was further reduced, to ½-hourly only during the daytime, from 7 January 2013.
Thamesdown service 11 was withdrawn between Fleming Way and East Wichel at the end of service on Saturday 31 August 2013. It was replaced by service 15 between those points on Monday 2 September, which also included the route of former service 15A in North Swindon. The rest of service 11 continued to operate in North Swindon.
A reorganisation of routes on 8 January 2017 saw service 11 reintroduced to East Wichel, on a similar route to before, but extended to Taw Hill on Sundays. Service 11 had a reduced half-hourly Monday to Friday daytime frequency in comparison to service 15 which it replaced in South Swindon, as a consequence of competition from the newly introduced Stagecoach service 9.
Service 11 was again reorganised by the now rebranded Swindon’s Bus Company on 11 March 2018 to run in conjunction with service 15 in North Swindon as a circular route through Redhouse and Taw Hill, with buses changing service number on route. This gave minor changes to times in East Wichel but more scope for delay owing to the more complex nature of the service.
From 5 April 2020, the service from Monday to Saturday was reduced to hourly, as a result of the COVID19 pandemic, both because of a reduction in use due to ‘social distancing’ measures from the government and to allow for reduced staff availability due to illness. Further adjustments were made throughout the period of the pandemic, with frequencies increased from the beginning of June 2020. From Sunday 19 July 2020 the Sunday service was restored to two buses each way per hour and the last bus of weekday evenings (after 11 pm) was reinstated. From Sunday 30 August 2020 the service was restored to its pre-pandemic timings. From 7 March 2021 the service was extended to The Deanery Academy in Middle Wichel.
From Sunday 4 September 2022, the service was revised owing to the closure of Fleming Way, but the overall service pattern remained similar. It was further revised from Monday 14 August 2023 owing to the closure of Corporation Street.
Stagecoach service 9 between Swindon and Wroughton was diverted through Wichelstowe from 6 November 2016, in order to serve the Waitrose store in Middle Wichel. It initially provided a service of four buses an hour each way during weekday daytimes, but this was reduced to three buses an hour each way during weekday daytimes from 1 January 2017. A few peak hour services ran to Thorney Park via Brimble Hill and Alexandra Park. In the evening the service decreases to hourly until 9 pm. An hourly Sunday service was introduced from 2 April 2017. From Sunday 2 September 2018 the service was extended through North Swindon via Penhill to the new development of Tadpole Village, replacing service 4 in North Swindon. At the same time early morning services were reduced and evening services increased. The services to Thorney Park were withdrawn, replaced by a service via Chiseldon, thereby severing the bus service link between Thorney Park and Wroughton.
From 30 March 2020, the service from Monday to Saturday was reduced to hourly (though advertised as half-hourly until the day before the new service started), as a result of the COVID19 pandemic, both because of a reduction in use due to ‘social distancing’ measures from the government and to allow for reduced staff availability due to illness. Further adjustments were made throughout the period of the pandemic, with frequencies increased from the beginning of June 2020. From Sunday 30 August 2020 the service was restored to its pre-pandemic frequency but with different timings and an earlier start to services on Mondays to Fridays. They were reduced again on Mondays to Fridays to half-hourly from Monday 18 January 2021 and restored to three per hour from Tuesday 6 April 2021. From Monday 9 August 2021 the service was restored to its pre-pandemic timings except for the removal of one evening service Mondays to Saturdays.
From Sunday 4 September 2022, the Sunday service was withdrawn and the service Monday to Saturday reduced to half-hourly. The service was also split in the town centre. Services were retimed, with an early morning service cut and evening services extended until later, from Sunday 28 May 2023.
Thamesdown service 15 replaced service 11 in East Wichel from 2 September 2013. The service was 3 buses per hour Monday to Friday daytimes reducing to half-hourly in the evenings until 9 pm, and half-hourly on Saturdays, with no Sunday service.
The service was extended to Middle Wichel to serve the newly opened Waitrose store at the end of May 2015. At the same time, evening services were reduced in frequency to hourly, but extended until 11 pm. A half-hourly Sunday service was also added.
Thamesdown service 15 was withdrawn between Fleming Way and East Wichel at the end of service on Saturday 7 January 2017. It was replaced by service 11 between those points on Sunday 8 January, which also included the route of service 11 in North Swindon. An amended service 15 continued to operate in North Swindon.
Stagecoach service 73 was an ‘experimental’ service from Swindon to Wroughton via East Wichel, introduced to provide a link between East Wichel and the facilities in Wroughton.
Introduced on 3 April 2011, service 73 provided an hourly daytme service six days a week.
From 30 April 2012 the service was integrated with service 72, giving a more regular interval of buses between Swindon and Wroughton. The service was also extended to Swindon College.
Very few passengers travelled between East Wichel and Wroughton — the main use of the service was between East Wichel and Swindon Town centre, as it provided a quicker more direct alternative to service 11.
Stagecoach service 73 operated for the last time on Saturday 1 September 2012. From 3 September it was replaced by additional journeys on service 72 which ran directly along Croft Road and did not enter East Wichel. From 6 November 2016, Stagecoach amended their Wroughton service, by now renumbered, to run through Wichelstowe again, and detailed above.
This page updated Sunday, 26 November 2023. © most rights reserved.