New bus timetables are set to be introduced across Somerset, bringing changes that will affect services used by passengers in Midsomer Norton, Frome and the surrounding area.

While most local routes remain unchanged, the D2 and D2X services, which connect the area to Bath and Frome, will see significant alterations.

D2X

The D2x has been going via Radstock to Bath Bus Station during the closure of the A36. From April, the D2X returns to a more direct route, but will not return to running along the A36 into Bath. The bus will turn off at Woolverton and head to Bath via Norton St Philip and Hinton Charterhouse, down the Wellsway.

First Bus has decided that the D2x will no longer serve the Critchill Estate. Instead, after leaving Sainsbury’s Frome, the service will go to Frome Marketplace via Marston Road and The Butts. After the marketplace, the D2x will go up North Parade and out of Frome along Fromefield, without going through Stonebridge.

D2

The D2 will revert to its former route, no longer going to Frome Station, but will link Critchill and Stonebridge on its journey to and from Bath and will go via Beckington and Rode before following the new D2x route via Norton St Philip and down the Wellsway into Bath.

Evening services, which are subsidised by Somerset Council out of a Government BSIP bus award, will continue. The last D2 bus back from Bath to Frome leaves at around 23:30 from Monday to Saturday. The D2 Sunday bus service between Frome and Bath will continue to run hourly, with the final service leaving Bath bus station at 7.30pm.

Peter Travis of Frome And Villages Bus User Group (FAVBUG) said, “We are disappointed that the D2x no longer serves Frome’s major housing estates, and we have expressed our concerns to First. But this is a commercial service operated by First Group, and they decide on the route their bus takes.”

“The good news is the D2 once again connects Stonebridge with Sainsbury’s and Critchill with Frome Medical Centre and Frome College. We’re also pleased to see that that late evening and Sunday buses connecting Frome and Bath are continuing, thanks to increased government funding.”

Cllr Philip Campagna said: “Any change to Frome’s bus services will represent some disruption, and we know the D2 and D2X services have been impacted for some time by the A36 closure: hopefully thay can settle into a regular pattern again from April. Thanks as ever to Peter Travis, Somerset Bus Partnership and FAVBUG for everything they do in terms of sharing timetables and information and lobbying on Frome’s behalf for better bus services.”

Visit https://bit.ly/first-bus-2025 for further information about the changes to services in Somerset.