X5 is a

bus route A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used i ...

that runs between

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

and Portishead. It is currently operated by

First West of England First West of EnglandCompanies House extract company no 25088
...

but has been operated by

Stagecoach West Stagecoach West is a bus operator providing services in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, North Somerset and Herefordshire, in the West of England, and Monmouthshire in the South-East of Wales. The company is a subsidia ...

in the past.

History

In 2014, a Sunday and public holiday service was introduced on the route. On 1 September 2019, routes X5 and Severn Express transferred from First West of England to Stagecoach West. In January 2020, some lesser used buses on the route were withdrawn. May 2020, Stagecoach announced that it would withdraw the route after 13 June. The company stated that it was losing £3,000 per week as passenger numbers were too low to cover the operating costs of the route. On 28 May, it was announced that First Bus would once again take over operation of the route and that it would run to Bristol city centre instead of

Cribbs Causeway Cribbs Causeway is both a road in South Gloucestershire, England, running north of the city of Bristol, and the adjacent area which is notable for its Out-of-town shopping centres in the United Kingdom, out-of-town shopping and leisure facilitie ...

. In August 2022, it was announced that the route could be withdrawn as it was no longer commercially viable. This was blamed on driver shortages and reduced passenger numbers. Later that month, it was announced that the central part of the route would be retained but that it would only operate between

Worle Worle ( ) is a village in the civil parish of Weston-Super-Mare, in the North Somerset district, in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is joined to the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare on its western edge. It, however, maintains a ...

and Portishead. The service change will be implemented on 10 October 2022. This decision was u-turned after protests from residents that lived along this routs.

Route

The route starts at Marine Parade on the seafront in Weston-super-Mare. Leaving Weston, the route follows the B3440 Locking Road to its end at the A370 at Worle. It then briefly joins the A370 before joining the M5 northbound towards Clevedon. The X5 leaves the M5 at Junction 20 for Clevedon and forms a loop around the town following Central Way, Southern Way, Old Church and Great Western Road into Clevedon Town centre. Leaving Clevedon, the bus takes a direct route along the B3124 passing through the village of Weston-in-Gordano before terminating at The Precinct stop on Portishead High Street. The return journey to Weston-super-Mare makes a small loop around the town to serve the Sainsbury's supermarket and Harbour Road before following the same route back to Weston-super-Mare.

References

{{reflist Bus routes in England Transport in Bristol Portishead, Somerset Transport in Weston-super-Mare