I AM glad the fiasco of Route B is nearly over. It was fairly obvious that this was the only possible outcome. Neither company could afford to run a route that only partially served any purpose and was , in parts, already covered by other routes.

What use is only 6 buses a day covering the full route Eastleigh/Southampton/Eastleigh, 4 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon, plus a few just running to a small part of the Boyatt Wood and Velmore estates later in the day. Both estates are better served by other buses. If it had been a regular, say hourly, service through to Southampton via Asda and more fully serving the 2 housing estates it may well have been viable for 1 operator but never 2.

For Bluestar to say that it was not an attack on Velvet is laughable. Velvet published route and timeable weeks ahead of start date. Nothing from Bluestar. Service B starts and out of the blue (sorry about the pun) Beep buses appear duplicating the route timed minutes earlier that Velvet and running the service free for a week. Not a blatant attack on Velvet? Pull the other one.

And, if that is not proof that Bluestar are at war with Velvet, about 2/3 weeks ago Velvet announced 'The Fair Oak Flyer' a service Fair Oak/Eastleigh every 15 minutes which started Monday 12th Jan. On Bluestars web site service changes for 22nd Feb published well after Velvets announcement state the Eastleigh/Fair Oak leg of most route 2 buses will be every 15 mins. What they have also slipped in is that the Eastleigh/Southampton leg of Route 2 drops from every15 min to every 20.

Bluestar. Stop this stupid petty infighting and concentrate on providing what you should be. A bus SERVICE. Service means providing something that other people need. Stop thinking of SELF and spare more than a thought for your customers many of whom, like myself, have very limited mobility and rely heavily on Public transport. Work with the other companies to provide a comprehensive public transport network. It is basic a principle of business. You provide what the people want and the people are more likely to use it.

D J Beach, Chandlers Ford.