Albion Place bus hub and Arundel Gardens officially open

The Albion Place Bus Hub and Arundel Gardens formally opened on December 13 as a ceremony praised the transformative work done to bring the medieval walls into the forefront and improve bus reliability in the centre of Southampton.

Lights have been added to increase visibility of the walls during the night and the old car park has been paved over to create the new hub.

Some 2000 individual plants and nine new trees have been planted in Arundel Gardens, a name chosen by Daily Echo readers, but the 700 square metres of grass will remain closed as final patches set.

Arundel Gardens will open once final patches of grass are set. (Image: Newsquest) The paved area and benches are available to use and Arundel Tower has been reopened.

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Construction to bring the bus hub to life started in January 2024 and Councillor Sarah Bogle, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, thanked residents to their patience.

“With any scheme, there's going to be disruption. You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs,” the ward member for the area said.

“A lot of our residents round here were having sort of fumes from buses going into their homes because buses used to just park up on the main road.

“So now it's a much nicer environment for everyone who lives here."

Over 2.5 million people used the Unilink bus service last academic year (2023/24). (Image: Newsquest) The bus network in Southampton is thriving, the council said, with the city having the fourth highest bus use per capita in the country.

Over 2.5m people used the Unilink service alone in 2023/24 academic year, the highest number since the coronavirus pandemic.

READ MORE: Southampton drivers given £3.8m fines - with 4,000 in Portland Terrace

Councillor Eamonn Keogh, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, called the new hub ‘a piece of legacy’ and said he was proud to cut the ribbon to open it officially.

Councillor Eamonn Keogh gave a speech as the bus hub was opened. (Image: Newsquest) There were concerns about traffic in the city after a bus gate was put in place on Portland Terrace in order to improve journey times to the new hub, which was part of redevelopments on Albion Place that cost the taxpayer £3.9m.

Cllr Keogh said: “It’s important to remember we did a significant piece on the Ring Road and that meant that was able to take additional capacity.

“We’ve got plans in piece to upgrade the Northam Road rail bridge, West Quay Road, all of that improves our Ring Road capacity which means there’s less need for cars to come through this part of the city."