Buses during ABP Southampton Marathon 2026
1 month ago
The ABP Southampton Marathon is back and will be taking over Southampton with their marathon, half marathon, 10k and 5k races on Sunday 3 May. There will be multiple road closures throughout the city so some buses will be diverted on race day. If you're catching the bus to the start line, or coming into Southampton to support those taking part, see below details to find out how your journey could be affected. There will also be special timetables for each affected route which can be found at the bottom of this page.
| Route No. | Marathon Day - Sunday 3 May | Saturday 2 May |
| U1A/C city centre area. | Before 05:30 and between 16:00 and 20:00 - Buses will not serve Cenotaph. Between 5:30 and 08:00 and from 13:00 to 16:00 - Buses will not serve Cenotaph, London Road and Law Courts. Between 08:00 and13:00 - Buses will start and finish at Houndwell Place then resume normal route at Archers Road. All stops between NOCs and Law Courts will not be served. | Buses won't serve Cenotaph. |
| U1A Highfield/Swaythling Area | Between 08:00 and 15:00 - All stops between Shaftesbury Avenue and Highfield Interchange will not be served. Passengers at University should use Burgess Road Library as an alternative stop. After Burgess Road Library, buses will divert direct to Airport then to Wessex Lane Halls. | |
| U1C Highfield/Swaythling Area | Between 07:30 and 14:50 - Buses will start at Wessex Lane Halls, then serve the Airport before running direct to Portswood Broadway. Highfield will not be served in this direction. We recommend using the U6C instead to get to University. | |
| U2B/U2C | Between 08:00 and 13:00 - Stops between Art Gallery and Avenue Campus won't be served. Between 13:00 and 16:00 - Law Courts, London Road, Cenotaph and Art Gallery won't be served. After 16:00 - Art Gallery and Cenotaph won't be served. Between 08:00 and 15:00 - Buses will not serve Highfield Interchange and Future Worlds stops. Please use stops on Glen Eyre Road as an alternative. | Buses won't serve Art Gallery or Cenotaph. |
| U6C/U6H City Centre Area | Between 08:00 and 13:00 - Buses will start and finish at Houndwell Place, normal stops between Solent University and Central Station won't be served. | |
| U6C Swaythling Area | Between 08:00 and 15:00 - Stops at McDonalds and Woodmill Lane will not be served. | |
| U6H Swaythling Area | Between 08:00 and 15:00 - Stops between Mayfield Road and Highfield Interchange won't be served. Use stops at Swaythling Market Buildings and Glen Eyre Road as alternatives. |
Click here to view U1 temporary timetable. Please note, we will be running a slightly reduced frequency on this route of up to every 15 minutes.
Click here to view U2 temporary timetable.
Click here to view U6 temporary timetable.
During big events like this, it is more important than ever to plan your journey. We recommend you download the Unilink app where you can plan your journey, track buses in live time and receive travel alerts, straight from our app to your phone.