Sowton Park & Ride PR1 adds Heavitree and St Luke's stops from 2 November, and South Molton gets a through bus to Exeter. Every Stagecoach change listed.
The Sowton Park & Ride bus, service PR1, will stop at Heavitree and St Luke’s Campus from Monday 2 November, and students in South Molton will be able to ride one bus all the way to Exeter without changing at Tiverton. Both changes are part of a set of Stagecoach South West timetable updates that start on Sunday 1 November, with the Monday to Friday changes first running on Monday 2 November.
Stagecoach says the changes were designed with Devon County Council. The South Molton through journey follows requests from Exeter College students; the extra PR1 stops follow feedback from passengers.
PR1: the new stopping pattern
PR1 runs between Sowton Park & Ride and Exeter city centre. From 2 November it will serve extra stops along the route, which Stagecoach says gives passengers more places to get on and off and better access to workplaces, education and other destinations.
Heading into the city centre, buses will serve:
- Sowton Park & Ride
- Middlemoor
- Nelson Way
- Heavitree Bridge
- Heavitree Shops
- St Luke’s Campus
- Paris Street
Heading back out to Sowton, buses will serve Paris Street, Sidwell Street (stop 23), Cheeke Street, Waitrose, Heavitree Co-op, Heavitree Bridge, Nelson Way, Ringswell Park, Middlemoor, Digby Arch and then Sowton Park & Ride.
The two directions are not mirror images. Inbound, the bus calls at Heavitree Shops and St Luke’s Campus; outbound it runs via Sidwell Street, Cheeke Street, Waitrose and Heavitree Co-op instead, and adds Ringswell Park and Digby Arch on the way back to the car park. If you plan to use the bus both ways from a single stop, check that your stop appears in both lists.
South Molton to Exeter without changing at Tiverton
For people coming in from North Devon, the morning change is small on paper and big in practice:
- The 0645 Monday to Friday bus from South Molton to Tiverton will leave 10 minutes earlier, at 0635.
- At Tiverton Bus Station it will carry on as the 0730 Service 355 to Exeter, arriving at 0835.
In the evening, the 1815 Monday to Friday journey from Tiverton to Witheridge will be extended to South Molton. It connects with the 1705 Service 355 from Exeter to Tiverton, and passengers can stay on the same bus through to South Molton.
Stagecoach describes this as a “guaranteed through journey” on Service 346/355. Its notes say the 346 improvement is supported by Devon County Council.
The other changes in Devon from 1 November
None of these touch Exeter directly, but several will matter to families with children at college in South Devon, and to anyone heading for the coast:
- Service 60, Paignton local service: withdrawn, and replaced from the same date by a new Service 26 run by Torbay Minibuses.
- Service 81, Kingsbridge to South Devon College: the morning journey will leave Kingsbridge 10 minutes earlier, at 0740, and run earlier along the whole route so it reaches the college on time.
- Service 95, Exmouth to Sandy Bay: finishes for the 2026 season and is due back for Easter 2027.
- Service 120, Paignton to Kingswear: a bigger bus during term time to cope with school and college passengers. Stagecoach says a double-decker will follow once problems with overhanging trees on the route have been dealt with.
- Service 379, Axminster to Beer: finishes for the 2026 season.
What Stagecoach says
Peter Knight, managing director of Stagecoach South West, said:
“We’re always looking at how we can improve our services to better meet the needs of the communities we serve, and customer feedback plays an important role in shaping those decisions.
“We’re particularly pleased to be improving connections between South Molton and Exeter, making journeys simpler for students and other passengers by removing the need to change buses in Tiverton. These changes have been developed following feedback from Exeter College students, with support from Devon County Council.
“We’ve also listened to customers using our Sowton Park & Ride service and are introducing additional stops to make it easier for people to access the places they need to get to.
“Alongside these improvements, we’re making a small number of timetable and seasonal changes across the network, and we’d encourage customers to familiarise themselves with the updates before travelling.”
What it means for you
- If you live in Heavitree or near St Luke’s: from Monday 2 November you have another bus into Paris Street. Check the PR1 timetable for times before relying on it.
- If you park at Sowton: journeys will take in the new stops, so allow for them. Fares, the site’s hours and the other two park and ride sites are on our parking in Exeter page.
- If you travel from South Molton for college or work: the morning bus leaves at 0635 from 2 November, not 0645. Set the alarm ten minutes earlier.
- If you use the 95 or the 379: both finish for the 2026 season from 1 November; the 95 is due back at Easter 2027.
Stagecoach asks passengers to check the latest timetables on stagecoachbus.com before travelling. For roadworks and other disruption around the city, see our Exeter roadworks and travel page.
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