It’s been over a year since we said adios to 4 “lifeline” bus routes in the centre of Sevilla. The 13 & 14 go to the barrios north of the Macarena, the 27 to Seville Este and the 32 to Nervión and beyond. Meaning their most central final stops would be about a 15 minute walk from where they used to be. Which may not seem like much to you if you are young and without any mobility issues, but these buses were constantly jam-packed with people from the outlying barrios, many of them pensioners. It was unclear back then what they were going to do to replace these much-needed routes, but they did something similar a few years ago to buses coming to the centre from Triana and Los Remedios so I wasn’t very hopeful. There had been talk of a “tranvibus” that would link the centre to, at least, the Santa Justa train station. Whatever.

For me it’s been a very long year of feeling cut off from my city AND I LIVE IN THE CENTRE. I can only imagine the impact it’s had on others. In my case, I used the routes to get out of the centre (and home again, obvs), mostly for medical appointments, but also to visit bars and markets I love. This has meant spending money on taxis for the appts and forgoing the rest because, well, I’m not made of money.

Turns out the Tranvibus now actually connects Sevilla Este to the Plaza del Duque (the original route of the 27 bus) and has been running for a while, but was turning around at the train station. As of September 28th it now comes straight through to the centre and the 27, while it continues to provide service to Sevilla Este, takes quite a different route. Fine. What about the 32? Which, to be honest, out of the 4 routes was the one I used most often. Well, it’s mostly dead to me now, but hey, I can still catch the Tranvibus and transfer somewhere along the line to a 32. Better than nuthin. Out of the two northern routes only one – the 13 – will make its way to Plaza del Duque. The 14 will continue to turn around at the Alameda (a 15 minute walk away). So out of the 4 we have 2 back. Kind of.

At least the Tranvibus is one of those articulated double buses so it can fit a lot of people, and you can enter via three doors to swipe your card. Peter and I tried it out on Saturday because I was keen to visit a recently renovated bar two bus stops (for me a half-hour walk at least) away. First mistake – doing this on a Saturday! I should have known better. And to further complicate things there was also I also a procession going on near Catalina so service was held up quite a while. But I’m happy to have this option back again, with a bus stop about five minutes from home. Makes all the difference.