INFO – This article has revised information following updates from both operators and other sources.
Passengers who travel on the 147 bus between Halesowen, Romsley and Catshill will be experiencing an change on their service as, thanks to some improvements specified by Worcestershire County Council, the link to Bromsgrove has been restored, thanks to new operator, Kev’s Cars and Coaches of Bromsgrove.
The 147 will still operate every two hours, but will continue from its current terminus at Catshill to Bromsgrove Bus Station, where it will then link in with London Midland trains to Worcester and Birmingham at the Railway Station interchange.
The link will restore the cuts of April 2016, when First in Worcestershire withdrew the through Halesowen – Worcester via Bromsgrove service, replacing it with a second hourly 144A service between Catshill and Worcester (the 147 having replaced this in the first place!)
The only downsides to these changes are that the first bus from Halesowen will now be at 09:34, instead of the current 07:40 and 08:45 departures, but with a more clock face timetable, with departures every two hours until 17:34. Also, Hayley Green will no longer be served, resulting in a change at Halesowen for passengers from the estate.
The first bus on this service from Catshill was intended to be at 08:55, instead of the current 07:06 and 08:05 departures, with departures lasting until 16:51. The service will start from Bromsgrove bus station at 08:41, 10:41 and then every two hours until 16:41.
Since this article was published, Kev’s have since changed their timetable to commence from the date of the launch of the 147 service, with Catshill departures at 09:06 and every 2 hours until 17:06 towards Halesowen (departing Bromsgrove rail station at 10:44 and every 2 hours until 16:44 & Bromsgrove bus station at 08:55 and every 2 hours until 16:55)
Revised timetable to what was already published
The new service will launch on the 25th February 2018, replacing the current service operated by Worcestershire County Council’s in-house brand, Whoosh, the operator who took over from First in Worcestershire.
Users of the 318 Stourbridge – Bromsgrove service, which was originally operated by Hansons until August 2017, will also see some changes, with Central Buses taking over from the existing operator, Diamond Bus. This will also change on 25th February 2018. Central Buses have confirmed that they will be operating to the current timetable.
This has changed, according to some commentators, with the first Stourbridge – Bromsgrove journey commencing at Belbroughton instead of commencing at Stourbridge, with further changes expected by mid March – April 2018 following acquisition of Central Buses by Rotala.
Do you use either of these services? What do you think of the changes? Let us know in the comments section below.
