Dudley & Sandwell proposed service changes

Following the consultation with customers and key stakeholders on possible changes to bus services in and around Dudley and Sandwell, National Express West Midlands are proposing a number of changes to the network which would take place in summer 2018. 

Summary of proposed changes

• New express service (X7) between Birmingham, City Hospital, Smethwick, Oldbury, Dudley & Wolverhampton saving around 15 minutes each way between Oldbury and Birmingham compared to the 87.
• Improved frequency between Dudley, Springfield, Blackheath and Birmingham on the X8, replacing the 140, and now limited stop along Hagley Road.
• Platinum buses for Smethwick, Blackheath and Oldbury on the X7 and X8 – featuring free wifi and USB charging points.
• Coordinated every 10 minutes fast service along Hagley Road on the X8 and X10.
• Better coordination of buses along Hagley Road between the X8, 9 and X10 – buses now every 5 minutes.
• More consistent service between Oldbury, Lion Farm and Blackheath on the new 3 and 3A (replacing the 120A and 289) – buses every 15 minutes, all stopping on the same side of the road in Oldbury.
• New direct & regular links between Halesowen and Russells Hall Hospital and between Merry Hill and Gornal Wood on the X10 – buses every hour.
• More buses between Warley and Oldbury on the new 13 (current 128) – now every 20 minutes.
• More buses between Warley and Blackheath on the new 13A (current 127) – now every 20 minutes.
• More buses in Oakham on the 12 & 12A (replacing the 120 and 121). Buses now coordinated to run every 10 minutes between Dudley and Oldbury.
• More buses along Tower Road on the 12A – now every 20 minutes

Service changes by route

9 – Birmingham to Stourbridge

• The timetable will be changed to improve reliability.
• Buses will be timed to coordinate between Birmingham and Bearwood with the X10 and new X8 to provide a bus every 5 minutes along Hagley Road as far as Quinton.

X10 – Birmingham to Merry Hill and Pensnett

• Buses will be extended every hour from Merry Hill to Brierley Hill High Street, Russells Hall Hospital, Pensnett and Gornal Wood with financial support from TfWM.
• This extension will reinstate the direct link between Gornal Wood, Russells Hall Hospital and Merry Hill, something that many customers asked for in our initial consultation.
• The extension to Gornal will provide direct, regular links between Halesowen and Russells Hall Hospital on weekdays and Saturdays, also something that was asked for in the consultation.
• Buses will be timed to coordinate between Birmingham and Bearwood with the 9 and new X8 to provide a bus every 5 minutes along Hagley Road as far as Quinton.
• Stopping places along Hagley Road will be changed. Fountain Road will no longer be served between Bearwood and Birmingham but Clive Road will additionally be served between Quinton and Bearwood.

120 – Dudley to Birmingham

• The 120 will be renumbered to service 12 and will combine with the new 12A to provide an improved frequency of a bus every 10 minutes between Dudley, Oakham, Oldbury and Birmingham.
• The route will remain unchanged. The 12 will run along City Road and the 12A along Tower Road.

120A – Blackheath to Birmingham

• Between Blackheath and Oldbury, the 120A will be replaced by new services 3 and 3A. The 3 and 3A will also replace the 289.
• The 3 and 3A will provide buses every 15 minutes between West Bromwich, Oldbury, Lion Farm and Blackheath. The 3 will then continue every 30 minutes to Merry Hill.
• Between Oldbury and Blackheath, the 3 and 3A will both run along Portway Road, Newbury Lane, Martley Road, Shelsey Avenue and Throne Road. The 3 will then serve Portway Road and Hanover Road. The 3A will serve Stuart Road.
• Between Oldbury and Birmingham, the 12 and 12A will continue to provide buses every 10 minutes.

121 – Dudley to West Bromwich

• The 121 will be partly replaced by new service 12A.
• The new 12A will run every 20 minutes between Dudley, Oakham, Oldbury and Birmingham. Between Dudley and Oldbury, buses will run along Oakham Road, City Road and Tower Road.
• Darbys Hill Road and Wheatsheaf will no longer be served directly due to problems with parked cars and low trees (the 12A would use double decker buses). However, both the 12 and 12A will serve stops on Oakham Road and City Road for access to Wheatsheaf Road and Darbys Hill Road. If trees on Darbys Hill are pruned to allow access by double deck buses, the 12A would serve Darbys Hill Road instead of Oakham Road.
• The frequency of buses along Tower Road will increase from every 30 minutes to every 20 minutes with new links to Birmingham.
• Passengers travelling to West Bromwich will need to change buses in Oldbury from the 12 or 12A to the 3, 3A, 4, 4H or 4M.

126 – Wolverhampton to Birmingham

• Between Birmingham and Dudley, the 126 will be replaced by new service 15.
• The 15 will run to the same route as the 126 between Birmingham and Dudley but will be renumbered to fit with other services along Hagley Road. Buses will run every 15 minutes.
• Between Wolverhampton and Dudley, the 126 will be replaced by new services X7 and X8. The X7 and X8 will combine to run every 10 minutes.
• The X7 and X8 will both continue from Dudley to Birmingham along different routes and will not serve every bus stop to improve journey times.
• The X7 will provide new express links between Dudley, Oldbury, Smethwick, City Hospital and Birmingham with through journeys to and from Wolverhampton. From Dudley, buses will run via New Birmingham Road, Portway Road, Oldbury Interchange, Birmingham Road, Oldbury Road, Crocketts Lane (for Smethwick High Street), Soho Way, Cranford Street and Spring Hill to Birmingham (Colmore Row).
• The X8 will run via New Rowley Road, Springfield, Blackheath, Long Lane, Quinton and Hagley Road to Birmingham (Colmore Row).
• The X7 and X8 will both be operated by ‘Platinum’ specification vehicles, bringing Platinum to Oldbury, Blackheath and Smethwick.

127 – Dudley to Birmingham

• The 127 will be renumbered 13A to fit better with other services along Hagley Road.
• The frequency of buses between Birmingham and Blackheath will be increased from every 30 to every 20 minutes.
• Between Blackheath and Dudley, the 127 will be replaced by changes to the 241. The 241 will run between Halesowen, Blackheath, Oakham and Dudley, replacing the 127 to Dudley, although Mincing Lane and Bell End will no longer be served.
• The route will change in Blackheath to cover parts of the 129. Buses will run along Hurst Green Lane, Narrow Lane, Masters Lane, Nimmings Road, Station Road and Oldbury Road.
• Between the new 13 and 13A, buses will continue to run every 10 minutes between Warley, Bearwood and Birmingham.

128 – Oldbury to Birmingham

• The 128 will be renumbered 13 to fit better with other services along Hagley Road.
• The frequency of buses between Oldbury and Birmingham will be increased from every 30 to every 20 minutes.
• Between the new 13 and 13A, buses will continue to run every 10 minutes between Warley, Bearwood and Birmingham.

129 – Merry Hill to Birmingham

• The 129 will no longer run but will be replaced between Warley and Birmingham by the 13 and 13A (every 10 minutes) and partly replaced by the 13A between Blackheath and Warley.
• The 13A will run along Hurst Green Lane, Narrow Lane, Masters Lane, Nimmings Road, Station Road and Oldbury Road to cover parts of the current 127 and 129.
• Between Merry Hill and Cradley Heath, the 4M and X10 provide buses every 10 minutes. • Between Merry Hill and Blackheath, the 4M and new service 3 provide up to 5 journeys every hour.
• National Express West Midlands will no longer provide a service along Perry Park Road or Codsall Road. TfWM are considering options to provide a replacement service in this area.

140 – Dudley to Birmingham

• The 140 will be replaced by new service X8. To provide faster journeys, buses will not stop at every bus stop along Hagley Road.
• The X8 will run up to every 20 minutes, meaning more buses for passengers between Springfield, Blackheath and Birmingham.
• The X8 will continue from Dudley to Wolverhampton, providing new through journey opportunities.
• The X8 will be operated by our ‘Platinum’ specification vehicles, offering free wifi and USB charging points.
• Between Quinton and Birmingham, the X8 will coordinate with the X10 to provide a limited stop service every 10 minutes for most of the day.
• The X8 will combine with the 9 and X10 to provide a bus every 5 minutes along Hagley Road as far as Quinton.

205 – Dudley to Kingswinford

• The route of the 205 will be unchanged but the frequency will be reduced to every hour due to very low usage.
• The X10 will be extended from Merry Hill to Russells Hall Hospital and Gornal Wood and will be timed to coordinate with the 205 between Pensnett Trading Estate and Russells Hall Hospital to provide a bus generally every 30 minutes on this section of route.

222 – Dudley to Merry Hill

• Off peak journeys will divert between Pensnett and Brierley Hill to serve Wallows Road on a trial basis following customer requests. The whole length of Pensnett Road will not be served on affected journeys.
• The 255 will continue to serve the affected section of Pensnett Road at all times of day.
• Certain evening journeys may no longer run due to poor usage. TfWM are considering the implications of this possible change.

241 – Dudley to Halesowen

• The route of the 241 will change between Dudley and Blackheath to cover most of the current 127. Buses will now run via Kate’s Hill, Regent Road, Oakham Road, Throne Road and Oldbury Road to Blackheath. Mincing Lane and Bell End would not be served.
• We are considering whether alternate journeys on the 241 would divert along City Road, Poplar Road and Elm Terrace (which may replace the 208).
• Between Dudley, Springfield and Blackheath, the current 241 will be replaced by new service X8, running every 20 minutes through to Wolverhampton and Birmingham with ‘Platinum’ specification buses featuring free wifi and USB phone charging.
• Certain evening and Sunday journeys may no longer run due to poor usage. TfWM are considering the implications of this possible change.

289 – West Bromwich to Merry Hill.

• The 289 will be replaced by new services 3 and 3A.
• The 3 and 3A will provide buses every 15 minutes between West Bromwich, Oldbury, Lion Farm and Blackheath. The 3 will then continue every 30 minutes to Merry Hill.
• Between Oldbury and Blackheath, the 3 and 3A will both run along Portway Road, Newbury Lane, Martley Road, Shelsey Avenue and Throne Road. The 3 will then serve Portway Road and Hanover Road. The 3A will serve Stuart Road.
• To improve reliability, the 3 will not serve the double run along Moor Lane to Rowley Regis Hospital. However, the 4M will continue to serve Rowley Hospital every 20 minutes.
• In Oldbury, the 3 and 3A will always stop on the library side of Church Street towards Blackheath. This will mean that all buses towards Lion Farm and Blackheath serve the same bus stop in Oldbury.

Full details including maps of the proposed new routes can be found on this PDF document of the consultation information.

The above proposals are not yet finalised, and National Express West Midlands are inviting passengers to submit their feedback; comments and suggestions for consideration should be emailed to services@nationalexpress.com

What are your thoughts?