Service Changes – June 2nd 2019
From Sunday June 2nd there will be some changes to a small number of bus services.
X7 – Birmingham to Wolverhampton, via Smethwick & Dudley
X8 – Birmingham to Wolverhampton, via Bearwood & Dudley
126 – Birmingham to Dudley, via Wolverhampton Road
Due to low usage, service X7 is to be withdrawn. The section between Dudley and Birmingham will of course continue to be served by the current 87 service, which has recently benefitted from the introduction of Platinum spec vehicles.
To maintain the 10 minute frequency between Wolverhampton and Dudley, additional short journeys are to be added to the X8 timetable.
Service 126 frequency will be increased to every 12 minutes during daytimes.
55 – Birmingham to Chelmsley Wood
Due to significant delays in the Stechford area caused by ongoing roadworks at Iron Lane, service 55 is to be diverted. Towards Chelmsley Wood, from Washwood Heath Road, buses will continue across the Fox & Goose junction along Coleshill Road, then onto Stechford Road to rejoin Hodge Hill Road. Journeys towards Birmingham will operate the reverse of the above. Stechford Lane and part of Stechford Road will no longer be served. A new timetable will also be introduced.
Minor timetable changes
There will be some minor timetable alterations for the following services:
- 1 – Tettenhall to Dudley
- 7 – Dudley to Wollaston
- 34 – Walsall to Bilston
- 37 – Walsall to Willenhall
- 41 – Walsall to Willenhall
- 45 – West Bromwich to Walsall
- 46 – West Bromwich to Great Barr
- 74 – Birmingham to Dudley
For further details and to view new timetables, please see the NX West Midlands website.
Five Ways Underpass Closure
From Monday June 3rd 2019, the underpass at Five Ways island in Edgbaston will be closed to all traffic to allow Midland Metro extension works to take place.
During construction, Five Ways roundabout, which runs above the underpass, will remain open in all directions to provide access in and out of Birmingham city centre. Pedestrian and cyclist access through Five Ways subway will be open as usual.
Later this summer there will be additional changes to road traffic access to Broad Street and changes to some bus routes including route and stop changes.
During the closure, bus services 9, 12, 12A, 13, 13A, 13B, 126, X8 and X10 which currently use the Five Ways underpass will be diverted via Five Ways roundabout.
If you use any of these services – as well as the 8A, 8C, 10, 10H, 23, 24, 80 and 80A services – to travel to and from Birmingham city centre, Network West Midlands advise you to allow extra time for your journey as services may become delayed due to increased levels of traffic using the island.
Passengers travelling to and from Bearwood may want to consider using the 82 service instead – many years ago when I lived in Bearwood I found this route far more reliable, and despite being a longer route it was often preferable to sitting on a bus crawling along Hagley Road.
Further information and travel advice can be found at the Network West Midlands website.
