I previously reported in an addendum to an article about last weekend’s service changes that NX West Midlands would be making further increases to service levels effective from this Sunday (31st May).
In addition, it was initially reported that Diamond Buses would be reverting to normal timetables from the same date.
It would appear that I may have jumped the gun a little, as NX West Midlands have now removed their updated timetables valid from 31st May, and Diamond Buses have amended their own service update page to state that services will continue to current Covid-19 timetables ‘until further notice’.
Apologies for any confusion caused by this, but it appears that the reason for this ‘backtrack’ is due to a failure by the government’s Department For Transport (DfT) to publish details for its “COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant” (CBSSG) funding on time.
In a nutshell this is funding for bus operators to be able to increase service levels, while compensating for lower passenger numbers due to ‘social-distancing’ measures that bus operators are expected to comply with, which will see passenger capacity on their vehicles reduced, and thus reduced revenue income from paying passengers.
Sorry about all this, but due to the changing nature of this situation, it can be a bit hard even for me to keep up with!
For clarification, NX Coventry WILL still be operating to new revised timetables from Sunday 31st May, in the same level of service increase that NX West Midlands have already incorporated.
It is likely that the proposed service level increases will now happen later in June, now that bus operators have received details of this CBSSG funding from the government, and of course as soon as I know any more, I’ll publish details here.
