Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) announced details of bus services set to change from 29 October as part of the plan to protect the region’s bus network.
Earlier this month it was announced that the region’s bus service network would be secured at near current levels and continue to operate without radical change until January 2025 following a £40 million injection of support funding from TfWM. However, it was noted that a small number of services which do not provide value for money would need to be changed to focus resources where they are most needed.
Although the vast majority of the region’s 394 regular bus services remain unaffected – there will be changes to 32 services, some will have timetable changes, some new operators and regrettably three services are to be withdrawn. This is due to low passenger numbers, higher operating costs and changes in travel patterns which means they no longer provide value for money for the taxpayer.
These are:
- 25 – Bromford to Erdington Six Ways Services covering the area include the X12 Birmingham to Solihull via Chelmsley Wood; X13 Birmingham to Chelmsley Wood via Castle Bromwich; 28 Heartlands Hospital to Great Barr via Erdington; 11A / 11C Birmingham Outer circle.
- 600 – Brookvale to Erdington Circular The area is covered by the number 7 Birmingham to Perry Common via Witton; 11A / 11C Birmingham Outer circle; 65 Birmingham to Perry Common via Short Heath.
- 19 – Tile Hill to Coventry via Cannon Park Shopping Centre / Westwood Business Park The route is partially replaced by the number 2
The ring and ride service can also provide an alternative for those who are eligible.
The changes are mostly to services operated under subsidy from TfWM following the annual review of contracts. Subsidies are provided for services which are not commercially viable but are deemed socially necessary. As these already receive public funding they are not covered by the new bus service protection agreement. However, they do need to meet long-standing value for money rules that are needed to justify the use of taxpayers’ money.The three services being withdrawn unfortunately no longer meet those rules.
Some services will have minor timetable changes from October 29th or November 5th, other key changes are listed below.
002 – Weoley Castle to Merry Hill
From 29 October 2023, this service will no longer operate on Sundays.
From 29 October 2023, National Express West Midlands will operate an extended X21 service on Sundays to Merry Hill via Weoley Castle & Halesowen once an hour to provide an equivalent service.
2 – Birmingham to Maypole
From 5 November 2023, route is revised between Yardley Wood and Maypole to partially replace the 27.
From Daisy Farm Road, new route is Langstone Road, Greenford Road, Yardley Wood Road, High Street, Prince of Wales Lane, Gorleston Road, Highters Lane, Glenavon Road and Alcester Road South to Maypole.
Sunday journeys to Maypole are reinstated after being withdrawn earlier this year.
2 – Tile Hill to Coventry
From 5 November 2023, this National Express Coventry service will be operating with some changes to the route and timetable.
Buses will extend beyond Tile Hill to either Westwood Business Park (in times) or Cannon Park Shopping Centre (in off-peak times).
4 – Walsall to Blackheath
4H – Walsall to Hayley Green
4M – Walsall to Merry Hill
From 5 November 2023, new timetables will be introduced, with National Express West Midlands and Diamond working in partnership to better co-ordinate services.
Customers will now see a combined timetable with buses running up to every 5 minutes between Walsall and West Bromwich, and up to every 8 minutes between West Bromwich and Blackheath. Service 4M to Merry Hill will continue to be operated by National Express West Midlands and will still run up to every 20 minutes.
Diamond will now run all Monday to Saturday daytime journeys on service 4H, with National Express West Midlands running evening and Sunday journeys on the route.
5 – Wolverhampton to Codsall
From 5 November 2023, this National Express West Midlands service will no longer be operating.
Banga Buses will be operating a 5/5A service to partially replace this route Monday to Saturday daytime.
5 – Codsall Bakers Way to Wolverhampton via Bilbrook:
- Every 60 minutes from Monday to Friday
- No Saturday service
- The first bus will be at 7am from Codsall
- The last bus will be at 6pm from Wolverhampton
5A – Codsall Bakers Way to Wolverhampton via Dunstall (Evans Street)
- Every 60 minutes from Monday to Saturday
- The first bus from Monday to Friday will be at 7:30am from Codsall
- The first bus on Saturdays will be at 7am from Codsall
- The last bus will be at 18:31 from Wolverhampton
- The 5A will not serve Bilbrook
From 6th November, evening and Sunday journeys will be provided by Chaserider following award of Staffordshire CC contract.
19 – Walsall to Bloxwich
From 29 October 2023, this National Express West Midlands service will be operated by Chaserider.
20 / 21 – Bearwood to Oldbury
From 29th October 2023, Diamond will continue to operate these services with a revised timetable, which will see the last two afternoon journeys removed Monday to Friday, and Saturday journeys to be withdrawn. New timetable available here.
27 – Maypole to Cofton Hackett
From 5 November 2023, this National Express West Midlands service will be operating with some changes to the route and timetable.
The route will be shortened to operate between Frankley (Arden Road) and Yardley Wood (Bus garage) only. Between Kings Heath and Hollybank Road, the service reverts to using Addison Road and Barn Lane. (Service 76 will continue to serve Wheelers Lane and Alcester Road South)
Changes will be made to the 2 (Birmingham to Maypole via Warstock) to provide an alternative service in this area. This service is also provided by National Express West Midlands.
45 – Walsall to West Bromwich
From 29 October, Diamond will continue to operate this service with a revised timetable, and a minor route change with Hallam Street being served. This is on a trial basis and will be reviewed in January 2024. New timetable available here.
51 – Coventry to Arena Shopping Park
From 5th November, National Express Coventry will begin operating Sunday daytime journeys between Coventry city centre and Chapelfields (Westbury Road) only.
Stagecoach will continue to provide Monday to Saturday journeys with no change to timetable.
54 – West Coventry Academy to Coventry
From 6th November, this school service operated by National Express Coventry will be curtailed to run to/from Spon End (Meriden Street) only.
54 / 54A – Worlds End to West Bromwich
From 5 November 2023, this National Express West Midlands service will operate with route and timetable changes.
- Europa Village will no longer be serviced from Monday to Saturday. The revised service 61 (West Bromwich to Great Barr via Handsworth) will replace this section.
- In Londonderry, buses will operate via William Road and Hurst Road instead of Harold Road, The Oval, Goodyear Road and Broadmoor Avenue
- In Smethwick, buses will operate via Holly Lane, Devonshire Road and Stony Lane instead of St. Paul’s Road
60 – Warwick University to Arena Park
From 29 October 2023, this Stagecoach service will operate with some minor changes:
- Jaguar Land Rover will be served at peak* times only. West Midlands Bus on Demand is available to customers who wish to travel at other times of the day.
- On Sundays will run from Stivichall to Arena Retail Park only, but will divert to serve Warwickshire Shopping Park
61 – West Bromwich to Great Barr
From 5 November, this Diamond service will operate with minor timetable changes and is revised to serve Europa Village.
67A – Birmingham to Peddimore
This new service will operate from 8 October by National Express West Midlands. The service will be linking directly to the new Amazon distribution facility in Peddimore and providing direct links from Birmingham city centre.
71 – Sutton Coldfield to Chelmsley Wood
From 29 October, Stagecoach will no longer operate Sunday journeys, service will be provided by Solus Travel. Some journeys will be removed from the timetable and replaced with new 71A journeys as below.
(No change to Monday to Saturday journeys operated commercially by National Express West Midlands)
71A – Sutton Coldfield to Chelmsley Wood
This new service will operate from 22 October and will serve the new Amazon distribution centre at Peddimore. National Express West Midlands will operate four journeys a day Monday to Saturday.
From 29 October, Sunday journeys will be added and operated by Solus Travel.
74 – Walsall to Gillity Village
From 29 October 2023, this Diamond Bus service will be operated by Walsall Community Transport.
88 – Stourbridge to Norton
From 2 October 2023, this Kev’s Cars & Coaches service will be operated by Diamond Bus.
89 – Birmingham to West Bromwich
From 5 November 2023, this National Express West Midlands service will be operating with some changes to the route and timetable.
The service will run between West Bromwich and Bearwood via Smethwick and Cape Hill. The service will no longer run through to Birmingham, instead passengers can change in Cape Hill for onward travel to Birmingham using services 82 or 87.
The service will also no longer serve St. Paul’s Road or Devonshire Road. Buses will instead operate from Rolfe Street rail station along Smethwick High Street and directly onto Stony Lane.
Devonshire Road will instead be served by the revised services 54 and 54A.
From Cape Hill, buses will operate via Portland Road, City Road and Sandon Road to terminate at Rutland Road in Bearwood.
96 – Kingstanding to Chelmsley Wood / Birmingham Airport
From 22 October 2023, this Diamond Bus service will be operated by National Express West Midlands before 6:30pm.
From this date, there will be some minor timetable changes to improve connections with the National Express West Midlands X12 service at Chelmsley Wood for onward travel to Birmingham airport.
Diamond Bus will continue to operate the service from 6:15pm, Monday to Friday and on Sundays.
530 – Wolverhampton to Rocket Pool
From 29 October 2023, this service will no longer be operating after 5:30pm.
On Sundays, this service will be operated by National Express West Midlands. The service will still be operated by Banga Buses from Monday to Saturday.
A7 / A8 – South Solihull Circulars
From 29 October 2023, this Landflight service will operate with some changes:
- Sunday buses will operate between Solihull and Hockley Heath via Dorridge only. Alternative Sunday services are available:
- For Blythe Valley Park: A9 – Blythe Valley Park to Kingshurst via Solihull, Olton (operated by Stagecoach)
- For Cheswick Green: A5 – Cheswick Green to Solihull via Dickens Heath (operated by Landflight)
- Your best alternative is to change to the Landflight A7/A8 (South Solihull Circular) at Stratford Road which stops at McDonalds.
- Purnells Way/Longdon Road will no longer be served from 7pm. Your best alternative is to catch services from Station Road.
- Buses will serve Stroudley Road on Blythe Valley Park
- The last bus of the day from Monday to Saturday will be approximately one hour earlier
A10 – Solihull to Chelmsley Wood
From 29 October 2023, this Landflight service will have minor timetable and route alterations.
Digby Drive in Marston Green will no longer be served due to difficulties with parked vehicles.
X1 – Birmingham to Coventry
From 22 October 2023, this service will be operated by National Express Coventry with a revised timetable.
X21 – Birmingham to Bartley Green
X22 – Birmingham to Woodgate
From 29 October, there will be a permanent route change around Kitwell and Bartley Green, with the X21 being extended to Merry Hill Centre on Sundays. There will also be a timetable change due to these route changes.
The X21 will no longer serve Adams Hill, Wood Lane or Field Lane, but will serve Bartley Green directly via Romsley Road.
On Sundays, the X21 will extend hourly from Bartley Green to Merry Hill via the 002 route, replacing that service withdrawn on Sundays.
The X22 will serve Adams Hill and Wood Lane before serving Kitwell and terminating at Bartley Green.
Further details and links to new timetables (once available) can be found at the TfWM website.
For anyone concerned about their bus route changing operator, please remember that all bus operators in the West Midlands accept and issue nBus tickets.
Featured image (c) Tony Hunter, WM Buses In Photos, used as always with permission
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