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If you look at the site's home page, you will see that it was founded exactly 10 years ago today, on 10 March 2011.  Since then, it has been visited over 4.8 million times - that's nearly half a million per year.  I think we should congratulate Tony on this achievement and thank him for all the hard work he, and his administrators, have put in to develop this site.  Personally, although I could have happily throttled one or two of the members at times (one in particular), this site has been instrumental in keeping me up to date with news and opinion on the bus front.

I hope you will all join me in thanking Tony and celebrating this site's 10th anniversary.   

Alexander Dennis have announced a hydrogen bus which they hope to have on the road by the end of the year.
https://www.alexander-dennis.com/media/news/2021/february/adl-s-british-built-h20-next-generation-hydrogen-bus-to-deliver-up-to-300-zero-emission-mile-range/

I was recently given a 4-page pull out from the Birmingham Post dated Thursday 23 October 1986.  It lists all bus services that would be subsidised by WMPTE from Deregulation Day.  I have scanned it as best as I can (apologies for the quality) for those of you of a certain age who remember those days.  I hope that the link below actually works!  If not, I can post each page in turn.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WSz50OEBkselo9VXKQQtOKr2BodEfC2-/view?usp=sharing 

The DfT and Arriva have agreed a deal to extend the current CrossCountry franchise from October 2016 to October 2019.  The main bullet points in the press release are :-

- 39,000 more seats at peak times along the Edinburgh - Plymouth route via Leeds, Birmingham and Bristol by December 2017
- reduced journey times between Birmingham and Manchester, with a typical cut of nine minutes on weekdays and 12 minutes at weekends due to improvements to infrastructure on the route following work by infrastructure manager Network Rail
- £20m government investment in "more modern trains," which equates to improving access to High-Speed Trains (HST) for people with reduced mobility and installing retention toilets
- £9m of this sum will be invested to provide free onboard passenger Wi-Fi services by April 2018, which will use 4G for faster download speeds
- extra services calling at Morpeth
- a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-per-week customer service centre and a new mobile app to buy tickets and check live running times
- a 91% public performance measurement target whereby long-distance trains must arrive within 10 minutes of their stated arrival time, and a less than 3% cancellation or significant lateness measure where trains are operating over 30 minutes late
- waiving the £10 "change of travel" fee for advance tickets from January 2017, and
- £340,000 of annual funding for Community Rail Partnerships across the Cross Country network.

The DfT says Arriva Cross Country will now start work on a new timetable, with a view to introducing enhanced services in December 2017.  The process for the next franchise will start in March 2018 with the contract being awarded in June 2019 for the new franchise to start in October 2019.

The good news as far as I am concerned is the fitting of power operated doors and retention toilets to the HST fleet which should ensure that they remain in service after 2020.  I don't know what is needed to provide the extra 39,000 seats on the Edinburgh - Plymouth route.  Having 4 HST sets in service every day rather than 2 would certainly increase capacity but will that mean that they need extra sets, possibly cascaded from VTEC as their sets are also maintained at Craigentinny and have a similar seating layout to the XC sets.

Centro have issued a press release today saying that the 213, 214, 217 and 240 services will be withdrawn from 25 January and replaced by 4 new services 12, 13, 14 and 17.

The No 12 will run from Merry Hill bus station to Blackheath via Dunns Bank, Colley Gate, and Old Hill.

The No 13 will operate from Merry Hill bus station to Halesowen via Dunns Bank, Fatherless Barn and Colley Gate. This provides new links to Halesowen for Fatherless Barn and Dunns Bank.

The No 14 will serve Brierley Hill High Street, Merry Hill bus station, Dunns Bank, Cradley Heath via Forge Lane, and Fatherless Barn via Banner Lane.

The No 17 will run from Merry Hill bus station to Halesowen via Coppice Lane, Cradley Heath High Street, Timbertree, Belle Vale and Huntingtree Road.

Each route will provide an hourly Monday to Saturday daytime service, while the No 13 will also operate Sunday daytimes.

The full press release is at http://www.centro.org.uk/about-us/news/2014/centro-introduces-improved-cradley-and-old-hill-area-bus-services/

Centro and Arriva Midlands signed a partnership plus agreement on Thursday. 

http://www.centro.org.uk/about-us/news/2014/partnership-plus-deal-between-centro-and-arriva-buses-just-the-ticket/

There are 22 points in the agreement which covers the period up to the end of 2016.  Of interest in the Black Country, Dudley Bus Station will be refurbished by the end of 2016 which they claim will include significant improvements to the customer environment.

New infrastructure, shelters and information systems will be provided in Wolverhampton City Centre similar to those in Birmingham.

Arriva Midlands will deliver a minimum of 20 new buses into their fleet.

I noticed today that First are displaying the home depot name of all local identity painted buses.  It is on each side next to the WEST OF ENGLAND branding.  Have any other First subsidiaries done the same?

Picture attached.

The former WMPTE Volvo Ailsa 4760 (JOV 760P) - now with registration number ANC 578A - was being towed along Pedmore Road past Merry Hill this morning at about 10 am.  I was behind it on a 141 bus at the lights at the top of Quarry Bank High Street and it continued down Thorns Road towards Lye.  It was in a dreadful condition.

Does anybody know if this bus is earmarked for preservation ?   

First West of England have suffered two incidents in 24 hours.  Yesterday, a Volvo B9TL crashed into two cars on Bristol city service 48

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bus-crashes-cars-railings-Emersons-Green-near/story-21243638-detail/story.html. 

Today, a Volvo single decker (B10BLE?) has burst into flames while working service 319 from Bath to Cribbs Causeway

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/BRISTOL-TRAFFIC-Bus-closes-Kingswood-high-street/story-21249009-detail/story.html

I don't think this has been mentioned anywhere else on the forum - if it has, I apologise.

Optare have finally announced their long anticipated double decker, called the Metrodecker.  Details are at http://www.busandcoach.com/newspage.aspx?id=8445&categoryid=0

The Stourbridge Town branch timetable is being amended from 2 March.  This is because of comments and complaints that LM have received due to missed connections after the December 2013 timetable change which revised the train times on the Snow Hill to Worcester line. 

Basically, departures from Stourbridge Town on Mondays to Saturdays will be at 00, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 minutes past each hour, and on Sundays at 05, 20, 35 and 50 minutes past each hour.

From Stourbridge Junction, departures on Mondays to Saturdays will be at 05, 15, 25, 35, 45 and 55 minutes past each hour, and on Sundays at 00, 15, 30 and 45 minutes past each hour.

The Stourbridge Line User Group have published the new timetable on their website at http://www.stourbridgelineusergroup.info/   

The link is

http://www.busandcoach.com/newspage.aspx?id=8273&categoryid=0

Details of changes to take effect on 28 April are starting to appear on the TAN website.

PD0001111/39 - WEST MIDLANDS TRAVEL LTD T/A TRAVEL WEST MIDLANDS, 51 BORDESLEY GREEN, BIRMINGHAM, B9 4BZ
Variation Accepted: Operating between Birmingham, City Centre, Colmore Row and Birmingham, Bartley Green, Romsley Road given service number X64 effective from 28-Apr-2013. To amend Route and Timetable.
PD0001111/63 - WEST MIDLANDS TRAVEL LTD T/A TRAVEL WEST MIDLANDS, 51 BORDESLEY GREEN, BIRMINGHAM, B9 4BZ
Variation Accepted: Operating between Wolverhampton, Bus Station and Perton, Coleridge Drive given service number 10 effective from 28-Apr-2013. To amend Timetable.
PD0001111/102 - WEST MIDLANDS TRAVEL LTD T/A TRAVEL WEST MIDLANDS, 51 BORDESLEY GREEN, BIRMINGHAM, B9 4BZ
Variation Accepted: Operating between West Bromwich, Bus Station and Birmingham, Bearwood, Bus Station given service number 48 effective from 28-Apr-2013. To amend Route and Timetable.
PD0001111/106 - WEST MIDLANDS TRAVEL LTD T/A TRAVEL WEST MIDLANDS, 51 BORDESLEY GREEN, BIRMINGHAM, B9 4BZ
Variation Accepted: Operating between Birmingham, Corporation Street and Rubery Great Park, Parkway given service number 98 effective from 28-Apr-2013. To amend Route and Timetable.
PD0001111/383 - WEST MIDLANDS TRAVEL LTD T/A TRAVEL WEST MIDLANDS, 51 BORDESLEY GREEN, BIRMINGHAM, B9 4BZ
Variation Accepted: Operating between University Station, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Rowley Regis Station(/Hagley Road Haley Green given service number 99/98 effective from 28-Apr-2013. To amend Route and Timetable.
PD0001111/695 - WEST MIDLANDS TRAVEL LTD T/A TRAVEL WEST MIDLANDS, 51 BORDESLEY GREEN, BIRMINGHAM, B9 4BZ
Cancellation Accepted: Operating between Wolverhampton Bus Station and Merry Hill Centre given service number X1 effective from 28-Apr-2013.
PD0001111/697 - WEST MIDLANDS TRAVEL LTD T/A TRAVEL WEST MIDLANDS, 51 BORDESLEY GREEN, BIRMINGHAM, B9 4BZ
Cancellation Accepted: Operating between Pheasey Church and Hamstead Village given service number 651 effective from 28-Apr-2013.

There are route changes for services 98, 99 and X64.  Does anybody know whether these are changes to the route through the City Centre?