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The link to the 62 timetable on the Warwickshire CC website has not yet been fixed, but here it is: -

https://api.warwickshire.gov.uk/documents/WCCC-222510381-334

Maps on the Warwickshire CC public transport website have been updated this week.  It's good to see that the new Leamington and Warwick map here shows the 62.

My thanks to Michael Bevan for alerting us to this service in the first place.

25 also can't have the double decks, I'm pretty sure the rest can ( 2,2A,85,85B )

Yes - electric double decks do run on the 85 through to and from Rugby on schooldays, and one has occasionally run on the 85B.

Back to topic.

Would bringing back the x74 Birmingham to Tamworth work? 

Most of the X74 actually continued to exist as peak hour service X16, latterly operated by Diamond, until August 2022.  It had been operated by a few operators on tender, which tells its own story, and Diamond withdrew it because it was "unsustainable at current passenger levels".

Unfortunately the M6 and M42 often suffer from holdups, as I'm sure we all know, and it must have been difficult to run a reliable service.

if it were possible i would bring back the old 187 Birmingham - Dorridge (my old home town) as there are now NO NXWM buses beyond Solihull i havent visited the old place in several years, im too young to remember the 187 very well, but i believe it went via Bentley Heath & back via Knowle, also down through Knowle & back through Bentley Heath.

For information, in their final Midland Red and WMPTE years, the 187 was Birmingham - Dorridge via Bentley Heath and the 182 was Birmingham - Dorridge via Knowle.  There was also an S55 Knowle - Solihull Circular which ran both ways round - out via Bentley Heath back via Warwick Road and vice versa.  All three services ran hourly.

In addition, mainly at rush hours, were 152 Birmingham - Knowle via Bentley Heath and 155 Birmingham - Knowle via Warwick Road.  The 155 was a short working of the 182.

I recall another alternative.

Several years ago Solent Blue Line contracted the operation of a couple of its commercial Southampton routes to an independent: Marchwood Motorways.  I didn't see it in action myself, but I think that Solent Blue Line provided the vehicles, which were in its livery, and the routes were advertised as Solent Blue Line routes.  The arrangement lasted for a number of years.

Could it work in the West Midlands now?  As well as taking on the same quality standards as NX, a willing operator would need to have enough drivers ... so I think not.

I think everyone got on the correct bus without complaint

I like it!

Back in 2018 NXWM X20 Birmingham - Cofton Hackett started one week before Johnsons X20 Birmingham - Stratford ceased, and they both called outwards at the same stop in Moor Street Queensway.  On my final ride on the Johnsons service there were a few cases of "wrong X20".

Maybe 115 passengers were more observant?

I don't know if the information is incorrect or out-of-date, but according to TfWM's website, Stagecoach accept nBus and nNetwork but don't sell them:
https://journeyplanner.wmnetwork.co.uk/Operator/Stagecoach%20Midlands

TfWM's information is out-of-date.  I bought an nBus day ticket on the 169 earlier this year, and I see that the Stagecoach website says that they do sell them - although you have to click on "Dayrider" tickets to get to the page: -

https://www.stagecoachbus.com/regionaltickets/midlands/birmingham/dayrider

I guess Stagecoach probably started selling them last year when they began to win TfWM contracts (starting with the 82, 87 and 88).

[does]

So what does this actually mean? I assume Arriva will stay as it is and I assume there won't be any name changes etc and all subsidiaries will remain the same?

Arriva the business is changing hands, so there don't need to be any name changes - although it will of course be up to the new owners to decide whether to change anything in the short term.

Stagecoach and Go Ahead have all changed hands in the past year, and have not made any name changes yet.

The big question, I think, is whether the change will be good for Arriva.  Hopefully the new owners will take a careful look at the business and, having invested in it, make decisions that demonstrate that Arriva does want to operate buses ...

For me bring the old service numbers back, it was logical to me any way,
0 to 199 to city,  200s Brierley hill services, 300s Walsall , 400s West Bromwich , 500s Wolverhampton  think i have got that right , i forget what 600s were for, odds and sods maybe 

Yes, it was a logical system.  It was broadly based on Metropolitan districts:-
1-199 Birmingham and Solihull 
200s Dudley
300s Walsall 
400s Sandwell 
500s Wolverhampton 
600s North Division works services
700s North Division schools services 
800-849 South Division works services
850-899 South Division schools services
900s Limited Stop services 

This applied only to services operated by WMPTE, and it took several years to be fully implemented.

For information, WMPTE South Division covered Birmingham and Solihull, while the North Division covered the Black Country. 

I have just noticed in the West Midlands Combined Authority Board minutes of its September meeting (here, page 18) that the 24 articulated buses for Sprint will now be electric instead of hydrogen.

The WMCA received approval from Department for Transport Ministers in July for the change.  The delivery timeline for the full project has been extended to May 2026.  The full project includes the 100 hydrogen non-articulated buses which are still on track to be hydrogen.

I cannot find any announcement about this - although I'm not surprised!  Regrettably there are still fundamentals that we don't know.  Is there an even just aspirational timescale for Sprint to actually start?

Bearwood, Sarehole Mill & Brookvale Road were the three on the inner ring
Fox & Goose on the outer ring and I have forgotton the two others

IIRC the two others were Swanshurst Lane (top) and Handsworth Wood (Church Lane at Hamstead Road island).

Another question is how long did Birmingham Bundy clocks stay in use with WMPTE?  Was it until the early 1980s?  I remember some appearing in ex-Midland Red territory in the 1970s,  such as Chelmsley Wood and Birmingham International Station.

I think the numerous people who live in that eastern part of Yardley Wood would beg to differ.

People can't always get direct links to where they want to go, however the 3 does connect with the 76 and 169 at Trittiford Road, which do provide onward connections to Kings Heath, Shirley and Solihull.

I agree.  Also, the 3 does provide a link - it's to Birmingham city centre!

The route up to the current terminus at the city boundary is good bus territory.  The section beyond was always very quiet, so I can't blame NXWM for cutting it back.

The £2 fare cap has certainly encouraged me to travel more by bus.  Days out using multiple operators are now much more affordable, and some long journeys can be done very cheaply - such as Solihull to Banbury or Moreton-in-Marsh for £4 each way.

Long may it continue I say!

It's new to me, and it's very interesting.  Another useful thing to help find out where my train's got to!

I thought the same when I saw Mark Drakeford quoted as saying "It's going to take you a minute longer to make your journey."  That's not going to be the case for bus passengers on services running in built-up areas.

Unfortunately the only way forward, if operators are not going to fall foul of the Traffic Commissioner, is to retime services to take account of the 20 mph limit.  For commercial services that depend on tight scheduling that's bad news.

Will we see bus service deregistrations because of this, as extra running times cause extra costs that tip marginal services over the edge?