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Back at it in Bentley I assume like the 29 the 37 diverts away from Queen Elizabeth Aveune for the rest of service
https://twitter.com/nxwestmidlands/status/1785714379469598775?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
 

What is actually happening there though?

[bike ride]

Advance warning Sunday 5th may
Major disruption to Birmingham services due to a bike ride
All Hagley road services going in via Bristol road then tunnels to get Charles st to snow hill
Out via old square then Lancaster Gate then tunnels to Bristol road
So good chance for some photo of buses off route or a ride through the tunnels

Great Birmingham Run and Half Marathon

Rather helpfully, the page on the TfWM website with the details is telling viewers to get the diversion details from the Disruptions webpage, but there are no diversion details shown at present!

You're right, I can see what you mean.

This would also explain why a number of outbound services no longer stop at the top of the Cox St hill CU3 stop. This happened at least 5 years ago, was a silly move and hacked off a number of commuters. OMG.

Some one from TfWM definitely needs to get out of their office to come and have a look at what they have done and fix all of this.

If no-one tells them about issues with information at bus stops, then they can't do anything about it.

https://www.tfwm.org.uk/get-help/report-a-problem-with-a-bus-stop-or-park-and-ride/

I've been seeing all over the news about people moaning about the "outer circle", do you think it will ever go back to being the full circle or will it cause to many issues on the national express side.

It will do eventually, but only when the time is right and circumstances allow it.

I doubt NX will restore it just to satisfy a few 'nostalgics' and other people who don't actually rely on this service.

There are enough people who already complain about the reliability of this service as it is now, the complaints would only increase if the service becomes more unreliable again.

I was ready to suggest that perhaps a 'phased' reintroduction could be adopted, with evening and Sunday journeys restored to a full loop, but having been faced with a near 25-min wait for an 11A from Bearwood back to Billesley this evening, I think I've changed my mind.

Can I buy an Adult Daysaver with Card or would I still tap on every bus and show the ticket as I will be getting NX buses only as I'm sure with waiting times of the Train Vs the bus it would take the same amount of time from Walsall to Lichfield and the bus is cheaper

Yes, just tell the driver what ticket you want BEFORE tapping your card on the reader, only do so once the display on the reader prompts you.

That's a mistake a lot of people make.

Could national express potentially ever see electoliners in the fleet, or is it highly unlikely. Sorry if this is something you cannot give out.

Potentially, yes. Highly unlikely, maybe.

Either way you won't get a straight answer out of Tony when he is unable to do so.

The route 27 will have a bit of an issue in the coming years. The bridge at Bourneville station is a triange 9' 9, in which a 10' 6(?) Omnilink can fit under nicely. However, since Omnilinks are getting replaced relatively fast (presumably all withdrawn by late-2025 ) and all new electrics seem to be too tall for that bridge. It may require a re-routing of that portion of the 27 because the adjacent Mary Vale Rd looks to be too impractical for any NX bus.

I have mentioned this before earlier in this thread about how eventually the 27 will have to be rerouted, as any electric single-deck will not be able to fit under that bridge.

However no OmniLinks have been replaced yet.

I looked on bustimes randomly, I seen 4411 tracking as AV1 for the Aston Villa game, I thought it was only stagecoach who did this as the AV82, do arriva also do some Villa shuttles.

Clearly they do.

Stagecoach's AV82 runs between Birmingham city centre and Aston, completely different route.

[Election promises and the sad reality of the Outer Circle]

First of all the article says the route was split in half in 2021, but it wasn't, it was split into two sections, the first was a short section from Acocks Green to Perry Barr via Yardley and Erdington, the second is the much longer section from Acocks Green to Erdington via Kings Heath, Bearwood and Perry Barr. Boths routes created an overlap of both routes between Erdington and Perry which was introduced due to the major roadworks in Perry Barr at that time. This arrangement has improved reliability to an extent which is why it is still running now.
Richard Parker's idea of going back to the full circle would reduce reliability more than what it was in 2021.

That article and another one that appeared today are just thinly-veiled election propaganda, otherwise there would have been some explanation of the reasons why the route was split.

Whoever becomes mayor will take the credit for making the 11 a full circular one again, but it will be the bus operator that faces the flak from passengers when reliability goes to pot again.

Election promises and the sad reality of the Outer Circle
https://wmbu.org.uk/2024/04/election-promises-and-the-sad-reality-of-the-outer-circle/

What services will see the new electric buses be going on

Here's a clue, all of Perry Barr's diesel double-decks are being replaced.

YW is going fully electric with the double deck fleet

I don't think there's enough buses on order to fully upgrade YW's double-decks as well as PB's. Not this year anyway.

Or wait until til June when cascades happen? There probably a plan being planned out as the electrics drop into place.

Yes, from June onwards will be interesting times for sure. And I'm sure there is already a plan that Tony has in place, though obviously he won't be able to divulge details here.

Personally, I would expect the Scania OmniCities to be scrapped or sold on, as there would be little point in moving them on to another garage and having to type-train drivers and engineers.

The Platinum E400s will likely be used to replace older non-Euro6 vehicles at West Brom and Acocks Green, and then of course the other E400s will find homes elsewhere, just not at AG.

Most bus stops along the 72 route are showing that it doesn't do a Sunday Service on its timetable any reason why?

It would appear to be a 'data error' on the part of TfWM.

If you look at the timetable on their website, on Sundays it only shows times for timing points, not all stops:
https://www.tfwm.org.uk/plan-your-journey/find-a-timetable/#/route/cen_33072_A_H_y11_5-5?direction=Outbound&when=3

It would be a total waste of money if someone has not picked up on this, before new at-stop timetables were ordered and printed, and then put up in those stops.

[CU4]

Hello TfWM,
Another Coventry (large population city east of Birmingham) error that needs fixing.

Coventry city centre stop CU4 Cox St
I been watching this one for a while.
The RTI is only showing the SC X17 service and missing out all the many local NXC services that call. Crazy.

Have you actually reported this to TfWM?

https://www.tfwm.org.uk/get-help/report-a-problem-with-a-bus-stop-or-park-and-ride/

They weren't Euro 6 from new, so must have been retrofitted Euro 6.

According to the VRM lookup software we use at work, 467 comes up as Euro4, so will have been retrofitted.

(There must be a separate flag/indicator in the DVLA data that shows if a vehicle has been upgraded to better standards. Our software only shows the Euro standard the vehicle was originally registered with it seems)

You cannot view this attachment.

There's occasions where there's abandoned 6s causing blockages and only allowing 1 or 2 buses to stop at those stops

This past week I've seen about 4 buses fighting for that stop because of an abandoned YW bus. Another joke, should never have put them all at 1 stop when they could have utilised both stops there.

There are no 'abandoned' buses there, maybe one that has arrived early/ontime and has to then wait time before it can leave.

MS4 is now the designated stop for all the Stratford Road services, with MS3 being used as an 'overflow' or unload point.

From what I saw last weekend, when I was in Birmingham on the Saturday, both stops ARE being utilised, especially when more than one bus arrives at the same time due to delays caused by congestion in Digbeth.

Should've put the 17/60, X1/X2 back there and put the Stratford Road services at their current stop. Would've made it a lot easier. The current X1/X2 stop is also a joke as that pavement is nowhere near wide enough for the volume of passengers and usual pedestrians, especially when the X1 is mainly always late!

It might have made things 'easier' for you, but would be impracticable, having all those services using the one stop, as well as the Stratford Road ones.