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Interesting news today, all bus travel within the county of Herefordshire will be free on weekends, with additional Sunday services introduced too.

ALL bus travel within Herefordshire will be free on weekends from now on, Herefordshire Council has pledged.

Thanks to investment as part of the £6 million Covid-19 recovery fund, anybody will be able to hop on and off any bus in the county, as many times as they like, without paying a penny.

The only condition is that the journey must be entirely within the county.

To help people make the most of the scheme, there will also be additional services on Sundays, serving several locations including Bromyard, Ledbury, Leominster, Kington and Colwall.

- Hereford Times (https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/19552308.major-changes-herefordshire-bus-services-free-trips-starts/)

An operator called 'National Express Shuttle' has appeared on Bus Times, with various routes registered in the North East, in and around Sunderland for the most part. The routes seem to be current Stagecoach and Go North East routes, so I'm guessing these are council tenders?

If anyone knows any information and they're able to share it, it'd be appreciated.

https://bustimes.org/operators/national-express-shuttle

Plans have been submitted to ministers to electrify the line from Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton, as reported by the Express & Star.

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/transport/2021/06/01/faster-trains-through-wolverhampton-planned-as-line-to-shrewsbury-electrified/

Andy Burnham has today announced Greater Manchester's buses will be franchised in a historic move.

The region will take over control of its bus network in a move that will change thousands of customers lives after the Mayor approved the recommendation from nine council leaders.

It means Greater Manchester will become the first place outside of London to have a regulated system since the 1980s.

Buses on the local network will still be run by private companies but the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) will have control over fares, timetables and routes, and will integrate ticketing across buses, trains and trams.

Speaking at Ashton-under-Lyne Interchange this afternoon, the Mayor called the move the 'biggest change to our bus network in 35 years'.

He said franchising was the right option and that the region needs a London-style bus system, 'which we can only achieve when we are in control'.

'It will mean simpler fares and ticketing. You will be able to use your tickets on all Greater Manchester buses and hop on and hop off. You will know how much your tickets will cost.

Source

As per that article, it's set to start in 2023, with Wigan and Bolton to be the first boroughs to get franchising.

Hey all, just a quick query. I remember hearing (and possibly seeing a photo) about the Presidents for the Hagley Road when new, in which they carried a purple/lilac version of the TWM livery, replacing the red with the branded colour. Obviously they never had this in service, as they carried the less impressive branding with a lilac circle on the side. I remember hearing that they got changed by Plaxton before delivery.
Can anyone confirm this at all please, or has my memory truly gone? Cheers.

There's now a notice issued by the DVSA regarding the suspension issues with E200s and E300s, which originally started after an accident with First Glasgow if my memory is correct.

According to a friend, Uno have withdrawn all of their E200s, with other routes having temporary reduced timetables to allow for their vehicles to be spread out more. I wonder if we will see something similar up here?

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alexander-dennis-limited-adl-buses-safety-concerns/alexander-dennis-limited-adl-enviro200-and-enviro300-buses-safety-concerns

One of LMS' elderly Darts, Y357 HMY, at Worcester earlier this month.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stourvalley/31970131067/

Lovely article in the Echo from a couple of days ago about a kid who got to visit their Birkenhead depot after writing a letter - hopefully it'll warm you up this cold morning! :)

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/little-boys-beautiful-letter-earned-15466205

What used to be Central Buses now has R123 AGC, a Wright bodied Dennis Dart SLF. I can't find any information on this bus at all though, and Showbus seems to be the first time it's even been seen? Did it have a different reg previously or something?

It's in a very similar livery to the former Pete's Travel, including the style of text, and it even displayed Pete's Travel and also the 404 to Walsall on the display for a short time at Showbus.

I thought it'd be a good idea to have a single thread where information pertaining to various events that forum members would be interested in could be posted, rather than having tidbits of information spread out across various threads.

To start with, what is likely the largest event of the year, Showbus, is returning again to Donnington Park on Sunday 30th September 2018, for their 46th event. Tickets start at £5 for Under 16s, with standard admission on the gate set at £14. There is free parking available, as well as various trips on buses and coaches to and from the event, including one ran by The Green Bus, which can be purchased through the Vamooz app. There's more information on their website at https://showbus.com/.

Now, with that said, I've heard mentions of a Yardley Wood open day that could be happening in the future, as well as a return to Cannon Hill Park for another annual bus bash. Is there any concrete information on these yet or is it just rumours?

I thought it'd be a good idea to have a thread for any photos people took at the running day today. I'll start with a few of my own.

NXWM's 2957 at the terminus of the shuttle bus route to Sutton Coldfield:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/145227801@N02/41471935790/in/dateposted-public/

Another NXWM vehicle, this time 3225, outside of the museum:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/145227801@N02/42379088025/in/dateposted-public/

AMRTM's preserved Routemaster RM506 approaches the museum:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/145227801@N02/29410684808/in/dateposted-public/

Hi all, would anyone be able to help identify this badge/plate that I purchased from a stall up at the Potteries event a week ago? It looks like it may have been used on the front of Metrobuses back in the West Midlands Travel days, as there looks to be something similar on the front of one of 3303's photographs on this site, but it's hard to tell due to the age of the photograph. Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Hi all, I managed to pick up a WMPTE regional timetable book from the event in Stoke yesterday, it's dated 1st February, 1976 and is for the 'North Division Sandwell District'. I plan on scanning the whole booklet when I have time, although that will take a lot of time, so if there's any routes from that era that anyone would like a copy of the timetable for, I'd be happy to help.

If anyone else has any old timetables too, let me know, as I'd be interested in working on making a digital archive for these.

Hi all, I'm planning on heading out tomorrow with my new camera to give it a bit of a test, and I'd like to make a good start with railway photography. I was thinking of either going down to Tyseley, since that gets a regular service of local 172's, along with Chiltern, CrossCountry and freight services that pass through, or heading up to somewhere on the Trent Valley, such as Tamworth or Rugeley, since they get a good variety too. Are there any better places that I'm missing here, or would these be the best options?

Thanks.

Hi all, can anyone clarify the pricing structure for the matchday return special fares?

I paid £3 a couple of weeks back to get to the Hawthorns and back from Wednesbury Parkway, however, the ticket was valid from Bilston Central, as the conductor hadn't updated his machine. However, on Wednesday I was charged £4.50 for the same ticket, but valid from Wednesbury Great Western St (so not even where I got on!). It's all a bit confusing and I can't find any clear information about it at all on the Metro website.

Hi all, I was on the WN82 on my way home from uni today, and it was passed by a Fleetline that was all over black, and I'm pretty sure it had Party Bus on the side in rainbow text, but I can't be too sure since it was too dark. Does anyone have an idea of what bus this could have been? I've tried looking on this forum and searching Google but I couldn't find anything. Thanks!

Noticed there wasn't a thread for train photos, so I thought I'd start one.

Caught 390010 passing through Tipton with it's new livery earlier today. I was using a loaned camera from Wolves uni, and had it set to manual as I was doing some landscape photography, so the shutter speed was too slow for it, but hey, it still came out okay.





An unidentified London Midland 350 approaches Tipton heading towards Birmingham New Street.



Finally, an unknown Virgin Trains West Coast 390 speeds past the canal at Tipton, heading in the direction of Wolverhampton.

Hi all.
I remember seeing a Coventry liveried O405N towards the end of 2015 in Dudley, pretty sure it worked the X96 but I can't really remember, I just know that I noticed it a few times from the window at college. Does anyone here know which one it was?
Cheers.

Wolverhampton Council are working towards a bid to extend the metro from Wolverhampton Train Station to New Cross Hospital, with stops at Bentley Bridge, Wednesfield, Heath Town and New Cross being proposed. There's no solid route plans, nor is there any funding confirmed as of now. It'd be interesting to hear everyone's thoughts on this proposal.

Express and Star article: https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/wolverhampton/2017/06/01/new-cross-metro-stop-being-considered-/

Hi all! I got a little bored earlier and worked on finding vectored versions of various logos, and making my own if I couldn't find one. I don't see any point in keeping them to myself, so I've attached an SVG file to this post, hopefully it'll come in handy for someone. Feel free to use any of them for anything you like, however, some or all of them will be protected by copyright so be careful. There's a few previews available at http://imgur.com/a/ZJu7g if you wanna see them.