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I believe we have this and another Volvo on loan, whilst Tividale have 2 WF streetlites on loan.

30851 as far as I know... but don't quote me on it.

what buses are normally used on the Bromsgrove services

Anything that starts in the morning.........

Any reason why a Black Diamond Long Dart would decide to stop in the slow lane of the BCR with hazards on, wait for a B7Lre to pass it, then continue on its merry way?

I thought it had broken down initially.

Maybe the driver didn't know the way.

30701 has died on a 67 in Studley, apparently the drivers second bus of the day. It is now blocking half of the main Alcester Road causing quite large tail backs.

Driver as usual very apologetic not a lot he can do sadly, oil all over the road and the bus refuses to tick over. Sadly having to wait for a bus from garage rather than flagging one of the several Alcester schools vehicles that are returning to garage.

Doesn't surprise me, but it then knocks on to the 55 62 47 48 70 as well.

But surely they don't have that much influence on bus services in Bromsgrove?

If it was being done with support of Worcestershire County Council then yes.

Simon, that's fine I just thought it was weird when I read what you had put which is why I questioned to make sure Rotala had got the best info possible.

Dan

Centro control the Bromsgrove Rail Station.

I thought it was a joint partnership with Worcestershire County Council as Bromsgrove is in Worcestershire, and both have funded the improvements works.

You're forgetting the numbers Diamond brought back eg 67. Original Redditch numbers were R7/R8 etc weren't they?

No, what is the 67 was the 71 which first changed to the 67.

The Rs where National Express days, before I was born (1990) R1 R2 Batchley 51 50 52, R3 R4 R5 R6 Oakenshaw 53 54 55 56, R7 R8 R9 Matchborough 57 58 59, and then my Rs are patchy but how I have been told they change are add exchange the R for 5 or remove the R and add 50 i.e. the R20 became 70.

First changed the 143 to serve Studley because funding for the 67 stopped. But up until then it had been the 67, Diamond had only split it up, the only sense able idea they had.

But for years we had numbers like
50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 61A, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 142, 143, 146, 147, 334, 343, 246, 247, 353, X33, X3, X5, X6, X7, X8, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 226, 25, 26, 183, 182.

As for the X3 just add a 3 and extend it back to the Alex  ::) as the X33 which was the Hospital Links number.

PS 40's were never Redditch numbers, 1-19 Wyre Forest, 20-39 Worcester, 40-49 Malvern, 50-79 Redditch, as for Evesham I can't Remember but 90-99 Bromsgrove, then 14x's had Xs at one point apart from two I think but any way 24Xs where only done when the 146/147 were split up as the 146/147 carried on to Evesham and the 246/247 didn't come along for a while.

Is the 42 the 143 re-numbered?? There's no record of a 42 on Diamond's website

142 and 143 all Diamond are doing is re routing and numbering routes. Why I have no Idea. What people in Redditch don't like is flaming number changes for no reason at all and this is a case in point. the 142 Redditch to Marlbrook, 143 Redditch to Lickey End, X3 (X33) Kidderminster to Redditch later Aryle Kings to Redditch was fine. but 42 43 make no sense to anyone even more so when you add in 47 48. Some folk already think the 47 is a short version of the 247 or 147. Diamond have lost touch with the people of Redditch i.e. the older people who have known Midland Red West numbers for many years and I am fedd up telling Diamond this and yet they know better. Well judging by the lack of people on buses I think they don't and please please can people not tell me its not like that is this where they are I don't care. I have had enough of Diamond and there new ideas, but when Asda Redditch ask for the 64 to come closer to the store they don't but change other routes it pisses me off.

@2206 @WN

The fact that a driver is telling passengers to hurry up whilst driving a solo.

You wouldn't be saying that if it was your Nan or Gran would you?!?!!

20833 - 51 - Driver verbally abusing Elderly lady for being too slow getting on the bus

Doesn't surprise me as some of the drivers can be very rude even if you are polite to them.

Hardly likely to use the name Diamond

No offence to Rotala, its not the standard to live up to......

Just a thought, would Coventry get a 'platinum' route? Or would they brand the premium service different maybe NXC Diamond (darker blue with a silver strip?)

Any way if you want a gem why not sapphire (I know Arriva use it but they aren't in the area), but regionalising the Platinum Livery would be a good idea, the Blue for Coventry the Green for Dundee and Crimson/Red for West Midlands (which is the current).

As for route, the 4 isn't such a good idea, the 12 which is a half way house might be a good idea and moving the buses there to the 4. But the Mercs are in my view a symbol of peace, a way of getting over the war and going forward stronger.

I'm still not convinced they will have enough capacity for the 57/58, even with the larger buggy areas. I think they should have been DF MAX or full size single deckers

I would have said that two years ago, but passenger numbers are dropping and I have a feeling parts of Redditch may loose bus services due to the drop in passenger numbers.

And are for the 57 58 to help refresh the route.

Not wanting to defend Diamond either, but if she knows that she can't rely on the bus she wants to get her to work on time, why not try to catch an earlier bus instead?

A couple of years ago I used to be able to get a 37 at around 8:30am from Acocks Green and I could be in work in Sparkbrook ready for 9am. Over time, that wasn't happening, with the increasing levels of traffic congestion. So you know what I did? Instead of moaning to NX and the papers, I started getting an earlier bus, around 8:15am. OK granted, I'm my own boss now so I can't get myself into trouble for being late, but it's a matter of self-discipline.  :)

If you read it she has and it has still been late.

I get a taste of Redditch vehicles and drivers on a Sunday when said depot operates the 3/X3 in Kidderminster - can't say I've ever noticed any problems as a passenger.

I'm not defending Diamond in Redditch - I have no experience at all of their Redditch operations - but I was pointing out how persistent and misleading the headlines seem to be in the Redditch Standard.

You are basing your view of the Redditch garage on a Sunday for the rest of the week........ Ok well Sunday buses are good in the town it might be because they don't have as many routes and interworkings which means it is reliable. The rest of the week it can be a case of stand by a bus stop and hope for the best. I very very rarely catch a bus to work, I live and work in Redditch and work for Asda, because when I have I have been late even getting out for an 1hr before I need to. The many interworkings make the routes unreliable because it simply doesn't work.
Most media outlets jump on to a story and run with it but to say they have been hounding Diamond is a bit unfair. Rotala knew what they needed to do when they bought the garage in 2013 or when ever it was, and they didn't have enough buses and drivers at that time either. So in a way this has been slowly brewing since then, queue drivers leaving and you get what has happened. Diamond were very good when they had competition they were better and stood out as a very good operator and I have to say used them over First as they were on time and the drivers were very helpful. But now they have lost that USP and they need to sort it.

Is it me or has half the information been deleted? I have just looked at it now and there is no Redditch information which I'm sure there used to be and the Solihull services, Which I thought would be relatively important as we are in the Midlands... Appears to be no where... Is there a reason to this?

Yes maybe.
Not just Redditch but Kiddie too.

To be honest Redditch and Kiddie are easy as anything at the depot can go on any route excluding RHs DDs which tend to stay to selected routes due to the fact they are DDs.