WM Bus Photos Forum

Just thought I'd start a thread where people can discuss the worst NXWM services for reliability (i.e. buses often not turning up at the scheduled times, whether early or late)

I will start with the 244 - the timetables are almost meaningless, particularly on weekday evenings; a 244 might turn up at almost any time. I think the main reason for this is that drivers aren't given enough time (23 minutes) to go between Dudley and Halesowen, it takes speeding and very few stops to manage this! They are then given too much time (another 23 minutes) to do the Hayley Green part, then again not enough time to go back to Dudley.

Ive noticed the 935/935A running in twos,

Yesterday the 935A turned up at Circle followed by the full 935
Today the 935A heading to town, followed by the 935, I actully think it was supposed to Display the 935 if not that 935A was very early ?

Have noticed that the X96 can sometimes be very unreliable, earlier this year was waiting at Stourbridge Bus station for a Wollaston bound bus, after about 30 minutes, one came in blinded for Stourbridge, asked the driver, said he had been turned short because he had a bus right behind. 45 minutes later one turned up, although the driver wasn't keen to go to Wollaston as he was running late, but the controller insisted that he had to.

this isn't the first time this has happened, what made it worse is that no 276s were showing up either.

Most Frequent services (Like the WN 59) are usually delayed by congestion and other reasons so they bunch together.

Other routes i use are the 69 and 89 and can be unreliable. Not so long back the 15:25 journey from wolverhampton bus station turned up at 15:50 meaning
A 30 minute service was running in twos as the 15:55 journey turned up.

The 89 can be quite unreliable especially at peak time.

Quote from: Stuharris 6360 on April 25, 2013, 08:25:02 PM
Have noticed that the X96 can sometimes be very unreliable, earlier this year was waiting at Stourbridge Bus station for a Wollaston bound bus, after about 30 minutes, one came in blinded for Stourbridge, asked the driver, said he had been turned short because he had a bus right behind. 45 minutes later one turned up, although the driver wasn't keen to go to Wollaston as he was running late, but the controller insisted that he had to.

this isn't the first time this has happened, what made it worse is that no 276s were showing up either.

That seems like a long gap, was it when we had snow?

46 Birmingham - Six Ways Aston

Unreliable before, even more unreliable now going to Six Ways Aston
Stupid rota (1 minute to get from Perry Barr Rail Bridge , into one stop and round again to the other side in 1 minute - makes no sense)
Often 10 - 90 minutes late (waited hour and a half b4 :L) - usuailly peak journeys but even first journey of the day is damn late by 4/5 minutes  :-\

Quote from: richie on April 25, 2013, 08:31:26 PM

Quote from: Stuharris 6360 on April 25, 2013, 08:25:02 PM
Have noticed that the X96 can sometimes be very unreliable, earlier this year was waiting at Stourbridge Bus station for a Wollaston bound bus, after about 30 minutes, one came in blinded for Stourbridge, asked the driver, said he had been turned short because he had a bus right behind. 45 minutes later one turned up, although the driver wasn't keen to go to Wollaston as he was running late, but the controller insisted that he had to.

this isn't the first time this has happened, what made it worse is that no 276s were showing up either.

That seems like a long gap, was it when we had snow?

No it wasn't, would have understood if there had been snow. Was just a normal Saturday afternoon, take it everything was being caught around the Merry Hill Centre.

What i couldn't understand was, being as plenty of buses were going in the other direction, why didn't control pull one of them out and put it on short workings between Stourbridge & Wollaston.

Quote from: vinh1000 on April 25, 2013, 08:36:20 PM
46 Birmingham - Six Ways Aston

Unreliable before, even more unreliable now going to Six Ways Aston
Stupid rota (1 minute to get from Perry Barr Rail Bridge , into one stop and round again to the other side in 1 minute - makes no sense)
Often 10 - 90 minutes late (waited hour and a half b4 :L) - usuailly peak journeys but even first journey of the day is damn late by 4/5 minutes  :-\

I would say it needs 2 or 3 minutes. Evening journeys are fine as theres not much traffic so

Quote from: NathanJC on April 25, 2013, 08:38:33 PM

Quote from: vinh1000 on April 25, 2013, 08:36:20 PM
46 Birmingham - Six Ways Aston

Unreliable before, even more unreliable now going to Six Ways Aston
Stupid rota (1 minute to get from Perry Barr Rail Bridge , into one stop and round again to the other side in 1 minute - makes no sense)
Often 10 - 90 minutes late (waited hour and a half b4 :L) - usuailly peak journeys but even first journey of the day is damn late by 4/5 minutes  :-\

I would say it needs 2 or 3 minutes. Evening journeys are fine as theres not much traffic so

Unless Aston Villa is playing then kaput  lol
2/3 minutes but whoever comes up with these rotas I dont know
a Lot of drivers prefer it curtailed back to Perry Barr (not enough patronage for SWA ive seen)

Quote from: vinh1000 on April 25, 2013, 08:42:35 PM

Quote from: NathanJC on April 25, 2013, 08:38:33 PM

Quote from: vinh1000 on April 25, 2013, 08:36:20 PM
46 Birmingham - Six Ways Aston

Unreliable before, even more unreliable now going to Six Ways Aston
Stupid rota (1 minute to get from Perry Barr Rail Bridge , into one stop and round again to the other side in 1 minute - makes no sense)
Often 10 - 90 minutes late (waited hour and a half b4 :L) - usuailly peak journeys but even first journey of the day is damn late by 4/5 minutes  :-\

I would say it needs 2 or 3 minutes. Evening journeys are fine as theres not much traffic so

Unless Aston Villa is playing then kaput  lol
2/3 minutes but whoever comes up with these rotas I dont know
a Lot of drivers prefer it curtailed back to Perry Barr (not enough patronage for SWA ive seen)

A minute is not enough to get round PB ?

The 30 service (when operated by NXWM) was the most unreliable service I've ever encountered.

Only the first few morning journeys could depart Acocks Green on time, but once they got snarled up in the morning school run traffic, they'd end up running late practically all day due to the short running time allowed, which they could never recover. One evening I noted two following each other (a few minutes apart) heading up the Warwick Road into Acocks Green village, which was particularly bad for an every-30-minute service, as it meant someone further down the line heading back to Solihull must have been waiting a long time, if they hadn't given up already.

It was fun when I first started catching it in the morning to get to work as it was always Metrobuses used, and there was an extra AM working, so while the bus would fill up with schoolkids, it was never crowded. Then the S3 was introduced, which was B10Ls at first, and a Metrobus was used on the S803 school service as a fill-in. Once the S803 was withdrawn, the S3 would get ridiculously overcrowded when it was switched to B6LE operation, but it dropped me closer to work (I could get off on Longmore Road and just walk to Cranmore Boulevard), however due to unreliability the S3 was revised to follow the old 30 route down Danford Lane, but that didn't improve matters. I never bothered getting the 30 back home in the evening, as I never knew what time it would turn up, it was easier to just get the 6, 76 or 166/S9 back to Solihull and get a 37.

Quote from: vinh1000 on April 25, 2013, 08:36:20 PM
46 Birmingham - Six Ways Aston

Unreliable before, even more unreliable now going to Six Ways Aston
Stupid rota (1 minute to get from Perry Barr Rail Bridge , into one stop and round again to the other side in 1 minute - makes no sense)
Often 10 - 90 minutes late (waited hour and a half b4 :L) - usuailly peak journeys but even first journey of the day is damn late by 4/5 minutes  :-\

It is physically impossible for a bus on that route to be 90 minutes late, if it was it would have just missed a trip out and be a few minutes late on the next. If you have really waited 90 minutes then obviously something is seriously wrong out of the control of the bus company, because with 4 buses on a route each going around in 60 minutes you cannot possibly be waiting that long under normal circumstances

48 & 129 tend to run in pairs and the 120 can be strangely unpunctual during the evening. I'm sure the timetable amendments commencing will sort that out. Generally never had any problems with the 80 or 87

The 53 is rarely on time , just look at the timetable and +15 minutes and thats when the bus comes if your lucky. And not much has happened since the move to PE,although buses aren't bunching anymore.

The Inner Circle and Outer Circle were the most prone to delays in the 'good old days', especially in the peaks.  The 8A/8C is bad because it has to cross many main roads in close succession, but I think the rerouting away from the Hagley Road (onto Ladywood Middleway instead) has helped.

Of course, running times vary much more now than they used to - no doubt because the Traffic Commissioners have a rule of 'no more than 1 minute early or 5 minutes late'.  I picked up a 74/75 timetable the other day, and the running time from Birmingham to Dudley on the 74 varies between 49 minutes (evenings) and 81 minutes (early evening peak) - a difference of 32 minutes!

Some evenings the 276 from the Norton road to Stourbridge has a habit of turning up late, sometimes 10 to 20 minutes late meaning I miss a X96., although Tuesday it did give a chance to see a Arriva unusual working., so it can be useful

The 97 lately has been getting worse I've found. Especially if Blues are playing, but even under normal rush hour circumstances you'll get bunching of up to 6 buses all together and then not another for ages. I was sat in a queue in Bordesley Green today with 4 buses right behind each other wondering what the hell was going on. And it was clear that one hadn't been on the other side for some time as there were tons of people waiting at bus stops. Need an express service to Chelmsley Wood! I know it's been suggested and shot down before but there's no direct train access and although the 97 is the quickest route there it's still taken me 45+ minutes the past few times I've had to go there.

Quote from: JB93 on April 26, 2013, 07:18:25 AM
The 97 lately has been getting worse I've found. Especially if Blues are playing, but even under normal rush hour circumstances you'll get bunching of up to 6 buses all together and then not another for ages. I was sat in a queue in Bordesley Green today with 4 buses right behind each other wondering what the hell was going on. And it was clear that one hadn't been on the other side for some time as there were tons of people waiting at bus stops. Need an express service to Chelmsley Wood! I know it's been suggested and shot down before but there's no direct train access and although the 97 is the quickest route there it's still taken me 45+ minutes the past few times I've had to go there.

Say 4 buses together.. the worst delay is 20mins mate.. then 15 mins.. then 10 etc, one goes airport then the loop then piney. After drop backs etc they'll be on time, not forgetting a long turn around time in the city.

Quote from: Shaun on April 25, 2013, 10:07:14 PM
48 & 129 tend to run in pairs and the 120 can be strangely unpunctual during the evening. I'm sure the timetable amendments commencing will sort that out. Generally never had any problems with the 80 or 87

Yeh, it's a massive pain in the backside and sometimes you won't actually get to see one for around 35-40 minutes during the rush hours. And that's just for one bus as you rarely seem to get any bunching on this line.

11 can be a ball ache in both directions though.

Quote from: Tony on April 25, 2013, 09:27:10 PM

Quote from: vinh1000 on April 25, 2013, 08:36:20 PM
46 Birmingham - Six Ways Aston

Unreliable before, even more unreliable now going to Six Ways Aston
Stupid rota (1 minute to get from Perry Barr Rail Bridge , into one stop and round again to the other side in 1 minute - makes no sense)
Often 10 - 90 minutes late (waited hour and a half b4 :L) - usuailly peak journeys but even first journey of the day is damn late by 4/5 minutes  :-\

It is physically impossible for a bus on that route to be 90 minutes late, if it was it would have just missed a trip out and be a few minutes late on the next. If you have really waited 90 minutes then obviously something is seriously wrong out of the control of the bus company, because with 4 buses on a route each going around in 60 minutes you cannot possibly be waiting that long under normal circumstances

Tony
Aston villa were playing
On the return trip back from SWA, our driver pressed the button 3 times on the radio (meaning late) but AVL didn't respond or never adjusted it
Standstill
ended up at city 40-50 late then 75 back at perry barr

Quote from: vinh1000 on April 26, 2013, 06:31:26 PM

Quote from: Tony on April 25, 2013, 09:27:10 PM

Quote from: vinh1000 on April 25, 2013, 08:36:20 PM
46 Birmingham - Six Ways Aston

Unreliable before, even more unreliable now going to Six Ways Aston
Stupid rota (1 minute to get from Perry Barr Rail Bridge , into one stop and round again to the other side in 1 minute - makes no sense)
Often 10 - 90 minutes late (waited hour and a half b4 :L) - usuailly peak journeys but even first journey of the day is damn late by 4/5 minutes  :-\

It is physically impossible for a bus on that route to be 90 minutes late, if it was it would have just missed a trip out and be a few minutes late on the next. If you have really waited 90 minutes then obviously something is seriously wrong out of the control of the bus company, because with 4 buses on a route each going around in 60 minutes you cannot possibly be waiting that long under normal circumstances

Tony
Aston villa were playing
On the return trip back from SWA, our driver pressed the button 3 times on the radio (meaning late) but AVL didn't respond or never adjusted it
Standstill
ended up at city 40-50 late then 75 back at perry barr

OK, so one bus is 75 min late there are 3 others on the route which, whether they were on time or late would still be in that 75 minute gap, so impossible for there to be a 90 minute gap (even if your bus was the only one on the road it would only be a 75 min gap). Your bus, is now only 15 late, because he would have missed a full trip, and with his layover for both trips would probably be able to actually leave 'on time'

Quote from: Tony on April 26, 2013, 07:50:00 PM

Quote from: vinh1000 on April 26, 2013, 06:31:26 PM

Quote from: Tony on April 25, 2013, 09:27:10 PM

Quote from: vinh1000 on April 25, 2013, 08:36:20 PM
46 Birmingham - Six Ways Aston

Unreliable before, even more unreliable now going to Six Ways Aston
Stupid rota (1 minute to get from Perry Barr Rail Bridge , into one stop and round again to the other side in 1 minute - makes no sense)
Often 10 - 90 minutes late (waited hour and a half b4 :L) - usuailly peak journeys but even first journey of the day is damn late by 4/5 minutes  :-\

It is physically impossible for a bus on that route to be 90 minutes late, if it was it would have just missed a trip out and be a few minutes late on the next. If you have really waited 90 minutes then obviously something is seriously wrong out of the control of the bus company, because with 4 buses on a route each going around in 60 minutes you cannot possibly be waiting that long under normal circumstances

Tony
Aston villa were playing
On the return trip back from SWA, our driver pressed the button 3 times on the radio (meaning late) but AVL didn't respond or never adjusted it
Standstill
ended up at city 40-50 late then 75 back at perry barr

OK, so one bus is 75 min late there are 3 others on the route which, whether they were on time or late would still be in that 75 minute gap, so impossible for there to be a 90 minute gap (even if your bus was the only one on the road it would only be a 75 min gap). Your bus, is now only 15 late, because he would have missed a full trip, and with his layover for both trips would probably be able to actually leave 'on time'

Tony's right.

Although I've never been in that situation, I would expect you would have to still get authorisation from AVL before doing the 'adjustment'.

I would like to nominate the 73 Birmingham to Solihull as the least reliable service. The schedule between Yardley and Solihull seems impossible and there is only 7 minutes in Solihull to turn round. The Yew Tree is one of the worst junctions in the suburbs and the opening of the new Waverley School opposite the entrance to Heartlands Hospital canonly make things worse.

Quote from: Eric Shaw on April 26, 2013, 08:04:13 PM
I would like to nominate the 73 Birmingham to Solihull as the least reliable service. The schedule between Yardley and Solihull seems impossible and there is only 7 minutes in Solihull to turn round. The Yew Tree is one of the worst junctions in the suburbs and the opening of the new Waverley School opposite the entrance to Heartlands Hospital canonly make things worse.

Eric the 73 isn't that bad for reliability I use the 73 most days and it's always been On Time every time I want to catch it on some occasions it does run late but it doesn't run late all the time and at The Yew Tree it only has to do like a Zig Zag and I'm just saying that as a 73 User

the 33/51 often get bunched together and there are often a lot of 51's bunched up coming into Walsall around the evening rush hour. they tend to get stuck up to Scott Arms junction.

The worse one I would say in my option is the 97, this is due to bordesley I think.

Going back some years now, but the old 45 Beaudesert to Lichfield service was terribly unreliable, I once waited 4 days for one:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/walsall1955/4608813322/

OK, so one bus is 75 min late there are 3 others on the route which, whether they were on time or late would still be in that 75 minute gap, so impossible for there to be a 90 minute gap (even if your bus was the only one on the road it would only be a 75 min gap). Your bus, is now only 15 late, because he would have missed a full trip, and with his layover for both trips would probably be able to actually leave 'on time'
[/quote]

So Tony, OK that makes sense but any reason why AVL would not answer? Busy at all? since every time the call was made it was queued and then cancelled and cleared a while later

544 and then 502 literally 2 minutes apart on the 244 towards Hayley this evening

Quote from: wilmotm (Matt Wilmot) on April 26, 2013, 10:22:43 PM
544 and then 502 literally 2 minutes apart on the 244 towards Hayley this evening

That keeps happening! It's usually the same working which is 20 minutes late too

Quote from: wilmotm (Matt Wilmot) on April 26, 2013, 10:22:43 PM
544 and then 502 literally 2 minutes apart on the 244 towards Hayley this evening

Which one was slower?

Quote from: richie on April 26, 2013, 10:25:13 PM

Quote from: wilmotm (Matt Wilmot) on April 26, 2013, 10:22:43 PM
544 and then 502 literally 2 minutes apart on the 244 towards Hayley this evening

Which one was slower?

502 though both strangely were over half full so not really sure whats going on there

Quote from: wilmotm (Matt Wilmot) on April 26, 2013, 10:28:39 PM

Quote from: richie on April 26, 2013, 10:25:13 PM

Quote from: wilmotm (Matt Wilmot) on April 26, 2013, 10:22:43 PM
544 and then 502 literally 2 minutes apart on the 244 towards Hayley this evening

Which one was slower?

502 though both strangely were over half full so not really sure whats going on there

Probably playing leap frog

Quote from: Eric Shaw on April 26, 2013, 08:04:13 PM
I would like to nominate the 73 Birmingham to Solihull as the least reliable service. The schedule between Yardley and Solihull seems impossible and there is only 7 minutes in Solihull to turn round. The Yew Tree is one of the worst junctions in the suburbs and the opening of the new Waverley School opposite the entrance to Heartlands Hospital canonly make things worse.

73 for the win. There have been five complaints raised on FixMyTransport regarding this service, and still it doesn't seem to have improved:
http://www.fixmytransport.com/routes/west-midlands/73-bus--2

I don't know if there was a lot of traffic today, but the 1 seemed very unreliable today, as twice this afternoon, they were coming in 2s into Acocks Green, with very long gaps between departures (more than 15 mins). One was following the other in one instance, and in the other instance, within 2 minutes of each other.

The 257, a half hourly service, was running in pairs this morning

nobody said the 222????
53 usually has problems when the motorway has a problem j1 m5
drivers should be issued with a magic wand
:P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P

Quote from: nitromatt1 on April 27, 2013, 10:19:18 PM
The 257, a half hourly service, was running in pairs this morning

That was crazy! 4607 and 4568 i think in a row

Quote from: Trident 4609 on April 27, 2013, 10:28:37 PM

Quote from: nitromatt1 on April 27, 2013, 10:19:18 PM
The 257, a half hourly service, was running in pairs this morning

That was crazy! 4607 and 4568 i think in a row

It wasn't 4568 because the second bus was in TWM livery :)

Quote from: nitromatt1 on April 27, 2013, 10:31:56 PM

Quote from: Trident 4609 on April 27, 2013, 10:28:37 PM

Quote from: nitromatt1 on April 27, 2013, 10:19:18 PM
The 257, a half hourly service, was running in pairs this morning

That was crazy! 4607 and 4568 i think in a row

It wasn't 4568 because the second bus was in TWM livery :)

Was it? Oh thanks. Can't think back to this morning

Quote from: Stu on April 27, 2013, 07:37:07 PM

Quote from: Eric Shaw on April 26, 2013, 08:04:13 PM
I would like to nominate the 73 Birmingham to Solihull as the least reliable service. The schedule between Yardley and Solihull seems impossible and there is only 7 minutes in Solihull to turn round. The Yew Tree is one of the worst junctions in the suburbs and the opening of the new Waverley School opposite the entrance to Heartlands Hospital canonly make things worse.

73 for the win. There have been five complaints raised on FixMyTransport regarding this service, and still it doesn't seem to have improved:
http://www.fixmytransport.com/routes/west-midlands/73-bus--2

I detest this route more than I can actually describe!

Quote from: andy on April 27, 2013, 10:35:37 PM

Quote from: Stu on April 27, 2013, 07:37:07 PM

Quote from: Eric Shaw on April 26, 2013, 08:04:13 PM
I would like to nominate the 73 Birmingham to Solihull as the least reliable service. The schedule between Yardley and Solihull seems impossible and there is only 7 minutes in Solihull to turn round. The Yew Tree is one of the worst junctions in the suburbs and the opening of the new Waverley School opposite the entrance to Heartlands Hospital canonly make things worse.

73 for the win. There have been five complaints raised on FixMyTransport regarding this service, and still it doesn't seem to have improved:
http://www.fixmytransport.com/routes/west-midlands/73-bus--2

I detest this route more than I can actually describe!

Never quite understood this route, or indeed other routes that end up like this, a double decker with a low frequency running round the back and beyond of everywhere down roads that would probably be better off with a minibus? Anyone remember the 10?

The 28 used to be awful at peak times, maybe just due to traffic around Spitfire Island/Tyburn Road. I remember waiting for an hour in Erdington one night on the way home from college for one, the 3 turned up at once!! They all were the E's to Dyas Road too.

I have not used the 28 for a while now, so I don't know if they are still as bad.

Quote from: John on April 27, 2013, 10:51:50 PM
The 28 used to be awful at peak times, maybe just due to traffic around Spitfire Island/Tyburn Road. I remember waiting for an hour in Erdington one night on the way home from college for one, the 3 turned up at once!! They all were the E's to Dyas Road too.

I have not used the 28 for a while now, so I don't know if they are still as bad.

Yep, still bad in rush hour, and exactly the same thing happens for me if I ever go that way home, waiting for a real 28 in Erdington and all that comes are short workings, cannot wait to see if the north bham review actually extends it all the time to scott arms.

Can kinda understand the delays on this route though, and others like the 11A/C, 8A/C, 18 etc..., they all have a fair few major junctions to negotiate so rush hour is always going to be a pain

The 73 can be fullly loaded out of Birmingham, If the 17 is running badly, and towards Solihull, if there is a problem onthe 71/72. Also it is fully loaded in the afternoon when the students come out of the Solihull Colleges.

Quote from: Eric Shaw on April 28, 2013, 02:46:42 PM
The 73 can be fullly loaded out of Birmingham, If the 17 is running badly, and towards Solihull, if there is a problem onthe 71/72. Also it is fully loaded in the afternoon when the students come out of the Solihull Colleges.

Just think it was a dumb move to put the 73 stop at the extreme other end of Moor Street, ages away from the 17 stop. I think if they shared a stop like before the 73 would get a lot more patronage. The majority of its route is also served by more frequent routes so I doubt many people go and purposefully wait for the 73 when the 17 or the 72 or the 957 are much more frequent out of the city.

I would also like to vote for the 73. It has become more reliable lately however myself & a lot of people remember a couple of months ago when, for two straight days there was a 2HOUR gap in service. The NX inspector on duty in Solihull was trying everything to get a bus but due to lack of drivers & lateness of the buses that were running all he could do was get a bus special from Yew Tree to Solihull, then run it as a 71E to Yew tree to ensure he would at least have one bus arrive ready for the PM peak. That would have left it 2 1/2 hours with no enc to end service.


Beat that for unreliable!!!

Today (Sunday) 89 came 10 minutes late into Walsall due out 05 past the hour but came at 15.

This route can be quite unreliable especially at peak times.

On Sundays/evenings the journey time on 89-Walsall is very tight and unrealistic. The next time you go on it time it and monitor how many stops passenger use it and see if the running time is practical or not.

To improve reliability my suggestion would be to withdraw from high Heath and Wolverhampton Pitt street to improve reliability

Quote from: lynx1103 on April 28, 2013, 06:58:23 PM

Quote from: lynx1103 on April 28, 2013, 06:56:04 PM
On Sundays/evenings the journey time on 89-Walsall is very tight and unrealistic. The next time you go on it time it and monitor how many stops passenger use it and see if the running time is practical or not.

To improve reliability my suggestion would be to withdraw from high Heath and Wolverhampton Pitt street to improve reliability

Daytime journey time 1hr 10 mins

Evening 55 mins and only not serving Trevor Road

Dunno about Pitt St, but surely High Heath still needs to be served?

Isnt there some Centro access rule, that you have to be so far from a bus stop?

(Mind you, it didnt help Gillity Village's Sunday service a few years back!)

Quote from: Trident 4609 on April 28, 2013, 05:08:01 PM
Today (Sunday) 89 came 10 minutes late into Walsall due out 05 past the hour but came at 15.

This route can be quite unreliable especially at peak times.

The 89 (30 minute frequency) was running towards wolverhampton with 2 buses running with 10-15 minutes of each other. Buses were 4330 followed by 1772.

120 is generally ok. A couple late runnings, but nothing of real note. 53 was really bad at peaks before it fully transferred to PE. I'm unsure of its reliability since PE took it over full time

4312, 4582 and 4583 were running on convoy on the 126 this evening with 4538 a couple of minutes behind! Half an hour's worth of buses in 2-3 minutes

Should there not be more routes in this poll. 126 is never on time in my experience, and 129, before the changes anyway

Quote from: Shaun on April 30, 2013, 11:34:05 PM
Should there not be more routes in this poll. 126 is never on time in my experience, and 129, before the changes anyway

Just wondering, who added the poll? As it wasn't me

Errm how do you edit polls?????

Quote from: nitromatt1 on April 30, 2013, 11:45:26 PM

Quote from: Shaun on April 30, 2013, 11:34:05 PM
Should there not be more routes in this poll. 126 is never on time in my experience, and 129, before the changes anyway

Just wondering, who added the poll? As it wasn't me

Quote from: dgss1 on May 01, 2013, 07:43:10 AM
Errm how do you edit polls?????

Quote from: nitromatt1 link=topic=1631.msg37643#msg37643
/quote]

Only the person who started the thread or Tony can edit a poll

From the collection I'd have to nominate the 126. I used to catch it to/from College, was always late, doesn't help that the frequency reduces after 5 (between Birmingham & Dudley)

In the Poll Is the 89 Route the WA or WB 89?

Quote from: Trident 4609 on May 01, 2013, 05:49:36 PM
In the Poll Is the 89 Route the WA or WB 89?

WA I assume

I made it

Why isnt WB 5 in the Poll, thats one route were theres all ways 2 buses running together possibly 3

Why withdraw the 89 from High Heath when many passengers use it from that area. The problem is the Trevor Road part of the route. Very few people from the road use it despite them protesting when the service was removed, and the right turn from that estate in the direction of Bloxwich is time consuming due to traffic.

Quote from: NathanJC on May 01, 2013, 08:42:34 PM
Why isnt WB 5 in the Poll, thats one route were theres all ways 2 buses running together possibly 3

I have to say I've never really had a problem with that route, yes perhaps the odd occasion a few buses turn up together, but no more so that other main routes like it

The 244 towards Dudley is due out of Halesowen bus station at 15, 35 and 55 minutes past the hour during the day. So naturally, the one I was waiting for this afternoon left at 25 past...

Quote from: andyr on May 01, 2013, 09:10:44 PM
Why withdraw the 89 from High Heath when many passengers use it from that area. The problem is the Trevor Road part of the route. Very few people from the road use it despite them protesting when the service was removed, and the right turn from that estate in the direction of Bloxwich is time consuming due to traffic.

Do many go from Trevor Road to Bloxwich?

Why didnt they use service 8 as the Trevor Road service?

Quote from: Westy on May 04, 2013, 08:10:40 AM

Quote from: andyr on May 01, 2013, 09:10:44 PM
Why withdraw the 89 from High Heath when many passengers use it from that area. The problem is the Trevor Road part of the route. Very few people from the road use it despite them protesting when the service was removed, and the right turn from that estate in the direction of Bloxwich is time consuming due to traffic.

Do many go from Trevor Road to Bloxwich?

Why didnt they use service 8 as the Trevor Road service?

Not many people use the Trevor Road stops, Well when i catch it anyway

Surely a shout for WN 27/27A since they put them dreadfully unreliable B6's on. Even when your on the 1 you overhear people moaning about the 27
Rule of thumb:
I've been waiting 30mins - actually means you have been waiting 10
It went early again..I got here 10 mins early - it either didn't turn up at all (i.e broke down/changed route etc) or your watch is wrong :o

Waited almost half an hour in Harborne for an 11C this evening, then one came along saying "Out of service; unload only", but the driver picked us up anyway, before driving off flat out (and I mean flat out!).

Quote from: vinh1000 on April 25, 2013, 08:36:20 PM
46 Birmingham - Six Ways Aston

Unreliable before, even more unreliable now going to Six Ways Aston
Stupid rota (1 minute to get from Perry Barr Rail Bridge , into one stop and round again to the other side in 1 minute - makes no sense)
Often 10 - 90 minutes late (waited hour and a half b4 :L) - usuailly peak journeys but even first journey of the day is damn late by 4/5 minutes  :-\

This is why I get the original 46 route, Birmingham to Perry Barr  ;)

Believe it or not I saw 3 76's arriving into Kings heath together today at around 11 o clock, ironically an Enviro 400, a President and a Trident!

I saw 2 E200s today on the 46 (West Bromwich - Londonderry section) following each other, with a frequency of every 30 minutes

28 can often be late/running in pairs, Chester Road traffic dosent help in rush hour either.

There were 4 WN 59's in a row yesterday with another two buses paired. On Sunday 5512/15 paired together on the 59 which never usually happens. 5515 (Yes Route 1 branded B5 on the 59) must of been running very late.

Since the green hybrid elepahnts invaded WN1, the route has turned to sh*t (sorry for poor word choice) but the buses come in threes all day long now which is stupid when they spend money putting posters in bus shelters and spending additional money on branding the buses "every 7 mins" bit of a con. Yesterday I tried catching the second bus in a pair out of town and was greeted by a driver who had clearly come from thandi or somewhere with a "hurry up and get on". Bring back the spectras and tridents, or even better, metrobuses

Quote from: Ashley 4569 on May 09, 2013, 09:50:12 PM
Since the green hybrid elepahnts invaded WN1, the route has turned to sh*t (sorry for poor word choice) but the buses come in threes all day long now which is stupid when they spend money putting posters in bus shelters and spending additional money on branding the buses "every 7 mins" bit of a con. Yesterday I tried catching the second bus in a pair out of town and was greeted by a driver who had clearly come from thandi or somewhere with a "hurry up and get on". Bring back the spectras and tridents, or even better, metrobuses

Have to agree, yesterday the WN1 was awful, although it wasn't helped by some temporary road works in Sedgley.

True the sedgley works don't help but twos and threes all day long, rude drivers and after next week no TGB 558, I can't fall back on the 27 as that's never on time just lately

Two 1's (5510 & 5419) in convoy this evening with another (E400H) not far ahead. This wasn't helped by the road between Dudley and Sedgley being severely congested. They were joined by two 126s in convoy (4579 & 4583) heading into Wolves

I find it very amusing people moaning about the 1 that runs (or supposed to) every 7 mins with 15-20 odd buses on it (don't quote me on that figure) so if they are running in 2's theoretically they would have waited a mere 14mins....even if 3 went 'missing' theoretically they would still only be waiting 21mins.... spare a thought for the poor folks who only get a half hour or hourly service such as WN 25/25A/27/27A/28 there is far more unreliability on these routes as they don't get brand new buses like on the 1 and it causes much more problems when things do go wrong furthermore the majority or passengers on these routes do not have another option available as a back up so when their bus fails they have to folk out for taxi's.
To be honest passengers on regular routes like for example the 1/59/529 are spoilt and should complain less, some passengers on other routes are just glad 'one turned up'!!!!!

We should all remember that timetables etc are a GUIDE not the BIBLE  :D :D :D

4006, 18 buses are needed on the 1 with a 19th bus at peak times

Quote from: 4006 on May 10, 2013, 01:18:02 AM
I find it very amusing people moaning about the 1 that runs (or supposed to) every 7 mins with 15-20 odd buses on it (don't quote me on that figure) so if they are running in 2's theoretically they would have waited a mere 14mins....even if 3 went 'missing' theoretically they would still only be waiting 21mins.... spare a thought for the poor folks who only get a half hour or hourly service such as WN 25/25A/27/27A/28 there is far more unreliability on these routes as they don't get brand new buses like on the 1 and it causes much more problems when things do go wrong furthermore the majority or passengers on these routes do not have another option available as a back up so when their bus fails they have to folk out for taxi's.
To be honest passengers on regular routes like for example the 1/59/529 are spoilt and should complain less, some passengers on other routes are just glad 'one turned up'!!!!!

We should all remember that timetables etc are a GUIDE not the BIBLE  :D :D :D

I agree, almost all my local routes are every half an hour, I'm a bit spoilt for choice with the 87 and 120 though ::)

For some reason there aren't that many routes that I can think of in East Birmingham with 30+ minute frequencies, other than the 59, 73, 90 and 966 that I can remember. So I've never really had to rely on an infrequent service, but I imagine yes I would probably just be glad one turned up :) I used to rely on the 13 briefly when I lived in Lea Hall though which was every 15. I'm pretty fortunate where I am now, because I have the 97 on my doorstep, the 14, 59, 71, 72 and 94 all a 5 minute walk away

Quote from: Shaun on May 11, 2013, 10:38:20 PM

Quote from: 4006 on May 10, 2013, 01:18:02 AM
I find it very amusing people moaning about the 1 that runs (or supposed to) every 7 mins with 15-20 odd buses on it (don't quote me on that figure) so if they are running in 2's theoretically they would have waited a mere 14mins....even if 3 went 'missing' theoretically they would still only be waiting 21mins.... spare a thought for the poor folks who only get a half hour or hourly service such as WN 25/25A/27/27A/28 there is far more unreliability on these routes as they don't get brand new buses like on the 1 and it causes much more problems when things do go wrong furthermore the majority or passengers on these routes do not have another option available as a back up so when their bus fails they have to folk out for taxi's.
To be honest passengers on regular routes like for example the 1/59/529 are spoilt and should complain less, some passengers on other routes are just glad 'one turned up'!!!!!

We should all remember that timetables etc are a GUIDE not the BIBLE  :D :D :D

I agree, almost all my local routes are every half an hour, I'm a bit spoilt for choice with the 87 and 120 though ::)

I agree aha :) Despite the '46' usuailly late with 2/3 turning up or AVL adjusting (standard every 15 minutes) I have other routes which just is a minute extra walk
74, 75 and 16 are very frequent as well as the 8A/8C and a few min walk from JEQ station (metro and train)
Add 3/4 mins more and the 7 is just down the road as well as all the walsall road bound services (33,51,997,952,907,934,934A, 56 etc)

Quote from: JB93 on May 12, 2013, 12:55:04 PM
For some reason there aren't that many routes that I can think of in East Birmingham with 30+ minute frequencies, other than the 59, 73, 90 and 966 that I can remember. So I've never really had to rely on an infrequent service, but I imagine yes I would probably just be glad one turned up :) I used to rely on the 13 briefly when I lived in Lea Hall though which was every 15. I'm pretty fortunate where I am now, because I have the 97 on my doorstep, the 14, 59, 71, 72 and 94 all a 5 minute walk away

I have the 9 and 241 (and 002) on my doorstep, the 007 a 5 minute walk away and the 99, 141, 244, 297 and 4H a 7/8 minute walk away

The 80/87 are about 10 minutes away from me with the 83, definitely first choice, 46 & 89 are very close, 48 & 129 about 5-10 mins. I always go for either the train or 80 - my favourite route

No less than 7 number 9s towards Stourbridge in 15 minutes this evening, by which time the 9 is supposed to be every 10-12 minutes. This was followed by a 20 minute wait for the next

Strange things were happening on the 9 this evening, the 21:36 to Birmingham from Halesowen was completely missing, then later on there was a 9 towards Stourbridge too close behind the one in front

problems in bham today have had a knock on effect, and the lights at sheepcote street have been playing up on broad street.  plus one bus got took out of service erlier.

Quote from: 4006 on May 10, 2013, 01:18:02 AM
We should all remember that timetables etc are a GUIDE not the BIBLE  :D :D :D

Especially when Centro decide the times (yes I'm looking at the 81 & 226W off Merry Hill!!)

Please can you add 98/99 47/47A to the list. I'm not going to suggest why but

>:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Quote from: 4006 on June 10, 2013, 11:13:50 PM
Please can you add 98/99 47/47A to the list. I'm not going to suggest why but

>:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Is that BC98/99? I know you don't get the best running time on there. Not bad routes but they're fairly new so they do need to review the timings. And if you are talking about the BC47 there isn't an issue at all. Pershore Road is very reliable.

Quote from: The Rat on June 11, 2013, 09:06:14 PM

Quote from: 4006 on June 10, 2013, 11:13:50 PM
Please can you add 98/99 47/47A to the list. I'm not going to suggest why but

>:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

And if you are talking about the BC47 there isn't an issue at all. Pershore Road is very reliable.

He's referring to WB routes 47 & 47A

Quote from: Shaun on June 11, 2013, 09:10:38 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 11, 2013, 09:06:14 PM

Quote from: 4006 on June 10, 2013, 11:13:50 PM
Please can you add 98/99 47/47A to the list. I'm not going to suggest why but

>:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

And if you are talking about the BC47 there isn't an issue at all. Pershore Road is very reliable.

He's referring to WB routes 47 & 47A

Oh right, sorry, with the shared service numbers now I wish we all would put the garage code prefix to the route number. Cheers fellas.

Quote from: The Rat on June 11, 2013, 09:06:14 PM

Quote from: 4006 on June 10, 2013, 11:13:50 PM
Please can you add 98/99 47/47A to the list. I'm not going to suggest why but

>:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Is that BC98/99? I know you don't get the best running time on there. Not bad routes but they're fairly new so they do need to review the timings. And if you are talking about the BC47 there isn't an issue at all. Pershore Road is very reliable.

The 98 and 99 seem to get very snarled up near the Uni Halls of Residence crossing the lights at Edgbaston Park Rd towards city. The 99 seems to keep good time from Halesowen to Harborne, but at peak times it can get heavily delayed over the remainder of the route from what I've seen.

Quote from: Mike K on June 11, 2013, 10:20:09 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 11, 2013, 09:06:14 PM

Quote from: 4006 on June 10, 2013, 11:13:50 PM
Please can you add 98/99 47/47A to the list. I'm not going to suggest why but

>:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Is that BC98/99? I know you don't get the best running time on there. Not bad routes but they're fairly new so they do need to review the timings. And if you are talking about the BC47 there isn't an issue at all. Pershore Road is very reliable.

The 98 and 99 seem to get very snarled up near the Uni Halls of Residence crossing the lights at Edgbaston Park Rd towards city. The 99 seems to keep good time from Halesowen to Harborne, but at peak times it can get heavily delayed over the remainder of the route from what I've seen.

Northfield is awful for the 98, especially outbound. Frankley Beeches lights don't help at all, think there needs to be some sort of bus filter where the giant pavement is from the high street towards Longbridge for the 27, 63 etc.

Quote from: Mike K on June 11, 2013, 10:20:09 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 11, 2013, 09:06:14 PM

Quote from: 4006 on June 10, 2013, 11:13:50 PM
Please can you add 98/99 47/47A to the list. I'm not going to suggest why but

>:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Is that BC98/99? I know you don't get the best running time on there. Not bad routes but they're fairly new so they do need to review the timings. And if you are talking about the BC47 there isn't an issue at all. Pershore Road is very reliable.

The 98 and 99 seem to get very snarled up near the Uni Halls of Residence crossing the lights at Edgbaston Park Rd towards city. The 99 seems to keep good time from Halesowen to Harborne, but at peak times it can get heavily delayed over the remainder of the route from what I've seen.

Well, they've extended the route slightly with no extra running time. Short drop backs also prove negitive for the 'Great Park' routes. It's all about timing with the Edgbaston Park Road lights, when I've driven the routes I get through the traffic and the lights without making the vehicle stop at all. I've never had a problem if I'm perfectly honest at that location. The changes for these routes in town have increased reliability slightly, however you still lose time going up Bath Row. More recently, Holloway Head is proving itself to being an issue. You shouldn't forget the GP has narrow roads and the loss of time isn't reflected within the running cards.

Quote from: Russ Smith on June 11, 2013, 11:12:02 PM

Quote from: Mike K on June 11, 2013, 10:20:09 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 11, 2013, 09:06:14 PM

Quote from: 4006 on June 10, 2013, 11:13:50 PM
Please can you add 98/99 47/47A to the list. I'm not going to suggest why but

>:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Is that BC98/99? I know you don't get the best running time on there. Not bad routes but they're fairly new so they do need to review the timings. And if you are talking about the BC47 there isn't an issue at all. Pershore Road is very reliable.

The 98 and 99 seem to get very snarled up near the Uni Halls of Residence crossing the lights at Edgbaston Park Rd towards city. The 99 seems to keep good time from Halesowen to Harborne, but at peak times it can get heavily delayed over the remainder of the route from what I've seen.

Northfield is awful for the 98, especially outbound. Frankley Beeches lights don't help at all, think there needs to be some sort of bus filter where the giant pavement is from the high street towards Longbridge for the 27, 63 etc.

Northfield is awful for everything and everybody. It honestly ruins your health.

What about the Bristol Road routes? The trick is to get to Lockwood Road 2.5minutes up and then carry on as that acts as insurance if you miss the lights. Take note, the pedestrian crossing right outside the Baths aren't in syncronisation with the other lights, and will show red and block the Bypass traffic - thus causing the whole yellow box to blocked by uneducated drivers.

And for your information, soon the timing points are going to be moved to outside the Baths for 63/98 and The Black Horse for 61. Selly Oak also sees a change as the timing point is now outside Frankie & Bennies.

Agree about the lights at Northfield. When I do the 144 I am pretty much always late leaving Northfield outbound because of those sets of lights near the swimming baths, even on a Sunday. When the temporary lights were at the cross roads near McDonalds it was even worse and was taking 15/20 mins to get through Northfield.

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 06:11:55 PM
Agree about the lights at Northfield. When I do the 144 I am pretty much always late leaving Northfield outbound because of those sets of lights near the swimming baths, even on a Sunday. When the temporary lights were at the cross roads near McDonalds it was even worse and was taking 15/20 mins to get through Northfield.

I am not being funny but at the leisurely pace you First drivers take tottling down BRSouth I didn't think you had a Running Board!

How much time do you guys get from Lockwood Rd to Longbridge Island? We get 7 minutes and that's not enough.

Did this as part of my Extended Project Qualification at Sixth Form, would love to see this done, could save maybe a minute or two from the 10 added on when the X62 changed! http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8257/9027552860_fe066a9192_b.jpg

I must say if I'm at New Street and see a 144 and 98 coming soon, I'll get the 144 to Northfield, go to Sam's Chicken and still have a wait before the 98 comes, so First can't be that slow!

Quote from: Russ Smith on June 12, 2013, 06:50:47 PM
Did this as part of my Extended Project Qualification at Sixth Form, would love to see this done, could save maybe a minute or two from the 10 added on when the X62 changed! http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8257/9027552860_fe066a9192_b.jpg

I must say if I'm at New Street and see a 144 and 98 coming soon, I'll get the 144 to Northfield, go to Sam's Chicken and still have a wait before the 98 comes, so First can't be that slow!

I wouldn't touch the chicken from Sam's. No thanks.

On topic; That works - in theory. Just remember the yellow box which will no doubt get blocked and we'll be stuck just one car away from the bus lane. Good news about your set up is the bus lane leads onto the bus stop, cleverer then the council!!

I reckon it would be better to put an island there instead of the many sets of lights. and have the faster bypass traffic signal controlled.

Series of traffic lights can work, just drive down Gloucester Place or Baker Street in London both have traffic lights about every 100m, but the timing on them is perfect to avoid the silliness that happens in Northfield. If you think Birmingham Council are useless with their lights management try driving around Walsall!

Aha yeah it's certainly not the nicest or cleanest, just so cheap I can't resist!

Yeah I've got to admit some people are so selfish at that junction. Was only a little project with a series of quick designs but hopefully someday I'll be doing stuff like that as a job, providing my exams tomorrow go well! (I should probably get off this site now aha.)

An island could be a good idea too. Although the lights could continue to work if they sort out the ones at the Great Stone Road junction, maybe even repaint those yellow boxes there. Seems like they spent so much money on the actual relief road but just couldn't really be bothered at the two ends! Same as the Selly Oak one really.

Quote from: Russ Smith on June 12, 2013, 07:11:50 PM
Aha yeah it's certainly not the nicest or cleanest, just so cheap I can't resist!

Yeah I've got to admit some people are so selfish at that junction. Was only a little project with a series of quick designs but hopefully someday I'll be doing stuff like that as a job, providing my exams tomorrow go well! (I should probably get off this site now aha.)

An island could be a good idea too. Although the lights could continue to work if they sort out the ones at the Great Stone Road junction, maybe even repaint those yellow boxes there. Seems like they spent so much money on the actual relief road but just couldn't really be bothered at the two ends! Same as the Selly Oak one really.

Well when you get your job, please sort out Selly Oak by Edgbaston Park Road. FYI there is 11 sets of lights through selly oak and none of them are synchronized.

Not only that they need to repaint - and educate drivers - that the extra red light at the Crossroads outside Tescos is not a pedestrian crossing but a red light for the Bristol Road traffic flow. They stop dead, in the yellow box, thinking that a crossing is really going to be active whilst a side road had a green light? Thickos.

Quote from: The Rat on June 12, 2013, 06:29:30 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 06:11:55 PM
Agree about the lights at Northfield. When I do the 144 I am pretty much always late leaving Northfield outbound because of those sets of lights near the swimming baths, even on a Sunday. When the temporary lights were at the cross roads near McDonalds it was even worse and was taking 15/20 mins to get through Northfield.

I am not being funny but at the leisurely pace you First drivers take tottling down BRSouth I didn't think you had a Running Board!

How much time do you guys get from Lockwood Rd to Longbridge Island? We get 7 minutes and that's not enough.

Haha. I wish but it is very tight for us - 33 mins to get from Rubery to Brum, 5 mins to get from Northfield to Selly Oak.
We get 7 mins from Northfield to Longbridge Island (some peak journeys more/lates less). Even though we are technically limited stop it doesn't save much time as I usually end up stuck behind several 61/63s or get a flood of passengers attempting to board with daysavers. Its worst when driving our tridents as to the untrained eye they look the same as NXWM's B7s on the 61/63 so people just assume they are NXWM buses.

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 07:25:57 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 12, 2013, 06:29:30 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 06:11:55 PM
Agree about the lights at Northfield. When I do the 144 I am pretty much always late leaving Northfield outbound because of those sets of lights near the swimming baths, even on a Sunday. When the temporary lights were at the cross roads near McDonalds it was even worse and was taking 15/20 mins to get through Northfield.

I am not being funny but at the leisurely pace you First drivers take tottling down BRSouth I didn't think you had a Running Board!

How much time do you guys get from Lockwood Rd to Longbridge Island? We get 7 minutes and that's not enough.

Haha. I wish but it is very tight for us - 33 mins to get from Rubery to Brum, 5 mins to get from Northfield to Selly Oak.
We get 7 mins from Northfield to Longbridge Island (some peak journeys more/lates less). Even though we are technically limited stop it doesn't save much time as I usually end up stuck behind several 61/63s or get a flood of passengers attempting to board with daysavers. Its worst when driving our tridents as to the untrained eye they look the same as NXWM's B7s on the 61/63 so people just assume they are NXWM buses.

What irritates me tho is when some first drivers-I'm sure its not you-just drive straight past stops they are meant to serve and make a right fuss about accepting network passes-had an argument with one once about this. If we're honest firsts service-note it used to be services-along the bristol road could be providing more competition than they are doing. Must admit tho i like the fast driving and the enviros are brilliant buses just some drivers seem a bit mardy-ignoring stop bells, refusing valid tickets and stopping past the stops so you have to walk from the stop to get on. Not saying all first drivers are like this-just some and I'm sure you're not one of them. To be fair, what do they have to be cheerful about? They are driving for a failing company that is a shadow of its former self and probably fear for their jobs-talking the old redditch first drivers here

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 07:25:57 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 12, 2013, 06:29:30 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 06:11:55 PM
Agree about the lights at Northfield. When I do the 144 I am pretty much always late leaving Northfield outbound because of those sets of lights near the swimming baths, even on a Sunday. When the temporary lights were at the cross roads near McDonalds it was even worse and was taking 15/20 mins to get through Northfield.

I am not being funny but at the leisurely pace you First drivers take tottling down BRSouth I didn't think you had a Running Board!

How much time do you guys get from Lockwood Rd to Longbridge Island? We get 7 minutes and that's not enough.

Haha. I wish but it is very tight for us - 33 mins to get from Rubery to Brum, 5 mins to get from Northfield to Selly Oak.
We get 7 mins from Northfield to Longbridge Island (some peak journeys more/lates less). Even though we are technically limited stop it doesn't save much time as I usually end up stuck behind several 61/63s or get a flood of passengers attempting to board with daysavers. Its worst when driving our tridents as to the untrained eye they look the same as NXWM's B7s on the 61/63 so people just assume they are NXWM buses.

That has surprised me my friend. I understand about the confusion of bus types, and you can't serve that stop, the one after the Baths, do Diamond run along side your First Service?

And how long is your drop back in town?

J789, The buses on the 61/63 are tridents not B7TL's

Quote from: Peter123 on June 12, 2013, 07:32:06 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 07:25:57 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 12, 2013, 06:29:30 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 06:11:55 PM
Agree about the lights at Northfield. When I do the 144 I am pretty much always late leaving Northfield outbound because of those sets of lights near the swimming baths, even on a Sunday. When the temporary lights were at the cross roads near McDonalds it was even worse and was taking 15/20 mins to get through Northfield.

I am not being funny but at the leisurely pace you First drivers take tottling down BRSouth I didn't think you had a Running Board!

How much time do you guys get from Lockwood Rd to Longbridge Island? We get 7 minutes and that's not enough.

Haha. I wish but it is very tight for us - 33 mins to get from Rubery to Brum, 5 mins to get from Northfield to Selly Oak.
We get 7 mins from Northfield to Longbridge Island (some peak journeys more/lates less). Even though we are technically limited stop it doesn't save much time as I usually end up stuck behind several 61/63s or get a flood of passengers attempting to board with daysavers. Its worst when driving our tridents as to the untrained eye they look the same as NXWM's B7s on the 61/63 so people just assume they are NXWM buses.

What irritates me tho is when some first drivers-I'm sure its not you-just drive straight past stops they are meant to serve and make a right fuss about accepting network passes-had an argument with one once about this. If we're honest firsts service-note it used to be services-along the bristol road could be providing more competition than they are doing. Must admit tho i like the fast driving and the enviros are brilliant buses just some drivers seem a bit mardy-ignoring stop bells, refusing valid tickets and stopping past the stops so you have to walk from the stop to get on. Not saying all first drivers are like this-just some and I'm sure you're not one of them. To be fair, what do they have to be cheerful about? They are driving for a failing company that is a shadow of its former self and probably fear for their jobs-talking the old redditch first drivers here

To be fair I find that annoying to but it is a very small number who do, 99% stop. I am happy to stop and pick up (it is my job after all!) and we do have a fair few passengers who wait for a 144. You do get a few who think we should stop everywhere like the 63 but generally they are fine. I don't see the problem with Network passes as they are valid and the company gets paid for them. Only issue is the people who think they are valid to Bromsgrove. The 144 used to be every 20 mins to Brum but NXWM have that corridor pretty much covered and the frequency was improved to every 15 mins from Catshill to Worcester so better for passengers in that stretch.
Worcester is a completely different situation compared to Redditch but if they ever do sell I hope NX would buy the company as would be a good fit for them.

Quote from: The Rat on June 12, 2013, 07:35:33 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 07:25:57 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 12, 2013, 06:29:30 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 06:11:55 PM
Agree about the lights at Northfield. When I do the 144 I am pretty much always late leaving Northfield outbound because of those sets of lights near the swimming baths, even on a Sunday. When the temporary lights were at the cross roads near McDonalds it was even worse and was taking 15/20 mins to get through Northfield.

I am not being funny but at the leisurely pace you First drivers take tottling down BRSouth I didn't think you had a Running Board!

How much time do you guys get from Lockwood Rd to Longbridge Island? We get 7 minutes and that's not enough.

Haha. I wish but it is very tight for us - 33 mins to get from Rubery to Brum, 5 mins to get from Northfield to Selly Oak.
We get 7 mins from Northfield to Longbridge Island (some peak journeys more/lates less). Even though we are technically limited stop it doesn't save much time as I usually end up stuck behind several 61/63s or get a flood of passengers attempting to board with daysavers. Its worst when driving our tridents as to the untrained eye they look the same as NXWM's B7s on the 61/63 so people just assume they are NXWM buses.

That has surprised me my friend. I understand about the confusion of bus types, and you can't serve that stop, the one after the Baths, do Diamond run along side your First Service?

And how long is your drop back in town?

No Diamond left a couple of years back after making a mess of their service eg running Bromsgrove to Rubery only!!!
You get 5 mins drop back time in Brum before the 28 mile return journey (8 mins in the peaks) - not a lot!

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 07:46:11 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 12, 2013, 07:35:33 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 07:25:57 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 12, 2013, 06:29:30 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 06:11:55 PM
Agree about the lights at Northfield. When I do the 144 I am pretty much always late leaving Northfield outbound because of those sets of lights near the swimming baths, even on a Sunday. When the temporary lights were at the cross roads near McDonalds it was even worse and was taking 15/20 mins to get through Northfield.

I am not being funny but at the leisurely pace you First drivers take tottling down BRSouth I didn't think you had a Running Board!

How much time do you guys get from Lockwood Rd to Longbridge Island? We get 7 minutes and that's not enough.

Haha. I wish but it is very tight for us - 33 mins to get from Rubery to Brum, 5 mins to get from Northfield to Selly Oak.
We get 7 mins from Northfield to Longbridge Island (some peak journeys more/lates less). Even though we are technically limited stop it doesn't save much time as I usually end up stuck behind several 61/63s or get a flood of passengers attempting to board with daysavers. Its worst when driving our tridents as to the untrained eye they look the same as NXWM's B7s on the 61/63 so people just assume they are NXWM buses.

That has surprised me my friend. I understand about the confusion of bus types, and you can't serve that stop, the one after the Baths, do Diamond run along side your First Service?

And how long is your drop back in town?

No Diamond left a couple of years back after making a mess of their service eg running Bromsgrove to Rubery only!!!
You get 5 mins drop back time in Brum before the 28 mile return journey (8 mins in the peaks) - not a lot!

I think its weird tho how diamonds service fizzled out-they did well on the 64 and even the 63 when they did that but then it sort of went downhill

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 07:42:39 PM

Quote from: Peter123 on June 12, 2013, 07:32:06 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 07:25:57 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 12, 2013, 06:29:30 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 06:11:55 PM
Agree about the lights at Northfield. When I do the 144 I am pretty much always late leaving Northfield outbound because of those sets of lights near the swimming baths, even on a Sunday. When the temporary lights were at the cross roads near McDonalds it was even worse and was taking 15/20 mins to get through Northfield.

I am not being funny but at the leisurely pace you First drivers take tottling down BRSouth I didn't think you had a Running Board!

How much time do you guys get from Lockwood Rd to Longbridge Island? We get 7 minutes and that's not enough.

Haha. I wish but it is very tight for us - 33 mins to get from Rubery to Brum, 5 mins to get from Northfield to Selly Oak.
We get 7 mins from Northfield to Longbridge Island (some peak journeys more/lates less). Even though we are technically limited stop it doesn't save much time as I usually end up stuck behind several 61/63s or get a flood of passengers attempting to board with daysavers. Its worst when driving our tridents as to the untrained eye they look the same as NXWM's B7s on the 61/63 so people just assume they are NXWM buses.

What irritates me tho is when some first drivers-I'm sure its not you-just drive straight past stops they are meant to serve and make a right fuss about accepting network passes-had an argument with one once about this. If we're honest firsts service-note it used to be services-along the bristol road could be providing more competition than they are doing. Must admit tho i like the fast driving and the enviros are brilliant buses just some drivers seem a bit mardy-ignoring stop bells, refusing valid tickets and stopping past the stops so you have to walk from the stop to get on. Not saying all first drivers are like this-just some and I'm sure you're not one of them. To be fair, what do they have to be cheerful about? They are driving for a failing company that is a shadow of its former self and probably fear for their jobs-talking the old redditch first drivers here

To be fair I find that annoying to but it is a very small number who do, 99% stop. I am happy to stop and pick up (it is my job after all!) and we do have a fair few passengers who wait for a 144. You do get a few who think we should stop everywhere like the 63 but generally they are fine. I don't see the problem with Network passes as they are valid and the company gets paid for them. Only issue is the people who think they are valid to Bromsgrove. The 144 used to be every 20 mins to Brum but NXWM have that corridor pretty much covered and the frequency was improved to every 15 mins from Catshill to Worcester so better for passengers in that stretch.
Worcester is a completely different situation compared to Redditch but if they ever do sell I hope NX would buy the company as would be a good fit for them.

I must admit I tried using a Network pass from Longbridge to Bromsgrove on the 144 a few weeks ago. I usually always pay for the Diamond or First services to Bromsgrove but this time I was, shall we say, a bit tipsy. The driver was great about it though, he was slightly early so stopped at the last stop in Rubery to tell me my pass wasn't valid, so I went up and bought a ticket. Felt like an idiot for the rest of the night though forgetting that my pass wasn't valid! Would be good to see more of First or a real limited stop NX service along the Bristol Road though.

Quote from: Russ Smith on June 12, 2013, 07:59:26 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 07:42:39 PM

Quote from: Peter123 on June 12, 2013, 07:32:06 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 07:25:57 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 12, 2013, 06:29:30 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 06:11:55 PM
Agree about the lights at Northfield. When I do the 144 I am pretty much always late leaving Northfield outbound because of those sets of lights near the swimming baths, even on a Sunday. When the temporary lights were at the cross roads near McDonalds it was even worse and was taking 15/20 mins to get through Northfield.

I am not being funny but at the leisurely pace you First drivers take tottling down BRSouth I didn't think you had a Running Board!

How much time do you guys get from Lockwood Rd to Longbridge Island? We get 7 minutes and that's not enough.

Haha. I wish but it is very tight for us - 33 mins to get from Rubery to Brum, 5 mins to get from Northfield to Selly Oak.
We get 7 mins from Northfield to Longbridge Island (some peak journeys more/lates less). Even though we are technically limited stop it doesn't save much time as I usually end up stuck behind several 61/63s or get a flood of passengers attempting to board with daysavers. Its worst when driving our tridents as to the untrained eye they look the same as NXWM's B7s on the 61/63 so people just assume they are NXWM buses.

What irritates me tho is when some first drivers-I'm sure its not you-just drive straight past stops they are meant to serve and make a right fuss about accepting network passes-had an argument with one once about this. If we're honest firsts service-note it used to be services-along the bristol road could be providing more competition than they are doing. Must admit tho i like the fast driving and the enviros are brilliant buses just some drivers seem a bit mardy-ignoring stop bells, refusing valid tickets and stopping past the stops so you have to walk from the stop to get on. Not saying all first drivers are like this-just some and I'm sure you're not one of them. To be fair, what do they have to be cheerful about? They are driving for a failing company that is a shadow of its former self and probably fear for their jobs-talking the old redditch first drivers here

To be fair I find that annoying to but it is a very small number who do, 99% stop. I am happy to stop and pick up (it is my job after all!) and we do have a fair few passengers who wait for a 144. You do get a few who think we should stop everywhere like the 63 but generally they are fine. I don't see the problem with Network passes as they are valid and the company gets paid for them. Only issue is the people who think they are valid to Bromsgrove. The 144 used to be every 20 mins to Brum but NXWM have that corridor pretty much covered and the frequency was improved to every 15 mins from Catshill to Worcester so better for passengers in that stretch.
Worcester is a completely different situation compared to Redditch but if they ever do sell I hope NX would buy the company as would be a good fit for them.

I must admit I tried using a Network pass from Longbridge to Bromsgrove on the 144 a few weeks ago. I usually always pay for the Diamond or First services to Bromsgrove but this time I was, shall we say, a bit tipsy. The driver was great about it though, he was slightly early so stopped at the last stop in Rubery to tell me my pass wasn't valid, so I went up and bought a ticket. Felt like an idiot for the rest of the night though forgetting that my pass wasn't valid! Would be good to see more of First or a real limited stop NX service along the Bristol Road though.

The 963 tho was a bit of a flop in the latter days-it was cancelled late 06 wasnt it? Not sure on that one but it was just the same tridents and the journey was scarcely any quicker and no one knew where it stopped. The X62/64 must count as some of the most pathetic limited stop services ever created though

The problem surely is though that the Bristol Road is too busy (and not wide enough through Edgbaston) for a truly limited stop service and there is not enough infrastructure in place eg bus priority lanes etc, for it to work, even the bypasses at Northfield and Selly Oak don't help that much. It is different on a service like the x51 where there is scope for speed on the route!
There used to a be a Motorway express route from Worcester to Brum and it would be good to have it again (operating down Hagley Road from junction 3 M5 rather than the Bristol Road. Traffic conditions would probably make it unreliable though.

Could always number the X64 to 62 and make it all stops? :-)

Quote from: trainbasher on June 12, 2013, 09:28:52 PM
Could always number the X64 to 62 and make it all stops? :-)

Don't really need to renumber it, the X96 has stopped at all stops for a while and has never been renumbered.

Lots of buses delayed and diverted in Wolverhampton today after a man jumped off the ring road bridge onto the bus lane below! Confirmed by NX that one of their buses was going up the bus lane at the time as well!

Quote from: trainbasher on June 12, 2013, 09:28:52 PM
Could always number the X64 to 62 and make it all stops? :-)

Better still, start it from Colmore Row, send it via Five Eays and the QE to Selly Oak and number it 21 again. The 21 was never broken and didn't need fixing.

Whereabouts were the stopping places for the X62? I know the X64 was / is a bit of a waste of time as a limited stop service but I honestly don't know where the stopping points of the X62 were.

And yes, having these 2 services terminate at Town Hall when the all stop Bristol Rd services terminated elsewhere was always going to be a recipe for disaster.

Quote from: Trident 4609 on June 12, 2013, 07:36:06 PM
J789, The buses on the 61/63 are tridents not B7TL's

Yes he said that the Tridents on the 61/63 look like B7TLs to the untrained eye.

Quote from: Peter123 on June 12, 2013, 07:57:28 PMRubbe author=j789 link=topic=1631.msg43726#msg43726 date=1371062771]

Quote from: The Rat on June 12, 2013, 07:35:33 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 07:25:57 PM

Quote from: The Rat on June 12, 2013, 06:29:30 PM

Quote from: j789 on June 12, 2013, 06:11:55 PM
Agree about the lights at Northfield. When I do the 144 I am pretty much always late leaving Northfield outbound because of those sets of lights near the swimming baths, even on a Sunday. When the temporary lights were at the cross roads near McDonalds it was even worse and was taking 15/20 mins to get through Northfield.

I am not being funny but at the leisurely pace you First drivers take tottling down BRSouth I didn't think you had a Running Board!

How much time do you guys get from Lockwood Rd to Longbridge Island? We get 7 minutes and that's not enough.

Haha. I wish but it is very tight for us - 33 mins to get from Rubery to Brum, 5 mins to get from Northfield to Selly Oak.
We get 7 mins from Northfield to Longbridge Island (some peak journeys more/lates less). Even though we are technically limited stop it doesn't save much time as I usually end up stuck behind several 61/63s or get a flood of passengers attempting to board with daysavers. Its worst when driving our tridents as to the untrained eye they look the same as NXWM's B7s on the 61/63 so people just assume they are NXWM buses.

That has surprised me my friend. I understand about the confusion of bus types, and you can't serve that stop, the one after the Baths, do Diamond run along side your First Service?

And how long is your drop back in town?

No Diamond left a couple of years back after making a mess of their service eg running Bromsgrove to Rubery only!!!
You get 5 mins drop back time in Brum before the 28 mile return journey (8 mins in the peaks) - not a lot!

I think its weird tho how diamonds service fizzled out-they did well on the 64 and even the 63 when they did that but then it sort of went downhill
[/quote]

What about those First liveried Diamond Logo'd E300's on the corridor?

Are you on Tacho?



Oh and I can pretty much garuntee an express service from Holly Hill via Rubery Morrison's, ('Bournville College') Longbridge, (one stop on Northfield bypass), 40mph none stop till Selly, bypass, Belgrave and then New Street will work. And save time. And eliviate pressure off 63 service. And like the above post said make the x64 go via the qe hospital and problem solved. If you see the passenger numbers you'll know it will work. It is one of the busiest roads in the garage. Try a 63 at 1036 from Holly, you're 15down by BNS.

What about those First liveried Diamond Logo'd E300's on the corridor?

Are you on Tacho?
[/quote]

The Diamond E300s are those sold to them when they bought Redditch garage and are on the 146 route which runs from the city centre along Bristol Road to Pebble Mill before turning off and joining Pershore Road to Redditch. I guess eventually they will repaint them.

No Tachos as the distance is under tacho requirements.

Quote from: j789 on June 13, 2013, 04:18:09 PM

Quote from: The Rat


What about those First liveried Diamond Logo'd E300's on the corridor?

Are you on Tacho?

The Diamond E300s are those sold to them when they bought Redditch garage and are on the 146 route which runs from the city centre along Bristol Road to Pebble Mill before turning off and joining Pershore Road to Redditch. I guess eventually they will repaint them.

No Tachos as the distance is under tacho requirements.

Oh sorry, I always get those 144 & 146 routes confused.

And yeah 31miles for Domestic, been a good long while since I did EC Ruling work!!

Quote from: 4006 on June 10, 2013, 11:13:50 PM
Please can you add 98/99 47/47A to the list. I'm not going to suggest why but

>:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Oh dear. Just driven up Wheeleys Road and there are 3 98s and 2 99s heading out of city all within a couple of minutes of each other. That's 50 mins worth of buses to the QE travelling in convoy.

Quote from: Mike K on June 14, 2013, 05:46:50 PM
Oh dear. Just driven up Wheeleys Road and there are 3 98s and 2 99s heading out of city all within a couple of minutes of each other. That's 50 mins worth of buses to the QE travelling in convoy.

Maybe due to an accident and/or very heavy traffic. That seems like too many running together to be just unreliable

Quote from: Mike K on June 14, 2013, 05:46:50 PM

Quote from: 4006 on June 10, 2013, 11:13:50 PM
Please can you add 98/99 47/47A to the list. I'm not going to suggest why but

>:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Oh dear. Just driven up Wheeleys Road and there are 3 98s and 2 99s heading out of city all within a couple of minutes of each other. That's 50 mins worth of buses to the QE travelling in convoy.

The worst I've had was on a Saturday evening on the 99, 4 running together. I was at the front with a 1hr 20min delay, AVL was useless. Then an ambulance was blocking Welsh House Farm Road so all the ones behind me caught me up. IIRC there was a Big Issue with the city centre, with New Street etc along with various delays on Wheeleys Road and Bath Row. I think it was a motorcyclist got killed or something, i'm going back a good few months. Funny thing was it was overtime anyway, and I called the garage and they just said bring it back as you'll be RTA'd for tomorrow. Easy day I tell ya. Best diversion on the 99 was when it was snowing, very easy. Missed out everywhere which was important, and U-Turn at Quinton Church. 8)

Quote from: John on June 14, 2013, 05:54:20 PM

Quote from: Mike K on June 14, 2013, 05:46:50 PM
Oh dear. Just driven up Wheeleys Road and there are 3 98s and 2 99s heading out of city all within a couple of minutes of each other. That's 50 mins worth of buses to the QE travelling in convoy.

Maybe due to an accident and/or very heavy traffic. That seems like too many running together to be just unreliable

You see when the GP went up to Colmore Row, and had a longer drop back, the service was more spread out. But now it being at the Square Peg, it's hard to get balance.

Two groups of 3 126's running this afternoon plus a few running dead down Birmingham New Road.

Quote from: Mike K on June 14, 2013, 05:46:50 PM

Quote from: 4006 on June 10, 2013, 11:13:50 PM
Please can you add 98/99 47/47A to the list. I'm not going to suggest why but

>:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Oh dear. Just driven up Wheeleys Road and there are 3 98s and 2 99s heading out of city all within a couple of minutes of each other. That's 50 mins worth of buses to the QE travelling in convoy.

Also saw a pair of 99's (801 & 802) heading in convoy into Halesowen at 5pm

WB 89 is consetenly late, dont no why i bother with it. 289 was bad also but then again no point catching that any more as it dont go merry hill.