Messages

2128 is sat out of service on Weoley Castle Square with police cars by it. Any idea what's happened?

24 gets them on a regular basis too. The Harborne corridor seems a right mixed bag nowadays. With Hybrids, E400's & Tridents appearing across the 22/3/4/9

There's simply not enough Hybrids to fulfil the routes. And why only 50% of them are branded is beyond me, especially as they only tend to appear on Harborne routes.

Nathan is right. They're not route specific branded plus you can argue the 29 qualifies as a Harborne route as it passes through there. According to the spreadsheet, B5s appear occasionally on the route.

I know they're not. My point is, however, if they're meant for the Harborne routes they should be used on all of them. Not just 2. Occasionally is pushing it. It's very rare to see on on the 29. Occasionally is more accurate for the 24.

They aren't branded for the 22/3. They are generic Harbone branded.

They're meant for the 22/23 though. If the 29 was included it would be used on a regular basis. You don't see Pershore Road branded buses only used on the 47 for example.

22/23 branded Hybrid - 29

:)

@MasterPlan Birmingham Central run a few journeys on the 9 in the morning peak.

Ah I see, fair enough :)

Yes the 24 was the 103 and before that the 3. I am surprised too, I thought they may have extended some 24s to the new asda on Barnes hill to provide a link to Quinton.

Yeah that's true actually and you can turn around on yourself easily enough on Barnes Hill like the 29 does.

Maybe a 24A?

There was a 30 service (certainly during the late 80s to mid 90s at least) which was a positioning route: Quinton Garage, Ridgacre Road, West Boulevard, Barnes Hill, Shenley Lane, Bell Lane, Northfield
Limited service, journeys mainly at peak times utilising buses coming on/off the 29 route at Northfield.

Yeah that was probably it actually. So it went all the way down Shenley Lane and Barnes Hill? I have to say I've lived there all my life and I'm surprised that stretch of dual carriageway hasn't been used completely for a bus route. Would be ideal as you rarely get traffic congestion.

Yes there was another 30 service, I think it was a school service for Hillcrest Girls school for people living in Quinton as there was a bus stop on the dual carriageway opposite Barnes Hill (Towards Quinton Road West). My sister used to catch it and I think it became a 103 in Quinton.

The 103 is what the 24 is now, right? I'm pretty sure the 103 went to Woodgate Valley North.

Was that in Harborne? If so, that 30 went from Quinton to the QE Hospital. It changed to become the 636 in the late 90s and now is the 99.

Pretty sure I saw it on Barnes Hill. Although it was a long time ago now so who knows. I think it was that route though.

It's not there now, but I remember when I was a kid I saw a bus stop for route 30, but I never saw it. Turned out it had been discontinued for ages lol

99 to Bartley Green then with full sized singles
Pensnett can have the E200s and a QE to Halesowen route
Job done  :D

(Edit: in all seriousness, I just made that up on the spot and kinda think it's a good idea)

Surely it makes more sense to re-route the 98? As the 98 goes further down the Bristol Road anyway. Could easily do away with that and bring back the 62 in my opinion.

As for the X64 it didnt use the QE hospital originally, so could go back to Bournbrook, after all the 98 and 99 provide a link to QE to City.

Neither the 98 or 99 go to Bartley Green, Bangham Pit etc though. Which was his point.

My immediate thought was that the 'main' part of Selly Oak will now only be served by the 63? How on earth has it even come to this?!?!

I hope that the x64 may be rerouted and serve the Bristol Road again, as I still don't know why this is claseed as a limited stop - as it's no quicker than the current 61/63 once it has gone via the QE!

Hopefully some sense will prevail - and someone quickly realises that just having the 63 serving the Bristol Road on this section is absurd.

I doubt they'd put the X64 back on the Bristol Road. It was retouted to go to the QE, it can't do both. The X64 should be scrapped anyway and replaced back with the 21. As someone has said it's pretty pointless as a limited stop service.
They should never have gpt rid of the 62 to be honest. They could remove the 98 and bring the 62 back. Increasing the frequency of the 99 to compensate the 98 trips to Five Ways.

The 61/3 don't go to Harborne or Wesley Castle and the 29 helps connect these areas to Frankley.

I can't imagine there's much of a demand for that either in all honesty. If I'm not mistaken we had the 49 in Weoley Castle at one point that went to Frankley. That didn't last long.