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HST started this morning at totems. Usually these trains are stabled up north. Any idea why this is different today?

Can you provide some specific information around location and time on Saturday please, so I can investigate why there was a gap

Saturday just gone and it would have been around 2:30 in Hayley green area waiting for a bus. Tracker showed lot of late running services on the 4H

Hi Simon,

As a regular on your 4H route I must question the journey times permitted especially on Saturdays. Today there was a good 30 minute gap in service due to late running. Whilst I know reduced journey times reduces PVR, I would much prefer an every 15 minute frequency on a Saturday with buses running to the timetable

Be surprised if the 1 wasn't affected.

As I've said before, that first journey south to Walsall,  I can be the only passenger they pick up some mornings!

The lovely SPD dart I saw leave Walsall on the 1 at lunchtime was empty leaving Walsall bus station

Mellor on 35

4125 having a day between Birmingham and Cannock

Where have the MCVs and 2 mercs gone now they are no longer needed at the airport?

Hardly any trains on the Dorridge line again today. Nothing from Acocks Green, for example, towards Birmingham between 0940 and 1123! It's about time something was done about this farce. The management of this franchise is nothing short of pathetic.

I don't know how they are getting away with it. They are meant to have put forward a new timetable which means the amount of services cancelled is reduced. The Shrewsbury new street services seem to have loads of cancelled services too, and these services are every 30 minutes.

30120 - B14 WTS
Tividale Depot, after returning from paint and conversion to battery electric



20989 - BL16 FZV
Tividale Depot, awaiting exterior vinyls before entering service

That's not the final livery for 30120 is it? That green is almost reminiscent of the 002 branded days when diamond put a lot of colour into their liveries.

Also anyone know what purpose 20989 will be at tividale for? I noticed Redditch equivalent don't spend much time in normal service. I was lucky to travel on 20988 on the 34 a couple of months ago.

One thing that is certain in life... eventually the 11A and 11C will be run by the oldest vehicles in the fleet. Loads of Alx 400 b7tl on there today

The original Signature fleet was in very bad condition upon the loss of the contracts in Solihull. The "best" vehicle was 32307. Everything else was plagued with issues. Not surprised the Mercs have been sold / withdrawn as with the Versas (30404 / 30405). 30019 was VOR for ages. 30030 rarely made it into service. In every occasion it lasted a matter of weeks before going off the road again.

20016 was the best Solo of a bad bunch. Looks like that one ended up north. The remainder were terrible. 20014/20027 being the worst. Presumably they're now operating locally in Redditch, and not venturing out of the town!

32308/9/10 were constantly having electrical issues. Not sure what they're like at Tividale. Perhaps they've been repaired now. 32307 was the most reliable vehicle in that fleet.

The 40 seems to be run by B7RLES most the time indicating those streetlites may be as bad at Tividale. 30030 must be worth some money though?

I note nx are now letting people know the partnership routes are coming to an end

Will be interesting to see how quickly buses get debranded

So is the 48 running direct from QE to weoley castle now then? Also on the changes they state passengers on the 20 can change onto the x21/x22 at QE hospital. The X21/X22 aren't serving QE hospital?

Fair enough.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned, the Uni-Selly Oak link now down to every 20 minutes instead of every 10 mins (give or take).
I've noticed people that have used the link from the 61/63 to the QE etc too.

The x20/X21 were always busier than the x22 as lots of people used these services to selly oak. Let's hope passenger numbers don't recover otherwise we could be in for some uncomfortable journeys. I welcome the x21 extension though. 2 buses I can use from Bartley green now

What routes will the B7RLES and streetlites go onto that were previously on the 31/32 and 42/43 when you stop running these services?

@Trident 4194 - Diamond aren't stopping running the above routes, they are just returning to being commercially operated under Diamond brand in lieu of West Midlands Bus, Winston