Messages

as if the announcements couldn't get anymore annoying they add extra stuff, and yet still it misses out announcing Halesowen bus station and pool road when running to Stourbridge, and has multiple instances of different names to those on the stop flags

I really like the Brighter Diamond livery, the blue really is pleasing, much moreso than any of the NX offerings IMO

more likely the fare increase is in anticipation of franchising, the politicians wont want to have the increase just after they take charge

its a matter of where the various systems get their information, most likely in this scenario the TOC (Train Operating Company) decided to CAPE (cancel) the train mid-route (as a cancellation fine is cheaper than a delay fine) and updated the timetable data to PIS (Passenger Information System) however you can't just remove a train from the railway, it has to run somewhere ECS (Empty Coaching Stock) and the message to this effect has to be made to the driver & guard on the train as a change to their stop orders, and to the signalmen via train running control, plus updating TRUST (Train Running Under System TOPS)(Total OPerating System) which takes time, as public data feeds take their information from the Train Describer which has the loaded timetable data and in turn is stepped by the signalling system, that is based upon what is expected to happen rather than the actual working, thus the train that the drivers company wanted to cancel still runs (and delays everything else, but it would ECS anyway, just with a smaller Delay Attribution fine) and if that sounds complicated save a thought for those of us that have to work on the railway, roll on retirement!

well that pushes my commute to being more than the car, so back to the car it is

Happy birthday to pensnett garage officially opened on this day in 1998

Midland Red had a storage place on the Pensnet estate, I have seen a photograph somewhere, does anyone know where it was in relation to the current garage?

You need to look into BCT history to see why routes are numbered. If it's not broke, don't fix it. Others have been reneumbered to proved 'networks' and 'corridors'.

the same is true for Midland Red numbers that have persisted, 
when the PTE took them over and renumbered services logically keeping them and BCT numbers, creating simple numbering without duplication or prefix / suffix across the region

to me X should be xpress on the same route missing out the majority of stops, I find it confusing when routes such as the 8 go to completely different places if its an X or not,
use of separate numbers instead of prefix or suffix across the region to avoid confusion was much simpler

there are several next stop announcements on the 9 between Stourbridge and Birmingham that are now completely different names to that on the the bus stop flag

With the Severn Valley Railway south from Bridgnorth currently closed for a while due to a collapse, plus Bridgnorth having a sorry excuse for a bus station consisting of a couple of damaged shelters, with no facilities, some operators buses being exceptionally filthy, Stourbridge only reachable by the 125 route via Kidderminster, and even that in jeopardy, Bridgnorth is not doing so well transport wise :(

Noted on the 125 Stourbridge to Bridgnorth today that the passenger numbers whilst not great for the present service there were passengers particularly on the sections Stourbridge to Kidderminster and Highley to Bridgnorth that were dependent on the bus,
rather than the proposed pulling of the service in its entirety, could it not be retained with a reduced frequency
there are 3 vehicles on this service, it ought to be possible to reduce that to 2 surely.
Stourbridge to Kidderminster hourly, Kidderminster to Bridgnorth 2 hourly and when that bus gets to Bridgnorth could it run back to and from Highley whilst sitting at Bridgnorth making Highley to Bridgnorth hourly?

I do agree that Oyster is great in London, but then we do have Swift Go here in the West Midlands that does the same thing. But I agree that paying by contactless card is not as well integrated here.

it would be a boon if tap & cap worked across the different bus companies, for whilst my travel to & from work is wholly NXWM, the buses I use for getting around on days off are a mixture of Diamond, NXWM and Kevs

I bet you most people on the 9 don't travel end to end and there's loads of places inbetween through a dense urban area.
 
I commute from Lye to Birmingham on the 9, so not quite end to end but very nearly, true there are not so many passengers  that do the whole of the route as did in the days of the Midland Red 130, it however remains the cheapest option and works for all my shifts, which the railway does not, ironic since I work for the railway,

As the 125 is the only bus Stourbridge to Bridgnorth, and indeed Stourbridge to Kidderminster, it would be a great loss, cutting off access to onward services such as to Ludlow, admittedly it is not used by a great number of passengers, perhaps a little publicity might help there, a pity that retention of services by subsidy from all councils on the route is not considered important for the people of all communities,