SPRINT and CROSS CITY - What service numbers could be used

[Steve3229vp]

In the future when we have Sprint services and Cross-City services what service number could be used. 

Firstly the hopefully near future Sprint service from Walsall to Solihull replacing the 51 and X1: 
Will it be 51 along the whole route or X2, or could it be a completely new type of service number

Secondly the proposed Cross-City service replacing 50, 82 and 87:
Will it be 82/87 along the whole route or 50/50A, or again could it be a completely new type of service number

[Rachvince53]

They could number them Sprint 1 or SPR1 etc or S1 etc . 

[LiamsTransport1]

Firstly the hopefully near future Sprint service from Walsall to Solihull replacing the 51 and X1:
Will it be 51 along the whole route or X2, or could it be a completely new type of service number

I would of thought it will be completely new number. As mentioned above S1 or something along those lines would make sense. Just have to wait and see.  

[Stevo]

Are they still asking for the Sprint services to be worked by artics 'with at least three doors' as they said some time ago?

[ellspurs]

25.

[Steve3229vp]

25.

I think you're missing the point, I think they will have unique service numbers, my suggestions would be:

C prefix for all stop Cross-City services
S prefix for Sprint services
We already have X for limited stop and express/fast services

[Gareth]

Have they not given up on the stupid idea of cross city services yet?

[Steve3229vp]

Have they not given up on the stupid idea of cross city services yet?

Unfortunately not, they just finished putting in a bus gate at Moseley Road/Haden Way jnc. ready for the 50/82/87

[Stu]

I did wonder at the time if the changing of the S- prefix for the Solihull bus network to A- (for "Arden") was done deliberately, with a view to that becoming the prefix for any new Sprint routes.

S1 - Walsall to Birmingham Airport
S2 - Walsall to Solihull

Regarding the cross-city services, I'm not really sure if a new prefix would be needed. As these just merge existing bus routes together, I think either existing numbers will be retained, or new ones will be used.

So for example, regarding the 50/82/87, you could have:

82 - Bearwood to Maypole
87 - Dudley to Maypole

Or by getting creative with combining the numbers together, you could have:

57 - Dudley to Maypole
57A - Bearwood to Maypole

(I remember the original proposals only mentioned Maypole as the terminus, not Druids Heath, hence my suggestions)

[Steve3229vp]

I did wonder at the time if the changing of the S- prefix for the Solihull bus network to A- (for "Arden") was done deliberately, with a view to that becoming the prefix for any new Sprint routes.

S1 - Walsall to Birmingham Airport
S2 - Walsall to Solihull

Regarding the cross-city services, I'm not really sure if a new prefix would be needed. As these just merge existing bus routes together, I think either existing numbers will be retained, or new ones will be used.

So for example, regarding the 50/82/87, you could have:

82 - Bearwood to Maypole
87 - Dudley to Maypole

Or by getting creative with combining the numbers together, you could have:

57 - Dudley to Maypole
57A - Bearwood to Maypole

(I remember the original proposals only mentioned Maypole as the terminus, not Druids Heath, hence my suggestions)

To be honest I think a big campaign will be made for the first cross-city services so I think TfWM will want something that stands out so my proposal would be:

C50 Druids Heath to Bearwood
C51 Druids Heath to Dudley

[Owen]

I do think cross city bus routes would be a good idea for main corridors. With all the tram works going on the bus stops, the roads can get crowded and congested so if waiting times were a while away from the city that would help. for example short routes not too far from city, like 82 from bearwood to druids Heath following the 50 route sounds realistic. I don't think combining long mileage routes would work regardless if they're limited stop. 

[karl724223]

CC1 
CC2 
Or 
XC1
XC2
Maybe 🤔

[MasterPlan]

What is the timeline for this cross-city plan to be completed then? And is it actually going to work, or are buses just going to get stuck in the blackhole which is Birmingham City Centre?

Plus it says it will benefit passengers by not needing to change buses in the City Centre, but that depends on where you're going to really doesn't it. It doesn't cover that many crossovers.

[Owen]

What is the timeline for this cross-city plan to be completed then? And is it actually going to work, or are buses just going to get stuck in the blackhole which is Birmingham City Centre?

Plus it says it will benefit passengers by not needing to change buses in the City Centre, but that depends on where you're going to really doesn't it. It doesn't cover that many crossovers.

I agree. I can imagine a lot of people jumping on these cross city services and changing over in the city to another service depending on how frequent sprint will be. 

They tried cross city many years ago with lots of routes, then got rid of them all. Just like how they had trams.. then got rid of them to bring them back in 2012. 

[Mike K]

What is the timeline for this cross-city plan to be completed then? And is it actually going to work, or are buses just going to get stuck in the blackhole which is Birmingham City Centre?

Plus it says it will benefit passengers by not needing to change buses in the City Centre, but that depends on where you're going to really doesn't it. It doesn't cover that many crossovers.

Buses will get stuck in more than just the black hole which is Birmingham city centre in my opinion. Buses heading out of the city centre in the morning towards the likes of Castle Bromwich will be 20 minutes late because of the traffic on Harborne High St for example. No amount of bus priority measures will address that.

The whole concept of these cross-city services is strange. They've not worked before due to traffic issues and reliability. Those same problems are as bad now as they've ever been.