If you had the chance to modify or add any service, what would you do?

[Ingleboro261F]

Return of the 31 ( Solihull to Birmingham via shaftmoor lane ), however renumbered as the 4A, or keeping the 31. Timetable will be half hourly, possibly interwork with the 5

Why would they renumber it to the 4A if the 4A is already in use

[Steve3229vp]

Why would they renumber it to the 4A if the 4A is already in use

Also the 4A is far better than the 31

[BlackCountryBusSpotter]

The X529 could maybe work if you ran it via the Black Country Route up to the Keyway then down Rose Hill to serve Willenhall and only ran at Morning and Evening Peaks maybe Monday - Friday every 15-20 minutes. However NX Tried it it didn't work. Maybe a reintroduced 40 could bolster the Walsall to Wolverhampton Via Bentley and Willenhall Service or a variation of the 37 that then turns down Churchill Road to rejoin the 529 route. 

[Westy]

Surely there's no point in looking at the Walsall to Wolves & Walsall to Darlo corridor until you see how the train affects things?

[Wumpty]

Was it that the 966 didn't work or a change in strategy?  There seemed to be a move away from express, long distance services at one point (certainly around Walsall) to bolster shorter stopping services. For example, Walsall to Aldridge leg went from 20 mins 367, 368 (368 hourly, 367 20-40) to 15 minutes 367/368 (each 30 mins) both with 30 mins limited stop 966 to then eventually straight 10 mins stopping 366,367,368 (later 6, 7, 7a).

This with cut backs and withdrawals of other limited stop services. The 51 bolstered to every 6 minutes at one stage if I remember rightly with the 951 (X51) cut to half hourly. Very different now. The 997 was cut to 20 minutes from Aldridge to Birmingham with a 355 A/C for the Walsall, Rushall, Aldridge section etc

The 529 had Gas Powered singles I think at a high frequency.  So maybe not a failing service, rather a different strategic approach? And of course, a train service from Walsall to Wolves operated I believe by a NX franchise.

That's because it used the Black Country Route instead!

Would've got a few more passengers with Wumpty's suggestion!

There were huge reliability issues with the Wolves - Walsall section. It was only given 23 minutes to get from Wolves to Walsall (I used to catch the 0823hrs service from Walsall to Aldridge in 1987 to get to school, so shows how long ago it was!), and given that it was such a long route, you'd have bottle necks along the stretch from Airport to Wolves.

The 0823hrs was regularly 10-15 mins late, so curtailing the 966 at Walsall made sense.

Equally, there was a shift change in the early mid 90s when Timesaver was debranded and became just limited stop services, still using DP Metrobuses, though repainted into the standard livery.

I loved the concept of a "direct" service from Walsall to Airport, though being such a long route, it was always going to fall foul of the traffic.

The 966 did exactly that from 1986 and that didn't work either

Was it reliability, low patronage or just a saturated route that saw it not work, though in fairness that was almost 40 years ago since that stretch ran, and appreciate X529 was trialled since.

[Justin Tyme]

The 966 end to end was an epic route, but on my (few) rides the Walsall - Sutton section was the busiest by some way.

Between Wolves and Walsall, I guess it was the familiar story that a low frequency fast service rarely does well when there is a much more frequent all stops service.

I bet there was hardly any cross-Walsall usage either.

[Rachvince53]

The 529 had Gas Powered singles I think at a high frequency.  So maybe not a failing service, rather a different strategic approach? And of course, a train service from Walsall to Wolves operated I believe by a NX franchise.

The gas powered buses (converted to diesel after the gas contract expired I believe) numbered 14 in number (1501-1514) and worked alongside conventional diesels. 

The train service originally started from Wellington and called at all stations to Walsall but resulted in a 40 minute service. Another attempt was to run a hourly shuttle service between Wolves and Walsall. This was withdrawn due to lack of use. Both were operated by Central Trains which as you suggest was a National Express operation. 

[Westy]

The gas powered buses (converted to diesel after the gas contract expired I believe) numbered 14 in number (1501-1514) and worked alongside conventional diesels.

The train service originally started from Wellington and called at all stations to Walsall but resulted in a 40 minute service. Another attempt was to run a hourly shuttle service between Wolves and Walsall. This was withdrawn due to lack of use. Both were operated by Central Trains which as you suggest was a National Express operation.

I tried catching that Walsall to Telford train one day.

Cancelled both directions!

No wonder it got withdrawn!

[BlackCountryBusSpotter]

Surely there's no point in looking at the Walsall to Wolves & Walsall to Darlo corridor until you see how the train affects things?

If the stations are built within the next year or to that is 

[BBS]

Also the 4A is far better than the 31

How's that?

[Steve3229vp]

How's that?

It's faster, more direct and it's more frequent, the 4A approx every 15 minutes, 31 was every 20 minutes in it's last few years. 

[Stu]

How's that?

The 4A was introduced in 2018 to provide passengers in the Gospel Oak area with a faster route to Birmingham, which is what they wanted.

What was left of the 31 between Acocks Green and Solihull was eventually replaced later with an half-hourly extension of the 4A to Solihull.

https://wmbu.org.uk/2018/06/south-birmingham-service-changes-from-22nd-july-2018/
https://wmbu.org.uk/2021/08/birmingham-service-changes-sunday-august-29th-2021/

And that is why the current 4A is 'better' than the 31 used to be.

[Steve3229vp]

My proposal for buses to Perry Barr under a possible franchising scheme.

A 5 minute frequency between City and Perry Park provided by the following:

31 City - Sutton via New Oscott (replacing 907) every 20 minutes
32 City - Pheasey (Deers Leap) via Old Oscott (replacing 997 shorts) every 20 minutes
33 route unchanged but adjusted to every 10 minutes.

All will use the bus lanes (which hopefully by then would be enforced properly), the expressway that is used by the 907/997 is becoming pointless now in Peaks.

Express routes:

X34/X35/X36/X37 replacing 934-7, NEW X38 as 937 to Foley Arms, then 997 to Walsall, again using the bus lanes instead of the expressway which a lot of them do now anyway

[markcf83]

The 966 end to end was an epic route, but on my (few) rides the Walsall - Sutton section was the busiest by some way.

Between Wolves and Walsall, I guess it was the familiar story that a low frequency fast service rarely does well when there is a much more frequent all stops service.

I bet there was hardly any cross-Walsall usage either.

Once I rode it from Wolverhampton to about Erdington. I only got off there as I was hungry. 

[ayoungbusman]

I'd like to see the return of the 440 (Perry Barr to Bearwood) but operating via the Midlands Metropolitan University Hospital site on its way into Bearwood. Two buses could provide an hourly service although depending on the choke point that is Villa Cross, you'd probably need a third and extended running times but still on an hourly frequency.

Alternatively, it would be good to see the return of the Solihull to Redditch service (165 or 175?) as seems strange the distance is under 10 miles but can't be done by bus and rail is a poor option for this journey. You could probably extend it into the Airport via Damsonwood as well on a 2 or 3 PVR for an hourly service.