Service changes June 2025

[Steve3229vp]

But neither of those go anywhere near where the X21 and X22 go!

Bearwood is fairly close to University!

[Stu]

Bearwood is fairly close to University!

Not close enough to confuse passengers though!

The current 20/20A have existed from QE Hospital for a couple of years, and no-one got it mixed up with the 20 from Bearwood.

[BBS]

Guys just a thought, will the X2 stay on its own rota at Acocks Green? Or will it be merged with something like the 5 

[hemmy]

I agree with your point, but the problem with that is there is already a 21 and 22 which are both Oldbury to Bearwood routes and the 22 is run by NX.

this is entirely untrue and NX do not care about this, first of all they're not even close and second of all we've had an even more egregious example of this from the same operator.
PB 46(52) and WB46 literally terminated on the same road so.

[hemmy]

I agree with your point, but the problem with that is there is already a 21 and 22 which are both Oldbury to Bearwood routes and the 22 is run by NX.

this is entirely untrue and NX do not care about this, first of all they're not even close and second of all we've had an even more egregious example of this from the same operator.
PB 46(52) and WB46 literally terminated on the same road so.

[hemmy]

Bearwood is fairly close to University!

Bearwood is not close to University at all. And we've had worse examples of multiple route numbers before.

[GoldenSquid]

This is a new X20, there hasn't been an NX Birmingham to Bromsgrove route since they ran the 145

Ah guess I can talk about it then. Didn't want to leak something before someone high up spoke about it.
X20 route following uni corridor then a route to Northfield (won't leak that bit yet) from what I've been told. Interesting times, not sure yet if it's going to be both cofton hacket and Bromsgrove.

But the route looks super cool, defo wanna drive it when it comes out.

[MasterPlan]

It'll be interesting to see the timetables when they are eventually released.

Is the 48 going to run at every 30 still or every 20 with the revised route & 48A going. It appears the Bromsgrove section of the X20 could have an improved frequency as well, evenings & Sundays to.

I suppose that's a possibility as the 76 is currently every 20 minutes between QE and Northfield so it would make sense.

I had a feeling the 76 would get cut back, just didn't expect the 48 to be back over here.

[Stu]

WB have lost the 20/20a from 1st June, not sure whose got those, 48 is changing too from the same date, will be doing West Brom to Northfield, as it is now to the University Station then will be doing the 76 route to Northfield.
48a is also being completely scrapped. The Bearwood rota is taking a massive hit cos will be sharing the 74 and 80 with the soho rota to.

Is the 48 going to run at every 30 still or every 20 with the revised route & 48A going. It appears the Bromsgrove section of the X20 could have an improved frequency as well, evenings & Sundays to.

I don't know what passenger loadings are like on the 48/48A. Nor the 76 between QE and Northfield.

The 76 is currently every 20mins during the daytime. If this is an attempt to reduce costs based on passenger loadings, it seems viable to either reduce the 48 to half-hourly all the way to Northfield, or adjust to every 20 minutes, to maintain the current 76 frequency and offset the loss of the 48A, which seems to be covered by other routes anyway.

[Steve3229vp]

IT'S PREDICTION TIME !

X20 as X22 to Quinton Road, then as 76 to Northfield, then as 20 to Bromsgrove. 
Every 30 minutes to Rednal and every hour to Bromsgrove.

X21/X22 Both reduced to every 30 minutes each.

4 buses an hour to Weoley Castle (X20 and X21)
4 buses an hour to Quinton Road (X20 and X22)

All will combine every 10 minutes via University.
Peak hours may have additional buses to provide up to every 7 minutes just as the new X21/X22 timetable will be.

[fleetline6477]

There were a couple of MRW services in the late 80s/early 90s (459/460?) that followed a route through the University and the old QE site, then onto the Bristol Rd and into the city centre.

I think it's likely that the new route will follow the X21/X22 to some degree given it's a well-established corridor. I'd be surprised if it used the Bristol Rd only, it'd be too similar to the 144 and the old X62 which didn't last too long due to low usage. Agree with the renumbering idea - the X is a misnomer on both counts.

There were and the 459 was discontinues on that section, the 460 was replaced by the 445 went right out of Pritchatts Road, right onto Edgbaston Park Road and then left onto Bristol Road. There were also the minibus routes 453/454 which covered the current X21/X22 between the Univeristy and town on a 30 minute frequency replacing the 653.

[MasterPlan]

IT'S PREDICTION TIME !

X20 as X22 to Quinton Road, then as 76 to Northfield, then as 20 to Bromsgrove.
Every 30 minutes to Rednal and every hour to Bromsgrove.

X21/X22 Both reduced to every 30 minutes each.

4 buses an hour to Weoley Castle (X20 and X21)
4 buses an hour to Quinton Road (X20 and X22)

All will combine every 10 minutes via University.
Peak hours may have additional buses to provide up to every 7 minutes just as the new X21/X22 timetable will be.

I was actually thinking whether it might follow X22 along Quinton Road and Northfield Road and then just go straight up Barnes Hill and Shenley Lane to Northfield.
If the 48 does the 76 route I can't see them both doing it.

[Jack]

Salop Road not having the 48A isn't going to go down amazing, surprised that's going if i'm honest. Can imagine the people along there will have something to say.

[SO6597]

Ah guess I can talk about it then. Didn't want to leak something before someone high up spoke about it.
X20 route following uni corridor then a route to Northfield (won't leak that bit yet) from what I've been told. Interesting times, not sure yet if it's going to be both cofton hacket and Bromsgrove.

But the route looks super cool, defo wanna drive it when it comes out.

There are only two ways to get from Selly Oak to Northfield without using the Bristol Rd - the Weoley Castle side (as others have said, would the new route really duplicate a revised 48?) and the Bournville/Cotteridge side. 

The 27 is in steep decline and numerous bits of tinkering haven't worked for years now and Linden Road/Oak Tree Lane haven't had a link to the city since the demise of the MRW 8x set of routes.

I wonder if something along these lines is the super cool bit?!

[Steve3229vp]

There are only two ways to get from Selly Oak to Northfield without using the Bristol Rd - the Weoley Castle side (as others have said, would the new route really duplicate a revised 48?) and the Bournville/Cotteridge side.

The 27 is in steep decline and numerous bits of tinkering haven't worked for years now and Linden Road/Oak Tree Lane haven't had a link to the city since the demise of the MRW 8x set of routes.

I wonder if something along these lines is the super cool bit?!

The Bournville/Cotteridge side is extremely unlikely, far too slow for a start !