express services on main roads out of brum

[Dylan4579]

Limited stop and express services only realistically work on dual carriageway trunk roads, where either a bus lane can be accommodated, or where there is a 'fast lane' that a bus can freely move down.

For example, the limited stop Sutton lines services all use the Aston Expressway, allowing them to rapidly get from Corporation Street to Gravelly Hill. The 900 and 957 all use the Small Heath Highway, which allows them to rapidly get from Bordesley Circus to Hay Mills (Coventry Road). The Walsall Road express services use inside lanes on Newtown Row and Birchfield Road to skip stops, as well as use the Birchfield flyover and underpass.

Putting limited stop services on other non-dual carriageway trunk roads would be futile, due to traffic congestion. A Stratford Road express service (for example), would be no quicker, as it still has to sit in the same traffic as the 'regular' services.

And Nathan, please go to Google Maps, and try and work out what dual carriageway an express 71 service could use to get from Sutton Coldfield to Solihull in a faster time, and still be able to pick up passengers en-route to make money.

At last someone with sense I have made the same point but just get lambasted via karma or other ways express routes only work on the points you have made like the suggestion on A 9 express route there is some dual carriage way but where is the dual carrigeway into stourbridge from halesowen and on the hagley rd from bearwood and look at five ways even with the underpass it still queues

Wrong. In fact I'm surprised that the isn't already an Xhagley route, and the 9 would probably be the best route, the 140 as that's always crowded,  and would be the only X to Dudley (Don't quote me on that I'm not sure) or the 126 as that would really compete with the tram, and the L.M train     

[monkeyjoe]

The 19s and 926 were limited stop vis the Hagley Road and I don't think they worked.

[winston]

The 19s and 926 were limited stop vis the Hagley Road and I don't think they worked.

The Hagley Rd has had a limited stop service for a good number of years going to Haleoswen & Hasbury that I can remember i.e. 902, 900 & 19S, peak workings were always busy. I think the final nail in the coffin was when the 19 was fully withdrawn & replaced by peak only workings as the 919 which followed the same line of route as the 9 omitting the Quinton Expressway

[Dylan4579]

Ok to make the X9 work have a peak time only limited stop and a peak and off peak 9 a bit like the 10/H

[Kevin]

At last someone with sense I have made the same point but just get lambasted via karma or other ways express routes only work on the points you have made like the suggestion on A 9 express route there is some dual carriage way but where is the dual carrigeway into stourbridge from halesowen and on the hagley rd from bearwood and look at five ways even with the underpass it still queues

The X51 doesnt run on a dual carriageway in Walsall, therefore it won't work and shouldnt exist?

[Ash]

It's not concerning Brum but I would like to see an Express Service between Dudley and Merry Hill that's non stop between the two destinations just shuttling passengers may be name it the "shopper shuttle". As the X96 has lots it's X really as it stops at all the stops between Merry Hill and Dudley.

[Discodave]

At last someone with sense I have made the same point but just get lambasted via karma or other ways express routes only work on the points you have made like the suggestion on A 9 express route there is some dual carriage way but where is the dual carrigeway into stourbridge from halesowen and on the hagley rd from bearwood and look at five ways even with the underpass it still queues

The X51 doesnt run on a dual carriageway in Walsall, therefore it won't work and shouldnt exist?

What are you on about was not even posting about the X51 and the A34 is a dual carriageway use it enough I know and was a regular 951 (X51 predessessor) and 51 driver know the whole of the route and where all of the dual carriageway and bus lanes etc exist

[SMK]

At last someone with sense I have made the same point but just get lambasted via karma or other ways express routes only work on the points you have made like the suggestion on A 9 express route there is some dual carriage way but where is the dual carrigeway into stourbridge from halesowen and on the hagley rd from bearwood and look at five ways even with the underpass it still queues

The X51 doesnt run on a dual carriageway in Walsall, therefore it won't work and shouldnt exist?

What are you on about was not even posting about the X51 and the A34 is a dual carriageway use it enough I know and was a regular 951 (X51 predessessor) and 51 driver know the whole of the route and where all of the dual carriageway and bus lanes etc exist

I think what Kevin is trying to say is that due to part of the X51 route not being a dual carraiageway, the X51 shouldn't work. But because it does, then a X9 would be viable because part of the 9's route isn't a dual carriageway either.
Though I wouldn't compare the two routes because the 51 route has a higher percentage of dual carriageway, bus lanes, flyovers and underpasses that the X51 utilises.

[notepanel]

At last someone with sense I have made the same point but just get lambasted via karma or other ways express routes only work on the points you have made like the suggestion on A 9 express route there is some dual carriage way but where is the dual carrigeway into stourbridge from halesowen and on the hagley rd from bearwood and look at five ways even with the underpass it still queues

The X51 doesnt run on a dual carriageway in Walsall, therefore it won't work and shouldnt exist?

What are you on about was not even posting about the X51 and the A34 is a dual carriageway use it enough I know and was a regular 951 (X51 predessessor) and 51 driver know the whole of the route and where all of the dual carriageway and bus lanes etc exist

I think what Kevin is trying to say is that due to part of the X51 route not being a dual carraiageway, the X51 shouldn't work. But because it does, then a X9 would be viable because part of the 9's route isn't a dual carriageway either.
Though I wouldn't compare the two routes because the 51 route has a higher percentage of dual carriageway, bus lanes, flyovers and underpasses that the X51 utilises.

At times, the X51 is timetabled to be just a few minutes quicker than the standard 51. The fact it cuts out the majority of undesirable characters from the Perry Barr/Newtown areas is in my opinion another major factor in it's success.

[winston]

At last someone with sense I have made the same point but just get lambasted via karma or other ways express routes only work on the points you have made like the suggestion on A 9 express route there is some dual carriage way but where is the dual carrigeway into stourbridge from halesowen and on the hagley rd from bearwood and look at five ways even with the underpass it still queues

The X51 doesnt run on a dual carriageway in Walsall, therefore it won't work and shouldnt exist?

What are you on about was not even posting about the X51 and the A34 is a dual carriageway use it enough I know and was a regular 951 (X51 predessessor) and 51 driver know the whole of the route and where all of the dual carriageway and bus lanes etc exist

I think what Kevin is trying to say is that due to part of the X51 route not being a dual carraiageway, the X51 shouldn't work. But because it does, then a X9 would be viable because part of the 9's route isn't a dual carriageway either.
Though I wouldn't compare the two routes because the 51 route has a higher percentage of dual carriageway, bus lanes, flyovers and underpasses that the X51 utilises.

Surely an express/limited stop route doesn't have to run just along dual carriageways, it is purely a bonus if there are some sections of dual carriageway along route. The point is that an express/limited stop version of say the 9 wouldn't stop at as many stops as the current stopping service, it would stop at the main stops/busiest stops only, it is here where the journey times are reduced as it doesn't have to stop so often & loose time doing so. Therefore passengers traveling end to end use the limited stop service  for quicker journey times whilst passengers only travel part route use the standard stopping service. I think a Hagley Road X9 could work particularly at peak times as much of the Hagley Road is dual carriageway some sections with bus lanes & an X9 buses could omit Quinton and use the Quinton Expressway, this could potentially tempt commuters to use the bus instead of the train from the Stourbridge end. The fact the Hagley Road gets snarled up with traffic as peak times is a fact of life whether in a car, on a standard No 9 or a limited stop X9 you will sit in regardless.

[Justin Tyme]

The X51 seems to work because it is normally considerably quicker than the 51, thanks to the dual carriageway, underpasses and flyovers allowing a good speed to be maintained.  The bottom line is that if you want to travel between Birmingham and anywhere north of the M6, it is worth letting 51s go by and waiting for an X51.

Outside the peaks a Limited Stop Birmingham - Halesowen service probably would work - after all, Midland Red X92/X93 provided just this for many years.  But in the peaks, a Limited Stop bus would be hardly any quicker - almost certainly not enough to make it worth waiting for one if a 9 or 141 turned up first.

[nitromatt1]

For once I must say I would agree with Winston, the constant stop-start at almost every bus stop along the Hagley road can be frustrating and cause the bus to lose time. Using the Quinton Expressway could also knock a good 5 minutes off the journey time, and from an enthusiast's point of view would also be a nice thrash!

[Kevin]

I think what Kevin is trying to say is that due to part of the X51 route not being a dual carraiageway, the X51 shouldn't work. But because it does, then a X9 would be viable because part of the 9's route isn't a dual carriageway either.
Though I wouldn't compare the two routes because the 51 route has a higher percentage of dual carriageway, bus lanes, flyovers and underpasses that the X51 utilises.

Exactly what I was trying to say. Christ I'm not saying the X51 isn't a good thing, hell I live on the route and forever greatful for it. Just saying that just because the 9 doens't have major stretches of dual carriageway and underpasses etc doesn't mean an express service wouldnt work. The City - Halesowen section, although yes it doesnt compare exactly to the city - scott arms section of the x51, is surely good enough for an express service? And beyond Halesowen (granted it has been a few years since I've been all the way to Stourbridge on it) if it is single carriageway, providing little overtaking opportunities etc, then it's only like the X51 along the Birmingham Road in Walsall, and yet that is still limited stop, and being limited stop on these sections I would say is just as important as having sections where there are no stops to miss out (on the flyovers)

Outside the peaks a Limited Stop Birmingham - Halesowen service probably would work - after all, Midland Red X92/X93 provided just this for many years.  But in the peaks, a Limited Stop bus would be hardly any quicker - almost certainly not enough to make it worth waiting for one if a 9 or 141 turned up first.

And in that sense I would also compare it the the X51, sometimes in the peak hours I've caught the 51 (having to get off in Newtown) and it's been just as quick/slow as the X51

[sonic84]

I guess NXWM have tried an express route along the Hagley Road with the 19S back in the 90's, followed by the shortlived 919 and if I remember correctly the 919 followed exactly the same route as the 9 between Halesowen and Birmingham.

The problem with the Hagley Road it can take up to 40 mins to get from Colmore Row up to Monument Road, and then Manor Way is another section where the traffic can crawl.

I guess there isn't a demand for it. 

However, contradicting myself now, back when I lived in Halesowen I always caught the 192 over the 9 or the 141 as fewer people used it so it did get to Halesowen quicker, although that is more down to the Travelcard not being able to be used on it.

[Sh4318]

Wouldn't an express 141 between Halesowen and Birmingham be faster than an express 9?