Yardley Wood Garage

[37351ml]

7536 out on 50 but the driver can smell burning. Service delivery manager  giving it the once over at moor street.

[darthdc]

I presume 7536 had suffered problems in Moor Street today. Was parked at the #50 bus stop, with hazards on. Displays on it were switched off.

[4369Beast]

Evening, im not sure if many of you will know but an ex yw driver who moved down south to take up freelance coaching was involved in a RTC on Saturday (14/09/19). Dave Baker was out riding his bike when a 4x4/jeep came round the corner on the wrong side of the road and hit him and he died instantly in Sussex. Maybe in his memory YW could have one of the new platinum's named after him. Although I think the next new batch are due in the new year for the 6.

[darthdc]

Saw 7536 in Shirley today, operating on #6. Clearly solved the problem from Saturday.

[mesub]

7525 is on the 18

[Stu]

While waiting for the 3 this evening, two Platinums on the 6 passed by within a few minutes of each other, both looked very full, the first one didn't stop and went straight past, although another waiting passenger at the stop flagged them down, the next one let off a few passengers before the stop, but wasn't picking anyone else up.

The 4 and 4A also looked full, lucky for me the 3 wasn't too full when it arrived.

If there'd been a gap in service, I wouldn't be surprised, as the traffic lately has just been ridiculous, congestion everywhere.

It comes to something when double-decks are put on the 6 because the single-decks couldn't cope with the loadings, and even now the double-decks can't (at times) cope.

[Busboy105]

It's because of the latest East Birmingham changes which saw the 5 being rerouted and the 31 being curtailed to Acocks Green which has left the 6 to deal with the passengers. The 6 can't run on its own, unlike the 60 which did have its frequency increased after changes to the 58 and the 59. There needs to be a service running alongside the 6 so if I was in charge, I would reintroduce the 6A and make it run all day (it could run up the Shaftmoor Lane to Acocks Green and then up the Shirley Road to RHI and then run the 6 route to Solihull).

[2206]

It's because of the latest East Birmingham changes which saw the 5 being rerouted and the 31 being curtailed to Acocks Green which has left the 6 to deal with the passengers. The 6 can't run on its own, unlike the 60 which did have its frequency increased after changes to the 58 and the 59. There needs to be a service running alongside the 6 so if I was in charge, I would reintroduce the 6A and make it run all day (it could run up the Shaftmoor Lane to Acocks Green and then up the Shirley Road to RHI and then run the 6 route to Solihull).

Or just increase the frequency between Birmingham and Shirley if that's the case. I've not seen any look like they're struggling in Solihull, so possibly not much need for an increased frequency all the way to Solihull.

[Busboy105]

What's the current frequency between Birmingham and Shirley?

[Sh4318]

It's because of the latest East Birmingham changes which saw the 5 being rerouted and the 31 being curtailed to Acocks Green which has left the 6 to deal with the passengers. The 6 can't run on its own, unlike the 60 which did have its frequency increased after changes to the 58 and the 59. There needs to be a service running alongside the 6 so if I was in charge, I would reintroduce the 6A and make it run all day (it could run up the Shaftmoor Lane to Acocks Green and then up the Shirley Road to RHI and then run the 6 route to Solihull).

I feel like I said this a year ago.

So is the 18 the route that's been converted to single deck?

What's the current frequency between Birmingham and Shirley?

5 - every 20 minutes
6 - every 7/8 minutes
Rail - every 20 minutes

[Busboy105]

Probably yeah, don't think it carries a lot of passengers as a double decker like the 2,3,49 and the 76.

[Busboy105]

I feel like I said this a year ago.

So is the 18 the route that's been converted to single deck?

5 - every 20 minutes
6 - every 7/8 minutes
Rail - every 20 minutes

People take the train to Shirley? Isn't the station like 10 minutes from the town centre?

[2206]

People take the train to Shirley? Isn't the station like 10 minutes from the town centre?

The train station is fairly far away from the High Street.
You have to walk 20 minutes or get the 49 to get to the High Street.

[Sh4318]

People take the train to Shirley? Isn't the station like 10 minutes from the town centre?

Well, he didn't say where in Shirley. So...

[Stu]

It's because of the latest East Birmingham changes which saw the 5 being rerouted and the 31 being curtailed to Acocks Green which has left the 6 to deal with the passengers. The 6 can't run on its own, unlike the 60 which did have its frequency increased after changes to the 58 and the 59. There needs to be a service running alongside the 6 so if I was in charge, I would reintroduce the 6A and make it run all day (it could run up the Shaftmoor Lane to Acocks Green and then up the Shirley Road to RHI and then run the 6 route to Solihull).

But you have to understand where the demand is, as well as appreciate the nature of 'circumstances'.

The Stratford Road between city centre and Sparkbrook is well served by buses 2, 3, 4, 4A, 5 and 6.

I personally usually catch the 2 or 3 from the Auckland Road stop (the first one on Stratford Road) to get home to Billesley, but I do also on occasion get the 5, and more rarely the 6.

I have managed to fight my way onto overcrowded buses on the 2, 3 and 5, only to find then that large numbers of people do get off at stops further down towards Aldi (Palmerston Road). So my conclusion is that there are a large number of passengers who only travel as far as Sparkbrook. Naturally if these people are waiting for a bus at Carrs Lane in the city centre, they will all try and pile onto the first bus that arrives there. And if traffic congestion means that gaps in service have appeared, you'll have huge crowds of people waiting to get on that first bus that comes. And that could equally be a single-deck on the 4 / 4A, or a double-deck on the 2, 3, 5 or 6.

The two most frequent services to Sparkbrook are the 4/4A and 6, under normal circumstances alongside the 2, 3 and 5 you should have a bus every few minutes, so capacity 'on paper' shouldn't be an issue.

But again 'circumstances'. What's causing the 'gaps' in service, and how can this be combatted? NX do run adjusted short journeys where buses towards city terminate short at Camp Hill, which is great for passengers like myself, but wouldn't help those passengers within the middle ring road trying to squeeze onto overcrowded less-frequent buses trying to get to the suburbs beyond Sparkbrook and Sparkhill.

Rather than introducing new 'A' variant routes or increasing the frequency along the whole route, exploring the option of running (or introducing) more 'E' journeys to cover the busier parts of the route would probably be a better option.