Birmingham Central Garage

[CL]

Definitely not.
5511 was on on the 94/95 several weeks ago on the board that does the 891 school service. That being one of several that have appeared. The first I recall seeing was in March 2020 AM peak 94 BC board.
https://bustimes.org/vehicles/278484?date=2022-01-11

None have ever done the X12/X13 I think though, as far as I know.

5511 slipped onto the X12 at some point last year

https://www.facebook.com/groups/psvcircle/permalink/5140298379321664/

[MasterPlan]

To be fair they seem to be away from BC a lot these days judging by the away from home garage thread, getting fixed or whatever. Does anyone know why that is?

[Tony]

To be fair they seem to be away from BC a lot these days judging by the away from home garage thread, getting fixed or whatever. Does anyone know why that is?

Hartshornes do most major maintenance. And Graysons have been fitting e-fans

[2206]

X21/X22's on University corridor were packed with full standing loads this afternoon.
6837 and then 4945 drove straight past St James Road stop with full standing loads at about 15:00. The next one 6881 stopped with standing load.

[Ronnoc]

X21/X22's on University corridor were packed with full standing loads this afternoon.
6837 and then 4945 drove straight past St James Road stop with full standing loads at about 15:00. The next one 6881 stopped with standing load.

The X21/X22 definitely does need some frequency increases, especially during peak times where there are school kids + university students, often leaving many buses packed to the brim.

[Tony]

The X21/X22 definitely does need some frequency increases, especially during peak times where there are school kids + university students, often leaving many buses packed to the brim.

There's a few routes NX would like to increase frequencies on, but cannot until the staff situation eases

[2206]

The X21/X22 definitely does need some frequency increases, especially during peak times where there are school kids + university students, often leaving many buses packed to the brim.

There's a few routes NX would like to increase frequencies on, but cannot until the staff situation eases

So frequency increase on X21/X22 might happen eventually then or even a return of the X20 maybe.

[Sayeed]

So frequency increase on X21/X22 might happen eventually then or even a return of the X20 maybe.

Or maybe just create short City to University route.

[mesub]

So frequency increase on X21/X22 might happen eventually then or even a return of the X20 maybe.

If the X20 does return (which I don't easily believe will happen), I think there's a possibility that it'll only run to Northfield, possibly Longbridge.

[2206]

If the X20 does return (which I don't easily believe will happen), I think there's a possibility that it'll only run to Northfield, possibly Longbridge.

If it did ever return, it could presumably replace the 20 which currently runs to Cofton Hackett every 20 minutes.
Plus would need extra vehicles than currently used on the 20 with an extension into the City Centre and also double decks instead of Scanias I guess.

[MasterPlan]

If the X20 does return (which I don't easily believe will happen), I think there's a possibility that it'll only run to Northfield, possibly Longbridge.

It would depend on the reason for its withdrawal, surely.

[Steve3229vp]

If the X20 does return (which I don't easily believe will happen), I think there's a possibility that it'll only run to Northfield, possibly Longbridge.

There's no point it running to Northfield or Longbridge because Rednal still needs to be served.
My prediction is that if more buses are put on the University routes then the X21 and X22 will both be increased to every 15 minutes each.

[Stu]

There's no point it running to Northfield or Longbridge because Rednal still needs to be served.
My prediction is that if more buses are put on the University routes then the X21 and X22 will both be increased to every 15 minutes each.

I would agree with you, but perhaps the frequency increase is only required at busier times.

Restoring the X20 would require undoing other changes that were made, for example to the 27 and 45, so I would doubt that is going to happen. The current arrangement for the 20 uses 2 vehicles, which come off the 27 at Cofton Hackett, and is probably the most efficient way cost-wise of running that service. The Bristol Road between Longbridge, Northfield and Selly Oak is of course well served by the 61 and 63 services, which both continue to the city centre.

[2206]

Restoring the X20 would require undoing other changes that were made, for example to the 27 and 45

Couldn't the 27 be retimetabled to make it a stand alone service if that new section is well used though. So would not necessarily mean having to reverse changes.

The current arrangement for the 20 uses 2 vehicles

Also the 20 is a 1 hour round trip looking at the timetable, so it would use 3 buses at a time I would think.

[Stu]

Couldn't the 27 be retimetabled to make it a stand alone service if that new section is well used though. So would not necessarily mean having to reverse changes. Also the 20 is a 1 hour round trip looking at the timetable, so it would use 3 buses at a time I would think.

The 27 was extended from Longbridge station to Cofton Hackett using part of the 45 route which was altered, also by terminating there it was able to efficiently interwork with the new 20 service. That extension alone probably required an extra bus, and if there was no 20 journey to go onto, then there would be a relatively long layover time at Cofton Hackett.

You may be right about using 3 buses, but whenever I've glanced at BusTimes I usually only see two buses at a time on the 20, so its perhaps one of those 'odd' services that has a PVR of 2.5 buses, or something fractional like that, due to the nature of the interworking.