Old routes to be re-instated & Replaced routes to be withdrawn

[4504]

Why was the 247/248 withdrawn? There seems to be a couple of people that disagree with the withdrawal of the service. I can't wrap my head round why they withdrew the 99/138, even they've virtually brought back the 138E (141).

I'll second that, I was quite surprised when they got withdrawn, I always thought they were pretty busy most of the time, at one point busy enough to sustain both WMT/TWM & BCC for quite a while...... Only a portion of the 247/248 remains under NXWM as the 276 & I suppose the 244 to a degree. The Stourbrige - Halesowen section is Diamond's route 142.

I took passengers in Halesowen a long while to get a direct service to Russells Hall Hospital back since they were withdrawn

Bring back the 247/248

[winston]

I can only assume that the 247/248 was withdrawn due to low passenger numbers over sections of the full route (which required 8 buses if I remember right), at some point can't remember when I think the 247/248 then became the 242/242A and that route was withdrawn as part of the Dudley Review. Sections of the former route still remain i.e. the Dudley - Halesowen remains to a slightly different route as the 244, the 297 serves part of the former 247/248 route around the Old Hill Station area and the 276 covers the former Pedmore - Merry Hill via Stourbridge section. Diamond bus does the Halesowen - Stourbridge section as their 142. I always thought it was a well used service & it ran daily.

The 99 was only really withdrawn between Halesowen & Birmingham, but an increased frequency on the No 9 no doubt covered that. While the Halesowen - Merry Hill section was covered by extending the 222. I believe the 141 was re-routed to introduce a direct link to Birmingham for people living in the Cradley Heath & Old Hill areas due to complaints etc

Why was the 247/248 withdrawn? There seems to be a couple of people that disagree with the withdrawal of the service. I can't wrap my head round why they withdrew the 99/138, even they've virtually brought back the 138E (141).

I'll second that, I was quite surprised when they got withdrawn, I always thought they were pretty busy most of the time, at one point busy enough to sustain both WMT/TWM & BCC for quite a while...... Only a portion of the 247/248 remains under NXWM as the 276 & I suppose the 244 to a degree. The Stourbrige - Halesowen section is Diamond's route 142.

I took passengers in Halesowen a long while to get a direct service to Russells Hall Hospital back since they were withdrawn

Bring back the 247/248

[4504]

Then why was the 222 curtailed and the 297 extended. It seems like they change this corridor every year and it seems completely pointless to me

I can only assume that the 247/248 was withdrawn due to low passenger numbers over sections of the full route (which required 8 buses if I remember right), at some point can't remember when I think the 247/248 then became the 242/242A and that route was withdrawn as part of the Dudley Review. Sections of the former route still remain i.e. the Dudley - Halesowen remains to a slightly different route as the 244, the 297 serves part of the former 247/248 route around the Old Hill Station area and the 276 covers the former Pedmore - Merry Hill via Stourbridge section. Diamond bus does the Halesowen - Stourbridge section as their 142. I always thought it was a well used service & it ran daily.

The 99 was only really withdrawn between Halesowen & Birmingham, but an increased frequency on the No 9 no doubt covered that. While the Halesowen - Merry Hill section was covered by extending the 222. I believe the 141 was re-routed to introduce a direct link to Birmingham for people living in the Cradley Heath & Old Hill areas due to complaints etc

Why was the 247/248 withdrawn? There seems to be a couple of people that disagree with the withdrawal of the service. I can't wrap my head round why they withdrew the 99/138, even they've virtually brought back the 138E (141).

I'll second that, I was quite surprised when they got withdrawn, I always thought they were pretty busy most of the time, at one point busy enough to sustain both WMT/TWM & BCC for quite a while...... Only a portion of the 247/248 remains under NXWM as the 276 & I suppose the 244 to a degree. The Stourbrige - Halesowen section is Diamond's route 142.

I took passengers in Halesowen a long while to get a direct service to Russells Hall Hospital back since they were withdrawn

Bring back the 247/248

[winston]

Not totally sure, I struggle to keep up as they keep chopping & changing the routes/route numbers so frequently. I believe the 222 was struggling with reliability issues, and capacity could have also been a problem with the 222 using B6's. Full size single deckers can get round the 222 route, but it can be difficult at certain times of the day due to parked cars/narrow streets etc. The 297 has been allocated Merc's since a large number of B6's were withdraw from Pensnett, so by extending the 297 to Halesowen you can increase capacity

Then why was the 222 curtailed and the 297 extended. It seems like they change this corridor every year and it seems completely pointless to me

I can only assume that the 247/248 was withdrawn due to low passenger numbers over sections of the full route (which required 8 buses if I remember right), at some point can't remember when I think the 247/248 then became the 242/242A and that route was withdrawn as part of the Dudley Review. Sections of the former route still remain i.e. the Dudley - Halesowen remains to a slightly different route as the 244, the 297 serves part of the former 247/248 route around the Old Hill Station area and the 276 covers the former Pedmore - Merry Hill via Stourbridge section. Diamond bus does the Halesowen - Stourbridge section as their 142. I always thought it was a well used service & it ran daily.

The 99 was only really withdrawn between Halesowen & Birmingham, but an increased frequency on the No 9 no doubt covered that. While the Halesowen - Merry Hill section was covered by extending the 222. I believe the 141 was re-routed to introduce a direct link to Birmingham for people living in the Cradley Heath & Old Hill areas due to complaints etc

Why was the 247/248 withdrawn? There seems to be a couple of people that disagree with the withdrawal of the service. I can't wrap my head round why they withdrew the 99/138, even they've virtually brought back the 138E (141).

I'll second that, I was quite surprised when they got withdrawn, I always thought they were pretty busy most of the time, at one point busy enough to sustain both WMT/TWM & BCC for quite a while...... Only a portion of the 247/248 remains under NXWM as the 276 & I suppose the 244 to a degree. The Stourbrige - Halesowen section is Diamond's route 142.

I took passengers in Halesowen a long while to get a direct service to Russells Hall Hospital back since they were withdrawn

Bring back the 247/248

[wilmotm (Matt Wilmot)]

I agree, they can't seem to make up their minds about the 297, 222, corridor routes. They've just changed the 297 again haven't they to go up into Stickley estate again and it wouldn't surprise me if it was routed back to Dudley again eventually as that extra 10 minutes journey wouldn't take up that much time, and since Stickley is half way between Gornal and Dudley anyway and Especially as the three buses an hour from Gornal, 257 and 27A can often get fairly crowded surprisingly enough, was on the last 27A for the evening last week on a WN Merc and there really was only standing room left. It's also amusing as the Merc's at PE don't seem to have Stickley estate on the blinds unsurprisingly, how many people on the board have heard of Stickley? So it does often leave passengers confused in Gornal bus station why the buses keep dissappearing off still displaying Gornal even though they technically have reached Gornal.

[winston]

The 297 was extended to serve Stickley Estate due to complaints & pressure from local councillors following its curtailment to Gornal Wood only, I believe the local residents also wanted it fully re-instated back to serving Dudley as well, but it was extended to Stickley on a trial basis for starters / use it of loose it etc.......

I agree, they can't seem to make up their minds about the 297, 222, corridor routes. They've just changed the 297 again haven't they to go up into Stickley estate again and it wouldn't surprise me if it was routed back to Dudley again eventually as that extra 10 minutes journey wouldn't take up that much time, and since Stickley is half way between Gornal and Dudley anyway and Especially as the three buses an hour from Gornal, 257 and 27A can often get fairly crowded surprisingly enough, was on the last 27A for the evening last week on a WN Merc and there really was only standing room left. It's also amusing as the Merc's at PE don't seem to have Stickley estate on the blinds unsurprisingly, how many people on the board have heard of Stickley? So it does often leave passengers confused in Gornal bus station why the buses keep dissappearing off still displaying Gornal even though they technically have reached Gornal.

[Nathan4775]

993 - Every 20 minutes interworking with the 992
935 - Every 30 minutes

The 935 is every 15 minutes in PM peaks, runs as an E journey to Kingstanding then goes onto the A to Rushall.

Oh ye peaks you got an evry 15 minutes frequency same for AM journeys except they terminate at Hardwick Arms

Daytime wise the 994 prvided an every 20 minute frequency so did the 993 before the 992/994 were created but now you only have a half hourly service to Streetly meaning that from Kingstanding - Sreetly daytimes you have lost 1 bus, which to be fair doesnt bother the passangers really

[4504]

But I suppose now you have an extra service to Walsall, I'm not sure I don't know that area too well.
Why did they withdraw the 992/3/4?  :o

993 - Every 20 minutes interworking with the 992
935 - Every 30 minutes

The 935 is every 15 minutes in PM peaks, runs as an E journey to Kingstanding then goes onto the A to Rushall.

Oh ye peaks you got an evry 15 minutes frequency same for AM journeys except they terminate at Hardwick Arms

Daytime wise the 994 prvided an every 20 minute frequency so did the 993 before the 992/994 were created but now you only have a half hourly service to Streetly meaning that from Kingstanding - Sreetly daytimes you have lost 1 bus, which to be fair doesnt bother the passangers really

[Nathan4775]

But I suppose now you have an extra service to Walsall, I'm not sure I don't know that area too well.
Why did they withdraw the 992/3/4?  :o

993 - Every 20 minutes interworking with the 992
935 - Every 30 minutes

The 935 is every 15 minutes in PM peaks, runs as an E journey to Kingstanding then goes onto the A to Rushall.

Oh ye peaks you got an evry 15 minutes frequency same for AM journeys except they terminate at Hardwick Arms

Daytime wise the 994 prvided an every 20 minute frequency so did the 993 before the 992/994 were created but now you only have a half hourly service to Streetly meaning that from Kingstanding - Sreetly daytimes you have lost 1 bus, which to be fair doesnt bother the passangers really

It cxouldnt have been of low usage, im guessing it was to make travel simpler

[MW]

It cxouldnt have been of low usage, im guessing it was to make travel simpler

Why couldn't it have?

[Tony]

It cxouldnt have been of low usage, im guessing it was to make travel simpler

Why couldn't it have?

Because Nathan personally counts all the passengers on services in that area

[MW]

It cxouldnt have been of low usage, im guessing it was to make travel simpler

Why couldn't it have?

Because Nathan personally counts all the passengers on services in that area

I wouldn't count on his numbers. He's around 12 so how old was he in those days. Oh how I laugh when he remembers the Jubilee Tridents. He would have been 2 years old.

[danny]

His 15 I remember ageegate on another convo, come on guys let's all play nice we all here for the same reason

[4504]

If its just to create the link between Russell's Hall and Halesowen, can't they just extend the 141, or bring back the 138?

I agree, they can't seem to make up their minds about the 297, 222, corridor routes. They've just changed the 297 again haven't they to go up into Stickley estate again and it wouldn't surprise me if it was routed back to Dudley again eventually as that extra 10 minutes journey wouldn't take up that much time, and since Stickley is half way between Gornal and Dudley anyway and Especially as the three buses an hour from Gornal, 257 and 27A can often get fairly crowded surprisingly enough, was on the last 27A for the evening last week on a WN Merc and there really was only standing room left. It's also amusing as the Merc's at PE don't seem to have Stickley estate on the blinds unsurprisingly, how many people on the board have heard of Stickley? So it does often leave passengers confused in Gornal bus station why the buses keep dissappearing off still displaying Gornal even though they technically have reached Gornal.

[Roy]

If its just to create the link between Russell's Hall and Halesowen, can't they just extend the 141, or bring back the 138?

I agree, they can't seem to make up their minds about the 297, 222, corridor routes. They've just changed the 297 again haven't they to go up into Stickley estate again and it wouldn't surprise me if it was routed back to Dudley again eventually as that extra 10 minutes journey wouldn't take up that much time, and since Stickley is half way between Gornal and Dudley anyway and Especially as the three buses an hour from Gornal, 257 and 27A can often get fairly crowded surprisingly enough, was on the last 27A for the evening last week on a WN Merc and there really was only standing room left. It's also amusing as the Merc's at PE don't seem to have Stickley estate on the blinds unsurprisingly, how many people on the board have heard of Stickley? So it does often leave passengers confused in Gornal bus station why the buses keep dissappearing off still displaying Gornal even though they technically have reached Gornal.

The fact that the 297 still displays Gornal Wood as the destination is because Pensnett garage haven't got a insert to append to their destination blinds yet.  When the X96 was extended to Wrens Nest, it took about 2 months before the destination "Dudley then Wrens Nest" started appearing on the buses.

In a more cynical mood, I think what happened was as follows.  NXWM wanted to reduce the 222 from every 10 minutes to every 12 minutes.  If they did that, they could not run a half-hourly service to Halesowen (they'd have to be 24 minutes then 36 minutes for 2 buses per hour).  So they needed to find another route to extend to Halesowen.  The 297 was perfect - it ran every 30 minutes and terminated at Merry Hill.  It also provided a quicker link from Halesowen to Russells Hall Hospital. 

At the same time, the Gornal Councillor, David Stanley, was campaigning to get the 297 extended at the other end back to Dudley via Stickley Estate.  NXWM obviously discovered that, if they ran Gornal Wood to Halesowen, the bus would hang around Gornal Wood Bus Station for 11 minutes.  Therefore, they had time to extend the service to Stickley Estate and appease the local councillor.  Any further extension to Dudley would require the use of an extra duty but "would be considered in the future".

The local councillor was thrilled as he got a "result" just before the local elections and was able to publicise his "success" in the local press.  The only thing that went wrong was that he was beaten in the local council elections just weeks afterwards.