VERY Late running services

[j789]

Is that why the Bloxwich to Wolverhampton route got reduced from every 20 mins to every 30 mins then?

I'm not overly familiar with that route but has the reliability improved since the decrease? Of course, there are other reasons for decreasing frequency so it may be more that rather than for reliability reasons.

[I love Walsall buses]

 :'(

I'm not overly familiar with that route but has the reliability improved since the decrease? Of course, there are other reasons for decreasing frequency so it may be more that rather than for reliability reasons.

There was a man in bloxwich while we was waiting to depart on the 29 askinh the driver where the 9 was and said hes been waiting for an hour and half for 1 towards Wolverhampton but im not familiar with that route either

[Westy]

My sister uses that route for work  in Wednesfield,  & let's say she is highly critical of it's reliability!

She gets me to contact Nx on her behalf on Twitter on a few occasions!

[Sh4318]

Having a higher frequency in no way guarantees a more reliable service, it just means more vehicles get bunched together after getting caught in delays. It is actually more effective to keep the same number of vehicles on a route but slightly lower the frequency (giving more recovery time at both ends of the route). This can improve reliability as buses are more likely to stick to timetabled times as even if they get delayed having 15-20 minutes make up time at the terminus allows at each some of those delays to be covered.

NXWM have done this with services as Tony has previously pointed out and it makes sense for both passengers and the financial viability of routes. Sticking more buses on a route just to get delayed and run round together in 3 and 4s carrying fresh air is not the way to go to operate a successful route. Reducing frequency is therefore not always a bad thing - better to have a bus turn up every 20 minutes than advertise a 12 min frequency that has big gaps in it due to delays.

There needs to be a happy medium here and the council and highways department need to be significantly better than they are currently. The main trunk routes into Brum (and other large towns and cities in the West Midlands) all need a significant package of road improvements for buses. Rather than wasting millions on short tram extensions, money should be far moreinvested in the road system instead. Until that happens, reliability will not and cannot improve and there is no point blaming the company as they are very restricted on what they can actually do on certain routes crossing over many main roads like the 11 and 28 do.

I didn't say it does. I was thinking in terms of capacity

[Gareth]

What about routes that were approx 15 an hour and now reduced to 12 an hour. But still run in bunches of 2,3,4 and 5 with large gaps inbetween. Where's the reliability there?

Where exactly and what are the issues on the 94 and 95?

[2206]

What about routes that were approx 15 an hour and now reduced to 12 an hour.

In regards to the frequency change, have you noticed any capacity issues. It was every 4 minutes, now every 5 minutes from Ward End to City. I don't think anyones noticed anything different as far as I know?
They do run together though sometimes, but they're frequent routes. And it gets allocated better buses than the 28, etc.

[Gareth]

In regards to the frequency change, have you noticed any capacity issues. It was every 4 minutes, now every 5 minutes from Ward End to City. I don't think anyones noticed anything different as far as I know?
They do run together though sometimes, but they're frequent routes. And it gets allocated better buses than the 28, etc.

But they're not every 5 minutes though. You regularly get 4 within three minutes, then nothing for 15 or 20 minutes. And it's only been like that for the last couple of months.

[2206]

But they're not every 5 minutes though. You regularly get 4 within three minutes, then nothing for 15 or 20 minutes. And it's only been like that for the last couple of months.

Its probably down to road conditions, City Centre, traffic lights at the ring road, traffic by Ward End Fire Station/traffic by Washwood Heath, Aston Church Road lights/traffic by Hunters Moon etc.
When I use them I never have to wait long anyway though. I'd get one of the back ones if they stop personally as well, if the front ones full.

Claribels also seem to sometimes turn there last one at Fox & Goose short when its running late instead of going into Town or run shorts to Bacons End the other way.

[Trident 4194]

But they're not every 5 minutes though. You regularly get 4 within three minutes, then nothing for 15 or 20 minutes. And it's only been like that for the last couple of months.

The 11A/11C solution hasn't gone too well from my experiences the past few days. Yesterday 3 11As arrived at the kings head together and then there was a massive gap in service. This morning my 11A was 18 minutes late.

[Mike K]

In regards to the frequency change, have you noticed any capacity issues. It was every 4 minutes, now every 5 minutes from Ward End to City. I don't think anyones noticed anything different as far as I know?
They do run together though sometimes, but they're frequent routes. And it gets allocated better buses than the 28, etc.

15 buses an hour down to 12 is a 20% reduction in capacity. Probably negligible impact at non-busy times but at the peak of rush hour, with buses already busy, that's going to have a noticeable impact. Compound that with late running and you quickly reach a position where people are being left behind at stops.

[2206]

15 buses an hour down to 12 is a 20% reduction in capacity. Probably negligible impact at non-busy times but at the peak of rush hour, with buses already busy, that's going to have a noticeable impact. Compound that with late running and you quickly reach a position where people are being left behind at stops.

So what times and locations were you left behind by this service at then?
A bus going from every 4 to every 5 minutes or every 9 to every 10 minutes is negilible to be honest. I did use it rush hour yesterday and last week and never had any problem. I'm sure NX would know what the passenger numbers are on the service before they reduce them. And they use bigger buses than they used to aswell.

[Mike K]

So what times and locations were you left behind by this service at then?
A bus going from every 4 to every 5 minutes or every 9 to every 10 minutes is negilible to be honest. I did use it rush hour yesterday and last week and never had any problem. I'm sure NX would know what the passenger numbers are on the service before they reduce them. And they use bigger buses than they used to aswell.

I don't use them and never will - I have no reason to travel to east Birmingham. The core corridors in Birmingham are very heavily used in peak periods, all it takes is a couple of buses to be running late on routes like the 50, 23/24, 61/63 etc and the crowds quickly build. Merely pointing out that reducing services by 2-3 buses an hour only compounds the challenges that some of these routes face. If it had no impact, then these services would have been running at these new revised frequencies all along, and making greater profits at the same time.

Oh, and as for your comment about NX knowing what passenger numbers are before they reduce them, I'll remind you of that the next time you rant about the X2.

[2206]

I don't use them and never will - I have no reason to travel to east Birmingham. The core corridors in Birmingham are very heavily used in peak periods, all it takes is a couple of buses to be running late on routes like the 50, 23/24, 61/63 etc and the crowds quickly build. Merely pointing out that reducing services by 2-3 buses an hour only compounds the challenges that some of these routes face. If it had no impact, then these services would have been running at these new revised frequencies all along, and making greater profits at the same time.

Oh, and as for your comment about NX knowing what passenger numbers are before they reduce them, I'll remind you of that the next time you rant about the X2.

I wasn't saying there wasn't a problem I was just wondering if you had a real life example and the crowds do build up quickly. The X2 is far less frequent than the 94/95 though and is packed going into Solihull in the rush hour, and when gaps appear in service or they run late its far more noticeable at that frequency.

[Mike K]

I wasn't saying there wasn't a problem I was just wondering if you had a real life example and the crowds do build up quickly. The X2 is far less frequent than the 94/95 though and is packed going into Solihull in the rush hour, and when gaps appear in service or they run late its far more noticeable at that frequency.

Well the argument you used to sarcastically dismiss my comment completely contradicts your own argument about the issues with the X2.

[Gareth]

My comments about the 94/95 aren't about capacity. It's about reducing a service to improve reliability when it's exactly the same as before. Bunching then long gaps in service. That's not improving reliability.