Old bus routes

[Crosville]

The Suttons weren't Timesaver Routes, the 914 wasn't even from that era.
The 900 was Hasbury-Coventry
The 966 was Wolverhampton - Airport in Timesaver days.
The 951 was Bearwood - Cannock
The 952/3 were Birmingham - Brereton

In addition there was the
901 Birmingham - Walsall via Lichfield
962 Birmingham-Chelmsley Wood
967 Birmingham - Castle Vale

Cheers.

I know the original 900 was to Hasbury, which got replaced by the 19, & the 19 ended up being withdrawn. Didn't know the 951 started at Bearwood, & 952/953 went to Brereton. I remember the 950 & 952 operating on Saturdays as well as the peaks, i actually caught the 952 one Saturday afternoon from Hednesford to Birmingham.

Anyone know when the timesaver brand started, seems to me at D-Reg as the 900 was 159 before that?

[Mike K]

Cheers.

I know the original 900 was to Hasbury, which got replaced by the 19, & the 19 ended up being withdrawn. Didn't know the 951 started at Bearwood, & 952/953 went to Brereton. I remember the 950 & 952 operating on Saturdays as well as the peaks, i actually caught the 952 one Saturday afternoon from Hednesford to Birmingham.

Anyone know when the timesaver brand started, seems to me at D-Reg as the 900 was 159 before that?

The Timesaver vehicles were introduced at deregulation in 1986 but the 900 existed prior to that using standard MK2 BC Metrobuses with black and yellow Timesaver side adverts. When it first replaced the 159, the 900 went Halesowen to Coventry.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/59615439@N03/14371367944

[Stevo]

I always thought the 901 was the best service as you floated on air suspension in those comfy seats out into rural Staffordshire via the A38 to Lichfield, then couldn't get into the centre because of the low bridge so had to take a long circuit north of the town. Eventually you'd set out for Walsall. The then editor of Buses mag, Stephen Morris, saw a 901 in Walsall and thought it was direct to Brum. He had a much longer ride than he expected but what surprised him most was the fare - 32p!

[Crosville]

Wasn't the 159 which the 900 replaced, originally a Midland Red route, until Midland Red sold there routes to WMPTE, i read that Midland Red ordered a batch of Atlanteans for there West Midlands routes, the Atlanteans were then diverted to Merseyside PTE after Midland Red sold there routes, they were numbered 1236 to 1295 & became the last Atlanteans built on the PDR chassis, as the next Atlanteans were on the AN68 chassis.

[Justin Tyme]

Wasn't the 159 which the 900 replaced, originally a Midland Red route, until Midland Red sold there routes to WMPTE, i read that Midland Red ordered a batch of Atlanteans for there West Midlands routes, the Atlanteans were then diverted to Merseyside PTE after Midland Red sold there routes, they were numbered 1236 to 1295 & became the last Atlanteans built on the PDR chassis, as the next Atlanteans were on the AN68 chassis.

Yes, the 159 was a former Midland Red route, along with many, many others in the Birmingham, Solihull and Black Country areas that were sold to WMPTE in 1973.

Midland Red ordered 118 Atlanteans as part of the 1972 NBC order.  I don't think it was announced where they would be allocated to, but it was academic because they never reached Midland Red.   The 50 that were ordered with MCW bodies were diverted to London Country (30) and Maidstone & District (20), and 60 of the 68 with Alexander bodies were indeed diverted to Merseyside PTE.

Anyone know what happened to the other eight?

[Crosville]

I've just found this complete list of all the Midland Red routes that changed to the WMPTE.
http://www.stourbridgebusinfo.co.uk/ip/scanned/buses74.pdf

[JoNi]

I've just found this complete list of all the Midland Red routes that changed to the WMPTE.
http://www.stourbridgebusinfo.co.uk/ip/scanned/buses74.pdf

Love the travelcard bus!
Travel for a day in 2018 for same amount you could travel for a month in 1974!

[DJ]

Love the travelcard bus!
Travel for a day in 2018 for same amount you could travel for a month in 1974!

It's worth keeping in mind that £4 in 1974 is over £44 in today's money, due to inflation. It's still £62.50 for a 4 week one nowadays, so it has technically increased more than inflation.

[DeanM66A]

Yes, the 159 was a former Midland Red route, along with many, many others in the Birmingham, Solihull and Black Country areas that were sold to WMPTE in 1973.

Midland Red ordered 118 Atlanteans as part of the 1972 NBC order.  I don't think it was announced where they would be allocated to, but it was academic because they never reached Midland Red.   The 50 that were ordered with MCW bodies were diverted to London Country (30) and Maidstone & District (20), and 60 of the 68 with Alexander bodies were indeed diverted to Merseyside PTE.

Anyone know what happened to the other eight?

Whilst it was common for buses to be re-allocated, or diverted, within NBC, I'm not sure that "diverted" is the correct term for those that went outside NBC.  Perhaps they were cancelled and their entry in the order book (for 50 of them) simply changed to Merseyside.  The others, if they were ever identified in Alexander's production list, would have been subsumed into the large batches they were building for Glasgow and Edinburgh.
If anybody knows it'll be someone on the Midland Red forum.

[DeanM66A]

Wasn't the 159 which the 900 replaced, originally a Midland Red route, until Midland Red sold there routes to WMPTE, i read that Midland Red ordered a batch of Atlanteans for there West Midlands routes, the Atlanteans were then diverted to Merseyside PTE after Midland Red sold there routes, they were numbered 1236 to 1295 & became the last Atlanteans built on the PDR chassis, as the next Atlanteans were on the AN68 chassis.

I thought the the last PDRs were for CIE; they all had 73 chassis numbers; some were bodied at Inchicore and some by Van Hool McArdle.
CIE's last PDR was D602 (602ZO); D603 (603ZO) was an AN68.

[Stevo]

When I saw these first AN68s in Liverpool I wondered if there'd be any sign that they'd been specified by Midland Red but they were to MPTE standards.

[Crosville]

Should have said last PDR1s delivered to Merseyside PTE. Come to think of it did West Midlands have any dual door buses delivered as new, Merseyside had the jumbo Atlanteans with dual door, quite a few areas outside London had dual door buses delivered when they converted from crew operations to one man operation?

Moving it on, what were the Coventry Station routes before they got numbered to 8/8A/9/9A, i remember the 27, not sure if the other was 26 or 28, but i remember buses towards Coventry Station didn't serve Pool Meadow, but stopped on Hales Street opposite the bus station instead?

[Gareth]

Should have said last PDR1s delivered to Merseyside PTE. Come to think of it did West Midlands have any dual door buses delivered as new, Merseyside had the jumbo Atlanteans with dual door, quite a few areas outside London had dual door buses delivered when they converted from crew operations to one man operation?

All of the WMPTE Jumbos were delivered new as dual door, although they were ordered by Birmingham, Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.

There was a batch of Nationals delivered dual doored KOM7**P batch and the L reg Commer Mini buses for the Centrebus were dual doored, however they had doors on the near side and offside!

[paulb1973]

Should have said last PDR1s delivered to Merseyside PTE. Come to think of it did West Midlands have any dual door buses delivered as new, Merseyside had the jumbo Atlanteans with dual door, quite a few areas outside London had dual door buses delivered when they converted from crew operations to one man operation?

Moving it on, what were the Coventry Station routes before they got numbered to 8/8A/9/9A, i remember the 27, not sure if the other was 26 or 28, but i remember buses towards Coventry Station didn't serve Pool Meadow, but stopped on Hales Street opposite the bus station instead?

Currently 8/8A/9/9A, before that it was the 27 (previously 17/27) and before that, it was probably the to & from Pool Meadow/Rail Station service 25.

Coventry had dual-door Park Royal bodied Fleetlines operating until 1982/3 - those that could not be converted to single-door after delivery to Coventry Transport some years before. Presumably the centre door was left unused.

[Other Walsall Tony]

All of the WMPTE Jumbos were delivered new as dual door, although they were ordered by Birmingham, Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.

There was a batch of Nationals delivered dual doored KOM7**P batch and the L reg Commer Mini buses for the Centrebus were dual doored, however they had doors on the near side and offside!

There was also a batch of 15 dual door NCME bodied Fleetlines ordered by Walsall, that made the final trolleybus conversion possible.
Were the dual door Nationals not meant for use around the then new NEC?