Evening Buses on the 40/41

[notepanel]

I was looking recently at the evening journeys on the 40 & 41 service. Currently, both are subsidised by Centro, with NXWM operating the 40E & Arriva the 41. Combined these operate on a half hourly frequency along the shared section of route between Walsall-Lodge Farm, however in the other direction from Lodge Farm-Walsall the frequency works out at 10/50.

The PVR of the 41 is two buses (I'm not sure exactly how Arriva work these vehicles), whilst the 40 requires one vehicle. With some simple changes I believe that NXWM must surely be able to win the contract when these routes come up for renewal (if they wanted to!), whilst also benefiting customers.

Firstly, I would slightly amend the evening 41 route so that it terminates at Willenhall, Market Place, rather than Union Street. This was something that took place before when the route was the 342 and is easily manageable. Then I would interwork the 40/41 at Willenhall. By keeping the same departure times from Walsall, I would then have 40's leaving Willenhall at **36 & 41's at **50. In turn, this would then lead to a combined 30 minute frequency on the shared sections of route in both directions.

Unfortunately, this would lead to round trip time of 1 hour 5 minutes, and so a PVR of 3 (as currently). Therefore, I would amend the timetable on the 6 service, so that this service leaves Walsall at **30 & returns at **05. Combined with the 7 service, this would lead to a slightly improved 25/35 headway from Walsall, but would also slightly reduce it to 25/35 from Aldridge-Walsall (currently its 30/30).  It would however also improve the headway between Sutton & Mere Green to 30/30 (although again it would be worsened in the other direction).

By doing this, it would enable the 6, 10, 40 & 41 to all interwork (albeit quite tightly), with each arriving 10 departing as the 40/41. The bus arriving in as a 41 would then depart as a 6.

Currently, the evening 10 boards are quite complicated as many return to garage for breaks/reliefs etc, however if this didn't happen there is basically a PVR of 4 + 1 on the 40. This additional change would require just one extra bus (instead of the current 2 provided by Arriva), thereby in theory reducing the cost to the taxpayer whilst also improving the bus service for many. Whilst I accept the boards are tight, they are no different to the 51/934/935A swaps that take place in Birmingham.

[Sh4318]

Depends whether NX are interested in taking 41 evening/Sunday journeys. Also, don't the 6/10/77 interwork on Sundays

[notepanel]

Depends whether NX are interested in taking 41 evening/Sunday journeys. Also, don't the 6/10/77 interwork on Sundays

Sundays at the moment are quite interesting with the WMSNT 41/35 interworking together and, as you say, the 6/10/77 interworking.

In theory, by pushing the 77 back by five minutes it would be possible to interwork the 6, 10, 40, 41 & 77 on a seven hour loop, however, it would be a very tight running board!

Additionally, the 40 does not operate on Sunday evenings which would mix things up a bit.

An example of a possible board is listed below (the 6 & 77 are 5 minutes later throughout than present, and the 40/41 are shown operating to what could potentially be a new timetable)...

E.g.
6   0930 ex Walsall                 
6   1005 ex Sutton              Arrive Walsall 1036
10   1040 ex Walsall
10   1115 ex Burntwood      Arrive Walsall 1150
41   1155 ex Walsall
40   1236 ex Willenhall      Arrive Walsall 1300
77   1300 ex Walsall
77   1335 ex Sutton      Arrive Walsall 1409
10   1410 ex Walsall      
10   1445 ex Burntwood      Arrive Walsall 1520
40   1525 ex Walsall
41   1550 ex Willenhall      Arrive Walsall 1630
6   1630 ex Walsall      
6   1705 ex Sutton      Arrive Walsall 1736
10   1740 ex Walsall
10   1815 ex Burntwood      Arrive Walsall 1850
41   1855 ex Walsall
41   1931 ex Willenhall      Arrive Walsall 2010
10   2010 ex Walsall
10   2045 ex Burntwood      Arrive Walsall 2120
6   2130 ex Walsall
6   2205 ex Sutton      Arrive Walsall 2236
10   2240 ex Walsall
Dead to Garage

[leewhayward29]

the 41 should be nxwm all day and evening

[Westy]

Surprised NX still operate the evening & Sunday 40e.

Normally someone else would've got the contract by now.

[notepanel]

Surprised NX still operate the evening & Sunday 40e.

Normally someone else would've got the contract by now.

To correct my previous posts in this topic, surprisingly, not all of the 40E journeys are subsidised.

It was originally fully commercial. Following the BSOG cut and the timetable change (April 2012?) that saw several early/late journeys go on a number of routes, the final M-Sat 40E and the Sunday evening journeys were cut. Centro stepped in and subsidised the last M-Sat journey and one additional journey on a Sunday.

From earlier this year (I believe) some more journeys are now subsidised (after 9 on weekdays/Saturdays). The subsidised journey on a Sunday was cut, but otherwise the early evening & Sunday daytime services are commercial.