Services 213/214/217/240 in Old Hill and Cradley Heath

[s94]

How is renumbering the 217 to 17 when nothing else is changing going to increase passenger numbers? Perhaps it is doing OK as it is generally.

[Stuharris 6360]

How is renumbering the 217 to 17 when nothing else is changing going to increase passenger numbers? Perhaps it is doing OK as it is generally.

In my opinion, just a waste of money. someone has to go round changing all the bus stop flags and timetables just becuase the service looses a 2, buses displays have to be changed, timetables issued.

[s94]

How is renumbering the 217 to 17 when nothing else is changing going to increase passenger numbers? Perhaps it is doing OK as it is generally.

In my opinion, just a waste of money. someone has to go round changing all the bus stop flags and timetables just becuase the service looses a 2, buses displays have to be changed, timetables issued.

Precisely. This at least could have waited until everything else changed if that will happen.

[Sh4318]

I don't see why there's so much aggro over re numbering routes, we've had years to get used to this, surely we should be over it now? I'd be the first to agree that the re numbering is somewhat pointless, but almost all areas have 2 digit route numbers now, Dudley will follow suit, we should have adjusted to changes by now you would've thought. I think what's more ridiculous than renumbering is changing Old Hill/Cradley Heath routes every year, there should be much more of an uproar about that surely?

[Kevin]

If the routes are changing, then yes change the service numbers to suit. And if the service numbers are changing, does it really matter how many digits that number has? They could have 4 digit numbers for all I care, as long as it distinguishes the new service from the old so as not to confuse people. And then if there's scope to group all the local services in a particular area as similar numbers then why not?

[Trident 4194]

The 217 isn't very reliable, don't ask why it's hardly a challenging route to stay on time for. The passenger numbers are actually quite good, usually almost full on a small e200

[646]

The 217 isn't very reliable, don't ask why it's hardly a challenging route to stay on time for. The passenger numbers are actually quite good, usually almost full on a small e200

There is no drop back in the timetable, hence unreliability. Merry Hill doesn't help either.

[Stuharris 6360]

The 217 isn't very reliable, don't ask why it's hardly a challenging route to stay on time for. The passenger numbers are actually quite good, usually almost full on a small e200

There is no drop back in the timetable, hence unreliability. Merry Hill doesn't help either.

Doesn't help when the driver parks up in Cradley Heath High St to go to the bank (seen last week)

[overend]

Hello this is my first post, although I've been lurking for a while. I used to live in Overend, a destination once seen as a 'via' for the 240 and routes like the 238 and 243/4 when they finished at Fatherless Barn in the 80s. I used to have a lot of old timetables from that era, but I think I threw out the lot in a house move some years ago, so have to rely on memory. I was interested in these bus route changes, and I wonder if anyone on the forum can confirm.

I think the 213 and 214 are the latest incarnation of the 210, a route that started around the mid 80s (possibly with the introduction of minibuses at deregulation). In autumn 1988 this used to run every 15 minutes from Brierley Hill to Fatherless Barn via Cradley Heath, and I'm not sure Merry Hill was fully open when it started. At some point (1991?), this was transformed into the 210, 211, 212 and 213, with the the 210, 211 and 212 each running every hour in the daytime, extended from Fatherless Barn to Halesowen via Shelton Lane and Belle Vale, then Whittingham Road (210), Fairmile Road (211) and Alexandra Road (212). The 213 continued to finish at Fatherless Barn, and ran only in the evenings and on Sundays. The 211 didn't last long, and by 1993 only the 210 and 212 ran during the day, giving a 30 minute frequency. The current incarnation of the 213 and 214 are much more recent.

Before the 210, Overend was served by the 238 and 239 to Fatherless Barn, both of which took a very complicated route from Dudley via Oakham and Brickhouse Farm. I'm sure the 238 used to run up Banners Lane to Fatherless Barn in the very distant past, maybe in the 1950s. I'm not sure about the 240, which I believe has been running between Cradley Heath and Stourbridge since at least the late 1940s, but I think it only started running up Banners Lane in the mid 1980s.

One mad summer (1993?), the 87 and 89 were extended from Birmingham to Dudley to Cradley Heath/Timbertree - I caught the 89 once from Overend into Birmingham, which took a very long time! Anyway this is very rambling stuff, so I'm sorry.

[the trainbasher]

Igo to run the 14 from what I have heard

[D10]

One mad summer (1993?), the 87 and 89 were extended from Birmingham to Dudley to Cradley Heath/Timbertree - I caught the 89 once from Overend into Birmingham, which took a very long time! Anyway this is very rambling stuff, so I'm sorry.

I remember that! 1993 sounds about right. That of course was after the closure of Dudley and Harts Hill garage and was of many wacky route extensions to try to cover the routes.

[Westy]

Why didnt they keep a Dudley area garage at that point in time?

I know Dudley garage disappeared under the bypass(dunno about Harts Hill) but why didnt they find somewhere else in Dudley instead?

[hartshill busman 724210]

Wanted shut of ex Midland Red garages as they were working 5/5 working weeks ie  mon/ fri with the work on Saturdays & Sundays being regarded as overtime and guaranteed to be filled by an agreement with the unions. This worked well as lost mileage from Dudley/ Hartshill was considerably less than many ex bct garages at this time.

[the trainbasher]

Arriva have registered the 12, 13 and 17.

Igo will be running the 14

[Trident 4194]

I'm confused at how the 217 is late so often. I caught it today departed at 15:52 according to my phone, hardly anyone got on or off, and travelled between 20-25 mph and arrived in halesowen at 16:15. Have the primos gone from 240 as only seen e200 yesterday and today