Longest lived bus routes

[Trident 4194]

I would think the 11A/C could be a competitor

[Tony]

I would think the 11A/C could be a competitor

The longest lived Birmingham route is I believe the 1

[domino.99]

I believe the 581 was around in some form for a fair few years i believe

[Justin Tyme]

The longest lived Birmingham route is I believe the 1

I agree with Tony here - the 1 has been so numbered since 1916.  The 9 comes second (1919).  The 8, 11, 14, 16 and 74 have all had these numbers since the 1920s - the 74 was operated by trams until 1939.

We are talking services with the same number aren't we?

[Stuharris 6360]

It would have to be in Birmingham because of the way they have messed with the numbering system around Wolverhampton & the Black Country!

I wonder what would be the longest lived bus route with exactly the same departure and arrival points as when they first started?

[Tony]

It would have to be in Birmingham because of the way they have messed with the numbering system around Wolverhampton & the Black Country!

I wonder what would be the longest lived bus route with exactly the same departure and arrival points as when they first started?

You won't find one older than a few years

[Stuharris 6360]

It would have to be in Birmingham because of the way they have messed with the numbering system around Wolverhampton & the Black Country!

I wonder what would be the longest lived bus route with exactly the same departure and arrival points as when they first started?

You won't find one older than a few years

I wondered about the 11 but over the years they have changed that to!

[Tony]

It would have to be in Birmingham because of the way they have messed with the numbering system around Wolverhampton & the Black Country!

I wonder what would be the longest lived bus route with exactly the same departure and arrival points as when they first started?

You won't find one older than a few years

I wondered about the 11 but over the years they have changed that to!

City/Town Centre changes are why I said there will be none unaltered for more than a few years, but typing that made me realise there may be one. The 18 Yardley Wood to Bartley Green. If you exclude City/Town centre changes I would think the 60 would be the next least changed

[Justin Tyme]

City/Town Centre changes are why I said there will be none unaltered for more than a few years, but typing that made me realise there may be one. The 18 Yardley Wood to Bartley Green. If you exclude City/Town centre changes I would think the 60 would be the next least changed

I agree with this too.  I think the 18 has been unchanged since the early 1980s, when it was extended at Yardley Wood from Yardley Wood Road/Haunch Lane to the Bus Garage.  The 60 has been unchanged, except in the City Centre, since it started in 1951.

Another contender could be the 140 Birmingham - Dudley via Blackheath.  Unless it had an extension in the 1990s (something is nagging me, but I can't be sure)  the route outside City/Town centres has been unchanged since 1939.

[Stuharris 6360]

City/Town Centre changes are why I said there will be none unaltered for more than a few years, but typing that made me realise there may be one. The 18 Yardley Wood to Bartley Green. If you exclude City/Town centre changes I would think the 60 would be the next least changed

I agree with this too.  I think the 18 has been unchanged since the early 1980s, when it was extended at Yardley Wood from Yardley Wood Road/Haunch Lane to the Bus Garage.  The 60 has been unchanged, except in the City Centre, since it started in 1951.

Another contender could be the 140 Birmingham - Dudley via Blackheath.  Unless it had an extension in the 1990s (something is nagging me, but I can't be sure)  the route outside City/Town centres has been unchanged since 1939.

Certainly all the old timetables i have show the 140 as Birmingham to Dudley via Blackheath.

[Other Walsall Tony]

City/Town Centre changes are why I said there will be none unaltered for more than a few years, but typing that made me realise there may be one. The 18 Yardley Wood to Bartley Green. If you exclude City/Town centre changes I would think the 60 would be the next least changed

I agree with this too.  I think the 18 has been unchanged since the early 1980s, when it was extended at Yardley Wood from Yardley Wood Road/Haunch Lane to the Bus Garage.  The 60 has been unchanged, except in the City Centre, since it started in 1951.

Another contender could be the 140 Birmingham - Dudley via Blackheath.  Unless it had an extension in the 1990s (something is nagging me, but I can't be sure)  the route outside City/Town centres has been unchanged since 1939.

Certainly all the old timetables i have show the 140 as Birmingham to Dudley via Blackheath.

The 126 goes back to the opening of the Birmingham-Wolverhampton New Road, I believe.
Farther afield, the 144 from Brum to Worcester goes back to 1914, whilst what is now the 890 from Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth began in 1903, operated by the GWR.

[Tony]

City/Town Centre changes are why I said there will be none unaltered for more than a few years, but typing that made me realise there may be one. The 18 Yardley Wood to Bartley Green. If you exclude City/Town centre changes I would think the 60 would be the next least changed

I agree with this too.  I think the 18 has been unchanged since the early 1980s, when it was extended at Yardley Wood from Yardley Wood Road/Haunch Lane to the Bus Garage.  The 60 has been unchanged, except in the City Centre, since it started in 1951.

Another contender could be the 140 Birmingham - Dudley via Blackheath.  Unless it had an extension in the 1990s (something is nagging me, but I can't be sure)  the route outside City/Town centres has been unchanged since 1939.

Certainly all the old timetables i have show the 140 as Birmingham to Dudley via Blackheath.

The 126 goes back to the opening of the Birmingham-Wolverhampton New Road, I believe.
Farther afield, the 144 from Brum to Worcester goes back to 1914, whilst what is now the 890 from Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth began in 1903, operated by the GWR.

The 126 has had a couple of minor changes other than both city centres as it went into Tesco at Dudley for a short time

[2900]

the 87 goes quite far back in history originally a tram route from what i,ve seen in books

[Justin Tyme]

The 140 ran Birmingham - Dudley - Gornal Wood until 1939.  Since then I believe it has been unchanged outside city/town centres.

The first Birmingham - Wolverhampton service along the New Road in 1927) was numbered 123 and did not serve Dudley - it stayed on the New Road all the way.  In 1928 Midland Red renumbered its services, and the 123 became 125.  This was rerouted to serve Dudley around 1930, returning to the New Road via Tipton Road (past what is now the Black Country Museum).   The 126 actually started in 1952, and it shared the New Road service with the 125 until that finished in WMPTE days.

Midland Red 144  is indeed a service with a long history.  It ran between Birmingham and Malvern Wells until 1976, when it was cut back to Worcester - although there have been a couple of periods since when it reached The Malverns.

The Birmingham- Smethwick - Dudley tramway opened in 1885.  The number 87 was first used in 1928, when Birmingham Corporation took over the tram service.  When the Dudley Road trams ceased in 1939, the replacement buses (both Corporation and Midland Red) used numbers B80 - B89 until 1968, when the B prefix was removed.

The 74 and the 87 are the only tram route numbers still in use today, along with the 75 that made a comeback not so long ago.

[Tony]

the 87 goes quite far back in history originally a tram route from what i,ve seen in books

The route has changed in Smethwick & Oldbury though