126 Birmingham to Wolverhampton

[davey]

Just after folks views and opinions on NXWM's 126 service.
Hardworking Tridents with the occasional Spectra or Merc thrown in for good measure.
Just don't feel it gets noticed as much or gets as much glory as say the Outer Circle, even though this route links two cities - but then again I suppose that is the key for a good service - not noticed as much as it doesn't require much change?

[Stu]

In all honesty, I would like nothing more than to see this route get the 'flagship' upgrade it deserves.

This is now the only bus service that directly links Wolverhampton and Birmingham city centres. I would love to see new hybrid green buses operating this service, however due to the high frequency of the service, and thus the number of buses required to operate it, the cost would be too much.

The Outer Circle is a flagship service, if not THE flagship service of NXWM, due to it being reknown across Europe as the 'longest urban bus route' and the fact that it links so many suburbs around Birmingham, however it would be good if NXWM could lavish some attention to the 126 (and indeed also to the 900) as being 'inter-city' urban bus routes.

[KayP]

i completely agree, it's an important route for people of Warley, Roseville, Bearwood, Oldbury etc. I love tridents on the 126, but I don't think the branding does it any justice personally.

Just after folks views and opinions on NXWM's 126 service.
Hardworking Tridents with the occasional Spectra or Merc thrown in for good measure.
Just don't feel it gets noticed as much or gets as much glory as say the Outer Circle, even though this route links two cities - but then again I suppose that is the key for a good service - not noticed as much as it doesn't require much change?

[SMK]

I often use the 126 to get from Wolves to Birmingham (especially since the 79 got curtailed to West Brom).
I have no real complaints about the Trident's on the route, though the branded ones could do with a repaint and some could do with some new seat covers.
Granted it's slower than the Metro but I jus stick on my mp3 player, admire the view and jus enjoy the ride (even more so if it's a largely non-stop run from Dudley to the Hagley Road which gives the illusion that you're on an express service lol).
Tbh though it wouldn't surprise me if in future the route is split into 2 like the 79 to "improve reliability".

[nx4737]

It's a far nicer way to get to Wolverhampton than the 79 was...

[SMK]

It's a far nicer way to get to Wolverhampton than the 79 was...

Lol agreed.
If I could I tended to avoid using the 79 to get to Birmingham mainly due to not liking the Soho Road section.
So it was either the 529/X51, the 126 or if I was feeling flush, the Metro.

[Stu]

Catch the 126 on a Sunday daytime, when there's no traffic about, and it cruises nicely along the Hagley Road and then up the Wolverhampton Road.  8)

[KayP]

Why did they actually get curtail the 79?

It's a far nicer way to get to Wolverhampton than the 79 was...

[KayP]

There would be sooo many complaints if they curtailed the 126, I reckon they'd be forced to re-extend it, lol. An express route sounds like a sound idea, maybe an X9 & X126, and possibly X141.

I often use the 126 to get from Wolves to Birmingham (especially since the 79 got curtailed to West Brom).
I have no real complaints about the Trident's on the route, though the branded ones could do with a repaint and some could do with some new seat covers.
Granted it's slower than the Metro but I jus stick on my mp3 player, admire the view and jus enjoy the ride (even more so if it's a largely non-stop run from Dudley to the Hagley Road which gives the illusion that you're on an express service lol).
Tbh though it wouldn't surprise me if in future the route is split into 2 like the 79 to "improve reliability".

[Stu]

My guess is it was curtailed due to reliability issues, and that no-one really used it to travel from Birmingham to Wolverhampton, or vice-versa.

That's why you get these surveyors from Centro on buses and at stations/interchange points at various times, asking where you travelled from and where you're travelling to. They use this information to determine passenger requirements.

As I keep telling that twit on the NXWM Facebook page, bus routes aren't provided for 'bus nerds' to enjoy, but to provide passengers with a means to get from A-Z, while making the operator money as a result. Hence why the 79 was curtailed from Wolverhampton to terminate at West Bromwich, and the 75 was introduced between Birmingham, West Bromwich and Wednesbury.

[Ash]

The 79 use to have congestion problems along the soho road as its normally chaotic and even worse when WBA are playing at the hawthornes i think that why the shorter 74E and 75E routes have been introduced

[SMK]

My guess is it was curtailed due to reliability issues, and that no-one really used it to travel from Birmingham to Wolverhampton, or vice-versa.

That's why you get these surveyors from Centro on buses and at stations/interchange points at various times, asking where you travelled from and where you're travelling to. They use this information to determine passenger requirements.

There would be sooo many complaints if they curtailed the 126.

Well whenever I catch the 126 only a couple of people catch it to get from Wolves to Birmingham.
The majority get off on the section upto and including Dudley.
Hence why it wouldn't surprise me if they split the route into 2: Wolves to Dudley and Dudley - Birmingham.

As I keep telling that twit on the NXWM Facebook page, bus routes aren't provided for 'bus nerds' to enjoy, but to provide passengers with a means to get from A-Z, while making the operator money as a result.

LOL I know who you're on about ;)
When he regularly suggests resurecting long-withdrawn routes or creating new routes that serve no useful purpose I do have to wonder what he's on ???

[Roy]

The 79 was split not only because of reliability issues, but because it was shadowed by the Metro throughout its route.  A limited stop service 979 operated from deregulation in 1986, but this was withdrawn and replaced by the 80 once the Metro started.  The thing is that the 75 covers Birmingham to Wednesbury while the 79 covers Wolverhampton to West Bromwich, so it is only the few people who travelled from west of Wednesbury to east of West Bromwich who lost their through service.  Many people making that journey regularly would probably use the Metro instead.

There was a campaign by councillors in the Priory Estate to get the 126 service split at Dudley to improve reliability through the Priory Estate as part of the Wolverhampton Bus Review.  You had the usual "you wait an hour and then 10 of them turn up together" argument.  The route was not split then because Centro and NXWM said that a significant number of people use the service through Dudley - for example from Coseley to Warley or Bearwood.  Unlike the 79, there is not an alternative mode of transport parallelling the 126, and I think that both Centro and NXWM consider it an essential trunk route.  With regard to express services, there was an express 926 service introduced in 1986 that was so unsuccessful that it was withdrawn very quickly.

[Roy]

Talking about through bus services between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, how many people remember the 258?  It was introduced when Harts Hill garage was closed in about 1993 and ran via Bearwood, Blackheath, Merry Hill, Kingswinford, Swindon and Wombourne.  It was a half hourly service using Metrobuses, and replaced service 566 at the Wolverhampton end.  I can't remember which garage was operated it - it could have been jointly operated by Hockley and Wolverhampton. 

It lasted until 1996 when it was split at Merry Hill, with the 258 operating to Birmingham and the new 260 operating to Wolverhampton using brand-new route branded B10B's (I think 1378-1381). 

[Stu]

Talking about through bus services between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, how many people remember the 258?  It was introduced when Harts Hill garage was closed in about 1993 and ran via Bearwood, Blackheath, Merry Hill, Kingswinford, Swindon and Wombourne.  It was a half hourly service using Metrobuses, and replaced service 566 at the Wolverhampton end.  I can't remember which garage was operated it - it could have been jointly operated by Hockley and Wolverhampton. 

It lasted until 1996 when it was split at Merry Hill, with the 258 operating to Birmingham and the new 260 operating to Wolverhampton using brand-new route branded B10B's (I think 1378-1381).

I remember the old 258! I think it was operated by Wolverhampton garage, and it was a monster of a route! I recall catching it from Wolverhampton one day when I was bored, took about an hour to get to Merry Hill then another hour and a half to get to Birmingham!