Dudley Bus Review 2015

[PM]

I know it's the drivers that have to sort the mess out because it looks good on somebody's laptop ipad

Think most people agree with you there Karl.

I'd like to see the Wolverhampton, West Bromwich and Walsall renumberings all reversed in the future.

As for 002/4 renumbering, I sincerely doubt that will happen. Diamond changed numbers of competing services in the WB review, yes, easier for passengers. But routes they have to themselves like 401E have stayed like that for ages and show no signs of changing.

Just surprised NXWM let themselves be dictated to by Centro...  ::)

[j789]

Possibly should be on the route suggestions thread but I would extend one journey every hour on the 276 to Hagley instead of going to Wollaston, thereby creating a link to Merry Hill. It is a sizable area with a high school so plenty of potential passengers. I know it is out of the 'area' but it would only add a couple of miles onto the route.

[Stuharris 6360]

I know it's the drivers that have to sort the mess out because it looks good on somebody's laptop ipad

Think most people agree with you there Karl.

I'd like to see the Wolverhampton, West Bromwich and Walsall renumberings all reversed in the future.

As for 002/4 renumbering, I sincerely doubt that will happen. Diamond changed numbers of competing services in the WB review, yes, easier for passengers. But routes they have to themselves like 401E have stayed like that for ages and show no signs of changing.

Just surprised NXWM let themselves be dictated to by Centro...  ::)

Pity they didn't hold out and still call the 4, the 404.

It must be difficult for people who are travelling and don't really understand the bus network.

[PM]

I know it's the drivers that have to sort the mess out because it looks good on somebody's laptop ipad

Think most people agree with you there Karl.

I'd like to see the Wolverhampton, West Bromwich and Walsall renumberings all reversed in the future.

As for 002/4 renumbering, I sincerely doubt that will happen. Diamond changed numbers of competing services in the WB review, yes, easier for passengers. But routes they have to themselves like 401E have stayed like that for ages and show no signs of changing.

Just surprised NXWM let themselves be dictated to by Centro...  ::)

Pity they didn't hold out and still call the 4, the 404.

It must be difficult for people who are travelling and don't really understand the bus network.

I agree, several competing operators have kept old route numbers eg Banga

[sonic84]

Can't really think of too many things that I would change to be honest, but some suggestions I have are:

X9 introduced between Halesowen and Birmingham running via the expressway
241 cut back to run Dudley to Halesowen again
99 extended to Hayley Green via the 244 route
X96 cut back to run Stourbridge to Dudley only
244 cut short at Halesowen, but extended to Wrens Nest & Priory Estates
276 hourly service extended to Hagley Village, with main service between Stourbridge & Dudley
293 new service serving Norton, Wollaston Farm & Wollaston Junction

and just for the fun of it...

Two buses per hour on the 18 extended from Bartley Green to Merry Hill via Halesowen, covering the 141/241.

[Stuharris 6360]

Can't really think of too many things that I would change to be honest, but some suggestions I have are:

X9 introduced between Halesowen and Birmingham running via the expressway
241 cut back to run Dudley to Halesowen again
99 extended to Hayley Green via the 244 route
X96 cut back to run Stourbridge to Dudley only
244 cut short at Halesowen, but extended to Wrens Nest & Priory Estates
276 hourly service extended to Hagley Village, with main service between Stourbridge & Dudley
293 new service serving Norton, Wollaston Farm & Wollaston Junction

and just for the fun of it...

Two buses per hour on the 18 extended from Bartley Green to Merry Hill via Halesowen, covering the 141/241.

Reintroduce the old 289/90 service which covered all those areas.

[Sh4318]

Will the 120, 140 or 141 be renumbered? They fit in with the rest of the services that operate on the Hagley Road

[Stuharris 6360]

Will the 120, 140 or 141 be renumbered? They fit in with the rest of the services that operate on the Hagley Road

The 120 & 140 have been in existance for as long as i can recollect, so they should stay the same!

[Chris2301]

Possibly should be on the route suggestions thread but I would extend one journey every hour on the 276 to Hagley instead of going to Wollaston, thereby creating a link to Merry Hill. It is a sizable area with a high school so plenty of potential passengers. I know it is out of the 'area' but it would only add a couple of miles onto the route.

That is one of the best suggestions I have read on here. However if it was extended from Stourbridge it would take up to an hour to get from Hagley to Merry Hill which is not good enough. I would instead have the Hagley 276 turn left at the island at the bottom of Pedmore Lane onto Hagley Road and 318 route down into the centre of Hagley making journey times more like half an hour.

Hagley in fact has two large high schools with 21.7% of residents aged under 16. Another 17% of the population is retirees who would also appreciate a bus link to Merry Hill. Trouble is this means going outside the Centro zone which is quite understandably not something NX like doing.

Aside from this I would also cut both the x96 and non-Hagley 276 as Dudley - Stourbridge, make both routes fully double deck and bring a Wollaston-Stour circular in covering the current 276 and x96 routes around Wollaston and also a Wrens Nest-Dudley circular doing the obvious. Both circulars run with e200s.

Needless to say I would not mess around changing route numbers either.

Renumbering every local network seem to be centros idea. Duno how much say nxwm, arriva and diamond get.

[RR378]

Wouldn't surprise me if the 289 was shortened to stupid terminus, who knows possibly Darby End? Bravo centro

[Westy]

Picking up on the point about Nx not just going outside the Centro area to Hagley, is there any reason why they just dont do that for Essington in South Staffs?

When I looked at the A to Z, there seemed to be a link road off Ashmore Park onto the road that goes into Essington itself.

Surely diverting the odd 59 would be a lot cheaper than a separate Staffs council subsidy but a) I dont live in the area & b) I dont really know how the subsidy etc thing works anyway!

[Alex]

Picking up on the point about Nx not just going outside the Centro area to Hagley, is there any reason why they just dont do that for Essington in South Staffs?

When I looked at the A to Z, there seemed to be a link road off Ashmore Park onto the road that goes into Essington itself.

Surely diverting the odd 59 would be a lot cheaper than a separate Staffs council subsidy but a) I dont live in the area & b) I dont really know how the subsidy etc thing works anyway!

Tbh, I would modify the 69 in that route to serve Essington as:

1) It serves Coppice Farm and therefore, is much closer to Essington
2) For a 59 to Essington, it would need to be first extended to New Invention, something NX might be reluctant to do, as it would involve screwing around with one of the WN flagship

[Trident 4609]

There used to be that once a day 316 operated by TWM.

NX would not operate into Essington. Its 'Outside the Centro Area' and you cannot use N-Bus etc there (Despite being able to use it in Wombourne, Codsall etc.

Maybe the 68 could be increased to Half Hourly to create a more frequent service from Essington to Wednesfield/New Cross Hospital and Wolverhampton

[Cheese]

There used to be that once a day 316 operated by TWM.

NX would not operate into Essington. Its 'Outside the Centro Area' and you cannot use N-Bus etc there (Despite being able to use it in Wombourne, Codsall etc.

Maybe the 68 could be increased to Half Hourly to create a more frequent service from Essington to Wednesfield/New Cross Hospital and Wolverhampton

As the 68 is wholly supported at present, that is unlikely to happen in the near future. Not that long ago there were 2 buses per hour from Essington to Wolves with the 68/69 but that really aren't enough passengers to justify 2 per hour at present.

[Westy]

What about this link road then?