East Birmingham Sevice Changes - 4th June 2017

[monkeyjoe]

WMT back in those days used to do anything to protect their patch back in those days, especially under the old WH/LH era. I remember the 94 being made every 4 mins as a response once. with 94/94e's.

The 2 & 3 being made every 6 mins each with mini buses.

[monkeyjoe]

WMT back in those days used to do anything to protect their patch back in those days, especially under the old WH/LH era. I remember the 94 being made every 4 mins as a response once. with 94/94e's.

The 2 & 3 being made every 6 mins each with mini buses.

NEW TIMETABLES ARE BEING POSTED:-

I see the freq from my old stop Ventnor to city in the evenings used to be every 15 mins to city will now be only every 30 mins and 20 mins on a sunday.

20 mins on the 55s during the day on a sunday, but still less buses overall. Well the passenger numbers having been declining drastically over the years, this just demonstrates it.

Improvements for Bromford 4 buses an hour into city however an inconsistent freq/timing pattern between  the x12 & x70. Will be interesting to see how they are received.

No special journeys on 94 going to CTC, I'm sure local counsellors might get a few calls from angry parents etc.

[Brummie45]

Timetables now on NXWM website.

[Gareth]

A better, more even service on late night 55/94. Now only a 30min gap between last and second from last 94 and the last 55 now being at midnight.

[Eric Shaw]

Like many others I am disappointed with some of the 4th June changes, however we have to accept that NXWM are running a commercial business and the changes will involve cost saving or improved running with today's overcrowded roads. As an example the revised 60 will be easier to operate than the 58/59/60 through Small Heath. It will now be much easier to turn a bus short to get it back on time.
I think a service could usefully be added from the City Centre to Lea Hall Station by one of the independents, although I would not like to suggest whether it went via Heartlands hospital, Yardley Green Road side, or The Swan and Coventry Road. Other correspondents have mentioned that the present 59 is not much used in the Kingshurst area. However others have said a lot of people use it visiting the Swan Centre, with which I agree from my own observations.
The 73 route has been criticised for not starting at the same stop as the 17 in the City Centre., but I have been travelling on this service from Priory Queensway for the past year , with my wife in a wheelchair and while
there have been very few passengers boarding there, there have often been a lot getting on by Digbeth, especially when the 17's have been held up..

[monkeyjoe]

I'm curious to see if any new buses will be brought in when these changes start.

Will the 72 go back to old DD buses??

Will the CTC parents start protests and letters to the school etc about the 94 changes.

Impressed for the investment in Bromford, but I am being serious when I say the area needs a link to the WH Job Centre (unless chelmsley services claims in the area now)  etc.

No chance of Lea Hall being needed to be brought back into operation now lol.

[2206]

I'm curious to see if any new buses will be brought in when these changes start.

Will the 72 go back to old DD buses??

Will the CTC parents start protests and letters to the school etc about the 94 changes.

Impressed for the investment in Bromford, but I am being serious when I say the area needs a link to the WH Job Centre (unless chelmsley services claims in the area now)  etc.

No chance of Lea Hall being needed to be brought back into operation now lol.

NX said the 72 will use double deckers. It wouldn't look good if it was downgraded to B7TL ALX400 and Gemini operation, with the B7TL ALX400 now over 15 years old.
Chelmsley Road and Cooks Lane plus the two schools, CTC and John Henry Newman will still be served by Claribels 94, with the approximate 12 minute frequency as well as the 71.

[monkeyjoe]

NX said the 72 will use double deckers.
Chelmsley Road and Cooks Lane plus the two schools, CTC and John Henry Newman will still be served by Claribels 94, with the approximate 12 minute frequency as well as the 71.

I know all of that, however my point is will the 72 be allocated "older" DD or will new ones be brought in.

In terms of the schools I don't think that parents that have invested in NX bus passes will be impressed, that is the point I was querying. I've been reading the comments they have been making in the local community face book pages etc. I bet those kids are a lot worse behaved than we used to be, I'm surprised they are not doing special journeys like they are with the 70, would seem to suggest the hassle serving the kids just doesn't stack up.

Anyway back to work tomorrow to battle with my buyers at Tesco so won't have time to pass comment anymore.

[Stu]

I know all of that, however my point is will the 72 be allocated "older" DD or will new ones be brought in.

I don't know all the PVRs to be honest, but having an idea of the resources available at Acocks Green, I can only guess that the 72 will use a mixture of ALX400 and Gemini B7TLs, with the 1 going to full single-deck allocation.

[Brummie45]

If the 71 does move to PB do they have enough single deckers to cover it ? Also what type of vehicle will operate the 96 ?

Will there be some fleet relocation taking place ?

[John]

If the 71 does move to PB do they have enough single deckers to cover it ? Also what type of vehicle will operate the 96 ?

Will there be some fleet relocation taking place ?

.

It looks like it is coming, plenty of drivers talking about it yesterday. I've been trying to work out if we have enough OmniLinks. 2 will be freed up from the 15s withdrawal, but the 66 will probably need more than it has now as the route is longer to Sutton than now to Kingstanding. I do think we will need some more and I could see some of the Enviro200MMCs moving with the 71, as it seems Acocks Green may have too many even though they are gaining the 58

The 96 will have to be single decker as i guess it will still serve Station Road in Erdington​.

[Brummie45]

Agreed AG will have to many E200s as the 58 might only be three or four bus requirement. 73 I suppose if operated again by AG could be E200 operated.

Another thing that will need to be done is branding removed off the E200s.

[2206]

.

It looks like it is coming, plenty of drivers talking about it yesterday. I've been trying to work out if we have enough OmniLinks. 2 will be freed up from the 15s withdrawal, but the 66 will probably need more than it has now as the route is longer to Sutton than now to Kingstanding. I do think we will need some more and I could see some of the Enviro200MMCs moving with the 71, as it seems Acocks Green may have too many even though they are gaining the 58

The 96 will have to be single decker as i guess it will still serve Station Road in Erdington​.

I wander what'll happen to the B7RLE at BC with the 58 going to AG and 59 being withdrawn?
Maybe the 1 at AG could become completely E200 MMC then the Deckers could go onto the 72?

[Brummie45]

Just a thought (might be a stupid thought), could the 60 be single decker operated with DD being released for the 72.

[MW]

I can't see the 1 being converted to single deck to be honest. The deckers get fairly packed at peak times in Moseley/Edgbaston.

I reckon AG will lose some MMC to PB personally.

I haven't sat down to try and work the numbers out yet but are AG downsizing in capacity overall?

The new 58 and 73 will probably use 5-6 buses between them. The 72 will have a lower PVR and the X12 will have 2-3 more than the 966 currently.

71 PVR is something like 12-13 as far as I remember.

Sounds like a decreased overall capticity unless some more work is gained from elsewhere. Maybe the 17 from BY?