Platinum v BMMO

[Ginger66]

Prior to the recent annoucement of West Midlands Bus/(es).  Was services on the old BMMO X services i.e. X1 express services in a simillar style of that of the X1 of NX west midlands.

[Bob]

A lot of them were motorway express eg X31 to Cannock X73/X74 Tamworth

[Crosville]

Prior to the recent annoucement of West Midlands Bus/(es).  Was services on the old BMMO X services i.e. X1 express services in a simillar style of that of the X1 of NX west midlands.

Here's a good Midland Red site which has an archive of BMMO routes. http://midlandred.net/service/timetable/search.php?service=all&operator=all&sortby=service

[Stevo]

BMMO had a whole host of X services, not just longer limited stop services. The X91 was 112 miles long, Leicester to Hereford. On the other hand there were works services like X15 Coton to Burton, Pirelli factory, summer holiday services like X32 Dudley to Bewdley, hospital services like X26 Wolverhampton to Bowers special school, actually in PMT territory. There was even X92 Ludlow to Llandrindod Wells! BMMO was quite a company.

[Justin Tyme]

That's right.  Midland Red only started running "proper" limited stop services in the 1960s.  This included corridors such as Birmingham - Walsall (X8) and Telford - Wolverhampton - Birmingham - Coventry (X93-X96).

They had fewer stops compared to NXWM's X services today.  On Birmingham - Coventry, BMMO Limited Stop services only called at Digbeth, Small Heath, Yardley Swan, Sheldon Wheatsheaf, and the Airport - far fewer than today's X1.  In some cases BMMO was also catering for longer distance traffic (the X93/6 reached Shrewsbury in one direction and the X96 reached Northampton in the other), which it successfully attracted for many years.

NXWM on the other hand caters for comparatively shorter distance traffic, and West Midlanders now are more train-savvy than they were in the 1960s (I bet there are few fare paying passengers riding the full length of the X1).  So in today's climate I reckon NXWM have got the stops on its X services down to a fine art.