Blackheath Bus Services

[V89MOA]

So you expect over 60s concessionary holders to stand up amongst youngsters @Tony  a very caring approach from bus company I must say. I must mention that to The Mayor he likes a good laugh and HS2.

You mean like they have to on the 301/302 now your precious Mayor has cut the number of buses and capacity?

[richardjones210368]

You mean like they have to on the 301/302 now your precious Mayor has cut the number of buses and capacity?

The route is part of the bus alliance and was agreed by all  the relevant stakeholders if you have any comment on a "West Midlands Bus" service please forward them to:
customerservices@tfwm.org.uk
for consideration by the WMCA, all comments are welcomed and will be taken onboard when the service is next reviewed.
By the way @V89MOA I do not seem to have received an invitation to join your X8 fan club is this an oversight?

[Jack]

I think you should be grateful an B7RLE was actually available, at least you didn't get an SWB E200 and I doubt we'd be hearing the last of it!

[V89MOA]

The route is part of the bus alliance and was agreed by all  the relevant stakeholders if you have any comment on a "West Midlands Bus" service please forward them to:
customerservices@tfwm.org.uk
for consideration by the WMCA, all comments are welcomed and will be taken onboard when the service is next reviewed.
By the way @V89MOA I do not seem to have received an invitation to join your X8 fan club is this an oversight?

In others words it is ok for people to suffer a below adequate service as long as tfwm have signed it off, but No no no National Express cannot make people stand on their buses😲😲😲 The fact that you are unable to defend the capacity issues on these routes tells me everything I needed to know!

No oversight either we just don't allow people to join who constantly spout rubbish :)

[richardjones210368]

I think you should be grateful an B7RLE was actually available, at least you didn't get an SWB E200 and I doubt we'd be hearing the last of it!

You do make me smile @Jack anyone would think I am on this forum simply to moan about the X8 and cause trouble for @Tony  mind you in November NXWM did actually allocate a SWB E200 to a afternoon journey on the X8 from Dudley I was on & so I decided to stay on it to Brum & come right back on it to monitor the capacity of the journey and the following day I reported the overcrowding to the traffic commissioner its funny I always sense a collective sigh when I pop in to the OfTC by my office mind you its very convenient I must say the lovely lady on reception always  says the OfTC should join the Nector card scheme as I would end up with record points a really lovely thought don't you think?

[richardjones210368]

In others words it is ok for people to suffer a below adequate service as long as tfwm have signed it off, but No no no National Express cannot make people stand on their buses😲😲😲 The fact that you are unable to defend the capacity issues on these routes tells me everything I needed to know!

No oversight either we just don't allow people to join who constantly spout rubbish :)

The route capacity has been signed off by the stakeholders I am not defending it if you have comments on it I have posted where to address your concerns too for consideration by the WMCA and right @V89MOA  I understand fully your membership issues I persumb your comment that you do not allow membership to your X8 club who constantly spout rubbish includes the Mayor too.............

[2206]

I think you should be grateful an B7RLE was actually available, at least you didn't get an SWB E200 and I doubt we'd be hearing the last of it!

Don't think he even intended to use it, so not sure how he knows there was a problem with the allocation.
Leaving the City Centre at midday there wasn't.

[richardjones210368]

Don't think he even intended to use it, so not sure how he knows there was a problem with the allocation.
Leaving the City Centre at midday there wasn't.

It is not me I worry about personally i am not one of life's complainers its my fellow Blackheath bus users I worry about when I am not on the service to observe matters Blackheath bus users deserve so much better than the service they receive from West Midlands Travel Ltd there are times I cannot sleep at night due to worry about the third world bus service we all have to put with in Blackheath aside from the Diamond Bus 4H of course.

[richardjones210368]

And then.....

..... the matter reviewed by all the stakeholders and on any action point a decision will be made on how to address it if any.

[richardjones210368]

Yawn..
You do know people are just laughing at you with the bollocks your spouting so why don't you just shut up cause nobody really cares if you don't like the bus service learn how to drive a car simple

Its funny how the Admins are just sitting back and watching but if this was anyone else they would be blue penned and removed for off here 1 rule for one.

I will take your comments fully on board and address the issues you have raised in due course in the appropriate manner just for the record I hold a full car driving licence and a PCV and I have no idea where you got the idea I do not like the bus service in the West Midlands I use them 7 days a week 364 days a week and can only find fault in one route out of hundreds in my opinion we have a network of bus services that are the best in England  and should fully praise the work of Transport For West Midlands and The West Midlands Combined Authority honestly I cannot see how anyone cannot like the bus service network we have across Birmingham & the Black Country led by Diamond Buses Limited I certainly do.

[Trident 4194]

You do make me smile @Jack anyone would think I am on this forum simply to moan about the X8 and cause trouble for @Tony  mind you in November NXWM did actually allocate a SWB E200 to a afternoon journey on the X8 from Dudley I was on & so I decided to stay on it to Brum & come right back on it to monitor the capacity of the journey and the following day I reported the overcrowding to the traffic commissioner its funny I always sense a collective sigh when I pop in to the OfTC by my office mind you its very convenient I must say the lovely lady on reception always  says the OfTC should join the Nector card scheme as I would end up with record points a really lovely thought don't you think?

If that doesn't clarify what a moaner you are I don't know what does. Try having a B7RLE on the uni services or Bristol road then you will see that's it not just the X8 that suffers capacity issues. It's been mentioned that the 55 should certainly have bigger buses than omnilinks, however people don't post everyday moaning about it, they get on with it instead. Do you think it's acceptable diamondbuses uses mellors on 4H/002, and small darts on there?

[richardjones210368]

If that doesn't clarify what a moaner you are I don't know what does. Try having a B7RLE on the uni services or Bristol road then you will see that's it not just the X8 that suffers capacity issues. It's been mentioned that the 55 should certainly have bigger buses than omnilinks, however people don't post everyday moaning about it, they get on with it instead. Do you think it's acceptable diamondbuses uses mellors on 4H/002, and small darts on there?

Well as the great Keith Chegwin used to say on Cheggers Plays Pop one man's moan is another man's regulatory issue wheyhey so let's give a big Cheggers welcome to this - I use the 55 to the Necheles Place and are not aware of any capacity problems on the journeys I use or would report the matter to the OfTC. Both the 4H and 002 are frequent services running every 15 minutes with extra capacity on part of the route from Diamond Bus 202 and NXWM 4H so vehicle substitution is not an issue on these routes and strangely enough I regularly used the 636 and then the 99 to and from Birmingham from Blackheath well The Stag and also the X64 from weoley castle and cannot recall capacity issues on the journeys I used either mind you I do agree with you completely I do not know how the Bristol Road corridor will cope with the 144 frequency reduction from 26th January that is most worrying.

[don]

I will take your comments fully on board and address the issues you have raised in due course in the appropriate manner just for the record I hold a full car driving licence and a PCV and I have no idea where you got the idea I do not like the bus service in the West Midlands I use them 7 days a week 364 days a week and can only find fault in one route out of hundreds in my opinion we have a network of bus services that are the best in England  and should fully praise the work of Transport For West Midlands and The West Midlands Combined Authority honestly I cannot see how anyone cannot like the bus service network we have across Birmingham & the Black Country led by Diamond Buses Limited I certainly do.

As NXWM runs the vast majority of services in the West Midlands, and generally a high frequency commercial service, and Diamond Bus is a small independent in that context, I just don't get why you can't recognise the level of effort NXWM gives to providing the generally excellent service in the West Midlands you describe above - whilst TfWM and WMCA has an involvement, the commercial bus service underpins everything and I don't see how WMCA and TfWM provides a great deal of input to that other than some Regulatory tasks. I really think it's insulting to the point of delusion to ignore all operators except Diamond, who frankly operate comparatively few competitive services. As has been pointed out above, one of the 'WM Bus' corridors has had its service cut - presumably the commercial operators are not permitted to top this up.

I really do worry that the service levels on these 'WM Bus' routes will be defined by smaller operator's ability to provide their contribution to the necessary level of service rather than the larger's - to the detriment of the travelling public. As you say, no double deckers at Tividale - NXWM have over 1000!!

[don]

I do not know how the Bristol Road corridor will cope with the 144 frequency reduction from 26th January that is most worrying.

I think you should write to The Times about it. As far as the Birmingham boundary does the 144 contribution even count?

Presumably rail to Bromsgrove and Worcester is a far better bet for most passengers.

[richardjones210368]

@don You quite right NXWM runs the vast majority of services in the West Midlands, and generally a high frequency commercial service, and Diamond Bus is a small independent in that context, but of course no one of any intelligence can recognise any level of effort NXWM make at all to providing a quality service to benefit of passengers in the West Midlands and not the shareholders of National Express PLC. TfWM and WMCA has an involvement and of course that is  invaluable I agree the commercial bus service underpins everything such as Diamond Bus 4H 16 41 50 226 & 002 and soon WMCA and TfWM will provide a great deal more of an input and undertake all Regulatory tasks all will be revealed by H M Gov on 11th March. If the poster earlier has issues with one of the 'WM Bus' corridors and feels it has had a "service cut" I suggest his makes his comments known by telephone on 0345 303 6760, email to customerservices@tfwm.org.uk or writes personally to The Mayor, 16 Summer Lane, Birmingham.