Sucess of Arriva in the West Midlands?

[woody38]

where on the A34 though? there was a 350/350a but again i dont recall them soing the exact 1 route? Maybe it isnt a cannock bound service theyre looking at, only others i could think of are Wolves to Telford or brum to Tamworth, wouldnt be the 112 to lichfield cos thats dead

Know one has actually confirmed that it is an Arriva route NXWM are looking at, it's just the most likely given Arriva's moves in the WM area. There is always a chance it could be a First route, bearing in mind both Kidderminster & Redditch operations are thought to be up for sale

I don't know where this myth comes from that the 112 is not busy or profitable between Lichfield and Birmingham. Just because Arriva like to play pass the parcel with it I can assure you it's a very busy run. Personally I can't see that being the route that NXWM are interested in but you never know.

When ever I have seen the 112 in Brum there is only a few people on it, most people use NXWM
to get from Brum to Sutton so inless people use it from Lichfield to Sutton, I cannot see it making much money, the same for the Tamworth Brum services they are always empty at the Brum end, One thing that must stop people using it is the amount of time it takes to get from Brum to Tamworth.

arriva seem to have given up on express services  like the X31 & X74 which where popular with customers

[Bob]

The X31 was great and often used to leave Brum full, at certain times, but failed cos of the hold ups on the M6 ( this killed the old X31 off years ago as well). Its mad that we now dont have a bus between Cannock & Birmingham :-( Maybe a new service might run again in future, down the A34, or They might bring the old 156 back. They could run it to brownhills then extend it to Cannock & get rid of the 33, its lightly loaded between brownhills & walsall anyway so getting rid shouldnt cause that many problems

[andy]

where on the A34 though? there was a 350/350a but again i dont recall them soing the exact 1 route? Maybe it isnt a cannock bound service theyre looking at, only others i could think of are Wolves to Telford or brum to Tamworth, wouldnt be the 112 to lichfield cos thats dead

Know one has actually confirmed that it is an Arriva route NXWM are looking at, it's just the most likely given Arriva's moves in the WM area. There is always a chance it could be a First route, bearing in mind both Kidderminster & Redditch operations are thought to be up for sale

I don't know where this myth comes from that the 112 is not busy or profitable between Lichfield and Birmingham. Just because Arriva like to play pass the parcel with it I can assure you it's a very busy run. Personally I can't see that being the route that NXWM are interested in but you never know.

When ever I have seen the 112 in Brum there is only a few people on it, most people use NXWM
to get from Brum to Sutton so inless people use it from Lichfield to Sutton, I cannot see it making much money, the same for the Tamworth Brum services they are always empty at the Brum end, One thing that must stop people using it is the amount of time it takes to get from Brum to Tamworth.

arriva seem to have given up on express services  like the X31 & X74 which where popular with customers

The Arriva services can't be judged just by the loadings in and out of Birmingham, they collect a lot of passengers along the route from Erdington onwards towards their destinations.

And what's more if they drop in at a time when 902/905/904 are bunched or disrupted, as they can frequently be, they get very good loadings in and out of the City.

Believe me they are profitable routes.  The X74 issue is another matter and that still needles me! If Arriva have any sense they will review the lack of express provision as not everybody in Tamworth wants to drive to Birmingham or get to a rail station and pay the extortionate fare.

[Stu]

Its mad that we now dont have a bus between Cannock & Birmingham

Not strictly true, NXWM operate three AM X51 journeys out of Cannock, and three PM return journeys from Birmingham. Presumably NXWM only operate these certain journeys as they're the only ones worth running commercially. I wonder just how many people regularly use this service to travel to Birmingham from Cannock and back...

[Bob]

the 655 am one gets a few on it but its such a circuituous ballache of a route and the 10 min layover at walsall doesnt help. if it was sped up and actually advertised ( theres not even a timetable cannock end and hasnt been for years!!!!!) it could be more successful, altho they must make money as these 3 trips have been running for years now at this level of provision

[notepanel]

With regards the peak X51's, I've found that quite a few passengers seem to just travel between Walsall & Cannock, and only a small amount (10 probably at the max), usually continue on the bus into Birmingham.

It would probably pick up more passengers if it also served the 1/2 stop in Walsall, as it is quite confusing for the X51 to board in both directions from Stand B.

When I was a student in Sutton I was always amazed at how busy the 110 could get at peak times towards Tamworth, often leaving with full loads. The 112 always seemed to be near enough full heading into and out of Sutton whenever I saw it, usually full of OAPs though. I always believed this route could probably be run half hourly between Sutton & Lichfield.

[PM]

Whats the fare from Cannock into Brum?

[andy]

When I was a student in Sutton I was always amazed at how busy the 110 could get at peak times towards Tamworth, often leaving with full loads. The 112 always seemed to be near enough full heading into and out of Sutton whenever I saw it, usually full of OAPs though. I always believed this route could probably be run half hourly between Sutton & Lichfield.

At one point there was the 112 and the 111 and there was a half hourly frequency between Lichfield and Sutton, and it was pretty well used. The 111's only got taken off when Lichfield depot closed. They were originally only put on to get vehicles over to Sutton to work 165's 117's 109's and 25's and enable driver reliefs at Lichfield but they actually took off in their own right.  There was also a failed experiment with a 912 which ran Rugeley to Birmingham via Lichfield and Sutton. That was probably one of the least used services I ever drove but seemed to last much longer than I expected it to.

[Westy]

Its mad that we now dont have a bus between Cannock & Birmingham

Not strictly true, NXWM operate three AM X51 journeys out of Cannock, and three PM return journeys from Birmingham. Presumably NXWM only operate these certain journeys as they're the only ones worth running commercially. I wonder just how many people regularly use this service to travel to Birmingham from Cannock and back...

I try to catch the 2nd departure which arrives in Bloxwich around 650am, reaching my own stop on Somerfield Rd a few mins later, but half the time it never arrives on time, which means a mad dash round to Bloxwich Road/Green Lane, to catch 710am 302!

[Bob]

Im hoping NXWM come back to Cannock at some point, as i saidbefore if they compete on the 1 theyd beat arriva hands down

[Westy]

Anyone know if the 2nd X51 from Cannock has run this morning as I waited for it in Bloxwich, catching the 302 instead, plus I saw someone who would normally catch it come off the 3rd bus & they reckoned one had been missed out?

[Bob]

its bad if they run a service like that. before they renumbered it and linked it with x51 trips brum end ( 951a) the 1st & 3rd trips were deckers & the 2nd for some reason were always B6 operated. i never got that....

[Discodave]

Was on a 350/1 board as it ran to brum then as a 951e to walsall then became a 351 then 350 later hence a b6 A34 bridge again

[Bob]

Oh i see. Im still hoping they come back to Cannock lol. maybe they will at some point. Arriva's 2 is virtually same as 351 except the Leamore bit & theyre obviously not making a loss else theyd have axed it, although its not the busiest of routes. With regard to the takeover i cant believe the buses havent even got Arriva transfers on them! says alot dont it

[andy]

Oh i see. Im still hoping they come back to Cannock lol. maybe they will at some point. Arriva's 2 is virtually same as 351 except the Leamore bit & theyre obviously not making a loss else theyd have axed it, although its not the busiest of routes. With regard to the takeover i cant believe the buses havent even got Arriva transfers on them! says alot dont it

All it says to me Bob is that the minute the B6's become available, most of this lot will be immediately withdrawn. Amending the legal lettering is the minimum requirement, they probably don't want to waste transfers on buses that are only going to be running for a couple more weeks.