Massive overhaul for bus services
Monday 27th April 2009, 11:30AM BST.
A complete overhaul of most of the Black Country’s bus network will take place from next year, it was revealed today.
Every bus route in Sandwell will be reviewed in a bid to simplify timetables and provide more regular services.
The move will also see services in the north of Walsall, which will be reviewed in 2010. Wolverhampton and the west of Walsall will also be reviewed after next year. It follows a 15 per cent boost in passengers in Dudley following a review there which took place last year.
Service numbers will be changed and timetables will be altered to take account of shopping and work hours.
Bosses at transport authority Centro say the review, which will see routes re-numbered, will cut down on situations such as where several buses arrive at the same place within minutes of each other and long gaps between services.
Centro spokesman Steve Swingler said: “Network reviews similar to the successful one implemented in Dudley last year are earmarked for the north Walsall area and for Sandwell with a projected date of 2010.
“Further reviews in other areas such as west Wolverhampton, east Wolverhampton and west Walsall would be carried out further in the future. The aim of these reviews is to provide networks that give passengers and businesses an even more up-to-date and effective bus system.
“We will meet modern working and shopping hours by providing frequent services to retail, leisure and employment centres.
“The reviews involve simplifying route numbers and providing better co-ordination of departures along routes and from Centro’s bus stations.”
Centro’s bus and highways director Stephen Rhodes said Sandwell was a priority. He said: “Some of the key concerns and worries of passengers are worse in Sandwell than in any of the other districts which are covered by the Centro network.”
The transport authority is working with bus operator National Express West Midlands, which runs 80 per cent of services, on a scheme to introduce better shelters with real-time information and smartcards on buses.
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Hopefully they wil turn up on time as well!!
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I am a bus user
I would like to use one pass for ALL buses
Never mind new shelters and timetables what about cleaning the bloody buses and training the drivers better. No point complaining about services all complaints are acknowleded and then binned!!
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Look lateral folks, this is being done for operational needs not the publics.
They never do ANYTHING with the customer in mind.
Let me give you an example.
A couple of years ago now the changed the times of the 535 Codsall bus.
It left Wolverhampton 5 minutes earlier than before.
Why?
Which customers asked for the last bus out of town to leave at 10.50 instead of 10.55?
To make it worse they never told us either.
I went to catch my last bus and it had gone.
I phoned centro to complain because all the timetables on the route gave the old times AND still did weeks after it changed.
They told me the electronic bus timetable at the bus staion had the new times on it. Fine except I wasn’t waiting at the bus station.
The bus service will never improve whilst the likes of Phil Bateman are involved either.
Sandwell don’t expect anything positive out of this.
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Like this one a lot !
15 years ago we had a lousy night bus service in the Paris region. There were two waves of major reviews.Now we have a very comprehensive network of high and low frequency routes.The service is full to bursting particularly at weekends.PS Where were all these passengers before? If you pump up primary bus or underground routes the passengers follow.CQFD.If the service is useless people walk,use cars or don’t move.
Re night buses why can places like Durham,Stoke and Stafford have them and the West Midlands not?
Re the day buses : it is time to bump them up for the day when fuel runs out and to get somewhere near the Midland metro network that is still fantasy drawings in the drawers of overpaid consultants.
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I hope people can realise why you’re reading these kind of stories. They’ve wrecked the economy and thrown you on the scrap heap..Owen Street..road widening..bus services; do the people of Sandwell not realise that such schemes are merely there to keep you subservient, as well as attempt to justify the position of people paid a lot of money for basically not giving a damn? These elected ‘leaders’ never cared – if they did you would not be reading about the horrid state of this region, forcing many a sane mind to live elsewhere. Don’t be manipulated.
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What does ‘E’ stand for? Election.
What does ‘I’ stand for? Ignorance following it.
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Further to some of the recent comments, there already is a pass for all buses, it is called Nbus (formally Busmaster).
These reviews are being arranged by Centro, who are the independant transport authority, therefore they are interested in the public, as they are a not for profit body and not a business just out to make money.
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The cynic in me suspects that this will lead to far better bus services for some places….and far worse bus services for others.
These ‘network reviews’ inevitably lead to a sizeable number of displeased people. Don’t be surprised if it actually leads to a lot of service CUTS.
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the best service i have seen is up Manchester clean reliable regular buses and reasonable day tickets buses up there were running past the hours that the ones in walsall go to. it would be an idea 4 the bus managers to take a trip to manchester and other places in the uk n reasearch how other providers manage to provide a reliable regular bus serivce to there areas n bring it down here
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