Hundred-year-old who was the last bus conductor in Stourbridge has bus named after him
It’s an honour given to few – but then Michael ‘Gerry’ Byrne already has a special place in bus history.
The great-grandfather, who has just celebrated his 100th birthday, was the last bus conductor in Stourbridge, and his former bosses decided to mark his milestone birthday by naming a bus after him.
Mr Byrne and his family were invited to the National Express bus depot in West Bromwich for the unveiling. The bus company also made a plaque commemorating the occasion which was presented to him at his birthday party at the Stourbridge Institute last month, when the surprise was revealed.
The former Midland Red employee worked on the buses for more than 30 years, from 1948 until 1979, putting in plenty of overtime to provide for his eight children, sometimes taking them with him on the bus during the school holidays.
He covered routes as far afield as Bridgnorth, Worcester and Birmingham but preferred the local runs to neighbourhoods like Pedmore Fields, Wollaston Farm and the Norton Estate.
Gerry said: “It was hard work for conductors being on your feet all day but you could sit and have a chat with passengers if it wasn’t busy.” Bryan Bannister, the company’s group communications manager, said: “We were delighted to do this for him.”
