Latest phase of bus network transformation in West Midlands

The next major step in a major transformation of the West Midlands’ bus network is set to be taken.

Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox with the Express & Star’s free newsletter

Invitation to tender for the first tranche of the franchised bus network is set to open later this month for bus services in North/East Birmingham, Coventry and Walsall.

This process will be open for around four months with Tranche One operations expected to go live by late 2027.

Tranche Two, which covers Dudley, Sandwell and Wolverhampton, are expected to go live the following year while the Tranche Three (Solihull and South and West Birmingham) will move over in 2029.

West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker made moving the region’s bus network from its current private operator-led model to franchising when he was elected in 2024.

He argued moving towards a deregulated system would give Transport for West Midlands more control over fares, routes and timetables.

West Midlands Combined Authority currently provides an annual subsidy of around £50 million to private operators but this has failed to stop fare increases and service reduction.

In 2025, a public consultation found around 75 per cent of respondents were in favour of introducing a franchise model to the region.

Mr Parker and the West Midlands Combined Authority Board approved the transition in May last year.

Earlier this year, the authority held a pre-market engagement day with prospective bus operators.

Bus franchising will also require the acquisition of depots across the region and fleet, as well as setting up processes to manage contracts and operator performance.

Earlier this year, Mr Parker said: “We are franchising the bus network out of necessity. The private sector operator has failed this region.

“They benefit from tens of millions of pounds through subsidies each year and services are declining and not improving.

“When I was campaigning, I met communities across this region. I spoke to business groups and the biggest plea to me was to do all I can to improve the bus network.

“I remember talking to the Chamber of Commerce in Solihull and asked them what was their biggest priority.

“I didn’t imagine them to say ‘franchise the buses’ but that’s exactly what they did.

“There are jobs available in the most prosperous part of Solihull, the town centre, the airport, JLR and the south of the borough that young people in particular in the north of the borough simply cannot get to.

“The bus timetables don’t run in any way to match or align to the shift patterns the employers need.

“The failure of our bus network undermines everything I want to do in terms of increasing opportunity.

“Bus franchising gives us a great opportunity to re-frame the way in which buses work, to look at ways in which we can run the network, build a timetable that meets the needs of the West Midlands. That’s why we’re doing it.”