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Ian Shires
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Government childcare announcement: More Conservative chaos hurting families
The case for a radical, liberal left
Blue light bill bombshell as emergency services face £144m fuel and insurance costs
It’s all change on the buses once more – if National Express have their way…
by Ian Shires on 29 March, 2016
National Express West Midlands (NXWM) are changing some of their bus services in and around Willenhall. If you live in the New Invention and Short Heath areas there are a number which will impact on you as a bus user.
The proposed changes take some services off estates that they have served for years. Some services will no longer call at The Square, New Invention reducing its status as a major public transport hub, and some services will stop running all together! If you let NXWM get away with it. Make sure you have your say. These are their proposals……..
28 Willenhall to Wolverhampton service via The Square, New Invention:
- NXWM are proposing to withdraw this service
41 Willenhall to Walsall service via The Square, New Invention:
- NXWM are proposing to provide a quicker route by withdrawing this service from The Beacon and Allens Rough Estates in New Invention. It will continue to serve The Wood Lane Estate via Byron Road, Keats Road and Shelley Road. They also plan to run the 41 service into Walsall via Lodge Farm. The frequency will be every 20 mins.
69 Walsall to Wolverhampton service via New Invention:
- NXWM are proposing to continue the 69 service Walsall and Wolverhampton but with some route changes to replace parts of the 28 and 41. Route changed to replace the 28 between Wolverhampton and Essington Road (New Invention). Buses to run along Wednesfield Road, New Cross Hospital Grounds, Prestwood Road, Wood End Road, Moat House Lane, Ridge Lane, Linthouse Lane, Griffiths Lane, Peacock Avenue, Lichfield Road, Coppice Farm Way and Essington Road. 69 replaces the 41 along Beacon Road, Hilton Road, Jones Road, Moore Road and Fletcher Road. 69 changed to operate directly along Pooles Lane they say to reduce journey times. Byron Road, Keats Road, Shelley Road and Wood Lane are covered by the 41 (now every 20 minutes). 69 no longer serves Wednesfield centre. Passengers will need to change buses between the 69 and frequent 9 or 59.
33 Walsall to Willenhall service via Lodge Farm:
- NXWM are proposing a new 33 service between Willenhall and Walsall via Lodge Farm, Bentley and Darlaston (operating along Bentley Road South). The 33 partly replaces the 40 which is being withdrawn.
National Express West Midlands say that changes in travel patterns and increases in traffic congestion have meant that they have reviewed some of the services that they operate in Walsall & Wolverhampton. They say that feedback from passengers and staff has been considered in developing proposals for a revised network of bus routes and now that they’ve put it all together they are asking for your views – good or bad!
The following links will take you to the Consultation Document and the route changes map. The former is about as clear as mud so you will need to click on the changes map link to make some sense of it:
Click here for the Consultation document
Click here for the bus changes map in Walsall
They are asking for your feedback via email to – services@nationalexpress.com
There are many things that NXWM are proposing which already are causing concern for the long suffering bus passengers in the New Invention and Short Heath areas of Willenhall. NXWM tried at the last major re shuffle of services in the area some five years or more ago to stop certain services running through some of our estates. They also tried to bypass The Square at New Invention with a couple of services. They tried it then now they are having a second bite of the cherry!
If you think what NXWM are trying to do with our local bus services is wrong then tell them so, loud and clear via – services@nationalexpress.com if you miss this chance then NXWM will go ahead and make their changes during summer 2016.
I’ve sent my email. How about you?
23 Comments
I catch the 69 ever morning and it will be good for me to have it come down Ridge lane as it was very inconvenient when it changed before to it’s present route.
Is this Ridge Lane Wednesfield?
I do not agree with the 69 completely missing shelley road and byron road!!! The 369 has been serving our estate since i were born. I think all it is going to do is shave 2 minutes off there journey not to mention the amount of upset it is going to cause the elderly including my disabled mother who catches the 69. If the 69 is going to stop in pooles lane then that is just stupid!!! It will only cause more traffic on that road due to the buses stopping and there will have to be sum sort of crossing there such as traffic lights as it is extremely hard to cross such a busy road. My mother has nearly been knocked down many a time trying to cross at pooles lane. Now she will have to use that horrible road more frequently now just to catch the 69 to town or to her doctors.
We are trying to persuade National Express West Midlands (NXWM) to keep the 69 on the estate for the very reasons you mention. NXWM run this service commercially as a result CENTRO have no jurisdiction over the bus operator. Our only hope is to try to persuade them. We have had an initial meeting with them and are waiting for a second to be set up in order to hear their response.
Hope this helps.
If you are going to add more streets to the 69 bus surely it will need extra buses putting on the route. Every half hour is just not frequent enough, isn’t the route long enough journey to add more destinations to it and cut out some of Willenhall which has been part of the bus route for a long time just going to infuriate people.
Your making the journeys longer some of us do have to get to work on time!!!!
Hi Geraldine
We both have the same aims. I’m not trying to get more streets added to the 69 route, just trying to keep it serving the areas that it currently serves. Also working with the bus operator and Walsall Council to see where the pinch points are where the service is losing time to see if something can be done to get buses through faster without hold ups.
Where did you pick up the idea that I was trying to lengthen the route by adding more streets?
I agree the most used byses I know are direct quick and frequent. 30mins doesnt work if the bus has to either go further or stop at most areas as if there is traffic or other issues it becomes unreliable or goes missing. People are more likely to wait as frequent service stops as they know its frequent but the bus company arguments going by figures for profitable routes make no sense to me. I see people walk to more frequent services all the time. Add to that they never ask the reasons why somewhere isnt profitable. It could be poor unreliable service, it doesnt go to where people want it to go and link local areas, it could be it costs too much or a quicker more direct route is around the corner or its impractical, questions bus companys never ask
The reason NXWM are using is that they are unable to guarantee the schedules as they stand due to worsening congestion. Our view is that they are tackling the symptoms and not the problem. We are campaigning within the new administration for a more pro public transport attitude than that of the previous Tory administration. How many times did we hear them say that the best shopping trolley was a Mercedes Benz?
Yeah totally agree Ian they often tackle the symptoms and not the solutions. They are taking a bus not far from me off due to congestion. Will it improve congestion? Probably not just the same problem and will probably make it worse due to more switching to cars and taxis or more using the Metro. They are adding more buses on the same route essentially changing like for like so just more bus bunching. I do find the attitude is anything but pro public until you change that attitude i’m afraid the companies won’t change, although they rarely understand getting around from the publics point of view.
Maybe things will change once we get more direct input through the Combined Authority….
I do think the consultations are often rushed and not a large enough response set to get a full picture of what people need in any given area. They often occur during the week in short periods when people are at work and too busy to actually give their full views. People are often also unaware of when they are occuring or even there is a bus review, it would be bad to base any changes on a small sample.
Like many so called consultations they appeared to have already decided what they wanted to do.
They often do make the decisions before consultations. They base much of their changes on data when users swipe cards show tickets etc. its all for profits. Problem is this is a poor way of understanding users as many busy routes by me many people can walk a distance to get these services so it gives National Express an idea that these are busy routes as loads live on them when in fact people have travelled to these stops from nearby areas as they are more frequent, reliable, direct etc. Their own nearby bus services might be terrible. I get on one bus as the swimming baths and doctors are on the route but I live nowhere near the actual bus stops. if they asked people on the buses during a week to see where they lived they will get a better idea of services needed. I will be glad when bus routes are designed separate from National Express who in my experience only design routes for their own benefit and the route planning is awful.
The consultations are terrible. One thing about NX and Network WM is that often they put a bus up a road and think their job is done. So by us the put a bus near us and think it is adequate rather than planning in a good network with good links. On a practical level it rarely works and passengers then have years of struggle. Many by me are now walking as there is long roads and they need our local train station and High St not that NX care but it highlights this ad hoc approach. Nothing much thought through and as long as roads away from busy sections have a bus tgey are rarely interested. Hopefully as you say with Combined Authority it might get better. There have been local delays in consultations at the moment.
When is this change starting?
The bus services under review are all commercial services the future of which is in the hands of the bus operator who in this case is NXWM. We will only know when the changes they propose to make will come into effect when they inform CENTRO of their intentions.
We are still trying to persuade NXWM that they should put aside the commercial argument and consider the service they provide to bus users on the Wood Lane Estate when it comes to the route of the 69 Walsall to Wolverhampton service. It looks very much as if they intend to withdraw the 40 and 28 services no matter what. On a brighter note the 41 route is likely to remain as it is but will go from 2 per hour to 3 per hour.
I totally agree with a previous response.. Changing the service not to serve the Poets Corner is a mistake, and as for the 41 running 3 per hour, all well and good but coming out of town now the 41 can be totally full at peak times, if you then have the overspill of other passengers using this who used to use 40 this will create more queues, and is this service going to be more reliable, frequently the 41 can be missing. Also if you need to catch the 69 and with the winter months, walking to Pooles Lane is quiet a jaunt for the elderly. I also agree that Pooles Lane in rush hour can be very busy, having a bus stop to unload or pick up on this street will cause delays also. I say the old saying dont try to fix what is not broken. Also the 69 can get people to town alot quicker than the 41.
NXWM did say that they would review the new time tables after they had had chance to bed in. Don’t hold your breath as they do seem to have their own agenda.
I live on coppice farm estate and the 69 bus is not going to come on this route any more.can you tell me why has it stopped.
Not sure where you have got this from?
The service is what is known as a commercial service so the bus operator National Express West Midlands (NXWM) can and does make changes to from time to time over which we have no jurisdiction.
There has been changes to this service recently but that as far as I am aware they do not include removing it from Coppice Farm Way/Essington Road. The recent changes to the route have been through Wednesfield in order to serve areas covered by the 28 Willenhall to Wolverhampton which NXWM has/are withdrawing. The 69 service is also no longer going to serve the Poets Corner Estate in Short Heath in spite of protests from us and service users, but nowhere was there any mention of not serving your estate. I will check with the bus operator and get back to you.
After many reviews what generally happens is Network WM adds on buses at the last minute to cover roads National Express have missed, couldn’t be bothered, not profitable which leaves a very disjointed service and none of the services coordinate meaning long waits for the next bus with connections. Got in a few heated debates about this with bus employees arguing Network WM is a charity or they cannot if its not profitable. just ridiculous arguments. if National Express actually sorted their routes out and linked places better it wouldnt happen. Network WM do provide better links in my opinion. Hopefully Network WM can incorporate these roads in and other useful links so they dont have to add bit routes on. The problem is when Network WM do add routes on it often doubles up on roads so you get the same services going to the same places. One road has a National Express bus going every 10mins and Network WM added on a bus to the same destinations hourly just a waste of time and money and roads by it with no service to those destinations left with nothing. Just silly really, but it may have been rushed of coarse, although National Express are just as bad.
One of the main excuses to take buses off is they claim they are ‘unprofitable’ the default NX response. However There is no reason why its unprofitable. I believe there is little difference between my main high st and the residential area I live in regarding profitability. In fact NX cause it to be unprofitability, lack of links, poor coordination, dirty buses, lack of destinations added on this is reliability as services go to Birmingham and get caught in congestion when actually they should link local places better and better connection to frequent direct Birmingham services. Its made worse by NX constant changing and taking off routes before people get used to them. People just get fed up and go by car.
I do think one issue is lack of consultation, the Sandwell review took place in Oldbury at 1pm, we are still living with the consequences four years on. The consultations as a bus guy was trying to say – people should get their opinions in, however not every consultation is in a place which people can get to or where people are free to get to it. Our road was missed out on one new service which has cost us every since and there was even a petition. It even missed out High Street out so one destination is hard to get to from a huge area. Proper consultation along the route would have made sure the new bus followed the old route particular in key areas, as often people know areas and how to move around them better than the bus companies do. So its vital NX do this with new routes which they don’t which makes me question their operations and planning departments. I presume this does happen across other areas of the West Midlands which seem equally annoyed at certain route changes and often these are in complex road pattern areas.