MidlandRed.net

After its brief use in service last week 32646 is now SORN so is no longer available for service. It is logical 37147 is now needed for service

This was Redditch on the Saturday after the announcement of the sale - still very much business as usual. I post nearer the March date some pictures of Redditch on the first day of Diamond occupation of the Plymouth Road depot and the first departures on that Sunday as Diamond bus on hire to First M...

Just to clarify the situation. The requirement for seat belts is in the Public Service Vehicle Regulations 2000. There is an exemption for close door home to school services ie they are not registered as a local bus service or for rail replacement services. Government keeps extending the date vehicl...

A great bloke and a loss and ambassador to the industry - Having been subjected to his very pointed questioning on several times over the years about some aspect of bus operation you always knew he really cared for the industry and was well respected by many of his fellow operators

The final piece of the jigsaw is the Monday to Saturday X20 from Stratford to Solihull will also move to Stagecoach like the Sunday service will from this weekend. This is first time Stagecoach Midland Red will have had a regular service in Solihull (other than Schools) - Both Midland Red West and N...

Whilst the transfer of vehicles from Johnson's to Diamond was made over the weekend of the 28th and 29th May with first appearing on Saturday afternoon at Redditch the last actual service run by Johnson's was the Sunday only X50 from Chipping Norton to Birmingham. on the 29th May. They used vehicles...

The national problem is that bus usage has on average only recovered at best to about 80% of pre-covid numbers. Since March 2020 all bus services have been heavily subsidised using funding from central government something they are now attempting to reduce. A deadline of 31st March was set for end o...

The bus improvement plan and the required money is a different funding stream and has been oversubscribed nationally so very few if any local authorities are likely to get all of what they have asked for

The Worcestershire bids were unsuccessful and got no further than the requirement to create a business case

To be clear this a national problem with all bus operators large and small. Since 2020 all bus operators have received government support. The key issue is government are very slow at confirming the new levels each time a round of funding is coming to an end the next being April. Bus operators are s...