The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Bus and Coach operations, new or changed services and timetables for First Midland Red Buses Limited or its predecessor, Midland Red West Limited.
asb
Posts: 46
Joined: 16:33 Thursday 21st July 2016

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by asb » 13:59 Tuesday 3rd May 2022

AdamH wrote:
17:48 Sunday 1st May 2022
Yes, on Sundays during the winter and evenings on Monday to Thursdays the 144 would be run with a minibus. I remember driving a Mercedes L608D and later the O.814 Vario into Birmingham and being totally ignored by people at bus stops as they had no idea!

Not my best efforts with a camera as it was very early days snapping for me, but here's one... http://midlandred.net/vehicles/photogra ... 03&image=1
I travelled from Worcester to Birmingham several times on a Sunday morning on a 608D. I was normally a bit cheesed off with it by about Bromsgrove...

User avatar
AdamH
Posts: 2044
Joined: 12:17 Sunday 3rd July 2016
Location: Worcester
Contact:

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by AdamH » 19:31 Tuesday 3rd May 2022

asb wrote:
13:59 Tuesday 3rd May 2022
AdamH wrote:
17:48 Sunday 1st May 2022
Yes, on Sundays during the winter and evenings on Monday to Thursdays the 144 would be run with a minibus. I remember driving a Mercedes L608D and later the O.814 Vario into Birmingham and being totally ignored by people at bus stops as they had no idea!

Not my best efforts with a camera as it was very early days snapping for me, but here's one... http://midlandred.net/vehicles/photogra ... 03&image=1
I travelled from Worcester to Birmingham several times on a Sunday morning on a 608D. I was normally a bit cheesed off with it by about Bromsgrove...
Amazing that you lasted that long! The 608s were hard work to drive, and they got even harder if you dared go over 35mph… Not suitable for long distance work at all.

User avatar
SEVERNLINK
Posts: 112
Joined: 14:44 Thursday 27th October 2016
Location: Bromsgrove

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by SEVERNLINK » 12:32 Wednesday 4th May 2022

MattW wrote:
15:51 Sunday 1st May 2022
I was a bit late for the Nationals, but certainly enjoyed the 144 more than most.
If you had the right vehicle, the run down from Bromsgrove to Wychbold could see some pretty high speeds, although I suspect my priorities were a little different to others!
The bit of dual carriageway between Lydiate Ash and Rubery could be a bit hair raising :shock: Had a few white knuckle rides on the 23.20 off Brum on a Saturday night back in the days of E300's those rumble strips approaching the M5 island were a killer.Had the same driver on it quite a few times if the lights were on green approaching I'd have both hands firmly gripped on the seat in front ready to take the bend at warp speed 10 :o

User avatar
SEVERNLINK
Posts: 112
Joined: 14:44 Thursday 27th October 2016
Location: Bromsgrove

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by SEVERNLINK » 12:35 Wednesday 4th May 2022

Seen a few reports on twitter of early running on the new 144A ten minutes on the first day and five today hopefully this will be addressed :!:

DC54
Posts: 36
Joined: 12:40 Sunday 7th August 2016
Location: Dudley

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by DC54 » 22:15 Wednesday 4th May 2022

SEVERNLINK wrote:
12:35 Wednesday 4th May 2022
Seen a few reports on twitter of early running on the new 144A ten minutes on the first day and five today hopefully this will be addressed :!:
I’ve only seen one person mentioning early running on Twitter. Meanwhile the same person’s timeline suggests they are complaining about a lot of businesses, for whatever reason.

Adam V
Posts: 104
Joined: 15:28 Saturday 16th July 2016

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by Adam V » 08:59 Thursday 5th May 2022

I was doing some work in Bromsgrove yesterday and made a point of popping over to bus station when a 144A was due. I saw 4 of the departures and all were quite well loaded when leaving the bus station. I also noticed a good 5 or 6 passengers transferring off the 144 onto the 144A each time too.

Talking to a NXWM driver, he said that loadings for the first couple of days were far better than expected especially between Bromsgrove and Rubery, but also said many passengers were still quite confused about having to now change buses. He feared loadings would drop off when more people realise they have to change to make a longer distance journey.

I tend not to use First buses now because of the ridiculous fares but I did use the 144 between Worcester and Bromsgrove and in both directions, the Worcester drivers were handing out printed copies of the 144A timetable for people who wanted to travel further which I was impressed with. It must be frustrating for the First Worcester drivers knowing they will have confused and annoyed passengers about the 144. But full credit to the Worcester drivers I saw and spoke to yesterday.

Also on my northbound journey to Bromsgrove, the 144 driver knew he had quite a few passengers for the 144A and as we were running about 8 mins late, when we pulled up past the 144A in Bromsgrove bus station he sounded his horn and signalled to the 144A driver that he had passengers.

DC54
Posts: 36
Joined: 12:40 Sunday 7th August 2016
Location: Dudley

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by DC54 » 12:31 Thursday 5th May 2022

NXWM 1927 (BX10 ABO) Scania CK230UB at the stop opposite St. Chads Church in Rubery. Looks like the ‘Salt Road’ flags are still in place along the curtailed part of the 144, although WCC’s timetables are up at the stops.

2BE2622D-4D33-4899-B58A-A713839FF834.jpeg
5980F47E-AD96-4FC0-B110-2C3C4C0F5AAE.jpeg

DC54
Posts: 36
Joined: 12:40 Sunday 7th August 2016
Location: Dudley

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by DC54 » 13:46 Thursday 5th May 2022

Adam V wrote:
08:59 Thursday 5th May 2022
I was doing some work in Bromsgrove yesterday and made a point of popping over to bus station when a 144A was due. I saw 4 of the departures and all were quite well loaded when leaving the bus station. I also noticed a good 5 or 6 passengers transferring off the 144 onto the 144A each time too.

Talking to a NXWM driver, he said that loadings for the first couple of days were far better than expected especially between Bromsgrove and Rubery, but also said many passengers were still quite confused about having to now change buses. He feared loadings would drop off when more people realise they have to change to make a longer distance journey.

I tend not to use First buses now because of the ridiculous fares but I did use the 144 between Worcester and Bromsgrove and in both directions, the Worcester drivers were handing out printed copies of the 144A timetable for people who wanted to travel further which I was impressed with. It must be frustrating for the First Worcester drivers knowing they will have confused and annoyed passengers about the 144. But full credit to the Worcester drivers I saw and spoke to yesterday.

Also on my northbound journey to Bromsgrove, the 144 driver knew he had quite a few passengers for the 144A and as we were running about 8 mins late, when we pulled up past the 144A in Bromsgrove bus station he sounded his horn and signalled to the 144A driver that he had passengers.
Very interesting post…thanks for sharing this. Maybe this is the ideal opportunity for Worcestershire County County, in collaboration with First, NXWM and TfWM to produce a leaflet giving the times of the 144 and 144A, along with practical advice as to what is going on and where to connect to go to Birmingham or stages of the 144 if travelling the other way. There will be a great deal of confusion considering the wide-ranging changes and any support to passengers would, in my opinion be greatly appreciated.

By the way…the NXWM bus in my previous pictures did have a healthy load heading away from the St. Chads stop towards Longbridge. It’s worth noting the following stop where the 63 joins New Road did have a lot of people waiting. These maybe existing local passengers, but there might be 144 exiles as well?

DC54
Posts: 36
Joined: 12:40 Sunday 7th August 2016
Location: Dudley

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by DC54 » 14:09 Thursday 5th May 2022

Worcestershire County Council more like! 🙄

JustinTyme
Posts: 121
Joined: 20:20 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Solihull

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by JustinTyme » 23:14 Thursday 5th May 2022

DC54 wrote:
13:46 Thursday 5th May 2022
Maybe this is the ideal opportunity for Worcestershire County County, in collaboration with First, NXWM and TfWM to produce a leaflet giving the times of the 144 and 144A, along with practical advice as to what is going on and where to connect to go to Birmingham or stages of the 144 if travelling the other way. There will be a great deal of confusion considering the wide-ranging changes and any support to passengers would, in my opinion be greatly appreciated.
You are right, but unfortunately I think Worcestershire CC has stopped producing timetables - cetainly on line. With the current 70-minute frequency it may be best to wait anyway until (NXWM's website indicates "until", not "if") a more regular frequency comes in.

I guess some extra passengers are being carried on the 144A thanks to the low single (£2.40) and day ticket (£4.00) fares?

Post Reply

Return to “Services, Routes and Timetables”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests