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.
MattW
Posts: 979
Joined: 20:42 Sunday 3rd July 2016
Location: Cornwall

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by MattW » 16:45 Friday 6th May 2022

SEVERNLINK wrote:
12:32 Wednesday 4th May 2022

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
Excellent. Good lad 8-) :lol:

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

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by DC54 » 18:39 Saturday 7th May 2022

A few pictures taken today at Bromsgrove Bus Station of First 144 and National Express West Midlands 144A. It appears NXWM are using the same bus - 1927 ‘Colin 'Elvis' Beason’ (BX10 ABO), which has popped up a few times this week. Meanwhile, First’s 69459 ‘Diana’ (WX59 BZN) is going to be repainted soon…
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ANDREW
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Joined: 00:38 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Bromsgrove.

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by ANDREW » 12:22 Wednesday 11th May 2022

Nice to see "red" buses on the 144[a] again. :!:

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

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by SEVERNLINK » 15:54 Thursday 12th May 2022

I see that several salt road bus stop signs have been removed from Stourbridge Road that is no longer served by the 144.Of the six that are no longer used four have been removed but two remain! The 52A calls at one of the remainers but also serves one that has gone so no bus stop sign at all :roll: The other that remains southbound is only served by the 885 Green Bus school service :?

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

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by DC54 » 17:14 Monday 16th May 2022

On Saturday 14th, I travelled with another seasoned bus fellow on the NXWM 144A, along with a few other routes out of Bromsgrove. Firstly; the passenger numbers out to Longbridge and back into Bromsgrove appeared to be really good, especially for a Saturday morning. The interesting part is already people have discovered NXWM’s daysaver tickets (unless they’ve already used it previously within Brum) and it appeared that there was a good split between concessionary passes and day saver tickets. As to be expected (and noted here previously) with something new, a few passengers were asking the driver how it all worked, and to be fair…he was very helpful explaining about where to get on or off the stops and tickets etc.

Overheard conversations (not only on 144A, but on others we ventured on in the area) seem to be about passengers hoping folk use the 144A service, because naturally thoughts are now starting to focus on what will happen after this six month period ends. There is a concern that after all the national media coverage of the split has passed, the route will eventually disappear. Another thing which is evident was how much anger there is about First. I overheard them mentioned a few times but in quite derogatory terms!

The one thing we noticed was a ‘Salt Road’ 144 departing the Bus Station bound for Catshill, with no passengers on board. We noticed everyone get off at the Bus Station, with a few going onto the 144A. But, of all my years using the 144 on and off, I have never seen this. This could be a one off, and more regular users of the 144 and 144A will be able to notice any trends emerging. But stranger things have happened and six months is a long time.

Needless to say we will return to this…

The general state of Bromsgrove Bus Station, left a lot to be desired. The large timetable display had nothing regarding connections to/from the Railway Station - not even an advertisement for it or the WOD (which seems to have very few passengers on it, when observing). So the Kev’s journey’s onwards from the bus station to the railway station are to ‘Bromsgrove’, or again…is this a one off? Stand 1 had no 144 or 144A identifiers on the WCC bus stop flag (infact it still said it was Stand 2 on the flag!). The display case perspex had all kinds of half scrapped off adverts, graffiti and looked genuinely unappealing to anyone. So whilst it had an updated timetable, this was far from user friendly and wasn’t the easiest to read. Stand 3 didn’t even have a bus stop flag! But this wasn’t all. Beyond Catshill along the 144A route there were ‘Salt Road’ flags with stickers over ‘Birmingham’. So a route which has been curtailed is still getting publicised in Rubery for instance, before you cross the imaginary line into TfWM territory (although a lot of the TfWM flags still have a 144 route identifier). The bus stop display cases do carry information about the 144A…but was taped onto the display, instead of getting placed in the case. Which will undoubtedly get ripped off. This doesn’t look good and not a way of enticing new passengers onto the bus - especially at a time of considerable change to the services.

Another thing I noticed on several occasions recently was of how deserted Bromsgrove Bus Station is currently, so even though there is still a considerable amount of routes departing or going through the town…there doesn’t seem to be the buzz around the place, especially in comparison to the 1980s and 1990s when Midland Red West dominated. Maybe Bromsgrove (like everywhere else), is still finding it hard to come out of Covid and haven’t fully re-embraced public transport yet.

Who knows?
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ANDREW
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Joined: 00:38 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Bromsgrove.

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by ANDREW » 20:39 Monday 16th May 2022

Thanks DC54 for your post including Bromsgrove Bus Station. The "TV" timetable -unless repaired recently - is not illuminated in hours of darkness .[ Reported to WCC some time back ] . Also , it seems that one operator leaves buses parked up in the bus station between trips causing buses to load and unload at the wrong stop. I missed a bus recently due to this happening. I agree with the comment on the station looking empty at times. But I have to say that the bus station area is kept tidy most of the time. :)

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SEVERNLINK
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Location: Bromsgrove

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by SEVERNLINK » 17:59 Wednesday 18th May 2022

SEVERNLINK wrote:
15:54 Thursday 12th May 2022
I see that several salt road bus stop signs have been removed from Stourbridge Road that is no longer served by the 144.Of the six that are no longer used four have been removed but two remain! The 52A calls at one of the remainers but also serves one that has gone so no bus stop sign at all :roll: The other that remains southbound is only served by the 885 Green Bus school service :?
My good deed for the day...informing an elderly gentleman that the 144 no longer comes this way :!: Saw him waiting at the stop opposite Bewell Head on the Stourbridge Road the stop now only served by the 885.He was still stood there 15-20 minutes later when I came back so asked him if he was waiting for the 144 which he replied yes so informed him they all go down Broad Street now and directed him to a stop there :roll:

Have noticed some new timetable frames adorning several stops on Broad Street and Stourbridge Road.As they are red I presume they are something to do with West Midlands and the 144A:?:

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SEVERNLINK
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Location: Bromsgrove

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by SEVERNLINK » 12:48 Wednesday 31st August 2022

Saw a tweet from NXWM replying to someone inquiring about the times of the 144A.In the reply they mention that from September the first bus from Bromsgrove will be 0715 (presently its 0825).Have checked their website and the new timetable is on there so looks like the service is to continue for the time being :D....Am still hoping that one day it's extended to Birmingham

WR1st
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Joined: 17:04 Monday 4th July 2016

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by WR1st » 17:54 Wednesday 31st August 2022

SEVERNLINK wrote:
12:48 Wednesday 31st August 2022
so looks like the service is to continue for the time being....
....it's at Yardley Wood for the foreseeable future :twisted:

I know we had a breakdown on there today so some milage was lost :shock:

WR1st
Posts: 56
Joined: 17:04 Monday 4th July 2016

Re: The End of Worcester to Birmingham 144 !!

Post by WR1st » 18:19 Wednesday 31st August 2022

More lost milage this evening with reports of bus windows being put through by kids on the 144a.
Commonplace at Yardley Wood lately.
Our first 6 had a window bricked this morning at 0430 whilst running private to Shirley.
Averaging approx at least six buses a day if not more being bricked or upper saloon windows literally being kicked out with the frame attached :evil:

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