Autumn 2018 service changes/cuts

Bus and Coach operations, new or changed services and timetables for First Midland Red Buses Limited or its predecessor, Midland Red West Limited.
Post Reply
ANDREW
Posts: 765
Joined: 00:38 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Bromsgrove.

Re: Autumn 2018 service changes/cuts

Post by ANDREW » 17:27 Friday 10th August 2018

bmmoboy wrote:
16:43 Friday 10th August 2018
Tim - talking of Council waste . . . . . .
Any of you driving / travelling on the 144a as you turn off Market Street into Church Street Bromsgrove will have noticed that the long standing "series of potholes" just before the junction with Church Lane have finally been repaired by a [hopefully] permanent reinstatement. This pothole has been reported - by others and myself - and repaired at least six times over recent months. Each time after it being reported , a few days later, after an inspection ,a blob of orange paint appears then a week or so later the pot hole gets a refill and breaks up again a few weeks later. Would a cheaper alternative be for the pothole to be fixed properly after the first report. :oops:

TimBrown
Posts: 1280
Joined: 05:59 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Worcester

Re: Autumn 2018 service changes/cuts

Post by TimBrown » 19:25 Friday 10th August 2018

bmmoboy wrote:
16:43 Friday 10th August 2018
Tim - talking of Council waste, why are they building a new bus stop lay-by just north of Green Lane, when there is a perfectly serviceable one 100 yards away, which has been there for several decades. I expect that they will say it is for new development on the adjacent fields but it still seems to be a complete waste of money
I forgot to mention all the heavy roadworks at great cost in Newtown Road and the more or less redundant bus lanes.

Not sure of reasoning for the bus stop lay-by just north of Green Lane, but a new footpath is being installed there too. I have looked on the websites for any planning requests for residential development on Church Farm field on that Eastern side of Ombersley Road but can't find anything. Years ago there was a failed bid to put a park and ride and supermarket on that side of the road close to the northern link roundabout.

By all accounts, when the next phase of house construction is complete the 37 route will not turn right into Grange Avenue, but continue into Bevere Close and then cross Green Lane into the entrance of new estate in what I am told will be a dedicated bus lane??!! The entrance to this narrow road has no chamfered kerbs on either side and can only be accessed from Bevere Close so that may be correct assumption. The service will exit the new site into Ombersley Road just North of Gwillams Farm shop and I assume it was deemed a dangerous place to drop off passengers at the lay-by opposite Green Lane - awkward to cross the road and not an easy place to move out into traffic coming fast round the bend behind the bus either. There would also be enough room to put a roundabout in the bus turning space if needed. It is possible that the developers will subsidise the revised route for a fixed period (12 months?) as there will be a number of social housing dwellings to be served. It might help retain the 37 service without any more reductions in that period. After that who knows?

DD12
Posts: 1650
Joined: 19:49 Monday 4th July 2016

Re: Autumn 2018 service changes/cuts

Post by DD12 » 22:18 Friday 10th August 2018

Thanks again Tim, for the info above.
The original plans that I saw a few years ago, were for that narrow gap in the hedge opposite the exit of Bevere Close, to be a "bus-gate" into the new estate.

In support of that, the developers also had to provide a "swept-path analysis" report to show that Bevere Close was suitable. ( - it has been used by the long Darts in the past).
I expect that 33043 which is often used on the 32S could negotiate it, but I'm not sure about longer buses.

One of my eccentric ambitions is to ride a DD along Bevere Close, as I lived there for a number of years, and my father continued to live there for "donkeys years".
The 32S might get to follow a different route, but IF DDs continue to be used on the 37, that new bus bay on the main road will be suitable for "lay-overs" -- ( the neighbours wont have a valid complaint about loss of privacy !)

TimBrown
Posts: 1280
Joined: 05:59 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Worcester

Re: Autumn 2018 service changes/cuts

Post by TimBrown » 08:48 Saturday 11th August 2018

DD12 wrote:
22:18 Friday 10th August 2018
Thanks again Tim, for the info above.
The original plans that I saw a few years ago, were for that narrow gap in the hedge opposite the exit of Bevere Close, to be a "bus-gate" into the new estate.

In support of that, the developers also had to provide a "swept-path analysis" report to show that Bevere Close was suitable. ( - it has been used by the long Darts in the past).
I expect that 33043 which is often used on the 32S could negotiate it, but I'm not sure about longer buses.

One of my eccentric ambitions is to ride a DD along Bevere Close, as I lived there for a number of years, and my father continued to live there for "donkeys years".
The 32S might get to follow a different route, but IF DDs continue to be used on the 37, that new bus bay on the main road will be suitable for "lay-overs" -- ( the neighbours wont have a valid complaint about loss of privacy !)
Years ago we used to take full length Lances around Bevere Close on tendered evening services, the road is generally wide enough but the exit on to Green Lane is narrow and doesn't have the swept back kerbs found at the end of Bevere Drive. In consequence it was impossible to turn right without the offside rear wheels mounting the kerb, which is illegal. Councils note; the bollards close to the edge of entrance into Angel Street forces buses over the kerb (now disappeared) outside McDonalds.

Bevere Close now has a large tree with substantial branches which look to be low enough to dent the nearside front roof of a single-decker, therefore double-deckers not suitable unless someone does some heavy tree surgery with a chainsaw.

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

Re: Autumn 2018 service changes/cuts

Post by AdamH » 09:22 Saturday 11th August 2018

Tim, outside McDonalds is a dropped curb so it is perfectly legal for us to drive on the pavement and run over as many people as we like! :twisted: You are correct about the raised curb though, and not only is it illegal but often the pavement is a low grade of tarmac which cannot hold the weight, and the bus will sink!

With Green Lane we were running over the pavement for ages and the management didn’t have a clue. It was eventually raised by a driver at a H&S meeting and they soon changed it.

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

Re: Autumn 2018 service changes/cuts

Post by AdamH » 20:10 Wednesday 15th August 2018

New network map on the First Website... Let's see who can spot the most errors!

https://www.firstgroup.com/uploads/maps ... 00A%29.pdf

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

Re: Autumn 2018 service changes/cuts

Post by MattW » 18:48 Thursday 16th August 2018

The way things are going, a lot more of it will be 'Limited Service!'

bmmoboy
Posts: 549
Joined: 20:02 Tuesday 5th July 2016

Re: Autumn 2018 service changes/cuts

Post by bmmoboy » 19:09 Thursday 16th August 2018

I prefer this network map
Attachments
Network Map 03.jpg

Noggin1
Posts: 45
Joined: 13:58 Sunday 16th October 2016

Re: Autumn 2018 service changes/cuts

Post by Noggin1 » 11:06 Saturday 18th August 2018

I'm not sure how official this is. The County Council still subsidises quite a number of services and I thought Councillor Amos was the one who was in charge of that area. This seems to be almost a deal done between First and two councillors. Councillors do each have a pot of money from the County Council which they can spend on deserving causes.
http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/164 ... tom-wells/

DD12
Posts: 1650
Joined: 19:49 Monday 4th July 2016

Re: Autumn 2018 service changes/cuts

Post by DD12 » 13:12 Saturday 18th August 2018

Noggin1 wrote:
11:06 Saturday 18th August 2018
I'm not sure how official this is. The County Council still subsidises quite a number of services and I thought Councillor Amos was the one who was in charge of that area. This seems to be almost a deal done between First and two councillors. Councillors do each have a pot of money from the County Council which they can spend on deserving causes.
http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/164 ... tom-wells/
I really hope the article is factual -- it will be a big relief for people along the route !
Also, I'm hoping that one of the extra journeys turns out to be a 332 --
- the planned timetable means that people living in Earl's Croome, Kinnersley, and Severn Stoke, who catch the planned 09.05 Upton to Worcester, do not have a bus back until 14.35 !

(For their bus back, could an extra one could do a short 363 Worcester to Upton then continue as the 332 to those villages, similar to now ?)

ALSO, does anyone know if there any negotiations being done to improve the "50s" ? (It looks to me like "everyone" has given-up on that -- which would not be surprising after all the time and effort that went into their inception !)

Post Reply

Return to “Services, Routes and Timetables”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests