144 Route.

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

144 Route.

Post by ANDREW » 18:49 Friday 29th July 2016

Not a regular sight but , I observed 35157 in Bromsgrove heading to Brum at around 17.25 this afternoon. :)

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AdamH
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Location: Worcester
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Re: 144 Route.

Post by AdamH » 20:54 Friday 29th July 2016

They do seem to be finding their way off the 44 route more and more often these days.

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

Re: 144 Route.

Post by MattW » 21:23 Friday 29th July 2016

I would have thought such a well-established 'flagship' route should have the newest vehicles all the time!
Is there really no case for a 'premium' brand on the 144?
The new train service is looming!

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AdamH
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Location: Worcester
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Re: 144 Route.

Post by AdamH » 21:28 Friday 29th July 2016

It's all about the numbers, and the 44 is king in that game.

144 is second and 35 is third if you were wondering.

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

Re: 144 Route.

Post by ANDREW » 11:03 Monday 1st August 2016

Forgive me for stating the bloomin' obvious but the 144 is being diverted via Broad Street and Crabtree Lane in Bromsgrove for a number of weeks due to road works on the Stourbridge Road, it would have been nice if the proposed additional yellow line on the north side of Crabtree Lane had been installed over the weekend - the double parking near to Churchfields Road is a pain for car drivers let alone anyone driving a larger vehicle. :evil:

DD12
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Re: 144 Route.

Post by DD12 » 22:38 Thursday 4th August 2016

We have discussed the 144 on the old forum, and my perception is that this service has more significant reliability problems than any other of WR's services (?)
- due to congestion, road-works, (and vehicle break-downs ?)

We have noted that much-improved trains from Bromsgrove are being phased-in, and will take away some of "our" customers.

First have recently brought-in a competitive low fare zone on the northern section of the route, and, from September, revised stopping places, and revised timings at peaks (GREAT) - but -

I have heard (or mis-heard) that the peak vehicle requirement for the 144 will go down by one.
IF that's correct, I cannot see that helping reliability !
( - unless that one bus was able to input the service where needed, and in an innovative and flexible way ?)

P.S. Have any of any of our forum members witnessed any overloaded single-deckers on the 144 from Brum, on Mon-Fri, during school terms -
between 15.30 and 17.30 ?
(I would have thought that Double-Deckers would be needed, but WR surely does not have enough 'Deckers for that ??)

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

Re: 144 Route.

Post by DD12 » 09:44 Friday 5th August 2016

S
DD12 wrote:
22:38 Thursday 4th August 2016
We have discussed the 144 on the old forum, and my perception is that this service has more significant reliability problems than any other of WR's services (?)
- due to congestion, road-works, (and vehicle break-downs ?)

We have noted that much-improved trains from Bromsgrove are being phased-in, and will take away some of "our" customers.

First have recently brought-in a competitive low fare zone on the northern section of the route, and, from September, revised stopping places, and revised timings at peaks (GREAT) - but -

I have heard (or mis-heard) that the peak vehicle requirement for the 144 will go down by one.
IF that's correct, I cannot see that helping reliability !
( - unless that one bus was able to input the service where needed, and in an innovative and flexible way ?)

P.S. Have any of any of our forum members witnessed any overloaded single-deckers on the 144 from Brum, on Mon-Fri, during school terms -
between 15.30 and 17.30 ?
(I would have thought that Double-Deckers would be needed, but WR surely does not have enough 'Deckers for that ??)
* SORRY, I tried to edit or remove that last paragraph, but the new forum has a "different time period cut-off" (as explained in the FAQ section), so I couldn't *
- I had forgotten that WR does use DDs on Birmingham-bound 144s departing Crowngate 14.00, and 14.55, but only when enough are available. :oops:

I have also wondered if one or two of the afternoon S1-S4, S45, (DDs) could be usefully input at various points along the 144, after their school duties (?)

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Red Midland
Posts: 46
Joined: 16:43 Sunday 10th July 2016
Location: Worcester

Re: 144 Route.

Post by Red Midland » 21:43 Saturday 6th August 2016

From a driver's perspective, and after a thorough study of the forthcoming schedule for this service, I happen to be rather pleased that essentially every journey has its own variant for 'Schooldays' and 'School Holidays'.

Running times, particularly between Bromsgrove and Birmingham, differ rather significantly between these variants. It can be somewhat tedious when operating a journey on this service during school holidays with term-time peak-hour timings, which can result in you becoming frightfully ahead of time if little consideration is made to the running board.

I don't often operate this service during the term-time peak hours, however the additional running time that is to be introduced, combined with revised stopping locations along the Bristol Road, should be a welcome sight and I'm hopeful that reliability will improve as a result.

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

Re: 144 Route.

Post by DC54 » 13:23 Sunday 7th August 2016

Hi there

long time lurker to the old forum...thought I'd join up to the new one! :)
AdamH wrote:
21:28 Friday 29th July 2016
It's all about the numbers, and the 44 is king in that game.

144 is second and 35 is third if you were wondering.
I guess its a dilemma for First in how to deal with the 144. If it does rank second in 'bums on seats', then the company will have to be careful on how to improve growth on the route...especially considering the new Bromsgrove rail station will undoubtedly impact on the numbers. I know a regular topic is is an express service and maybe this needs to be visited by First once again. Maybe a resurrected X44 could run two buses an hour...one starting from Worcester and the other from Bromsgrove, combining to give Bromsgrove two buses an hour. This X44 could run upto Junction 3 at Quinton and follow the bus priority lane down Hagley Road into Brum. Thus missing out on Bristol Road all together like the former MRW services. From Worcester the service could pick up at Lyppard Grange or Blackpole, then Droitwich town centre before going onto Bromsgrove.

This could also be branded utilising the smart 'Vantage' identity being used by First on the new Transport for Greater Manchester Leigh busway or even resurrect "Midland Express"! ;)

Just a thought...

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

Re: 144 Route.

Post by MattW » 18:35 Sunday 7th August 2016

Sounds good to me. If Stagecoach were in charge I'm sure it would have been a Gold route by now. Not that they're perfect, but First always seem bottom of the heap when it comes to marketing and innovation.

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