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Service 382: Service History

Service 382 (1948–1959)

Operated by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited

In the late 1940s (exact start date unknown), Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) operated Service 382 between Alcester, Dunnington, Harvington and Evesham. Two journeys in each direction ran on Thursdays only, and one journey towards Evesham ran on Saturdays with two journeys towards Alcester. There was no service on any other days of the week.

This service had been withdrawn by mid-1960.

Service 382 (1965–1971)

Operated by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited

Starting from Monday 4^th January 1965, Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) introduced a new Service 382 between Worcester, Pershore, Defford, Eckington and Bredon. Four return journeys were operated on weekdays, and three return journeys on Saturdays. There was no service on Sundays. This service was introduced to replace the railway following the stations on the Birmingham and Gloucester line at Bredon, Eckington and Defford all being closed to passengers on the same day.

The route of this Service 382 was similar to that of Service 381 operated before the Second World War. That service did not run via Defford, and was cut back to run only between Pershore and Birlingham during the wartime period. After the end of the war, Service 381 was extended again but in the other direction to link Pershore with Tewkesbury.

Two service was operated from Worcester depot by a two-man crew and although the timetable only allowed only a five or six minute turnaround at Bredon, timings were generous and driver and conductor would often go for a cup of tea in the railway signal box, safe in the knowledge late time could be made up on the return journey.

This service was withdrawn on Saturday 3^rd April 1971, along with many rural services throughout the network, and by the late 1970s the only Midland Red services operating between Pershore, Defford and Eckington were Service 262 and Service 371, which ran a limited service using Shortened Ford R192/R1014 Midibuses.

Route Summary

¹  The first journey of the day from Worcester to Bredon omitted Pershore and Defford, running direct between Stoulton and Eckington Turn.

Service 382 (2012–2014)

Operated by First Midland Red Buses Limited

In 2012, First Midland Red Buses Limited won a contract from Worcestershire County Council to operate Service 382 between Worcester, Eckington and Pershore on Friday and Saturday evenings. These services were withdrawn on Sunday 31^st August 2014 when the contract came to an end, and were not replaced due to County Council budget cuts.

Route Summary

Service 382 (2015–2017)

Operated by First Midland Red Buses Limited

Until the end of August 2015, daytime journeys of Service 382 were operated by Astons Coaches. At that time they surrendered their registration and First Midland Red Buses Limited took over the service from Tuesday 1^st September 2015 (the Monday was a Bank Holiday), operating to a reduced timetable with one journey in each direction every two hours during off-peak times. Short-working journeys between Worcester City Centre and Norton only were operated on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays, replacing Service 32 between Worcester City Centre and St. Peter’s Estate.

Initially First Midland Red operated the same route that had been run by Astons Coaches, but this posed a number of problems as buses needed to turn round twice in Eckington, once near the Bell Inn then again at The Close. Also, buses crossed the narrow bridge over the River Avon between Defford Road and Eckington which is frequently closed during the winter due to flooding, meaning buses needed to take a lengthy diversion and operated to a completely different timetable. From Monday 11^th April 2016 a new route into and out of Eckington was operated, based on the flood diversion running through Great Comberton, meaning less disruption during the winter and it also had the benefit of eliminating the need to turn around at The Close as buses now pass this as they enter and leave the village. At the same time, the Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday short-working journeys were withdrawn due to low passenger numbers.

With passenger numbers falling still, First Midland Red reduced the number of journeys from Sunday 4^th September 2016, with most off-peak journeys including all Saturday journeys being withdrawn. From the same date, there was also a minor route change with all journeys now running via Birlingham Church between Defford and Pershore. The cuts caused a number of complaints in the local newspaper and at a public meeting held at Pershore Town Hall on Thursday 13^th October 2016, the First Midland Red Managing Director stated that following negotiations with Norton Parish Council a short-working journey between Worcester and Littleworth would be introduced on Wednesday and Friday afternoons. This would run from Wednesday 23^rd November 2016 as an experiment for a trial period of three months to see if a permanent replacement was financially viable. This additional trial journey later became permanent.

Following further negotiations with Worcestershire County Council, various Parrish Councils, and a local Transport Action Group, a new network of services was finally agreed for Pershore and the surrounding villages. The new network came into operation on Sunday 15^th October 2017, and was branded as “The 50s” as the routes were numbered in the range 50–54. Service 382 was withdrawn at this time and not directly replaced as Great Comberton was no longer served, however Norton and Littleworth finally got the hourly off-peak service they wanted with new Service 52 (to Evesham) and new Service 53 (to Eckington) inter-worked. New Service 54 was also introduced to replace the school journeys of Service 382.

Route Summary

¹  During floods when Eckington Bridge is closed, Service 382 runs direct between Defford and Pershore, omitting Eckington, then continue past Pershore to Eckington via Great Comberton.
²  On school days, certain journeys start or finish at Pershore High School, and run via the 2015 route omitting Great Comberton.