West Midlands Special Needs transport (WMSNT) and its' Ring and Ride service will receive £35 million from Centro, the area's integrated transport authority, over the next 3 years. The money will be used to improve the current service and meet the demands of a rising elderly population. The specially adapted buses will be given a new computer system with the result that extra journeys and more flexible routes can be booked.

BUS CHANGE STOP PRESS
We realise the importance of accurate and updated information and are working hard to supply this to you.

BUS CHANGES
A major change to all Streetly bus services took place on Sunday, 25th April.The changes reflect modern bus journeys that people want to make.
Partners Arriva Midlands, Centro, Midland, Midland Rider, National Express West Midlands and Walsall MBC worked together to deliver a better North Walsall bus network service.

The changes apply to routes and to bus numbers.

Timetable TWM138 is most applicable to Streetly services.

Accurate bus times should be available at all stops. If any stops are not displaying this information, phone National Express West Midlands on 0121 254 7272

Geoff Cross, of Central Buses, has provided a separate timetable for his 78 and 88 services.

Passengers who travel on either the 78 or 88 services can now purchase an 'nbus' day ticket price £3.70 on these buses. This ticket will enable them to travel on any bus operator's service within the Network West Midlands area.

Guide to Streetly area bus timetables

TWM 138 76/77/78/88/935 ( most applicable to Streetly services )
TWM 120 934/935/997
MAR 1053 75/76
No ref 56/56A
No ref 78/88 Central bus own timetable.

Timetables for any of these routes can be obtained from Streetly Library on Blackwood Road, or from the travel shops in the Pavilion Shopping Centre, Birmingham (lower ground floor), or at Birmingham New Street Station and Network West Midlands website

Quick Guide to changes

S1 circular red bus from Sutton Coldfield to Erdington via Streetly is being replaced by two separate services, 78 and 88:-

78 red bus from Sutton Coldfield to Kingstanding via Streetly. This is now an hourly service travelling, as before from Sutton Coldfield via Four Oaks Station, Mere Green, Streetly Lane, Foley Roads and continuing through Hundred Acre to the Queslett Pub. During off peak hours, the service continues to Kingstanding Circle.

BUS CHANGE STOP PRESS
Commencing Tuesday, 4th May alteration to route number 78 Sutton Coldfield to Kingstanding via Streetly. Due to the late registration of the National Express West Midlands 935 service, the 78 service will no longer serve Wood Lane, Hardwick Arms and Chester Road. This service will now operate direct via Foley Road East and Foley Road West (as previously when it was the S1). In addition, due to severe traffic disruption between Mere Green and Sutton Coldfield, the 0725 and 0800 journeys from Queslett Island will be withdrawn and be replaced with an 1740 journey from Queslett Island. This journey will serve Streetly Village at 0750, Mere Green at 0756, arriving Sutton at 0805. The remainder of the timetable will be unchanged.
Central Buses apologises for any inconvenience this may cause.

88 red bus. Hourly service from Streetly, Hardwick Arms to Erdington via Chester Road - Sutton Park Surgery, Parson and Clerk - Kingstanding Circle, Tesco New Oscott, Chester Road, Yenton.

Central buses continue to offer low fares on services. An all day ticket costs a mere £ 3.00 and more regular travellors can take advantage of a 7 and 28 day tickets which cost £9.50 and £30.00 respectively (half fare for children). Family tickets are available for just £6.00 per day and cover up to two adults and four children.
Timetable information can be downloaded at central buses website

992/993/994 replaced by 935

935 half hourly service from Walsall to Birmingham via Wood Lane, Streetly Hardwick Arms, Chester Road, Bridle Lane, Hundred Acre, Sutton Oak Road, George Frederick Road, Rough Road, Kingstanding Circle and then directly into Birmingham. The 935 will run the same route as the 77 (old 377) from Walsall to the junction of Wood Lane/Foley Road West, Streetly which will provide a bus every 15 minutes along this part of the route.

BUS CHANGES STOP PRESS
SERVICE 935 Walsall to Birmingham via Streetly. As a result of the current changes, this bus is combined for part of it's route with the 77 (old 377) service to provide a 15 minute service between Walsall and streetly. Originally, the plan was that the 935 serve the whole of Foley Road West turning right into Chester Road and then right into Bridle Lane, providing access to shops and a direct bus into Birmingham for people living along that stretch of the Chester Road. With this arrangement in mind, the 78 Streetly to Sutton bus (old S1), added a loop to its' route to include the Hardwick Arms and the Chester Road. Before the changes finally came into operation National Express West Midlands decided to re-route the its' 935 via the Hardwick Arms and Wood Lane too. As a result, the 78 has reverted back to its' original route (see above).

There are further complications. Since the changes started it has been realised that a left turn from the bus shelter outside Midland Registration, opposite the Hardwick Arms, is extremely difficult with the bus sometimes having to mount the pavement to execute this turn. Some passengers are worried that the 935 will follow suit and withdraw it's route from the Hardwick Arms. The situation could be easily solved by suggesting that the 935 Birmingham to Walsall service use the bus lane already in place outside Inglewood Nursing Home on the Chester Road as its' passenger stop and then continue to the traffic lights turning left into Little Hardwick Road and left into Wood Lane. Contact National Express West Midlands on 0121 254 7272 or Email National Express

Monday to Friday only there is pick up at the Hardwick Arms, outside Birmingham Registrations, at 1823 arriving Aldridge 1836 and at 1853 arriving Aldridge 1900, then via Barns Lane as far as Rushall. These are useful services for having a weekday evening meal in Aldridge - passengers can return on the 56 ( see under separate heading).

377 replaced by 77

77 half hourly service from Walsall to Sutton Coldfield via Streetly. This bus will continue to run along Blackwood Road, Bridle Lane, Chester Road, Sutton Oak Road, George Frederick road, Banners Gate, Chester Road, New Oscott and into Sutton. From Walsall to junction Foley Road West and Wood Lane the 77 shares the route with the 935. This provides a 15 minute frequency along this part of the route.

56 56A half hourly service from Brownhills to Birmingham via Aldridge and Streetly. There is one route change between Aldridge and Streetly. The bus will no longer serve Erdington Road during daytime Mon - Sat but will travel via Barr Common and Birmingham Roads. The evening and Sunday hourly service will still be routed along Erdington Road. This bus can be used to access Streetly Crematorium

BUS CHANGES STOP PRESS
Diamond Bus Service 56 and 56A. The orange and white Centro timetable has now been reprinted - issue 2/10 dated 9th May, 2010. Timetables are also available at Diamond Buses (tel. 0121 557 7337) and at Network West Midlands, and from Blackwood Road library.
IMPORTANT - the timetable available on the Network West Midlands site, and their orange and white printed timetable show a 0640 service form Birmingham to Aldridge and a 0556 service from Aldridge to Birmingham. These two services are not shown on the Diamond website as they are provided by a different company.
IMPORTANT - the route change between Streetly and Aldridge serving Barr Common and Birmingham roads does not apply to the evening and Sunday services which still serve Erdington Road.
IMPORTANT - The 56X limited stop bus no longer exists on this route and is now part of the normal 56 service, stopping at all stops.

X56 Midland Rider service provides an early morning bus from Boney Hay to Birmngham via Bridge Cross, Chasetown, Brownhills, Shire Oak, Streetly, Kingstanding Circle and Perry Barr from Monday to Friday. This service picks up at the Hardwick Arms, Chester Road at 0732 arriving Birmingham Carrs Lane at 0810. The return evening service departs Birmingham at 1745 arriving Hardwick Arms at 1816.

75 This service can be used to access many schools and colleges and Asda, Great Barr.
During daytime hours Monday to Saturday, the 75/75A bus provides an hourly service along Erdington Road travelling between Aldridge and Kingstanding Circle via Barr Beacon, Pheasey and Shady Lane.

ALL BUS TIMES SHOULD BE DISPLAYED AT YOUR LOCAL BUS STOP ( subject to changes )

Information on bus, rail and metro in the West Midlands plus information about Centro, West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive with the latest upto date network news including the latest bus times at your fingertips in a free real time text message on your mobile phone. SMS TextTime is a new way to provide information about your local bus service and tell you when the next buses will arrive at your stop via your mobile phone.
Network West Midlands website and bus text times

Aldridge - Streetly Buses first to trial new pre-paid systems
The first pre-paid Smartcards are set to be introduced on National Express West Midlands buses as part of a trial launched in January 2010. The new £20 million system will allow passengers to "top up" their fares before they travel, similar to the Oyster card system used in London. The first trials of the Smartcard technology are currently under way in the region on some Silverline and Central buses, including the 78 Sutton Coldfield to Kingstanding via Hundred Acre 88 Streetly to Erdington via Chester Road services. But trials are set to be rolled out to routes operated by National Express West Midlands, the region's biggest bus operator, by the end of January. The first of its fleet to get the swipe card technology will be in the Yardley area of Birmingham. If successful it would pave the way for the scheme to go live across the region's 2,500 buses later in the year. Centro spokeswoman Babs Coombes said the trial was already going well on the Central and Silverline buses since coming in at the end of November. "We are seeing how that goes at the moment and we are now looking to put the machines in the first National Express buses in the Birmingham area," she said. "The trials are going well but we want to make sure we get it right." She said there was no specific date for the general roll-out of the scheme as it depended on how the trials went. The new concessionary passes issued to pensioners all contain a chip to make them Smartcard-enabled and are being used in trials.

Streetly train service:
Streetly railway plans go off the rails - In the same week when Birmingham was named as the worst city in the country for commuting, it still looks unlikely that Streetly will be served by passenger trains. One problem is in finding a suitable site for a new station - the previous one was demolished to make way for flats which now block off access to the line. A Walsall Area Study of rail services was held in October 2008, but it seems that any extra services could not be implemented for several years until re-signalling has taken place.
More information on the Streetly Train Station page