National Express West Midlands

[F Great Eastern]

Having not been to the West Midlands for 3 years and the fact 3 years ago the bus service and state of vehicles left a huge amount to be desired, last week I was in Birmingham to see what had changed and I must admit that things had very much got better.

The transformation is astonishing, the vast majority of the fleet actually now looks like it is in a presentable condition (save for some Omnicities and ALX400) the new livery being used is fantastic and the platinum services are amazing and information is generally better and appears to be more reliable.

As someone who really has had a bad opinion of National Express over the years, it's really nice to see that they are finally heading in the right direction, services like platinum are really going to encourage people out of their cars!

 

[WestCoast]

I'd agree with you, I think they have improved considerably in the past 5 years. There's lots of new high-spec vehicles and reliability improvements.

The corridor I use has seen new hybrid deckers with next stop announcements introduced fairly recently. They've also introduced night buses and more late/early buses on some key routes.

As I wrote in another thread, I think the WM really benefits from having NX covering the region nowadays.

 

[F Great Eastern]

The only thing I did notice is on 5 different platinum vehicles the screens were broken or not functioning on all of them. However the LED display upstairs and voice announcements worked.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

The service and the new vehicles are definitely better than when I moved to Wolverhampton some years ago.

However, it must be said that it's all been paid for by constant price rises, and the price now seems very expensive indeed, especially for short journeys.

 

[Robertj21a]

The service and the new vehicles are definitely better than when I moved to Wolverhampton some years ago.

However, it must be said that it's all been paid for by constant price rises, and the price now seems very expensive indeed, especially for short journeys.

But NXWM fares had been very cheap for some time before. Presumably, now coming more into line with the rest of the country.

 

[WestCoast]

NXWM fares are roughly in line with other city operators. They are good value for longer journeys.

In Birmingham most regular users have passes which offer a considerable saving. I rarely see anyone paying the £2.30 single within Birmingham, but do see it out in the Black Country.

 

[GaryMcEwan]

Just take a trip to Dundee and you'll see some of the WM exiled sheds...