Fears remain ahead of this weekend's bus shake-up

BUS passengers fear that a dramatic shake-up of local services will cause problems for those in North Solihull who rely on routes to get to school and work.
There has been an outpouring of anger after National Express announced sweeping changes to the network in late April.
People have packed into public meetings in Chelmsley Wood, Kingshurst and Tile Cross and a number of petitions have been launched.
The operator has made a number of concessions following the backlash – most notably announcing a school service to take account of the fact that the No 94 will no longer travel down Cooks Lane.
However, locals are still pressing for further adjustments, amid concerns that “chaos” could ensue from June 4, when the new timetable will be rolled out.
Local resident Nicola Roberts has set up a dedicated Facebook group to protest against the changes.
Her original complaint related to a double-decker No 14 service which will start to use Tile Cross Road and Chapelhouse Road – she described the change as “an accident waiting to happen”.
“I obviously had major concerns about this and when I looked into it, I soon found there were so many people angry about these changes for all sorts of reasons,” she said. “I think the consultation process was very badly run.”
Politicians from various parties have been quick to wade into the row.
Councillor Karl Macnaughton (Green, Chelmsley Wood) said that Kingshurst would suffer particularly badly following the changes – losing the No 71, 56 and 59 and seeing a “torturous” extension of the No 55 service to Birmingham.
“The main problem here is that buses are run by private companies whose main motive is profit,” he said.
“As a result they’re not really interested in routes, or times of day, where specific journeys don’t make them money. As a result, it’s often easy to get somewhere in the day but problematic getting back home again in the evening.
“Public transport really needs to be publicly owned and run on a ‘service provision’ rather than ‘for profit’ basis.”
Caroline Spelman, currently seeking to be re-elected as Meriden’s MP, said she had been “dismayed” at changes to the No 72, which she has said will have a significant impact on Marston Green.
National Express has said that the changes it had laid out took account of “changing customer use”.
In a message which has been put up in shelters around the area, the company said:
“New and updated timetables are designed to counter increasing traffic congestion and delays.”