Major changes to North Solihull's bus network

ROUTE MAP: National Express' plan of the new network.

BUS services in North Solihull are set for a major shakeup this weekend, two years after the last set of changes prompted a furious response.
Passengers felt that the routes introduced in 2017 were “a joke” and had left Kingshurst, in particular, with a drastically reduced service.
Last month, transport bosses told a packed public meeting that they had listened to concerns and the new network aimed to deal with some of the problems.
But many of the residents who had crammed into the Seeds of Hope hall were still seething about the way the previous process was handled.
And the audience had also launched fierce attacks on buses which arrived late, terminated early or didn’t show up at all.

HEATED MEETING: Residents at Seeds of Hope

Donna Davison, from Smith’s Wood, was among many customers who demanded answers from operator National Express and the taxpayer-funded Transport for West Midlands (TfWM).
“I’m peed off with paying £71 a month and a bus isn’t turning up,” she said.
“[I’m waiting] when it’s freezing cold some nights. There’s no traffic at 10 o’clock. The roads are clear...”
Self-employed Ms Davison, whose speech drew wild applause from fellow residents, said she ended up catching a taxi “nine times out of ten”.
Kingshurst & Fordbridge councillors and Meriden’s MP, Dame Caroline Spelman, also attended the event.
Coun Flo Nash (Lab) said many people, herself included, didn’t drive and relied on the bus every day. “Everything that’s been said is absolutely true. We hope tonight that you’ll take all these messages back,” she told the panel.
“There are lots of people who genuinely couldn’t survive without a bus, we must remember this.” Dame Caroline said she had taken “careful notes” of residents’ comments.
“Over 22 years, every time the bus companies suggest they are going to change the route my heart sinks.
“But if out of tonight the bus companies are able to see the very well argued case you make it’s been worthwhile.”

Many residents argued that the current system made travel at night and the weekend very difficult and posed particular problems for schoolchildren and the elderly.
Another local woman said others depended on public transport to get to the likes of hospital appointments.
“Who decided well us in Kingshurst, you’re just peasants, you can get a horse and cart or something? “Spelman must have got a [No] 55 here tonight because she’s late!”
As he left the event, Kingshurst man John Shakespeare accused bus bosses of treating locals “like lepers”, while another resident said there had to be improvements.
“You’ve got to make the buses work and we’ll use them, not the other way round.”
Nick Vane, from National Express West Midlands, said around five million bus journeys were centred on North Solihull each year.
“It’s not in our interest to leave anybody standing at the stop - I assure you we don’t do this deliberately,” he said.
“You’re our customers, we don’t want to give you a service which is inferior to what you expect.”