Diamond Bus (Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire)

[peterblue]

Now announced officially on Diamond's website:

Johnsons Welcome | Diamond Bus

www.diamondbuses.com

Johnsons ‘Excelbus’ services will soon be welcomed into the growing Diamond Bus business.

Johnsons have made the decision to sell the Excelbus part of their business to our parent company Rotala Plc, with the exchange expected to be concluded on 29th May.

Johnsons will cease operating local bus services, however their coaching and private hire operations will remain unchanged.

This new acquisition further strengthens Diamond’s growing Midlands business in the West Midlands, Worcestershire and Warwickshire region. The deal will involve Diamond Bus taking over operation of all Excelbus local bus services including the X20 Stratford to Solihull, 150 Redditch to Birmingham services and Stratford’s Park & Ride services.

For those customers joining us from Johnsons we look forward to welcoming you onboard. We will be taking on Johnsons drivers – so you will continue to see familiar faces on your routes and we will be working to rebrand the buses into our distinctive Diamond livery soon after the change over date.

More information regarding the services we are taking over and timetables will be available on our website shortly.

 

[WM Bus]

Diamond Midlands Review | Diamond Bus

www.diamondbuses.com

Several changes, X16/16S/34 in Birmingham, Stratford to Solihull via Henley and Hockley Heath, Lichfield to Walsall 35, 247 Redditch to Evaham, 8 Rifle Range section in Kidderminster, Tamworth 15 being some of those to be withdrawn/scrapped.


Rotala also take the 294/296/S15 from Astons.

 

[Typhoon]

Diamond Midlands Review | Diamond Bus

www.diamondbuses.com

Several changes, X16/16S/34 in Birmingham, Stratford to Solihull via Henley and Hockley Heath, Lichfield to Walsall 35, 247 Redditch to Evaham, 8 Rifle Range section in Kidderminster, Tamworth 15 being some of those to be withdrawn/scrapped.

Some of these proposed cuts are pretty brutal. The route of the 247 is long standing, hourly service for much of the day - the section from Studley to Evesham used to be part of the 148 (if I remember correctly) until Midland Red West (?) sensibly linked it to the hospital and Redditch, rather than to Birmingham. Many of the Redditch cuts are currently hourly or more frequent, and serve the hospital. Unfortunately, County Councils have been pared to the bone and 'Bus Back Better' is proving to be just another three word slogan (and seem to prioritise unwanted new services over existing ones which may just need some tlc); added to that Worcestershire was no fan of public transport when I lived near there, I don't suppose it has changed.
I fear we are going to see a steady stream of such service revisions over the next year and some. I suspect there will be an ample supply of second-hand buses available for purchase in the forthcoming months!

Rotala also take the 294/296/S15 from Astons.

Seemingly from Monday. Unfortunately

No timetables currently available for this service

when searching on the website. Presumably same as old timetable, but that is not the point (unless it is at very short notice - timetable still showing on Astons website, no change of operator indicated)

 

[Smethwickian]

Seemingly from Monday. Unfortunately

when searching on the website. Presumably same as old timetable, but that is not the point (unless it is at very short notice - timetable still showing on Astons website, no change of operator indicated)

Click on the top blue "PDF Timetable" button on the individual service page, just under the large service number

 

[Typhoon]

Click on the top blue "PDF Timetable" button on the individual service page, just under the large service number

Thanks - I had looked at the section marked 'Timetable' and to 'Print Timetable'.

 

[peterblue]

Those cuts are harsh. It will leave a lot of medium sized villages without any sensible bus provision.

Sadly, Worcestershire County Council have zero interest in subsidising a good bus service.

It's worth noting they also changed the former Johnsons 150 Redditch-Brum to terminate at Kings Heath with passengers requiring a change to make onward travel to the city centre. Those kind of connections work fine on the outbound but not so much on the return if you don't plan your journey or if you get 'unlucky' and miss your connection due to bad traffic.

 

[Justin Tyme]

Just a month after taking over Johnsons' services, Diamond have announced that it is withdrawing almost all of them in Warwickshire (plus most existing services in the county) from 24 July - https://www.diamondbuses.com/news/diamond-midlands-review/. The company has also deregistered them.

Diamond Bus recently confirmed that some of its services are currently under review with the risk of service cuts from 24th July & 28th August 2022.

Vital Government funding that enabled essential bus services to continue operating during the Coronavirus pandemic will end later this year. Government funding gave a life line to bus companies over the previous two years, however the long reaching effects of the pandemic are still being felt by bus operators with passenger numbers still dramatically lower than pre-covid levels.

Whilst we appreciate the news about proposed service cuts causes concern to passengers, we want to reassure you we are doing all we can to resolve this situation.

As a company we do not want to cut services, but the current climate means that the majority of our services run at considerable loss. We have been in discussion with Local Authorities, MPs and councillors to make them aware of the situation and hope that by working together we can collectively improve this position.

It is also important to state that this current dilemma is not only a Diamond Bus issue, it is an industry-wide problem created by accelerating operating costs and a reduction in the number of people using buses post COVID. Without the intervention of additional subsidy bus services will need to be reviewed for either service reduction or withdrawal altogether.

Diamond Bus has continued to be committed to providing a viable and desirable network in the Midlands. We have worked hard to meet the challenges of operating in a demanding market, by investing in new buses and better technology, whilst keeping fares affordable for passengers.

Ultimately we are committed to growing our services to keep communities moving. As we move forward from a very difficult period during Covid we want to encourage passengers back to support their local bus network. We have continued investing in our business to provide a strong local network, but in order to maintain that long term we need passenger levels to return to how they were before the pandemic.

Currently, we envisage that reviews will be undertaken over the coming months, with service changes and fare revisions to be implemented by 28th August 2022.

The impact on service reliability:​

To combat current financial pressures, we have been reviewing how we operate our services more effectively, which has included interworking services and reducing stand time as labour is 50% of our operating cost. In the short term, this has meant we have had some transitional operating issues which we are working hard to manage and reduce.

In Warwickshire specifically, operational issues have occurred as a result of our need to quickly build knowledge around a complex set of routes and timetables following the Johnsons Excelbus acquisition. Over the last three weeks of operation reliability on our Stratford bus services has significantly improved.

After identifying the latest issues we have now put resources in place to increase supervision and making Peak-Time adjustments to put additional running time in. We are continuing to review our changes to see what is workable, both for the company and passengers

Although unfortunately delays have been experienced on some services, over the whole Diamond network we can assure residents that we are not suffering high levels of lost mileage, and that our services are running.

The reason given is "due to end of Warwickshire County Council contract". Does this mean that the contracts have been surrendered or terminated?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Just a month after taking over Johnsons' services, Diamond have announced that it is withdrawing almost all of them in Warwickshire (plus most existing services in the county) from 24 July - https://www.diamondbuses.com/news/diamond-midlands-review/. The company has also deregistered them.



The reason given is "due to end of Warwickshire County Council contract". Does this mean that the contracts have been surrendered or terminated?

It has been reported elsewhere that they lost the lot on retender - Stagecoach has won them all.

Rotala has been very good with their acquisitions in the past but the logic of this one escapes me. They've spent a lot of time and effort to take over Johnsons and I'd have expected they knew the potential threat of tenders against a base of little commercial work. They've also experienced operational challenges and so have doubtless had to sort those out.

Perhaps they thought it was a reasonable punt in the expectation that Stagecoach would be less than bothered about work that they'd left alone in the past and might struggle to get drivers for anyway?

 

[rcro]

I had assumed it was more about giving Johnsons drivers a job on closure of the bus operation, and ensuring Diamond had enough drivers for their core routes, rather than any intended long term expansion. It’s quite a long way to run everything out from Redditch *if* the numbers don’t stack up. Not really sure Stagecoach will do a better job based on recent form, but suspect some drivers would prefer to jump across to doing laps of Redditch all day.

 

[Cesarcollie]

I had assumed it was more about giving Johnsons drivers a job on closure of the bus operation, and ensuring Diamond had enough drivers for their core routes, rather than any intended long term expansion. It’s quite a long way to run everything out from Redditch *if* the numbers don’t stack up. Not really sure Stagecoach will do a better job based on recent form, but suspect some drivers would prefer to jump across to doing laps of Redditch all day.

seems unlikely. Even if Diamond paid nothing for the goodwill, they’d still have paid for the buses (most of which are relatively modern so not cheap), and taken on the staff liabilities. No sensible business would do that if they were expecting to lose all the inherited work virtually immediately.

 

[Justin Tyme]

I understand that far fewer Johnsons drivers than anticipated actually transferred to Diamond, so the existing Diamond drivers at Redditch had to learn the routes very quickly. This inevitably was a big ask, and a fortnight after the takeover Warwickshire County Council and Diamond issued a joint apology to passengers for problems.

My guess (and it is only as guess at this stage) is that Diamond intended to keep the contracts over their full term(s), but the problems were so great that either the company surrendered them or Warwickshire County Council terminated them.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I understand that far fewer Johnsons drivers than anticipated actually transferred to Diamond, so the existing Diamond drivers at Redditch had to learn the routes very quickly. This inevitably was a big ask, and a fortnight after the takeover Warwickshire County Council and Diamond issued a joint apology to passengers for problems.

My guess (and it is only as guess at this stage) is that Diamond intended to keep the contracts over their full term(s), but the problems were so great that either the company surrendered them or Warwickshire County Council terminated them.

First bit is apparently correct but believe that the tenders were due as part of the natural tendering process.

 

[M60lad]

Does anybody know why 40100 Open Top Dennis Trident ALX400 has been transferred down to Tividale Depot from Diamond Northwest? Are there any plans on using it in service considering the decent weather forecast over the next week or so?

 

[SouthEastBuses]

Now announced officially on Diamond's website:

Johnsons Welcome | Diamond Bus

www.diamondbuses.com

And from 24/07/2022, these routes will now be run by Stagecoach instead.

 

[RELL6L]

There's lots of information about the old Johnson's network around Stratford being retendered by Warwickshire and most of it being picked up by Stagecoach. Generally timetables are on Stagecoach's website except for the weekday X20 between Solihull and Stratford, to be hourly but the timetable is awaited. Much of the network looks incredibly complicated with the 75s, 76s, 77s with various suffixes and almost all journeys different! It's either beautifully crafted to meet known passenger demand - or rather random - time will tell!

ServiceUpdatesArticle

www.stagecoachbus.com

Your Stratford & Leamington bus network is growing from 25th July 2022

We are proud to announce we will be running new routes in Stratford & Leamington areas from 25th July 2022, on behalf of Warwickshire County Council.

Route 1, 2, 3
These routes run to & from Stratford, Clifford Chambers, Meon Vale, Lower Quinton, providing a combined frequency up to every 30 minutes.

Some journeys also continue to & from Chipping Campden, Broadway, Blockley and Moreton-in-Marsh.

Click here for timetable

Route 4
This route will run to & from Stratford and Trinity Mead during the daytime along with A&M Flexibus – don’t worry, you can use your tickets on both companies buses.

In the early morning and late afternoons, routes 1A, 2A, 3A and 75A will also serve Trinity Mead.

Click here for timetable

Route 5
This route will run to & from Stratford and Justins Avenue during the daytime along with A&M Flexibus – don’t worry, you can use your tickets on both companies buses.

In the early morning, route P&R will serve Justins Avenue.

Click here for timetable

Route 15
The trips between Stratford & East Green Drive/Trevelyan Crescent will now run as route 19.

Click here for timetable

Route 19
This route runs to & from Stratford, East Green Drive & Trevelyan Crescent.

In the early morning and late afternoon, routes 27 and 229 also provide some journeys to these areas.

Click here for timetable

Route 27
This route will run to & from Stratford, Luddington, Welford, Long Marston, Broad Marston and Pebworth.

Some journeys also continue to & from Dorsington and Barton.

Click here for timetable

Route 50
This route will run the current route with a new timetable on all days of the week, including a 2-hourly Sunday service.

Click here for timetable

Routes 75, 75A & 75B
These routes run between Banbury, The Tadmartons, The Sibfords, The Brailes, Shipston & Stratford

Route 75 runs between Shipston & Stratford via Tredington, Halford, Pillerton Garage & Ettington. Additional journeys between Pillerton Garage, Ettington & Stratford are on routes 76, 76A and 76X.
Route 75A runs between Shipston & Stratford via Lower Quinton, Meon Vale & Clifford Chambers
Route 75B runs between Shipston & Stratford via Tredington, Newbold & Alderminster

Click here for timetable

Routes 76, 76A & 76X
Routes 76 & 76A run to & from Banbury, Wroxton, Shenington, Tysoe, Oxhill, Kineton, Pillerton Priors, Ettington & Stratford.
Route 76X run to & from Banbury, Wroxton, Pillerton Priors, Ettington & Stratford

Additional journeys between Pillerton Garage, Ettington & Stratford are on routes 75 & 75A

Click here for timetable

Route 77 & 77A
These routes run to & from Leamington, Bishops Tachbrook, Lighthorne Heath, JLR Gaydon & Gaydon.

Route 77 continues to & from Gaydon, Kineton, Wellesbourne, Loxley & Stratford
Route 77A continues to & from Temple Herydwyke, Northend, Fenny Compton, Farnborough, Avon Dassett.

Additionally, some 77A journeys also serve Lighthorne, Moreton Morrell & Ashorne, along with A&M Flexibus - – don’t worry, you can use your tickets on both operators buses.

Click here for 77 timetable

Click here for 77A timetable

Route 77B
Route 77B runs to & from Banbury, Fenny Compton, Northend, Temple Herydewyke, Gaydon, Kineton, Wellesbourne, Alveston, Tiddington and Stratford.

Click here for timetable

Route 77C
Route 77C runs to & from Lower Brailes, Shipston, Tredington, Halford, Pillerton Priors, Kineton, Gaydon, JLR Gaydon, Lighthorne Heath & Leamington.

Click here for timetable

Route 77S
Route 77S runs to Ettington via Stratford Dale Avenue, Tiddington, Alveston, Wellesbourne & Loxley

Click here for timetable

Route 229
This route will run between Stratford, Wilmcote, Aston Cantlow, Bearley & Snitterfield.

Some journeys also continue to & from Wootton Wawen, Ullenhall, Great Alne, Alcester & Studley.

Click here for timetable

Route 665
There is a minor timetable change on Saturday afternoons.

Click here for timetable

Route Park & Ride
This route will run between Stratford & Stratford Park and Ride up to every 15 minutes.

Click here for timetable

Route X14
This route will no longer run.

Route X20
This route will run between Stratford, Wootton Wawen, Henley-in-Arden, Hockley Heath, Shirley & Solihull.

Stagecoach will be taking over the Monday to Saturday service (Stratford to Solihull) from the 15th August. Full timetable will follow shortly.

Click here for timetable


For more detail from Warwickshire County Council click here

Contrast this with Worcestershire where Diamond continue to prepare us for massive cuts in the Redditch and Kidderminster network from August. This icludes complete withdrawal of the 52 Redditch - Kidderminster and 247 Redditch - Eversham.

Diamond Midlands Review | Diamond Bus

www.diamondbuses.com

Proposals for changes in August:​

Service	Route	Change Date	Proposed Change
002	Weoley Castle - Merry Hill	28/08/22	Timetable change, frequency reduction to every 20 mins
2	Bewdley - Kidderminster	28/08/22	Service to be reinstated following withdrawal of the 8
4/4H	Walsall - Blackheath / HayleyGreen	28/08/22	Timetable changes. 4H service to Hayley Green will be reduced to half-hourly. A combined frequency of 4 & 4H will be upto every 10mins between Walsall to Blackheath.
8	Bewdley - Kidderminster	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn
10	Kidderminster - Spennells	28/08/22	Timetable Improvements for commuters to provide better connections with Birmingham train services
11	Redditch - Washford Mill	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn
12	Redditch - Astwood Bank	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn
15	Tamworth - Hurley	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn
X16/16S	Birmingham - Tamworth	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn
X20	Stratford - Coventry	14/08/22	Will operate current timetable in full until 14/8/22. From 14/8/22 service will operate between Coventry to Solihull only. We understand Warwick County Council intend to tender a replacement service for withdrawn Solihull to Stratford section. Stagecoach are running this - see above.
34	Kings Health to Birmingham	28/08/22	Withdrawn due to end of TfWM contract**
35	Lichfield - Walsall	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn
52	Redditch to Kidderminster	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn
52A	Alexandra Hospital to Bromsgrove	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn
62	Redditch Circular	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn
67	Redditch to Studley	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn
76/76A	Tamworth to Hurley / Sutton Coldfield	28/08/22	Service 76A from Tamworth to Hurley will be withdrawn. 76 from Tamworth to Sutton Coldfield via Kingsbury will continue.
89	Solihull to Coventry	28/08/22	Withdrawn due to end of TfWM contract**
94	Birmingham to Chelmsley Wood	28/08/22	Timetable changes.
226	Merry Hill - Dudley	28/08/22	Timetable change, frequency reduction
247	Redditch - Evesham	28/08/22	Service unsustainable at current passenger levels and will be withdrawn
424	Perry Barr to Asda Queslett	28/08/22	Withdrawn due to end of TfWM contract**

Does anyone have any news on this - nothing I can find since the initial expressions of horror.....?

 

[zero]

Next Saturday I will need to take the 247 from Redditch to Evesham at 0930.

I see from previous posts that the 247 was actually to be withdrawn last summer, but seemingly has had a partial reprieve, with now 3 scheduled journeys on Saturdays and a poor weekday frequency.

I am wondering if anyone knows whether the service is likely to be relatively reliable i.e. are there frequent short notice cancellations, or will it operate as expected barring a rare accident?

I've never taken a Diamond bus before and I hear they have a poor reputation, though I believe it's actually 4 different companies and not sure if they are all equally bad.

Is there a way to see past running data from bustimes.org or similar although I read on this forum that Diamond's open data is often inaccurate.

Thanks.

 

[APT618S]

Is there a way to see past running data from bustimes.org or similar although I read on this forum that Diamond's open data is often inaccurate.

See here:

Vehicles – 247 - Redditch - Evesham – bustimes.org

You can change the date to see what happened on a particular day.
By selecting the time you can see how it ran vs schedule.
Sometimes you have to select Map and you can see the time where the bus was.

 

[01d-and]

I can say from my recent journeys by Diamond/Rotala, that they have improved both in reliability of service and the age profile of their vehicles. I'm sure that they still have 'bad days' , similar to other operators. Also the 247 is a nice route and is usually a double decker.

 

[northern506]

I’ve recently been in the Midlands, and had some spare time so tried out a few different bus routes. Diamond have stood out to me as one of the most unprofessional companies I have ever witnessed.

The main issues that I noticed are:

- Several buses have no blind/destination - I seen more without one in a day than I have in years elsewhere.

- Unprofessional drivers - most were rude, and several without uniform.

- Drivers following the incorrect route - a passenger had to correct one driver.

- A driver on the same route drove past passengers three times - all of which had their hands out to signal they wanted the service - never have I seen this before.

Is this common practice or have I just been very unlucky? I must say, I never had any problems with National Express.

 

[markymark2000]

I’ve recently been in the Midlands, and had some spare time so tried out a few different bus routes. Diamond have stood out to me as one of the most unprofessional companies I have ever witnessed.

The main issues that I noticed are:

- Several buses have no blind/destination - I seen more without one in a day than I have in years elsewhere.

- Unprofessional drivers - most were rude, and several without uniform.

- Drivers following the incorrect route - a passenger had to correct one driver.

- A driver on the same route drove past passengers three times - all of which had their hands out to signal they wanted the service - never have I seen this before.

Is this common practice or have I just been very unlucky? I must say, I never had any problems with National Express.

While I know that it's not right, I ask was there a specific area where this stood out? From my experience, Redditch and Kidderminster seem to be the worst depots. West Bromwich depot seems to be ok from my experience. It has to be down to management as the North West division couldn't be much more different. While yes the issues still happen, they are far more uncommon in Manchester and Preston compared to some parts of Birmingham.

 

[northern506]

While I know that it's not right, I ask was there a specific area where this stood out? From my experience, Redditch and Kidderminster seem to be the worst depots. West Bromwich depot seems to be ok from my experience. It has to be down to management as the North West division couldn't be much more different. While yes the issues still happen, they are far more uncommon in Manchester and Preston compared to some parts of Birmingham.

The issues were mainly related to West Brom and Redditch depots.

I was on a West Bromwich operated 74A and the driver seemed fed up, and the customer service and driving standard was one of the worst I’ve ever seen - I actually felt sorry for him as when he got to the terminus in Dudley he was ranting to another driver about how he was forced to work his day off, which is the reason I won’t give specific details.

 

[Mwanesh]

I used their 35 service in Aldridge before it changed to Chaserider. The driver was friendly and even helped a couple who were lost. The driving was perfect. As a driver myself I compliment a fellow driver when they do a good job

 

[rcro]

No issues with the drivers, but using the Kidderminster-Ludlow 292 route a lot recently - the timekeeping really is terrible. Given a 2 hourly frequency used to require 2 buses and this timetable has been fudged to use just one I guess it was a always going to be a disaster. It's been between 15 and 30 minutes late every time I've used it but bustimes.org is showing some horror stories of 1 hr plus delays on multiple days in the last fortnight. Whilst I like to defend Diamond from some of the haters - this is well beyond what can be considered acceptable!

 

[WM Bus]

I've used it but bustimes.org is showing some horror stories of 1 hr plus delays on multiple days in the last fortnight.

Probably delays in Bewdley

Rotala Management - Questions & Answers - Page 226

Rotala Management - Questions & Answers - Page 226

wmbusphotos.com

As a result of the bridge works in Bewdley we are experiencing substantial traffic delays. The impact, and the direction of works has not yet been decided. We have put in place an initial three week plan which is communicated on our website and going on our buses in the next few days.

 

[rcro]

Probably delays in Bewdley

Rotala Management - Questions & Answers - Page 226

Rotala Management - Questions & Answers - Page 226

wmbusphotos.com

Unfortunately not an excuse for the last few months as those works only started yesterday! (at least according to the signs on the bypass)

 

[Edvid]

Diamond Bus had a 5-strong batch of MAN Plaxton Centros converted to battery electric from late 2021 or thereabouts; they were 12-14 years old (give or take) at the time and still see active use if the BusTimes info is correct.

Diamond Bus launching electric conversions - Bus & Coach Buyer

Diamond Bus is launching five MAN-Plaxton Centros converted to run on electric by electric vehicle specialist Magtec. In partnership with Magtec, the five buses have gone through a process whereby the engine is removed and and replaced by a fully electrically-powered motor and battery packs...

www.busandcoachbuyer.com

Diamond Bus is launching five MAN-Plaxton Centros converted to run on electric by electric vehicle specialist Magtec.

In partnership with Magtec, the five buses have gone through a process whereby the engine is removed and and replaced by a fully electrically-powered motor and battery packs, which provide 200 kWhr of battery energy storage.

The first of these five electric vehicles will commence service on local Black Country routes, enabling the operator to monitor performance and viability of expanding more electrical vehicles into its fleet in future.

Diamond Bus has invested over £9 million in more than 75 new Euro VI low-emission certified micro-hybrid buses since 2018.

A statement from Diamond Bus said: “By reusing and refurbishing existing vehicles, it has allowed us to invest in zero-emission technology, without the need to dispose of existing service-ready vehicles. Our new electric buses really do epitomise the ultimate green goals; to reduce emissions and reduce waste!”

 

[Mwanesh]

Diamond Bus had a 5-strong batch of MAN Plaxton Centros converted to battery electric from late 2021 or thereabouts; they were 12-14 years old (give or take) at the time and still see active use if the BusTimes info is correct.

Diamond Bus launching electric conversions - Bus & Coach Buyer

Diamond Bus is launching five MAN-Plaxton Centros converted to run on electric by electric vehicle specialist Magtec. In partnership with Magtec, the five buses have gone through a process whereby the engine is removed and and replaced by a fully electrically-powered motor and battery packs...

www.busandcoachbuyer.com

Saw one in Walsall on route 32 I thought it was just an advert on the bus. The bus is quiet