Inadequate capacity between Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth

[Old Yard Dog]

When are Arriva going to do something about the woefully inadequate bus service 9 from Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth? Yesterday when I boarded the 0945 working at Wolverhampton bus station, it was standing room only. When I asked the driver & his colleague why they didn't run a more frequent service or use bigger buses, he said the bus intended for the service had broken down, pointing to the bus parked at stand B. It looked like a similarly-sized single decker to me. In fact I almost missed the 0945 due to the change of stand.

The bus ran almost non-stop to Bridgnorth, with several elderly passengers having to stand for the whole journey. I was lucky the four people on the back row made room for me. Many prospective passengers were marooned for an hour or more at stops in the middle of nowhere as the full bus sped by without stopping.

This is not a new problem. Every year I like to use this bus when my club Bradford visits Kidderminster Harriers FC so I can arrive on a steam train. This was the third or fourth time and on every single occasion the bus has been standing room only. I would have liked to have returned by the same route but couldn't as the last bus to Wolverhampton leaves Bridgnorth at the ridiculously early time of 1653.

Bridgnorth is a popular tourist and market town which is only accessible by bus. Arriva need to provide much more capacity.

 

[Robertj21a]

When are Arriva going to do something about the woefully inadequate bus service 9 from Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth? Yesterday when I boarded the 0945 working at Wolverhampton bus station, it was standing room only. When I asked the driver & his colleague why they didn't run a more frequent service or use bigger buses, he said the bus intended for the service had broken down, pointing to the bus parked at stand B. It looked like a similarly-sized single decker to me. In fact I almost missed the 0945 due to the change of stand.

The bus ran almost non-stop to Bridgnorth, with several elderly passengers having to stand for the whole journey. I was lucky the four people on the back row made room for me. Many prospective passengers were marooned for an hour or more at stops in the middle of nowhere as the full bus sped by without stopping.

This is not a new problem. Every year I like to use this bus when my club Bradford visits Kidderminster Harriers FC so I can arrive on a steam train. This was the third or fourth time and on every single occasion the bus has been standing room only. I would have liked to have returned by the same route but couldn't as the last bus to Wolverhampton leaves Bridgnorth at the ridiculously early time of 1653.

Bridgnorth is a popular tourist and market town which is only accessible by bus. Arriva need to provide much more capacity.

Have you contacted Arriva on the previous occasions ?

 

[Old Yard Dog]

No because people were not marooned previously, they just had to stand. And on the first occasion it was a different operator. But this time I have sent in a complaint. In fact the overcrowding would have been worse yesterday if short distance passengers had not caught the no 10 instead.

 

[Alex 2901]

When are Arriva going to do something about the woefully inadequate bus service 9 from Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth? Yesterday when I boarded the 0945 working at Wolverhampton bus station, it was standing room only. When I asked the driver & his colleague why they didn't run a more frequent service or use bigger buses, he said the bus intended for the service had broken down, pointing to the bus parked at stand B. It looked like a similarly-sized single decker to me. In fact I almost missed the 0945 due to the change of stand.

The bus ran almost non-stop to Bridgnorth, with several elderly passengers having to stand for the whole journey. I was lucky the four people on the back row made room for me. Many prospective passengers were marooned for an hour or more at stops in the middle of nowhere as the full bus sped by without stopping.

This is not a new problem. Every year I like to use this bus when my club Bradford visits Kidderminster Harriers FC so I can arrive on a steam train. This was the third or fourth time and on every single occasion the bus has been standing room only. I would have liked to have returned by the same route but couldn't as the last bus to Wolverhampton leaves Bridgnorth at the ridiculously early time of 1653.

Bridgnorth is a popular tourist and market town which is only accessible by bus. Arriva need to provide much more capacity.

The problem with the 9 is that, operationally speaking, it's already a ballache to operate for Arriva, being some 20 miles from the nearest point to it's home depot (Shrewsbury), hence the interworking with the 436, and the early finish time (although there is a 1753, it only goes to Low Town, and finishes at about 1758)

Even when it was run by Telford, it wasn't much better (although the slightly larger SB200s were used, and by slightly, they only have an extra 3 or so seats conpared to the large Versas Shrewsbury usually use), and going back far enough (mid 2015, when it was still the 890) it often got smaller Cadets.
As mentioned, the only way to put double decks on the 9 would be to have a very convoluted route in Bridgnorth, to avoid the 10ft 6in arch round the corner from the Sainsburys, which would mean the interworking with the 436 would basically collapse, as the timetable would no longer allow it to use the same amount of vehicles (4 at current).

As for increasing the frequency, the problem is that the 9, although well loaded, just doesn't have the patronage to sustain a half hourly service, and given that most of the 9 (and a lot of Bridgnorth services) carry a lot of ENCTS passengers, and not that many fare paying passengers, the costs would soon outweigh the income. Duplicating it would likely have the same effect, as you'd need additional resources (drivers, vehicles, fuel etc) without double the passengers.

Also, there hasn't been a different operator on the 890/9 since Arriva were Midland Red, so I'm really not sure where the different operator bit comes from.

 

[Robertj21a]

The problem with the 9 is that, operationally speaking, it's already a ballache to operate for Arriva, being some 20 miles from the nearest point to it's home depot (Shrewsbury), hence the interworking with the 436, and the early finish time (although there is a 1753, it only goes to Low Town, and finishes at about 1758)

Even when it was run by Telford, it wasn't much better (although the slightly larger SB200s were used, and by slightly, they only have an extra 3 or so seats conpared to the large Versas Shrewsbury usually use), and going back far enough (mid 2015, when it was still the 890) it often got smaller Cadets.
As mentioned, the only way to put double decks on the 9 would be to have a very convoluted route in Bridgnorth, to avoid the 10ft 6in arch round the corner from the Sainsburys, which would mean the interworking with the 436 would basically collapse, as the timetable would no longer allow it to use the same amount of vehicles (4 at current).

As for increasing the frequency, the problem is that the 9, although well loaded, just doesn't have the patronage to sustain a half hourly service, and given that most of the 9 (and a lot of Bridgnorth services) carry a lot of ENCTS passengers, and not that many fare paying passengers, the costs would soon outweigh the income. Duplicating it would likely have the same effect, as you'd need additional resources (drivers, vehicles, fuel etc) without double the passengers.

Also, there hasn't been a different operator on the 890/9 since Arriva were Midland Red, so I'm really not sure where the different operator bit comes from.

There's no way they'll put any double deckers in to Shrewsbury. These 'busy' routes tend to be only busy because of the concessionary passes and, unfortunately, the reimbursement to the company is simply inadequate.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Also, there hasn't been a different operator on the 890/9 since Arriva were Midland Red, so I'm really not sure where the different operator bit comes from.

When I first did Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth by bus, in September 2013 I think, the number definitely wasn't no. 9. I think it had three digits, maybe 890. So maybe I have confused change of number with change of operator?

 

[bussnapperwm]

When I first did Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth by bus, in September 2013 I think, the number definitely wasn't no. 9. I think it had three digits, maybe 890. So maybe I have confused change of number with change of operator?

The number got changed a couple of years ago as part of Telford's route simplification and ran Telford - Bridgnorth - Wolverhampton as #9

Then the Telford - Bridgnorth section got renumbered with the former 890 section getting interworked with the 436.

I know Simon Mathieson, one of the directors at Arriva Midlands, lurks around (and answers questions from folks) on the wmbusphotos forum so it may be worth dropping him a line on there?

 

[AndyW33]

In the last 70 years the operators have been:
Wolverhampton Corporation Transport (merged into West Midlands PTE)
Then when Midland Red's Black Country routes and depots were taken by West Midlands PTE, this was one of the out-of-area routes that passed in the opposite direction.
After that:
Midland Red > Midland Red North> Arriva
Throughout that time, because of the medieval arch, the route has been single deck operated. Wolverhampton Corporation had a small fleet of single deckers for this and I think one other route, obviously all subsequent operators had plenty of single deckers.

 

[Busaholic]

In the last 70 years the operators have been:
Wolverhampton Corporation Transport (merged into West Midlands PTE)
Then when Midland Red's Black Country routes and depots were taken by West Midlands PTE, this was one of the out-of-area routes that passed in the opposite direction.
After that:
Midland Red > Midland Red North> Arriva
Throughout that time, because of the medieval arch, the route has been single deck operated. Wolverhampton Corporation had a small fleet of single deckers for this and I think one other route, obviously all subsequent operators had plenty of single deckers.

Not knowing this area at all, nevertheless that strikes me as a remarkably stable operation over the decades. Never any joint working?

 

[Smethwickian]

Regarding other operators between Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth, I cannot remember exactly when but I am quite convinced that for probably just one summer season since deregulation, Choice Travel ran a Sunday service 890.

 

[Alex 2901]

Regarding other operators between Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth, I cannot remember exactly when but I am quite convinced that for probably just one summer season since deregulation, Choice Travel ran a Sunday service 890.

Regarding Sunday services on that route, historically Midland Red North ran an X90 in the mid 80s, which did Lichfield - Cannock - Wolverhampton - Bridgnorth, which was every 3 hours (roughly) although I'm not sure when that went (likely that it went at dereg though).
The last Sunday service i do remember was in 2009, when Arriva ran the 890 every 2 hours, as a trial, which ended the same year.
I also found a registration for Diamond, on an "817" between Wolverhampton, Pattingham and Bridgnorth, which claims it was registered to run Sunday Daytimes, around 2009, so Diamond may have ran a Sunday Daytime service.

 

[quarella]

Accessibility legislation does mean increased capacity but fewer seats. A 9.1m (30') Bristol LH with ECW body of 1980 had 43 seats, 8 standing. Looking online it appears that Arriva are using Optare Versas. 10.3m or 11m long with seats for 36 - 40 people. Standing capacity in excess of 30 + wheelchair.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Just to update forum members - I complained to Arriva a month ago via official online channels. I still haven't had the courtesy of a response.

 

[overthewater]

Keep on Complaining, until you get a response.