A big event to occur in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull was the opening of the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) over the weekend of the 3rd & 4th January 1976. A free exhibition occurred that weekend (including some preserved buses!), and my Mom and I attended. Although the NEC had gained it’s own Inter City railway station in the form of Birmingham International, the signalling facilities to allow extra trains to terminate there weren’t complete, so West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) ran a special bus service from St Martins Circus in Birmingham City Centre, which my Mom and I used, travelling on ex Birmingham City Transport Fleetlines each way. The special service terminated at the Metropole Hotel, on the outskirts of the NEC complex, this being linked to the main exhibition halls by a car park shuttle service, for which the PTE had won the contract. Twelve dual door Leyland Nationals (4788-4799) were bought for this and painted in a special livery, though only three of these were ready for the opening weekend, being supplemented by older Nationals from the PTE fleet, as well as some newish PTE Fleetlines.
Shortly after this, some changes were introduced to serve the NEC. In addition to the extension of Birmingham service 58 to International Station and the rerouting of the Birmingham-Coventry 159, three new services were also introduced to serve the new complex, one of which was the 197 to Solihull via the Airport & Sheldon, operated by Acocks Green garage, regularly using some of the new Nationals. After a few months, the 197 was merged with the 199 from the NEC-Castle Vale, introduced on the same date and operated by Lea Hall, who took over the new through service, which was numbered 199. The other new service was Liverpool Street garage’s 900 Limited Stop service to Sandon Road, Bearwood via Birmingham City Centre, which didn’t last too long!
24th July 1977
Another major revision to Solihull’s bus services occured on this date, the centrepiece of this being the new Acocks Green operated 37. This ran from Birmingham High Street via the ex Birmingham City Transport (BCT) 44 route to the city boundary, then contuing down the Warwick Road, with a slight diversion to serve Olton Station before heading through Solihull to terminate at the railway station. The 37 would become a well established trunk route, gaining an increase in frequency when the 44 was withdrawn in 1990. And of course, the 37 still survives today! Though it recently lost it’s Olton station dogleg. (2018 update; The 37 has now been renumbered 4)
Of course, the introduction of the 37 lead to the demise of the Warwick Road’s ex Midland Red services. The 182 was reduced to an hourly service between Acocks Green & Knowle, diverting from the Warwick Road to serve Solihull station via the Solihull Link Road. The 188, meanwhile, lost it’s Acocks Green section to run between Solihull Station & Damsonwood.
Besides the 182, the Knowle and Dorridge services would be completly revised. The 152, 155/156 & 187 would all be withdrawn, with two new services running to Bentley Heath via Widney Manor. The 151 ran from Dorridge Station via Bentley Heath-Solihull, then replacing the 57 & 158 (the former withdrawn, the latter cutback to run Solihull-Hampton in Arden) along Streetsbrook Road to Hall Green and carrying on to terminate at Yardley Wood Station. The 153 meanwhile, was an expremental service duplicating the 151 from Solihull-Bentley Heath, then heading along a previously unserved road to Hockley Heath, the last village on the A34 still within the West Midlands County and otherwise served by Midland Red’s X20/X50.
The main replacement for the reduced services in this area however, was the extension of Dial a Bus into Solihull along the Warwick Road. Supplementing the eight Ford minibuses (which should have been adequate for the extension but suffered from reliability problems) were two Commer midibuses, 4238 & 4241, which had previously been used on the Birmingham Centrebus before it’s 1974 conversion to single deck Fleetline operation (when it gained the number 101).
The Wells Green side of the 57 was replaced by the extension of the 189 (Shirley Station-Solihull.) The Cheswick Green services (190,191 & 192) were simplified into a single service 190, running from Solihull via Blossomfield, Cheswick Green and Woodlands into Shirley and onto Shirley station. The 178 to Earlswood was withdrawn and the developing interchange at Shirley Station gained another service in the form of the 185, which was rerouted here away from Haslucks Green Road. The 186 didn’t change route wise but transferred from Coventry Road (removing single deckers from this garage) to Acocks Green.
Wythall Withdrawal
Only around a month or so after the July revisions, WMPTE withdrew from the Wythall area, leaving this affleunt part of Hereford & Worcester to Midland Red’s new 248 service. Journeys on the 164/165 were curtailed to terminate at the county boundary at Maypole. As both routes followed the same path from this point to Chelmsley Wood, all journeys on the route became numbered 165.
May 1978 saw the commencement of the PTE sponsored Cross City railway line from Longbridge-Four Oaks, with the PTE improving bus services to the various stations on the line to allow bus/rail interchange to be more practicable. One such improvement was the extension of the 165 from Maypole, along the then 48 route along Bell Lane, past that route’s Druids Heath terminus and on into Kings Norton, terminating outside Kings Norton station, which is actually in Cotteridge!
Mid Warwickshire Motors
The PTE didn’t have Solihull completly to itself, as independent Mid Warwickshire Motors operated a service acquired from Shirley Motors earlier in the decade, from Solihull-Meriden. This village was part of the borough’s more rural areas, which aren’t the most viable of bus territories. Hampton In Arden is another village in this area which, of course, was served by the PTE’s 158 from Solihull. In April 1978, the PTE came to an agreement with Mid Warwickshire Motors to subsidise a revised and improved network linking Solihull to the various villages in the area and incorperating Mid Warwickshire’s original Meriden service, whilst replacing the PTE’s 158. What followed was some quite topsy turvy times, which I’ve talked about in my blog “Sent to Coventry”.
Dial a Bus Ends
Dial a Bus had been very succesful in generating passengers but, unfortunately was very costly to operate, with the need to pay both drivers and control staff. Therefore, with the PTE under pressure from it’s political masters to control it’s costs, (which would culminate in the extensive cutbacks of November 1980) Dial a Bus came to an end in September 1978.
But it was decided to continue operating the Ford minibuses on more conventional services in the area. The new 183 covered much of Dial a Bus’s original Knowle & Dorridge area, including a section of route away from conventional bus routes where the route operated as hail & ride, beginning a trend that would become commonplace on the more extensive minibus networks introduced in the eighties (see blog “The Minibus Revolution”). Sundays saw the minibuses used on service 184, which ran from Solihull-Dorridge via Knowle.
During the rest of the week, the Solihull-Dorridge via Knowle link reverted to the 182, which was increased to run half hourly and extended back to it’s traditional Dorridge terminus. It was also rerouted in Solihull Town Centre via Poplar Road, whilst the Acocks Green side was rerouted via Sharmans Cross, replacing the 186, which was withdrawn.
The Acocks Green-Sheldon section of the 186 was replaced by rerouting the 199 which, because of the Olton Station low bridge, now had to be operated exclusively by single deckers, which it was when I first rode the route in 1981, travelling all the way from Castle Vale on one of the ex NEC dual door Nationals (the PTE lost the contract for the NEC Car Park Shuttle to Midland Red’s Digbeth coach operation in 1978, with the Nationals then being repainted in standard PTE blue & cream). But a Solihull-International Station link was maintained by new service 999, operating Limited Stop via the relatively new M42 Motorway. This was operated from Acocks Green garage, mainly using Dual Purpose Leyland Nationals.
Into The Eighties!
As I’ve previously mentioned, economy drives by the PTE culmanated in a network wide series of cutbacks in November 1980, with Solihull, being one of the more affluent communities of the West Midlands, with consequent higher car ownership and, hence lower bus usage, having it’s fair share of cuts! The 999 met it’s demise, with just a peak hour works service replacement numbered 815 but the most notable cut was the demise of the 183 & 184, meaning the end of the Alexander minibuses. Interestingly, the PTE had ordered five short Leyland National 2s (7048-7052) to replace the Fords but the two routes fate had been sealed by the time they were delivered, so they went to Perry Barr garage for use on the 39 (Birmingham-Witton via Aston Cross) which, in the event, would also be withdrawn in the cuts! The short Nationals eventually found their home on the 101 Birmingham Centrebus.
Sunday replacements for the 184 were services 185 & 186, which started at Cranmore Boulevard and run through Blossomfield (covering the 189, which lost it’s Sunday service) into Solihull, then splitting into two, two hourly services, the 185 replacing the Sunday service on the 151 down to Dorridge via Bentley Heath, whilst the 186 ran to Dorridge via Knowle, replacing the 184. These were operated by Yardley Wood. I travelled on the 186 just once, on a National which I found at Cranmore Boulevard after alighting from Midland Red South D13 Fleetline 6197 on the X20 on Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday in 1985.
The 180 would be withdrawn and replaced by a Yardley Wood operated 80 which, in lieu of the 180’s previous Bull Ring bus station terminus, terminated in Birmingham along with the 92 at Lower Bull Street, allowing more integration (hence economy) between the two services, with the 92’s peak frequency being slightly reduced, with Stratford Road peak pasengers now able to use the 80 should it appear at the Lower Bull Steet terminus first. Double deckers would become the 80’s mainstay, in lieu of Liverpool Street’s Nationals on the 180.
The 153 was also withdrawn but the Hockley Heath section was replaced by the extension of alternate journeys on the now hourly 151. These had to pass under Dorridge station bridge so needed to be single deck. Around a year later, the Dorridge shorts were extended to Knowle as service 152. After a while, the 152 would become the main service, extended to terminate at it’s Yardley Wood garage base. The 151 meanwhile, was reduced to a few journeys, terminating at Hall Green Robin Hood and operated by Acocks Green Leyland National/National 2s.
May 1982 saw the return of a regular Solihull-NEC service when the 199 was rerouted back to the town. Unlike it’s previous route however, the new 199 route ran from Birmingham Airport via the relatively new (completed in 1978) Damson Parkway, to the 188’s Damsonwood terminus, from where it replaced that route into Solihull. The 199 was still operated by Lea Hall garage but could now be operated by double deckers, so the Nationals were replaced by Fleetlines initially, gradually being joined by the PTE’s new standard double decker, the MCW Metrobus.
The former 199 route to Acocks Green would now be covered by new route 174 (no doubt causing a degree of satisfaction to Midland Red enthusiasts, as this revived much of the route’s original number!) This would run from International Station via the 199’s previous route to Acocks Green, from where it was extended along the previously unserved Shirley Road to the Stratford Road at Hall Green, where it terminated at the city boundary. Acocks Green’s fleet of National 2s, which had previously been used on the 188 and service 36 (Sparkbrook-Stechford, which was converted back to double deck operation), were the mainstay of the new route.
I managed to travel on both routes in their first week of operation, spotting the changes made as I made my way back from Coventry on the 159 at the NEC. When I reached Birmingham, I caught a train from Moor Street down to Solihull, from where I caught a Fleetline on the 199 all the way through to Castle Vale.
The following day (it was the school holidays and I was staying with my Grandparents in Smethwick) I caught a train from Smethwick Rolfe Street into New Street, then an Inter City train to International, from where I caught a National 2 on the 174 all the way to Hall Green.
The 174 would subsequently lose it’s short section from Robin Hood Island to the boundary, in favour of being rerouted down to the Baldwins Lane terminus of the cross city 90 to Pheasey.
Single Deck Split
The 165 & 185 cross Solihull services had proved to be immensely popular but the restriction to single deckers due to low railway bridges (one on each route) in the Tile Cross area meant that they were prone to overcrowding at busy times. To help resolve this, at least on the western side of the route where no such obstacles existed, January 1983 saw the services split at Solihull, with the western, Yardley Wood operated side becoming double deck operated.
The 165 would now run from Cotteridge-Solihull only, whilst the 185 would be replaced by the new 164 from Kings Heath, which actually remained a cross Solihull route, continuing to follow the old 185 route along Old Lode Lane and onto The Radleys, from where the new route followed the 17 service through Garretts Green to terminate at Yardley (Yew Tree) providing a through service to Solihull for the first time from this part of Birmingham.
The 164’s Old Lode Lane routing enabled the new Solihull-Chelmsley Wood services to both operate via Hob Moat Road, providing more buses to help combat the fact that these services needed to remain single deck operated.
Old Lode Lane aside, the 185 on this section was replaced by the extension of all journeys on the 166 from Marston Green back through to Solihull. The 166 was also rerouted via Chelmsley Wood North, as opposed to Kingshurst (which retained the 199 as a through route to Solihull) as the 165’s eastern replacement, the 167 only ran to Chelmsley Wood North in the peaks, terminating at Pine Square at other times. This reduction in frequency was possible because services 55 & 94 from Birmingham were extended to Pine Square from their previous termini at Kingshurst & Chelmsley Wood North (Arran Way) respectively, meaning more double deck capacity in these areas.
The 166 & 167 were operated jointly by Lea Hall & Sutton Coldfield garages (obviously, with Leyland Nationals, by now the PTE’s only type of single decker) as they interworked at Solihull. Sutton’s closure in January 1984 saw Lea Hall logically take over the former Sutton workings.
Widney
The mid eighties saw a large development of new houses built between the Stratford Road, to the south of Shirley and Widney Manor station, on the Leamington line. The new construction would become known as Widney and would see that railway station transformed from a little, unstaffed halt with just an hourly train calling, to being totally modernised, with a large car park (most of the estate’s housing was quite distant from the station) and served by all local trains.
The railway would become the natural form of public transport for such an affluent community but the PTE felt obliged to provide bus services as well, the first example starting in late 1983, in the form of an extension of alternate journeys on the 92 (which was increased from every twelve to every ten minutes, enabling a twenty minute service to run to Widney. All evening & Sunday journeys were also extended to the estate). My friend, the now sadly deceased Mark Dawson and I first rode the new extension on a cold November night after coming in from Stratford on a Midland Red South Leyland National on the X20, alighting by where the 92 branched off the A34, thinking it would only be a short walk to the new terminus but over a half hour and a two odd mile walk later, we finally got there and caught a Metrobus into City!
Next up came a service into Solihull Town Centre, with the rerouting of the 190 via the estate (several peak journeys remaining via the original route as the 191) in 1984, whilst further development of the estate would see new service 183, starting from the Saracens Head in Shirley, then following the 92 through Widney, then heading into Solihull via Widney Manor station, providing the possibility of Bus/Rail interchange for the estate’s residents. Sadly, this was rarely taken up!
Also in 1985, the 80 was extended to Widney terminus, having previously being extended to the new Monkspath Hall Industrial Estate, between Cranmore Industrial Estate and Widney in 1983. At the same time as the 80’s Widney extension, the 92E Cranmore Boulevard journeys and the 92N Night Service, which had terminated at the same point, were extended to Monkspath Hall Road, at the point where the 80 joined the 92 for the run through Widney.
This was the era when I got to know Solihull really well, riding most of the routes on Fleetlines, particularly Yardley Wood’s fleet of ex London Transport DMSs, of which previous blogs will tell you that I was incredibly fond of! Most of the local services were reletively lightly loaded, indicating a not too healthy fate for them when the industry was deregulated in October 1986. One final, short lived change that happened in the months before deregulation was that the Sunday service on the 166 was rerouted via the 167 route along Mackadown Lane as the 168, foreshadowing the post deregulation merging of both routes as the 71.
So deregulation came on the 26th October 1986 and the town’s network was revised yet again. This isn’t the place to go into the details (my various deregulation blogs have done that) but briefly, the town saw the introduction of a new minibus network in the shadows of Dial a Bus and the 183/184, which was subsequently successful for a period.
So, I hear you ask, why was this minibus network a success whilst the earlier examples failed to achieve viability? The simple answer to that is that the post deregulation minibus drivers were recruited on lower payrates that enabled the new network to make ends meet. That network only really began to decline from 1990 when it proved difficult to recruit sufficiant drivers on the lower rates, which saw most services return to big bus operation on lower frequencies. Today, most of those services are no longer operated by the PTE’s current operating successor National Express West Midlands, with Knowle & Dorridge in particular now being served by Diamond instead. (Since this blog was written, Diamond have lost all of it’s work in the area, with Land Flight taking over most.)
I’ve already mentioned in Part One about the creation of the 6 as a virtual reincarnation of the old 154 but another major change occurred to the one service that had remained totally unchanged throughout the PTE era! Have you been paying attention since Part One? In case you’ve forgotten, the service concerned is the 176, heading from Solihull-Birmingham in the opposite direction to that of the 6/154, through Sheldon and along the Coventry Road. This was withdrawn and replaced by the new 57, integrated with ex BCT services 58 & 60 to terminate on Birmingham High Street. This enabled the service to assist more in carrying local traffic within the city, an attribute that already applied to both the 37 and the 92 (the latter at deregulation replaced by the 5 and aforementioned 6) to considerable success which helped the 57 prosper for very many years. Oddly though, recent years have seen the 57 disappear in favour of the Limited Stop 957, later X2, bringing back to a degree the Midland Red method of providing a bespoke service for Solihull residents!
Other changes included the 165 being merged with the Cotteridge-Northfield 49 service, taking the latter number. The 164 would initially be replaced by the tendered 162, which also replaced the 183 through Widney, though this would later be replaced by the mammoth 69 from Yardley-Weoley Castle, a route now gone, in favour, in part, of an increased 49.
Though NXWM don’t have the presence in the town that the PTE used to have, they still control the major trunk routes into the town which, as I’ve described, can find their origins back to this most interesting time when the PTE overhauled the town of Solihull’s bus network.
Buses for fun! 