Saturday Variety

Massive Minor Mayoral Mistake?

fbb has fond memories of the Mayor of Toytown, oft frustrated by the burdens of office and by Larry the Lamb. But he did wear a silly hat and a large gold necklace! Likewise the Mayor of Trumpton.

Oft accompanied by his obsequious Town Clerk, he oversaw the efforts of the town's fire brigade. 

Three cheers for Captain Flack and his well known team, Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub.

In view if this incontrovertible historic evidence, we find it difficult to come to terms with modern Mayorality ...

... and no silly hat!

But Kimbo has a problem ...

... someone's got their sums wrong. Now, to fbb's simple pea-like brain, just mislaying a modest one hundred million smackers seems (a) a lot of money, and (b) gross incompetence.

But not to our Kim, oh, no.

Whooops; they forgot that they would need to pay "the lads" (and lasses!) for driving the buses.

But what is £100 million between friends?

Nice to know, isn't it, that a mere hundred million sovs of lost money will make no difference; and the plan still "represents good value for money".

You Thought You Understood!

We all thought that the Welsh Government had already taken over all the trains in the Principality. Apparently the takeover is incomplete but the articles don't seem to explain why.

fbb thinks it is to do with (a) who pays the big bills and (b) who provides the money.

Ideally, the Waled Senedd wants to sign all the cheques but would very much like the UK government to provide more of the money or even all of the money. Quite how that fits with "devolution" is unclear.

More Devolution

Steve (Mayor Rotherham) intends to own and run his yellow trains.

Quite how this all fits with Great British Railways is equally unclear. May be the railways will be neither Great not British.

But GBR  seems to be happening ...

Great British Greater Anglia!

This time Heidi has sent her assistant to cut the tape.

Sir Peter Hendy did the business at the launch.

Also at the launch, somebody asked the Anglia MD the obvious but tricky question.

"Will GBR bring us all reduced fares?"

The answer from boss Jamie Burles says ...

... "No it won't!"

Livery Delivery

We tend to forger that Britain's railways alread has a red, white and blue livery. Here are some examples on real locos ...

... and in a couple of "traditional" carriages in model form.

Smart, innit?.

But with the richer blue as launched by Peter; and a broader white boundary between windows and body side, it would look Great, British and far more Railway than the zig zaggery currently proposed.

You could easily find room for an accurate Union Flag depending on window position.

Come on Peter and Heidi, make it look like a train!

 Nexr Variety blog : Sunday 19th July 

Surprised At Stourbridge (3)

Diamond 25/25A ...

... Becomes National Express 25 on 26th July!

Possibly!

We have so far gleaned that Diamond runs route 25 from Dudley to Stourbridge ...

... and route 25A from Dudley via Stourbridge to Kidderminster are part of the same tinetable..

Between Dudley and Stourbridge, the routes are identical. 

Now the PTE map is dated ...

... three years ago. It shows a service 25 as below from Dudley to Merry Hell ...

... continuing to Stourbridge.

See The 125 Arrive!

But proceeding south west we see no 25A, but a suspicious 125 on its way to Kidderminster.

Information then evaporates as we move from West Midlands County over the border into Shropshire. Surely, all we have to do, to continue our exploration, is to peruse Shropshire's County bus network map?

There isn't one!

This is an extract from the only cartography (?) available.

And there is the 125 from Stourbridge to Kidderminster, Bewdley and Bridgnorth.

That sounds like an old Midland Red route number ...

... an idea supported by the above picture of a D9 en route to Birmingham via Dudley. 

But the Midland Red enthusiast site ...

... knows nothing of a route 125!

Pursuing this identity crisis proved too much for fbb in the hot weather - the task was well above the old bloke's pay grade!

But he did pick up a 125 operated by Whittle Bus, running from Stourbridge ...

... via Kidderminster to Bridgnorth.

The route took Whittles from Kidderminster and Bewdley ...

... and then the "back way" via Hagley to Bridgnorth.

In 2004, with an uncharacteristic rush of blood to the corporate head, Whittles was bought by East Yorkshire. The venture into furrin' parts ended in 2015 when the Whittles business finally closed.

Central Buses quickly registered the 125 ...

... and produced some attractive publicity.

The route came under attack from a competitive route 25, operated by a certain Diamond Bus Company!

Central sold out to Diamond who cancelled their 25 in favour of the traditional 125 ...

... which is the situation on the 2023 PTE map above.

This From February 2025

Diamond Buses have announced they are ending the 125 Stourbridge - Kidderminster - Highley - Bridgnorth service from 31st March. I have written to Diamond Buses and Shropshire Council (who also want to save the service) to urge keeping the 125 route.

This is the only service linking Stourbridge with its sister town Kidderminster, and one of the only routes serving residents in Norton.

Shropshire Council is exploring subsidising the service in the short term using Government funding to improve bus services. Diamond Buses say the route isn't viable but services should be run for the public where they are needed and rural areas are generally poorly served.

The Wyre Forest and South Shropshire MPs have also signed my letter ahead of the service going out to tender at the end of this month.

And the 125 did survive ...

.... still run by Diamond but only from Kidderminster.

Stourbridge to Kidderminster is currently Diamond 25A now running through from Dudley ...

... with the identical 25 giving a headway of every 30 minutes ...

... between Dudley, Merry Hell and Stourbridge. 

The computer is too half-witted to show the two as one combined timetable!

But from 26th inst, National Express has won the contract for the 25/25A which it has sensibly numbered 25 throughout.

There is no county-wide route numbering scheme in the West Midlands but it is just about possible to find the new 25.

And, joy of joys, we can see an easy to read, no scrolling, easy to print-out PDF.

Blissful simplicity.

All we need now is an up-to-date Sandwell and Dudley PTE network map!

 Next Variety blog : Saturday 18 July 

Surprised At Stourbridge (2)

 National Express Tells Us ...

... about "new" services that are not new at all. But the company does admit, later in its publicity, that the "new" 25 will replace an existing 25A.

Then the "new" 142 and 142A ...

... will replace a previous 142 and 142A.

So Diamond Tells Us ...

... that the contract for the 25 and 25A has ended and we need to look elsewhere for a replacement. We read the same for the 142 and 142A.

Quite what Diamond achieves by not simply providing a link to the "new" services, other than a corporate sulk at losing the tender, is unclear.

The Local Press Tells Us ...

... that the "new" 25 will replace Diamond's 25A, but fails to explain what will happen to Diamond's 25!

Then, what about the 142 and 142A?

We now know that the "new" 142 will replace Diamond's 142, but we are not told who will run the 142A.

In fact, there is no major change to the route or frequency of any of the four services in question.

There may be changes to the detailed timings; which excitement we shall explore tomorrow.

But, before we delve into factual detail, we need to ask, " Where do the buses actually go?"

A Diamond Route Map?

There isn't one in a conventional cartographic format!

But, joy of mysterious joys, here is Diamond's 25 from Dudley to Stourbridge. 

And their 25A from Dudley to Kidderminster.

Yes, the 25A does run via Stourbridge; the town is buried under blobs almost in the centre of the 25A map.  

In fact, it appears from the 'maps', that the 25 is simply a short working of the 25A with no change of route.

We have the 142..

... and the 142A.

Look at the squiggles between Stourbridge and Halesowen, the latter being hidden under a pointless word  Start . Although both routes are part of a combined service (with two local variations) we need to refer to two 'maps', for want if a better word.

The computer is unable to merge the two. 

It would be nice if the quality improved when the frustrated user enlarged the map; but this is what you get for the 142 (and the separate 142A) at Merry Hell!

So that is crystal clear, then; as clear as ...

... expensive technology can manage.

Or A PTE Route Map?

An example of good cartography can be found in the West Midlands PTE network map for the Dudley area. As the servIces are, largely, unchanged, the PTE map will still be valid from 26th July.

Here we see the 142 and 142A variants in the Stournridge area ...

... and continuing westbound to Halesowen ...

... where the routes approach the Town Centre differently.

But we probably need the timetables to be completely sure.

Our exploration of these services which are "new", but very much NOT new, will conclude tomorrow.

 Next Stourbridge blog : Fri 17th July