All change on the buses

More than 30 bus services across Walsall will be changed this weekend in one of the biggest revamps of the public transport network the borough has seen.

Passengers will run the gauntlet of new routes, stops and timetables when the changeover starts on Sunday. Some routes are being altered, the frequency of buses changed and some buses renumbered.

Passengers are now being urged to check for alterations to timetables and routes in advance to ensure they are not caught out next week.

Click here to see all the Walsall bus changes

Betty Oakley, aged 71, is chairwoman of Rushall Residents' Association and said there was widespread concern about the changes among elderly people in the borough.

"It's very worrying because they seem to be changing everything," she said today.

"A lot of people are concerned and I think the fear is that some people won't be able to get to the places they can at the moment."

She said people in Rushall were not happy about the overhaul of the 355A and 997 routes through Aldridge to Birmingham.

Under the shake-up, the existing 997 will no longer travel along Barns Lane before heading to Aldridge and Birmingham.

Chris Perry, head of operational services at Centro, said: "We understand that these changes will take some time to get used to but, given a few weeks, we believe people living in the area will feel the full benefits of their new bus network and the better links and services it will provide."

Also among the changes are the current 347 and 360 service combining to a new hourly 25 bus.

The 377 is also to be renumbered the 77 and reduced to 30 minutes, but combined with the 935 it should give a 15-minute frequency between Streetly and Walsall.

The 10 and 10A will be replaced with the 394, 394A, 394B and 395 every 10 minutes between Walsall and Brownhills.

By Craig Hughes