Some at-risk bus routes in the Black Country saved but timetables have changed
At-risk bus services in the Black Country have been saved but another is still set to be scrapped next month, bus chiefs have confirmed.
Diamond Bus initially said it would axe its 002, 45 and 226 services from April 15 citing high running costs and a lack of usage – meaning they were no longer viable.
However, the move sparked a backlash from residents alongside politicians who called for the "lifeline" routes to be saved, with more than 5,000 signing petitions.
And now it has been revealed two of the routes, the 002 route from Weoley Castle to Merry Hill and the 226 which runs from Merry Hill to Dudley, will be saved albeit with service changes.
But the 45 route – which runs from Walsall to West Bromwich – is still branded as "commercially unviable", with talks still continuing with chiefs at Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) to see whether it can be rescued.
Meanwhile, the company has announced it has been reviewing service 4 and 4H between Walsall to West Bromwich and Hayley Green, with Sunday services being pulled from the routes on April 15.
A spokesman for Diamond Bus said: "These routes are commercial services which we operate without any level of subsidy. They are funded purely on the income through our ticket sales, the income received though accepting network cards (such as nBus and nNetwork) and National Concessionary Passes.
"Unfortunately, all our commercial services are loss-making in the TfWM area. Since Covid we have been working in partnership with Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) in the hope that these services would recover. Since the end of August 2022 we have continued to sustain losses.
"The decline in viability of these routes is linked to the escalation in labour and operating costs and the lack of income growth. In January 2023, service revisions were put in place to try and align the income and expenditure of these routes and improve their viability. This alignment has subsequently failed, and Diamond Bus has now reluctantly taken the decision to make some significant changes to these routes.
"The changes we have made will reduce our losses on the overall service operations and we hope they will improve the viability of these routes so that we are able to maintain them for our passengers going forward.
"These service will continue to be reviewed in future to ascertain their ongoing commercial viability, therefore we encourage people to support their local services to ensure they are able to be sustained and continue."
Sunday services on the 002 route will be withdrawn from April 15 with other services remaining as they currently are.
Meanwhile, the 226 service will revert to its old route – omitting Wall Heath – and on Monday to Friday, some early morning journeys will be removed with a 30-minute frequency during the daytime. Saturday services will be reduced to hourly due to them being the company's most "loss making journeys of the week" – and 226A evening and Sunday services will be renamed back to 226 and remain as per current hourly timetable and route.
The 45 route will still be withdrawn from service due to being commercially unviable, but talks are continuing with TfWM to see if they can support the routes.
