Councillor 'seething' over reduced bus route leading to New Cross Hospital

Service 53 ran from Wolverhampton to Rocket Pool via the hospital, Wednesfield town centre, and Bilston town centre until the end of January.

Transport chiefs made the decision to cut back the service between Rocket Pool and Bilston after analysis showed the route had "very poor usage".

The route had been under review pre-Covid, and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) officials have said no roads have been left without a service.

But it means there is no longer a direct bus service to New Cross Hospital for residents in Rocket Pool, meaning they will have to change bus in Bilston.

The decision to reduce the service has been slammed by Councillor Stephen Simkins, who represents Bilston East, who said there had been no consultation.

Councillor Simkins said: "I'm absolutely furious, I'm seething. Nobody has been consulted about this, none of the residents or even elected members. It's a subsidised route and they are saying it's not making enough money – subsidised means it's non-profitable.

"The usage fell off because of Covid because people stayed in and you had telephone conversations, rather than going to the hospital, and transport costs. I think it's disgraceful and I personally think bus services should be in the public's ownership.

"There needs to be that connectivity – the bus connects Rocket Pool, Bradley, Bilston, Portobello, Wednesfield and then it goes to New Cross Hospital. It connects Bilston town centre and Bentley Bridge and the knock on effect is so detrimental."

Councillor Simkins, deputy leader of Wolverhampton Council, said he would be putting a petition together with residents in a bid to help restore the service fully.

Meanwhile, Raj Banga, transport manager for Wolverhampton-based Banga Buses which ran the full 53 route, said: "It's a tendered service funded by Transport for West Midlands. What normally happens is that passengers get on and register their cards on the smart machines and that data is sent off to TfWM.

"The data has been monitored and they've looked at the figures and said the 53 service is not a viable funded service because there's not enough people catching it. They've axed Rocket Pool and the service runs from Wolverhampton, to New Cross Hospital, to Bilston and then the same way back.

"It's not down to us to change a tender – it's up to the company to decide whether it's viable or not. It's been monitored for a few months before it was taken off, to my knowledge, and it would not have been a lightly-made decision."

Mr Banga said the company still ran the 530 service, and advised residents in Rocket Pool to catch it and change at Bilston for another service which could connect to the Wolverhampton Road hospital.

The route is understood to have been under review pre-Covid due to Rocket Pool having four buses per hour on the 530 route from Wolverhampton bus station to Rocket Pool via Bilston – operated by Banga Buses and hourly evenings, and Sundays, operated by Diamond Buses.

Transport leaders have said the section along Salop Street and Loxdale Street, in Rocket Pool, is covered by service 82 from Wolverhampton to Dudley via Bilston, every 20 minutes. It is operated by National Express and hourly evenings, and on Sundays, by Diamond Buses.

Meanwhile, the section along Wilkinson Avenue and Bank Street has service 43, ran every 15 minutes by National Express, and the overall area has connections to the West Midlands Metro at Loxdale Street and Bradley Lane.

Residents in Rocket Pool could take the 530 bus to Bilston, change to service 53 to New Cross or continue to Wolverhampton bus station to pick up the 59 to New Cross Hospital.

Another option is to catch the 43 bus to Bilston, change to service 53 to New Cross – or take the 530 route to Wolverhampton and change for the 59 service. A third option could see residents take the 82 bus to Bilston, change to service 53 for New Cross, or continue on the route to Wolverhampton and change for the 59 service.

And a fourth option could see residents take the West Midlands Metro to Bilston, change for service 53 to New Cross or to Wolverhampton and then change to the 59 bus.