Dudley bus routes set to change under service shake-up
Plans for a bus service shake-up in parts of Dudley have been announced.
A public consultation has been launched as part of the proposals to change services in west Dudley from October 27.
Some services in Wolverhampton and Staffordshire will also be affected by the changes planned by National Express West Midlands.
According to the company, more bus services, a simpler network, new direct links between Stourbridge, Wollaston and Merry Hill to Roseville and Wolverhampton and more links to Russells Hall Hospital are planned as part of the changes.
But some people may lose a direct link or have to alter the time they travel if the plans go ahead.
What would change?
Routes that may change include 2 and 2A, 4, 8, 15 and 15A, 16, 17, 27 and 27A, 81, 82 and X8.
A new through service between Wolverhampton, Bilston, Roseville, Wrens Nest, Dudley, Russells Hall Hospital and Merry Hill is planned by linking the current 2 and 2A with the current 82.
Also between Wrens Nest and Dudley the 8 would be replaced by the 15 and 81, so the number of buses between Dudley and Wrens Nest would increase from six to eight every hour.
And the 15 between Merry Hill, Kingswinford and Wall Heath would no longer serve Wolverhampton, but instead between Wall Heath and Wolverhampton more buses would run on the slightly amended 16.
The route of the 16 between Wombourne and Kingswinford would be changed, and would run more often, every 20 minutes rather than every 30 minutes, but part of Himley would no longer be directly served.
The 17 bus, between Kingswinford, Dudley, Stourbridge and Wall Heath, will be replaced with other services between Kingswinford, Dudley, Stourbridge and Wall Heath.
Nick Vane, commercial director at National Express West Midlands, said: “We’ve reviewed our bus services across west Dudley and put together a proposal that we feel will deliver an even better service for both our loyal customers and also attract new customers onto our public transport network.
“We’re hopeful that most people will either see no change to the bus they catch or an improvement with better reliability and more buses serving key locations such as Russells Hall Hospital.
"We’re also hoping to introduce some new links and better connectivity as a result of this consultation.”
The closing date for feedback on the proposed changes is Friday.
To have your say and see further detail on the plans, complete the survey here.
