Three major Black Country bus routes to be scrapped from April

Diamond Bus will scrap the 002, 45 and 226 services due to high running costs and lack of usage.

It comes after the company conducted a review of the viability of its commercial services operating in the West Midlands.

Commercial services are those which operate without any level of subsidy. They are funded via income through ticket sales, network cards and national concessionary passes.

The 226 runs from Merry Hill to Dudley, the 002 route from Weoley Castle to Merry Hill and the 45 goes from Walsall to West Bromwich.

The company has confirmed they will all stop running from April 15.

A statement on the bus firm’s website said: “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 cancel our 45, 002 and 226 services from April 15, 2023.

“Through our partnership discussions, the long-established position was that ‘Low Fare Zone’ ticketing would be phased out and all fares would align to a consistent rate across the whole West Midlands region. In simple terms we were advised that the Sandwell & Dudley Low Fare Zone £3 Day Ticket would align to the current West Midlands £4 Day Ticket.

“This is now expected not to happen, which means these services will continue to lose money. Diamond Bus has therefore been left with no choice but to de-register these heavily loss-making services.”