Reviewing the Review

It had to happen sooner or later. The rolling programme of Bus Network Reviews has finally fixed its beady eye upon Wolverhampton, and so in a couple of days time we will have a new series of bus routes to accompany the fanfare opening of the rebuilt bus station...

Ordinarily with these network reviews I tend to dedicate an outing to getting around and sampling the existing routes before the changes take place. I haven't really done that this time, mainly because with Wolverhampton they are my local buses which I use virtually on a daily basis, routes I have grown up with and photographed several times over the years. I have of course gathered a few farewell photos lately but we're talking more of a prolonged goodbye than a frantic final flurry. As you might expect, the proposed changes have generated some considerable debate locally, and here I will now offer my personal opinions about what is set to take place.

New Bus Station: Sunday 24th July will mark the grand opening of Wolverhampton's flagship new bus station, and I look forward to taking my first look at its state of the art passenger facilities. I must admit I wasn't entirely convinced about the need for a new bus station in the first place - I always felt that the railway station had a more urgent case for redevelopment - but the bus station got the go-ahead and it's been interesting to see the site being transformed over the last year or so. A lot of money has been spent and I really do hope it all proves worth it, although there are concerns I will need to be convinced about.

Headlines have been made by the revelation that a number of routes won't even use the facility, then there's the curious case of the new footbridge to the railway station, which is puzzlingly situated right next door to the existing bridge that itself is still remaining in place. I realise the intention is that the Metro will at some point use the older bridge but I do wonder if I'll be looking back in years to come and remarking that this new bridge just ended up being a pointless extravagance. Also, as a bus enthusiast I am fully expecting that the new bus station will follow the example of other Centro creations in being a photographic no-go zone, and similarly I would also query just how safe the place will prove to be given that Walsall Bus Station (another heralded project) is a deathtrap waiting to happen.

Service Renumbering: One feature of the Network Review is that many services will drop the '5' prefix that has designated Wolverhampton bus routes since de-regulation. I am a little undecided on this as I quite liked the way an area's routes were distinguished from each other (300s for Walsall, 400s for Sandwell, 500s for Wolverhampton etc) and there could be an element of confusion if the same route numbers overlap in places. Saying that, I don't think the general public necessarily care too much about what number is on the front of their bus as long as they have a service that takes them where they want to go. I tend to refer to my local routes (the 532 and 533) as the 32 and 33 anyway, and that's precisely what they will become from Sunday!

Cross City Services: Another key feature of the review is the establishment of Cross City routes connecting two points either side of Wolverhampton City Centre. These routes will become the bedrock of the new network, hence they are prominently numbered 1, 2 3 and 4. Wolverhampton's existing pattern of routes essentially involved various spokes radiating out from the centre, so perhaps the logical thing to do when looking to make changes was to join some of these spokes together. Quite whether the residents of Tettenhall Wood really want a direct link to Dudley (or vice versa) is open to debate and there have been inevitable mutterings about reliability - if you're in Fordhouses you worry that all your buses will get stuck in Castlecroft, whereas if you're in Castlecroft you worry that all your buses will get stuck in Fordhouses! These prime new routes also seem to be the ones avoiding the new bus station, so it will be interesting to see how they are received once they are actually running.

Service Changes: A number of other services have changed, which as ever means you have winners and losers. A few observations for you;

• If you travel along the Wednesfield Road you will be spoilt for choice - not only are there frequent 59s to/from Ashmore Park but you could also get the 69 or 89 Walsall services.
• Efforts have been made to increase access to New Cross Hospital, a sensible decision which I think has to be applauded. For example, the 25 provides new direct hospital connections for places like Wobaston and Low Hill, whilst the 28 will now call in the hospital grounds.
• There seem to be more through connections to Walsall, so as well as the 529 we will now have the 39 (via Monmore Green and Bilston), the 40 (via Willenhall and Bentley) and the 69 (via Coppice Farm and Beechdale). The 908 becomes the 89 to continue to provide links with Bloxwich and Pelsall.
• Conversely, the 79 is shortened to run only as far as West Bromwich, breaking what had always seemed to be a staple direct connection to Birmingham. Travellers going from Wolverhampton through to Brum would now face the choice of 126, Metro or train, or they can change onto the 75 at Wednesbury or West Bromwich.
• The improved Walsall links mean that places like Beechdale, Coppice Farm and Reedswood gain regular buses to Wolverhampton and yet Stowlawn (an estate well within the Wolverhampton boundary) loses it's direct daytime service to the city because the 26 will only go as far as Bilston. The estate gets the 34 as a consolation so residents can get into Walsall instead. This does seem slightly bizarre, although whenever I've used the old 526 it did seem that most passengers from Stowlawn only tended to go as far as Bilston anyway.
• I notice that the 613 is set to become the combined 63 and 64 routes, with buses apparently changing numbers half way around the Bradmore/Penn end of the route. Now the 613 was confusing enough as it was and I had hoped that the review might resolve this, but the new timetable seems equally as baffling in terms of where the crossover takes place. I can't help thinking a trick has been missed here.
• Some places will sadly see a reduction in service. Deansfield Road is one example whilst the old 525 sections around The Scotlands and Wood End particularly stand out for me as this was a route I used regularly. Wood End actually seems to have been cast adrift on the new network - where it once had the 525 and 528 running frequently between them, unless I'm missing something obvious there now only seems to be the Arriva 68 calling here. The new 28 goes off round Bellamy Lane and Ridge Lane to plug one hole but for me this leaves an alarming gap at the Pheasant and the shops on Wood End island where surely there are more passengers to be had???
• Perhaps the most bizarre creation of the revised network is the new 57 route, which seems to have been dreamt up as a way of filling as many gaps as possible. As a join-the-dots exercise this is a masterpiece, linking Wolverhampton and Bilston over nearly an hour and a half (!!) via Ettingshall, New Cross, Fallings Park, The Scotlands, Wednesfield, Noose Crescent, Willenhall and Rough Hay. It attempts to combine the 575 route (which was fairly hideous already) with the 574 and leftover bits of 525; people might well make use of certain intermediary sections of the route but in all seriousness I can't see this attracting many passengers at all.
• For me personally, the proposed network does away with some routes I am rather fond of, such as the 598 (Bushbury Hill being covered by the 2 through to Warstones), the 698 (the 25 will link Low Hill with Wobaston), the Pendeford Circulars (use the 4 for Rakegate and Stafford Road or the 6 for Dovecotes and Blakeley Green) and the 525 (a Paul favourite which I will be sorry to see go). However, the replacement services for all of these do allow for new travel opportunities and adventures, so there is plenty for me to be positive about.

I could probably make countless more comments but I think that's enough for the time being, and whilst at times I've been quite critical above I think it's important that I reserve full judgment until I've seen the new network in practice. I expect that Sunday 24th and the days immediately afterwards will be absolute carnage as passengers adjust to the changes; despite the best efforts of Centro and the bus operators there are bound to be people who are clueless as to what is occurring, and the double whammy of trying to work out which new route you need to catch from which stand in the new bus station (or not as the case may be) is potentially a recipe for chaos.

Let's get over the hurdle of the next couple of weeks and in time everything should settle down. It is only then that we will have a proper indication of whether the changes have brought improvements or problems/cutbacks - in truth there will probably be a mixture of both. We're certainly in for an interesting few days!