National Express West Midlands Route 404 and 404A and Central Connect Diamond routes 404B, 404E and 404H

{| class="infobox" style="width: 29em;"
+ style="font-size: large;" | 404H !colspan="2" align="center" |
-! colspan="2" bgcolor="#FF0000" | Management
-
Operated by || Diamond Bus (Black Diamond)
-
Garage || West Bromwich
-
Vehicle || Plaxton Centro
-
Peak vehicle requirement ||
-! colspan="2" bgcolor="#FF0000" | Route
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Start || West Bromwich
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Via || Caldmore, Stone Cross, West Bromwich, Oldbury, Hill Top &Cradley Heath
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End || Merry Hill Centre
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Length || About ?? miles
-! colspan="2" bgcolor="#FF0000" | Service
-
Level || Hourly
-
Frequency || Every 45 Minutes
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Journey time || 49 Minutes.
-
Night || No Service.

National Express West Midlands Routes 404 & 404A and Diamond Bus routes 404B, 404E & 404H are bus routes operating in West Midlands, England.

History

The 404 was Petes Travels (which eventually become Diamond Bus) first ever bus route.

A 404E journey was introduced in 2007 and withdrawn in the same year by A2Z Travel on Sundays between Walsall and West Bromwich.

In Summer 2008, Diamond Bus, now owned by Central Connect introduced services 404B and 404H. The 404B runs between West Bromwich and Blackheath following the same route as the NXWM 404 Service. The 404H runs between West Bromwich and the Merry Hill Centre, following the same route as the 404A up until Cradley Heath. Certain journeys on this service do terminate at Cradley Heath.

Also during the Summer NXWM slightly reroute the 404 and 404A in the Caldmore area and increase the frequency to every 6 minutes.

Present

The 404 is a bus route between Walsall and Blackheath via West Bromwich and is operated by National Express West Midlands.

There is an extended working of 404, the 404A, which extends from Blackheath to Cradley Heath and is also operated by National Express West Midlands.

Additonally there are two shortened workings of the 404 operated by Diamond Bus. The 404E operates only between Walsall and West Bromwich and the 404B operates between West Bromwich and Blackheath, both following the same route as National Express West Midlands. Officially the 404E is also numbered '404' but to minimise confusion shows the 'E' to denote it as a shortened working.

Finally there is another spur to the 404 route, the 404H. This route, again operated by Diamond Bus operates between West Bromwich and the Merry Hill Centre, following the same route as the 404A between West Bromwich and Cradley Heath. To add to confusion, several of these journeys terminate at Cradley Heath.

All of these services run very regularly on a Monday - Saturday with a combined frequency of every 7-8 minutes between every section of the route (with the exception of the corridor between Cradley Heath and Merry Hill Centre).

None of the three Diamond Bus routes operate on a Sunday, but National Express West Midlands operate the 404 and 404A to a combined fifteen minute daytime frequency.

At present National Express West Midlands use Mercedes O405N single-deck buses operated from its West Bromwich garage on the 404/A, some of which are branded. Since July 2008, and the introduction of the 404B and 404H, Diamond Bus have begun using brand new Volvo B7RLE with Plaxton Centro bodywork on there services, in Black Diamond livery.

Future

It is rumoured but not confirmed that National Express West Midlands will soon be using new Scania OmniLink single decks on the 404/A.

From the 30th November 2008, Diamond Bus are to officially number its journeys between Walsall and West Bromwich the 404E. Additionally, the 404B is withdrawn and the frequency of the 404H is changed to every 20 minutes peak and 30 minutes off-peak.

Current Routes

;Service 404, NXWM
*Walsall
*Caldmore
*Stone Cross
*West Bromwich
*Oldbury
*Blackheath

;Service 404A, NXWM
*Walsall
*Caldmore
*Stone Cross
*West Bromwich
*Oldbury
*Blackheath
*Cradley Heath

;Service 404B, DIA
*West Bromwich
*Oldbury
*Blackheath

;Service 404 [E] , DIA
*Walsall
*Caldmore
*Stone Cross
*West Bromwich

;Service 404H, DIA
*West Bromwich
*Oldbury
*Blackheath
*Cradley Heath
*Merry Hill Centre

References

External links

* [http://www.travelwm.co.uk Official site] (Only for National Express West Midlands)
* [http://www.networkwestmidlands.co.uk Network West Midlands]
* [http://west-midlands-buses.fpic.co.uk West Midlands Buses] (Only for National Express West Midlands)