- West Midlands bus route 8
-
8A/8C
Overview Operator National Express West Midlands Vehicle Mercedes-Benz O405N Route Start Saltley or Bordesley Green Via Birmingham Inner Ring Road End Saltley or Bordesley Green Length 30 miles[citation needed] The Birmingham Inner Circle is a roughly circular bus route in Birmingham, England. It follows the city's inner ring road with some small deviations on parts of the route.
Contents
Present
Like the Outer Circle service 11, buses on the 8 travel both anti-clockwise (8A) and clockwise (8C). The service is operated by National Express West Midlands with Mercedes-Benz O405N single deck buses, several of which are branded for the Inner Circle. It is one of very few bus routes which is guaranteed to be operated by a Mercedes-Benz 0405N, due to that bus being the only allocation at the garage. Prior to operating from Bordesley depot (located next to National Express West Midlands headquarters) the 8 was operated by the now demolished Hockley depot; This meant that it was not unusual for it to have MCW Metrobuses and Volvo B7TL Plaxton Presidents operating on it. The service is mainly run commercially, however early morning Sunday journeys are subsidised by Centro.
In 2004, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre staged the musical "Ridin' The Number 8" by Lauren Hornsby and Euan Rose, in which a cast of 'Brummie' characters board an Inner Circle bus and reminisce about the people and places they encounter along the route.[1]
Route
(Anti -clockwise from Saltley Gate, Alum Rock. Opposite direction for clockwise)
- Saltley Gate/ Alum Rock interchange
- Nechells
- Newtown interchange (A34)
- Hockley interchange
- Jewellery Quarter
- Five Ways interchange (Broad Street, Birmingham)
- Lee Bank
- Highgate
- Sparkbrook interchange
- Small Heath interchange
- Bordesley interchange
- Saltley Gate/ Alum Rock interchange
Current Frequencies
Service 8A/C runs every 12 minutes Monday-Friday daytime, 15 minutes on Saturdays & half hourly Sundays & evenings.
References
Further reading
M.Hanson, D. Harvey and P. Drake The Inner Circle - Birmingham's No. 8 Bus Route. Tempus 2002.
External links
- Travel West Midlands website
- Unofficial Lea Hall and Bordesley site
- West Midlands Buses (Photographs)
Bus routes in the West Midlands Birmingham and Solihull 5 6 31 X20 Stratford Road • 7 • 8A 8C Inner Circle • 9 140 141 192 Hagley Road • 11A 11C Outer Circle • 28 28A 28B • Line 33 • 50 • 51 X51 Walsall Road • 58 60 900 957 Coventry Road • 61 62 63 Bristol Road • 82 • 82 87 89 Dudley Road • 144 • 451 • 'Sutton Lines'
Coventry 1 • 2 • 11 • 19 19W 19X • 21 21C 21W • 27 • 42 • 81 81E 81W • 82 • 801 • 900 • X17 • PRN PRS Park and Ride • U1 U2 U12 U17 Unibus •
Sandwell & Dudley Walsall 1 2 5 • 19 • 22 • 51 X51 Walsall Road • 77 • 332 549 • 369 370 370A • 404 • 529
Wolverhampton 79 126 529
Bus Stations Bearwood • Bilston • Halesowen • Coventry (Pool Meadow) • Cradley Heath • Digbeth (Birmingham National Express) • Dudley • Merry Hill • Walsall (St Pauls) • Wednesbury • West Bromwich • Wolverhampton (Pipers Row)
Categories:- Transport in Birmingham, West Midlands
- National Express West Midlands bus routes
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