Travel Your Bus

Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Travel Your Bus
company_
slogan =
fate = Merger
successor = Travel West Midlands
foundation = 1987
defunct = 2001
location = West Midlands
industry = Bus transport

Your Bus was a trading name of Smiths Coaches (Shenington) Ltd who were also known as Smiths of Tysoe. The company was based on the Arden Forest Industrial Estate in Alcester in Warwickshire.

History

The Your Bus network of bus services started on November 30 1987 when route 50Y was introduced. This ran every 20 minutes in competition with the West Midlands Travel's route 50 between Druids Heath and Birmingham City Centre via Alcester Road using second-hand Daimler Fleetline double deck buses purchased from Greater Manchester Buses. The company adopted the orange brown and white livery these vehicles arrived in as their fleet colours for the bus operation and uniquely added a Y to the end of all its bus service numbers. To get buses to and from the West Midlands and Alcester the company introduced placing journeys initially just at peak times, which ran the most direct way via the A435 and thus bypassing Redditch.

On September 3 1988, a peak hour route 51Y of three journeys each way was introduced that diverted via Redditch New Town when it ran between Alcester and Birmingham. This service was withdrawn on January 13 1992.

The company also introduced route 47Y on October 31 1988 which was also a way of getting buses to and from the West Midland that ran via Redditch New Town, it however accessed Birmingham via West Heath and the Pershore Road. This service was renumbered 45Y on October 28 1989 and was finally withdrawn on January 13 1992. This brought to an end of the brief operation of Your Bus in Redditch. Your Bus continued to develop services in south Birmingham and Solihull over the next few years and invested heavily in new single deck vehicles.

National Express Takeover

During 1993, Your Bus was taken over by West Midlands Travel's parent company National Express who continued to run it as a separate subsidiary. The operating centre was soon moved to Miller Street in Birmingham where the coaching interests of West Midlands Travel under the Central Coachways trading name were absorbed.

Rebranded Travel West Midlands

On February 4 2001, following a group restructuring the Your Bus services were absorbed into the main company which by now was trading as Travel West Midlands. This ended the Your Bus operation. The Central Coachways name and some contract work was sold to Flights Coaches.

Routes Operated By Travel Your Bus

* 2Y Birmingham - Maypole via Warstock
* A6Y Birmingham - Northfield - Solihull - Birmingham Circular
* C6Y Birmingham - Solihull - Northfield - Birmingham Circular
* 37Y Birmingham - Solihull via Acocks Green
* 47Y Birmingham - Cofton Common - (Alcester peek time only) via Cotteridge
* 50Y Birmingham - Druids Heath - (Alcester peek time only) via Kings Heath and Maypole
* 53Y Birmingham - Cotteridge via Selly Oak
* 118Y Erdington - Aldridge via Kingstanding (Contract on behalf of Centro until February 2001)
* 192Y Acocks Green - Coventry via Solihull
* 194Y Acocks Green - Coventry via Solihull

External links

* [http://www.travelwm.co.uk Travel West Midlands website]