National Express West Midlands interlinked routes 350 and 351

350

National Express West Midlands Service 350 (previously numbered 999) is a shuttle bus service linking Walsall Town Centre with the nearby Manor Hospital. The journey takes 17 minutes for a full circle.

The service is currently interlinked with service 351 to Cannock, so that a 351 arriving in Walsall operates a 350 journey before completing another 351 journey.

Currently the service is operating a temporary route due to redevelopment work on the hospital grounds and major roadworks on the surrounding roads due to the Town Centre Ring Road Works Programme.

Route History

* March 1999 - National Express West Midlands introduce a new shuttle service from Walsall Town Centre to the Manor Hospital, numbered 999. This service runs every 20 minutes from 6.40am until 9.40pm on a Monday - Friday and from 8.00am until 8.40pm on a Saturday using a Low Floor Volvo B6LE. At the time it was believed to be the first and only bus route numbered 999 in the whole of the UK.
* 2004 - The Express & Star newspaper reports that there are plans to extend the 999 to Bloxwich. This never materilises.
* 2007 - The evening services are withdrawn and the overall frequency is reduced to every 30 minutes.
* 2008 - The service is rerouted around the hospital and renumbered service 350. This service does not enter the hospital ground. It is unknown if when the hospital is fully built the service will re-enter the grounds again.

The route follows the same route as National Express West Midlands service 529 up until Moat Road. Here it follows the route A2Z Travel buses on service 331 take back to the town via the hospital.

Other services linking Walsall with the hospital are A2Z Travel service 331 and National Express West Midlands services 335 & 336 and National Express West Midlands & Choice Travel service 639/E during Monday - Saturday daytime. The evening and Sunday link from the town to the hospital is now the National Express West Midlands service 332.

351

The 351 is a bus route operated by National Express West Midlands, Arriva Midlands and A2Z Travel between Cannock or Hednesford in Staffordshire and Walsall in the West Midlands, England. It is one of four services from Walsall to Cannock, but only really faces competition from one of these services for passengers to Cannock due to the route complexity and duration of the other two. Its main rival for passengers is Arriva Midlands route 1.

ervice Provision

The 351 is operated on a commercial basis on Monday - Saturday daytimes by National Express West Midlands between Cannock and Walsall on a half hourly basis. On weekday evenings it is operated by Arriva Midlands also between Cannock and Walsall, but is subsidised by South Staffordshire County Council. On Sundays A2Z Travel operate an extended version of the route, stretching from Cannock to Hednesford, again on a subsidised basis from South Staffordshire County Council. The two subsidised services operate hourly.

Evening and Sunday services follow a different route in the Bloxwich area: the evening and Sunday buses travel a direct route between Bloxwich and Landywood, ie. along the A34 Stafford Road, whereas the Monday to Saturday daytime buses operate via a fairly new housing development north west of Bloxwich (the Turnberry estate). On Evenings and Sundays Turnbery Road is instead served by an extension of Centro subsidised bus service 319, which operates from Walsall to Bloxwich via Blakenall and Goscote.

History

* Pre-1999 - Service 351 only operated as an evening and Sunday service between Walsall and Hednesford at an hourly frequency by Arriva Midlands. National Express West Midlands (then Travel West Midlands) operated service 350 from Walsall - Cannock at a half hourly weekday peak frequency and all day Saturdays. They also operated service 350A, from Walsall - Hawks Green via Cannock at a half hourly frequency on a Monday - Friday daytime.
* 2000 - Travel West Midlands withdraw service 350A and the Saturday journeys on the 350. They also beginning operating service 351 at twenty minute Monday - Saturday daytime frequency between Walsall and Cannock. This journey does not serve the Turnberry Estate.
* 2002 - Travel West Midlands start operating service 350 at a half hourly Monday - Friday daytime frequency. The 351 is unchanged. The main difference between the 350 and the 351 is that the 350 travels via Great Wyrley, whilst the 351 travels via Cheslyn Hay.
* 2003 - Travel West Midlands withdraw the 350 completely. They also reduce the frequency on the 351 to half hourly Monday - Saturday daytime and introduce Saturday evening journeys at a half hourly frequency. Arriva Midlands now operate the weekday evening journeys to Cannock. The Saturday evenings and Sunday journeys continue to Hednesford at hourly frequencys, with additional 351s by Arriva Midlands to Cannock on Sunday evenings.
* 2004 - The Saturday evening Travel West Midlands journeys are withdrawn.
* 2005 - The Arriva Midlands Saturday evening journeys are shortened to terminate at Cannock. The Sunday evening shortened workings are withdrawn.
* 2007 - A2Z Travel win the contract off Arriva Midlands to operate the Sunday 351 service to Hednesford.

Current Routes

National Express West Midlands

*Walsall
*Bloxwich
*Turnberry Estate
*Landywood
*Cheslyn Hay
*Cannock

Arriva Midlands

*Walsall
*Bloxwich
*Landywood
*Cheslyn Hay
*Cannock

A2Z Travel

*Walsall
*Bloxwich
*Landywood
*Cheslyn Hay
*Cannock
*Hednesford

External links

* [http://www.nationalexpress.com/westmidlands National Express West Midlands Website]