Bus Service Changes for Wednesfield!

Councillor Phil Bateman said today “there are to be some changes to National Express West Midlands bus services after Easter. This is what the NXWM management tell me…..”

In response to customer feedback about what key workers need from us we’re making some further changes to bus services from Tuesday 14th April – immediately after the bank holiday.

Routes that take key workers to hospitals – such as the 59 to Wolverhampton’s New Cross and the 11 to Birmingham’s City Hospital and the QE – will be getting a more frequent service.

A summary of the changes are listed below – but we are urging customers to check the latest timetables on our website nxbus.co.uk before they set out on their journey next week.
• All buses will still operate on the same routes as they do now, but some timings will be revised to make journeys quicker.
• First buses will leave at roughly the same time as they do now, and most last buses will not change.
• We’re adding buses to some of the more busy routes to make the service more frequent and to help customers with social distancing measures. On others we are reducing the frequency in line with customer demand.
Our service levels over the Easter bank holiday weekend are summarised below. But customers should check full details and timetables on our website here: https://nxbus.co.uk/west-midlands/news/easter-weekend-services
• Good Friday (10th April) – current Friday service
• Easter Saturday (11th April) – current Saturday service
• Easter Sunday (12th April) – mostly current Sunday service
• Easter Monday (13th April) – current Sunday service with some extra early morning journeys on route 6 and 59
Other bus operators, local rail services and West Midlands Metro are changing services at different times and in different ways. Information on other services is available at wmnetwork.com/networkoverview.

These are incredibly difficult times for us all. The safety and welfare of our employees and customers is our priority and our aim is to protect our people while providing an essential service.

We’ve worked closely with Transport for West Midlands through the Bus Alliance – not only to ensure the bus network continues to provide the essential lifeline to our frontline workers but also to introduce free travel for NHS workers, for children of key workers and for our more vulnerable citizens.

For our own staff, running a much reduced bus service means that many people have been placed on furlough leave. The government scheme covers 80% of salary up to a limit, and while there is no obligation on employers to pay more, we are. Our senior executives have also opted to have their pay reduced.

Our drivers, engineers, cleaners and other members of staff are working incredibly hard. And we’re making sure they are safe and being looked after. We speak to the union every day to jointly agree policy and communicate our safety procedures.

This is all part of our commitment to do everything we can to protect jobs and wages, and to be an employer people can feel proud to work for.

We look forward to welcoming back all of our staff and all of our customers who are following government advice to stay home, once this is all over. And we look forward to continuing to work with you on improving bus services across the region.

Phil Bateman

Phil Bateman is Married to Mary and lives in Wednesfield North. He was a long serving local politician having served previously on the now defunct West Midlands County Council... read more

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