Changes are coming to the West Midlands bus services, with National Express West Midlands set to introduce three new routes starting on Sunday, June 1. Not really sure why this matters, but hey, it’s newsworthy, right? Among the alterations are the introduction of a new 16A service running from Wolverhampton to Stourbridge on evenings and Sundays. In Streetly, the 935 route will be replaced by the new 998 service, while services 20 and 20A will be done away with and replaced by the X20 route between Birmingham and Bromsgrove.
The new 16A service from Wolverhampton to Stourbridge will take a different route in Wombourne, running via Planks Lane, Giggetty Lane, and Common Road. Not really sure why they decided to change things up, but I guess it keeps things interesting. The 935 route in Streetly will be replaced by the 998 service, following the same path as the 997 between Birmingham and Queslett Road/The Queslett, before continuing on the current 935 route between Aldridge Road and Streetly, Hardwick Arms. Between the 997 and the new 998, buses will run up to every 15 minutes between Birmingham, Old Oscott, and Pheasey.
Lastly, the X20 service will be introduced to replace the 20 and 20A routes between Birmingham, Q.E. Hospital, Northfield, Longbridge, Rednal, Catshill, and Bromsgrove. Buses will run up to every 30 minutes between Birmingham and Rednal, and up to every 60 minutes between Birmingham and Bromsgrove. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like a lot of changes happening all at once. It’ll be interesting to see how commuters adjust to the new routes and schedules.
