Travel West Midlands is owned by the National Express Group which also owns sister operators Travel London and Travel Dundee . The company stems from the 1986 Deregulation of the bus industry in England and Wales . The company evolved out of what was previously the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) and has previously been the separate operations of the Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, West Bromwich and Coventry Corporations.
These are the routes that TWM operate in the West Midlands . The majority of services are run on a commercial basis and Centro (WMPTE) services will be highlighted. ''Please note - only the major Birmingham-based routes are shown below and not all services are shown.''
- Before 09:29am and between 15:30-18:30 weekdays.
- Between 03:30 - 15:29 weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday.
- 1 - Acocks Green - Town Hall via Edgbaston
- 2 - Birmingham - Maypole via Warstock
- 4 - Birmingham - Solihull Station via Widney Manor, The Baldwin
- 5 - Birmingham - Widney (Morning only)
- 6 - Birmingham - Solihull Station via Hall Green
- 7 - Birmingham - Perry Common via Witton
- 8A - Birmingham Inner Circle - Anti-clockwise
- 8C - Birmingham Inner Circle - Clockwise
- 9 - Birmingham - Stourbridge via Halesowen
- 10 - Birmingham - Gorsy Road (Peak Only)
- 11A - Birmingham Outer Circle - Anti-clockwise
- 11C - Birmingham Outer Circle - Clockwise
- 12 - Birmingham - Shirley Station via Stoney Lane
- 13 - Birmingham - Lea Hall Station via Hobmoor Road (Off Peak)
- 14 - Birmingham - Marston Green Station via Alum Rock Road (Off Peak)
- 14A - Birmingham - Chelmsley Wood via Alum Rock Road
- 15 - Birmingham - Lea Hall Station via Hobmoor Road (Peak)
- 16 - Birmingham - Hamstead Green Lane
- 16A - Birmingham - Great Barr via Green Lane (Peak only)
- 17 - Birmingham - Marston Green Station via Hobmoor Road
- 18 - Yardley Wood - Bartley Green
- 19 - Birmingham - Hansbury (Peak Only)
- 21 - Birmingham - Bartley Green
- 21A - Birmingham - Bartley Green (Evenings only)
- 22 - Birmingham - Kitwell
- 22A - Birmingham - Kitwell (Evenings only)
- 23 - Birmingham - Woodgate
- 23A - Birmingham - Woodgate (Evenings only)
- 26 - Birmingham - Kingshurst (Saver Route)
- 26A - Birmingham - Bromford Bridge via Alum Rock (Saver Route)
- 28 - Small Heath - Great Barr via Erdington
- 28A - Heartland Hospital - Great Barr via Erdington
- 28B - Small Heath - Perry Barr via Ward End
- 29 - Birmingham - Northfield
- 30 - Solihull - Acocks Green via Olton
- 31 - Birmingham - Hall Green via Shaftmoor Lane
- 32 - The Swan - Shirley, Bills Lane via Acocks Green
- 33 - Birmingham - Pheasey via Perry Barr
- 34 - Birmingham - Pheasey via Kingstanding
- 35 - Birmingham - Hawkesley via Pool Farm
- 36C - Sparkbrook - Stechford via Tyseley
- 37 - Birmingham - Solihull Station via Warwick Road and Acocks Green
- 38 - Birmingham - International Airport via Olton
- 40A - Solihull Anticlockwise
- 40C - Solihull Clockwise
- 41 - The Baldwin - Springfield Road (Replacing routes 41A, 41C and 43 from Feb 2006)
- 42C - Solihull Station - Cranes Park
- 45 - Birmingham - West Heath via Pershore Road
- 45A - Birmingham - Rednal via Pershore Road
- 46 - Perry Barr - Birmingham - Turves Green (Cross-city route)
- 46X - Perry Barr - Northfield (Off Peak)
- 47 - Birmingham - Cofton Hackett via Pershore Road
- 47A - Birmingham - Cofton Hackett via Pershore Road
- 49 - Solihull - Northfield via Cotteridge
- 50 - Birmingham - Druids Heath via Kings Heath
- 50A - Birmingham - Wythall via Kings Heath (Evening Only)
- 51 - Birmingham - Walsall via Newtown
- 52 - Birmingham - Perry Beeches via Newtown
- 55 - Birmingham - Chelmsley Wood Pine Square via Ward End
- 57 - Birmingham - Solihull Station via Coventry Road
- 57A - Birmingham - Solihull Station via Coventry Road and Hobs Moat
- 58 - Birmingham - Sheldon via Coventry Road (Peak only)
- 60 - Birmingham - Cranes Park via Coventry Road
- 60E - Cranes Park - Adderley Street (00:00 ONLY)
- 61 - Birmingham - Gannow via Bristol Road
- 62 - Birmingham - Rednal via Bristol Road
- 62A - Birmingham - Rednal via Bristol Road
- 63 - Birmingham - Rubery via Bristol Road
- 65 - Birmingham - Perry Common via Short Heath
- 66 - Erdington - Ladywood via Birmingham (Cross City Service)
- 66A - Ladywood - Sutton Coldfield (Cross City Service - Off peak)
- 67 - Birmingham - Castle Vale via Tyburn Road (Beni- bus route)
- 69 - Solihull - Weoley Castle via Kings Heath
- 71 - Solihull Station - Sutton Coldfield via Kingshurst
- 72 - Solihull Station - Chelmsley Wood Pine Square via Marston Green
- 74 - Birmingham - Dudley via West Bromwich
- 76 - Damson Parkway - Pool Farm via Solihull and Kings Heath
- 79 - Birmingham - Wolverhampton via West Bromwich
- 80 - Birmingham - Wednesbury via West Bromwich
- 82 - Birmingham - Bearwood
- 84 - Cotteridge - Hawkesley via Kings Norton
- 87 - Birmingham - Dudley via Smethwick
- 88 - Birmingham - Blackheath
- 89 - The Radleys - Hurst Lane via Lea Hall
- 91 - Birmingham - Pheasey via Great Barr
- 91E - Birmingham - Perry Barr via Lozells
- 92 - Birmingham - Kingshurst via Buckland End (On Peak Only)
- 94 - Birmingham - Chelmsley Wood Pine Square via Saltley and Ward End
- 97 - Birmingham - Chelmsley Wood, Bluedell Drive via Meadway
- 97A - Birmingham - Chelmsley Wood, Coleshill Heath Road via Meadway
- 101 - Birmingham - Oxhill Road via Jewellery Quarter
- 103 - Birmingham - Woodgate Valley North via Harborne
- 103A - Birmingham - Woodgate Valley North
- 104 - Birmingham - Sutton Coldfield via Erdington
- 104A - Birmingham - Sutton Coldfield via Erdington
- 105 - Birmingham - Roughley
- 107 - Birmingham - Sutton Coldfield via Perry Barr
- 110 - Birmingham - Tennal Lane via Augustus Rd
- 111 - Erdington - Sutton Coldfield
- 120 - Birmingham - Dudley via Bearwood and Five ways
- 126 - Birmingham - Wolverhampton via Dudley
- 127 - Birmingham - Merry Hill (Evenings Only)
- 128 - Birmingham - Blackheath via Oldbury, Five ways
- 129 - Birmingham - Blackheath via Smethwick
- 138 - Birmingham - Russells Hall Hospital
- 138A - Birmingham - Russells Hall Hospital (Friday Evenings only)
- 139 - Birmingham - Merry Hill Centre via Hagley Road
- 140 - Birmingham - Dudley via Bearwood and Blackheath
- 166 - Solihull - Blythe Vally Business Park
- 169 - Solihull Station - Heartlands Hospital
- 192 - Solihull - Coventry
- 194 - Solihull - Coventry
- 258 - Birmingham - Merry Hill
- 590A - Birmingham - Coleshill - Anticlockwise
- 590C - Birmingham - Coleshill - Clockwise
- 671 - Solihull - Olton Station via St. Bernards Road
- 672 - Solihull - Cranes Park via Sheldon
- 900 - Birmingham - International Airport - Coventry Via Coventry Road (Limited Stop)
- 902 - Birmingham - Hill Hook via Sutton Coldfield
- 904 - Birmingham - Sutton Coldfield via Erdington
- 905 - Birmingham - Roughley via Sutton Coldfield
- 915 - Birmingham - Falcon Lodge via Sutton Coldfield
- 951 - Birmingham - Bloxwich via Walsall (Peak Only)
- 964 - Birmingham - Gannow via Bristol Road (Limited Stop) (Peak Only)
- 966 - Erdington- International Airport - Solihull Station
- 966A - Erdington - International Airport - Solihull Station
- 996 - Birmingham - Sutton Coldfield via Streetly (Limited Stop)
- 997 - Birmingham - Walsall via Aldridge (Limited Stop)
Travel West Midlands operates around 1800 modern buses on 500+ routes in the Midlands with 11 garages. These being TWM Acocks Green, TWM Birmingham Central, TWM Bordesley (as a result of Hockley Garage closing in May 2005), TWM Lea Hall, TWM Pensentt, TWM Perry Barr, TWM Walsall, TWM West Bromwich, TWM Coventry and TWM Yardley Wood.
Leyland Lynx - A dying breed in the fleet, Travel West Midlands used to house the country's largest collection of Lynxs however they are being slowly replaced and there are now only 8 of the vehicles working in the TWM fleet. They can be seen on Yardley Wood services 2, 12, 18 and 35 however they are due to be fully replaced by the end of 2006.
Mercedes O405N - Mainly seen in Coventry, on Lea Hall and Bordesley routes, the Mercedes are seen as "Plastic" buses. This mainly due to the intensive rattling that can be heard when the vehicle is in operation from the heater doors. They are TWM's main single decker and can get up to speeds of 120 Mph on some models.
Volvo B10L - This model was not popular with a lot of operators when it first launched, however Travel West Midland bought over 150 for use on its routes. They are mainly seen on Acocks Green and Perry Barr routes. Their design makes it awkward to use in peak times as you cannot fit a lot of people on them.
Other single deckers in the fleet include the Volvo B6LE , Optare Solo , Alexander ALX200 -bodied Dennis Dart SLF and Optare Excel .
Bendi-buses in the fleet comprise of Merecedes O405GN artics (6001-6011) currently at Travel Coventry, Mercedes O530G artics (6012-6021) also based at Travel Coventry and Scania CN94 OmniCity artics (6022-6032) based at Travel West Midlands Perry Barr Garage on the 67 "bendi-bus" route.
Metrobus MKII/A/DP - A dying breed in the West Midlands as they are being slowly replaced by newer double deckers. These are the old step entrance buses.
DAF DB250LF / Optare Spectra - The first of the newer batch of double deckers. Spectras 4001-4022 are based at Birmingham Central Garage. 4002 was used at Travel Dundee before being brought down for operations in Birmingham. 4014 was destroyed by fire in Kings Heath in late 2001. Originally for route 50, they are now mainly used on the Harborne routes (21, 22, 23, 29, 103), but do stray onto other BC routes.
Volvo B7TL / Plaxton President - Plaxtons 4023-4124 based mainly at Acocks Green and Birmingham Central garages. These are the new "kneeling" buses which Travel West Midlands brought in 1999.
Dennis Trident 2 - The main double decker in the Travel West Midlands fleet used on the majority of routes. Many have "route branding" on them with prime examples being seen on the Bristol Road, Coventry Road and Pershore Road branding on the side of many Tridents.
Volvo B7TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini - This is Travel West Midlands preferred model over the Trident as many were brought in up to December 2004 to work on the routes where Metrobuses had been taken out of action. "Stylish" is a good word for these buses as they are modelled in very distitive livery. 997 being the prime example. This model is also used to operate the Outer Circle bus route as well as other main services which include the 33, 34 and 37.
TWM also have demos of the new Scania OmniCity and Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 working on its routes as of January 2006.
Operation Safer Travel (OST) is an award winning partnership between Travel West Midlands and West Midlands Police. OST aims to deter and detect crime, vandalism and graffiti on TWM's buses. It has been highly successful in doing this with over 211 gateway checks carried out in 2005.
In order to help combat crime on TWM services, OST inspectors and officers conduct "Gateway" checks up and down the West Midlands. They look for people without tickets (fare evasion), people with out of date bus passes, drugs via a special OST dog unit and for people who are wanted for arrest in the West Midlands.
They also have presentations for the local schools educating them about how to respect their buses. Advertising campaigns such as the "Yes they do work" campaign (which showed passengers that the CCTV cameras onboard were working) as well as "Crystaleyes" TV sets on selected fleet also helped to spread the message.
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