A NEW bus service has been introduced between Bromsgrove, Rubery and Longbridge as a ‘solution’ to the loss of the section of the 144 which goes to Birmingham.
Campaigners battled hard to get the 144 route to continue between Worcester, Droitwich, Bromsgrove and Birmingham but, as First Bus Worcester had planned, the service will now terminate now in Catshill.
The new hourly Monday to Saturday service – run by National Express West Midlands (NXWM) – is aimed at giving passengers the chance to get to a place where they can use other services to Birmingham city centre, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and other areas.
NXWM and Worcestershire County Council entered into an agreement regarding the route which will last for six months while the authority reviews the network and vies to reach a longer term solution.
The service got into gear on Tuesday (May 3) as county council chiefs revealed three further Worcester city centre services had been granted a stay of execution.
Saturday services on 31, 32 and 37 bus services will remain for the next three months following talks between First Bus and Worcestershire County Council.
Previous communication from First Bus had said that the services including those at the weekend were due to change.
The services cover Henwick Park via St John’s and the University, Worcester St Peter’s, Batynhall via Bath Road and Kempsey and Worcester Bevere via Northwick.
There will also be some minor amendments to other services on the 44 which will change to every 30 minutes on weekdays and the services on Sunday will be removed.
Meanwhile the 45 service will change to every 60 minutes Monday to Saturday, but journeys around college opening/closing times on College days remain unchanged from their current schedule.
In addition the 51 service from Worcester to Evesham service is being removed
A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council said: “We are currently in discussions with First Bus regarding changes to some of their bus services in in the county.
“We have agreed that the 31, 32 and 37 services will continue as normal for the next three months and are continuing to explore options with First for the future.
The County Council and First Bus will continue discussions over a number of services in the county.
