All the Birmingham bus routes where National Express West Midlands tickets won’t be accepted from January

There will be some major changes to bus routes and service providers from January 2023 and National Express West Midlands tickets won’t work on some routes the operator previously managed anymore.

Instead of National Express West Midlands (NXWM), some routes will be operated by Stagecoach, Kev’s Coaches and Diamond now. On those routes, NXWM tickets won’t be accepted from 1 January.

Travel for West Midlands said: “In October, we announced a list of routes ‘at risk’ of being withdrawn or changed. Over the last two months, we have been working to fund as many of these routes as possible. You can see the outcome of this work below.”

Here are all the changes to come:

10 - Birmingham to Woodgate Valley North

From 3 January 2023, this service will have a new route, timetable and service number.

From this date, Kev’s Coaches will operate this service from Monday to Friday.

10A / 10C - Stourbridge (Circular)

From 1 January 2023, this service will be replaced by the 88 (Stourbridge to Norton. This service will be operated by Kev’s Coaches from 3 January 2023.

10S - Ridgacre to Selly Oak

From 3 January 2023, this service will be renumbered 55 and will extend to Longbridge with a new timetable.

From this date, Kev’s Coaches will provide this service.

11/11A - Merry Hill to Dudley

From 3 January 2023, this service will be renumbered service 25 and will extend to Stourbridge with a new timetable.

From this date, Diamond Bus will provide this service.

65 - Woods Estate to Darlaston

From 3 January 2023, Walsall Community Transport will provide this service.

69 - Solihull to Brandwood Park

From 1 January 2023, Stagecoach will provide revised services on the following routes:

• 46 - QE Hospital to Kings Heath
• 69 - Kings Heath to Shirley (Sainsbury’s) via Solihull

71 – Sutton Coldfield to Chelmsley Wood

From 1 January 2023, the Sunday service will be operated by Stagecoach Midlands with a revised timetable and revised route to match the Monday to Saturday service.

96 - Chelmsley Wood to Kingstanding

From 1 January 2023, this service will be provided by Diamond Bus with a new and improved timetable. This will include:

• Journeys extended beyond Chelmsley Wood to Birmingham Airport
• The Kingstanding to Erdington section of the route served after 6pm and on Sundays
• Services provided into the early hours of the morning

250 / 251 - Stourbridge to Merry Hill (Circular)

From 1 January 2023, this service will be replaced by the 25 (Dudley to Stourbridge via Merry Hill & Brockmoor).

This service will be provided by Diamond Bus from 3 January 2023.

From this date, the frequency of this service will be increased from hourly to half-hourly.

These changes will be added to the Upcoming Bus Changes page soon and updated in the Journey Planner nearer the time.

What Stagecoach said

A Stagecoach spokesperson said: “These are services which are being delivered, following Stagecoach being successful in bidding for a number of services that will be operated under contract to Transport for West Midlands.

“This follows a review of the West Midlands network. Stagecoach and TfWM are working in partnership to provide these new services, many of which provide new links with ‘Bus Back Better’ funding to help attract new users onto the bus network and reduce congestion.

“The services are not replacing NX directly and rather complement each other, providing a comprehensive network.”