New National Express bus service to be introduced in Sutton Coldfield

National Express West Midlands has announced a number of changes to its services in Birmingham.

The company has revealed timetable changes in the city, as well as some new services in Sutton Coldfield.

A new 604 service between Sutton Coldfield and Hill Hook will be introduced from 24 April.

National Express Commercial Director Chris Gibbens, said: “We’re making minor timetable changes to many of our bus services in Birmingham and the Black Country to improve reliability.

“We’re also bringing in some new services for Sutton Coldfield. On certain sections of these routes, there aren’t any bus stops, so the buses will stop and pick up customers if they signal to the driver that they want to get on.

“There will also be changes to the 41 - it will now go to both Heartlands and Queen Elizabeth hospitals, via Tyseley, Acocks Green and Hay Mills.

“We’d like to reassure customers who maybe haven’t travelled in a while that at National Express, we are still doing everything we can to keep them safe.

“That includes extra cleaning; applying a long-lasting antimicrobial protective treatment that kills viruses - even between cleans; and keeping fresh air flowing through our buses.

“All you have to do is check our website and hop on.”

New Sutton services

The National Express West Midlands 604 is a new service between Sutton Coldfield and Hill Hook, partly replacing Claribels service 604.

Buses will run to a new route along Rectory Road and Bedford Road in the Sutton Coldfield area.

Roads without bus stops will be served on a hail-and-ride basis.

Buses will stop wherever it is safe to do so. Customers should clearly signal to the driver that they want to get on if boarding on a section of route without formal bus stops.

77/77A

From Sunday 24 April 2022, there will be changes to the 77 and 77A services in Sutton Coldfield.

The route and timetable will change.

Buses will operate to and from Walsall up to every 30 minutes. Most journeys will extend beyond Sutton Coldfield to Erdington via Walmley and Asda Minworth, replacing Claribels services 167 and 168.

The 77 will replace the 168 and the 77A will replace the 167. Between New Oscott and Sutton Coldfield, the 77A will partly replace the 604 and will run via Darnick Road, Halton Road, Braemar Road, Somerville Road, Clifton Road and Park Road.

Roads without bus stops will be served on a hail-and-ride basis. Buses will stop wherever it is safe to do so.

Changes to the 41 service

From Sunday 24 April 2022, the route of the National Express West Midlands 41 bus service will be extended from Acocks Green to Heartlands Hospital.

This replaces the current Claribels 36 service.

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. BirminghamWorld is Birmingham’s latest news website, championing everything that is great about our city - reporting on news, lifestyle and sport. Find out more about who’s who in the team, and our editorial values. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going.