West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive
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The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE), better known as Centro, is the public body (Passenger Transport Executive) responsible for promoting and co-ordinating public transport services throughout the West Midlands county in England.
Centro is the operating arm of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority (WMPTA) which sets policies and budgets for the executive. The WMPTA is a joint-authority, made up of 27 councillors appointed from the seven West Midlands metropolitan district councils of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton. The authority has ten councillors from Birmingham, three councillors each from Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and Wolverhampton, and two from Solihull [1].
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[edit] Functions
Centro and the WMPTA do not actually run passenger services, which are run by private companies, but are responsible for:
- Subsidising some bus, train and metro services which are considered socially necessary but would not otherwise be commercially viable.
- Providing bus stops, shelters, timetables and passenger information services.
- Operating twelve major bus stations throughout the West Midlands.
- Managing the funding and administration of concessionary fares for the elderly and disabled etc. Centro also subsidises the Ring-and-Ride door to door service for the elderly and disabled which is operated by West Midlands Special Needs Transport.
- Control of local train services operating in the county, and specifying fares and service levels - the services are operated on Centro/Network West Midlands's behalf by Central Trains under a franchise agreement.
- Operating multi-modal ticketing schemes.
- Developing public transport facilities across the county, such as new stations, transport interchanges and the Midland Metro.
[edit] History
The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive was created in 1969, following the 1968 Transport Act, and was established to operate and co-ordinate public transport across the West Midlands conurbation. The PTE initially acquired the vehicles, holdings and operations of the municipal fleets in Birmingham, Walsall, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton. The former Birmingham City Transport was by far the largest constituent part of the new fleet, as a consequence of which a modified version of that operator's blue and cream livery was adopted by the PTE.
Operations initially covered the Birmingham/Black Country area and some surrounding towns such as Redditch and Bromsgrove. In 1973 the PTE consolidated its control when it acquired from the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company (commonly known as "Midland Red")those operations which lay within the conurbation. The transfer included all the staff and vehicles within the area, with the exception of Bearwood Garage and Digbeth Coach Station, which were retained by BMMO. BMMO officially changed its name to the Midland Red Omnibus Company the following year, dropping the reference to Birmingham.
The 1972 Local Government Act led to the creation, on 1 April 1974, of the West Midlands metropolitan county. The WMPTE's operating area was adjusted to be coterminous with the new county, which resulted in the takeover from that date of Coventry's municipal fleet and operations.
Between 1969 and 1974 the WMPTE was administered by a Passenger Transport Authority under the joint control of the local county boroughs. In 1974 the role of the PTA was assumed by the new West Midlands County Council. When the metropolitan county council was abolished in 1986, joint control of the WMPTA passed to the metropolitan district councils.
As a result of the 1985 Transport Act, bus services across the UK were deregulated and privatised. This brought about the creation of a private company, West Midlands Travel Ltd, which took over the vehicles and passenger carrying operations of the WMPTE on 26 October 1986.
From that date WMPTE assumed its new role coordinating the services of all local operators, and adopted the trading name of Centro shortly thereafter, to better distinguish itself from its previous role as an operator.
[edit] Rail cards
Centro also brought in several discount rail cards, including the 'Daytripper', which is similar to London's 1 day 'London LT Travel card' as a way of stimulating passinger use in the 1990s. The other travel cards are the- Centrocard, Busmaster and Railmaster.
[edit] Network West Midlands
Starting in 2006 public transport information and ticketing in the Centro area will be branded as Network West Midlands as part of its 20 year strategy. In a similar fashion to other PTEs around the UK, it is is trying to incorporate bus, train and tram travel into one network. This is being done to reduce confusion about the various companies that operate the different modes of transport (some of these are listed below):
- Bus - Travel West Midlands*, Diamond bus, Zaks, North Birmingham Busways, Central Logistics, Thandi
- Rail - Central Trains*
- Tram - Travel Midland Metro*
(*Part of the National Express Group)
The first signs of the rebranding programme began to be seen from the summer of 2006 as rail stations on the Cross-City Line replaced Centro logos with the new Network West Midlands design, and out on the roads new Network West Midlands bus stop flags began appearing at around the same time. The major bus stations and terminals in Birmingham have also been displaying posters informing people of the changes, including the introduction of a new set of travelcards to replace the current Busmaster, Railmaster and Centrocard.
| Passenger Transport Executives in the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| PTE | Brand Name |
| Greater Manchester | GMPTE |
| Merseyside | Merseytravel |
| South Yorkshire | Travel South Yorkshire |
| Tyne & Wear | Nexus |
| West Midlands | Centro / Network West Midlands* |
| West Yorkshire | Metro |
| *- in process of rebranding | |
| See also: | |
| Transport for London - Strathclyde Partnership for Transport | |
