West Midlands Walsall Road bus Corridor

Birmingham - Walsall
Routes
51 Birmingham - Walsall
X51 Birmingham - Walsall - Cannock (Peaks only)
Via: Scott Arms, One Stop Shopping Centre
Operation
Operator(s): National Express West Midlands
Vehicles: Dennis Trident 2
Volvo B7TL
Route map
Legend
 Birmingham city centre
Newtown Interchange (51 only)
One Stop Shopping Centre (51 only)
Great Barr interchange
Walsall

National Express West Midlands Routes 51 and X51 are two busy bus routes linking Walsall with Birmingham in the West Midlands (county), England. Three morning peak journeys on the X51 commence from and three evening peak journeys terminate at Cannock.

Contents

Present

Currently, National Express West Midlands is the sole operator of the 51 and X51. They operate the 51 at a steady 7-8 minute frequency during weekday daytimes, to create a very high frequency with the 'Line' 33 between Birmingham & Perry Barr running every 3/4 minutes Monday-Saturday, every 7/8 early evenings, every 15 minutes evenings & every 6 minutes on Sundays. The X51 is limited stop version of the route, running every 10–15 minutes during peak times and every 20 minutes during weekday daytimes. Three peak journeys in the morning commence from Cannock, with three evening journeys from Birmingham terminating there. On a Saturday the 51 is run to a 7/8 Minute frequency, with the X51 operating every 15 minutes, but for a shorter period of time, while on Sundays the 51 is run to a twelve minute daytime frequency.

The 51 and X51 both follow exactly the same route between Walsall and Birmingham, with a minor alteration at The One Stop Shopping Centre, where the X51 drives past, while the 51 enters the mini bus interchange. The three peak extensions then continue beyond Walsall to Cannock via Green Lane, Bloxwich, Cheslyn Hay, Landywood & Bridgtown.

The 51 is operated using branded Dennis Trident 2s while the X51 is operated by Volvo B7TL (Wright Eclipse Gemini). It is also not uncommon to see a Volvo B7RLE (Wright Eclipse) appearing on either route.

History

The service was operated by MCW metrobuses.

Both Birmingham Coach Co. and Zaks (now both Rotala) have competed on this route.

Chase Bus Services operated a short lived Sunday only service.

Early history

The original 51 route formerly ran only from Birmingham city centre to the Scott Arms shopping centre at Great Barr, on the edge of Birmingham, and was operated by Birmingham Corporation Transport.

Another service, numbered 118, operated over the same route, but extended to Walsall. This began in the early part of the 20th century and was introduced by a company that later became widely known as "Midland Red". Around 1968 service 118 became a jointly operated service between Midland Red and Walsall Corporation Transport. As a result, for transport enthusiasts the 118 service became a very interesting one since both operators often used vehicles that were unique to themselves. Midland Red often used buses of its own manufacture (i.e. BMMO) while Walsall Corporation had various specially modified types of manufacturers buses ranging from "short" Daimler Fleetlines to what was once the largest double deck service bus in the UK, 56 (XDH56G), a 35 feet 10 inches (10.92 m) long low-height Daimler CRC6-36 with an 86 seater Northern Counties body.

On 1 October 1969 West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) took over Birmingham and Walsall Corporation Transport so the service then became jointly operated by Midland Red and WMPTE. This situation prevailed until 3 December 1973 when WMPTE acquired most of the Midland Red bus operations in the West Midlands including service 118. Thus service 118 became operated solely by WMPTE. The use of service number 118 ceased around 1975 when the two routes merged and buses operating from Walsall to Birmingham used service number 51. Those journeys that did not operate the full length of the route, including services from Birmingham terminating at the Scott Arms, used service designation 51E, the "E" indicating an exception to operating the full length of route.

Since deregulation, on 26 October 1986, service 51 has been consistently operated by West Midlands Travel and their successors. Various other operators seeing the route as a busy one have attempted to compete but have all subsequently withdrawn from the service. Such operators have included Tame Valley Travel, Birmingham Coach Company (later known as Diamond Bus), Chase Bus Services, Zaks Coaches and A2Z Travel.

Later history

Travel West Midlands uses branded MCW Metrobuses on all of its services.

See also

References

External links

Birmingham and Solihull
Coventry
Sandwell & Dudley
Walsall
Wolverhampton
Bus Stations