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50
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| Overview | |
| Operator | National Express West Midlands Diamond Bus |
| Predecessors | Your Bus, People's Express, Sunrise Travel |
| Route | |
| Start | Druids Heath |
| Via | Maypole |
| End | Birmingham |
| Length | 6.8 miles |
West Midlands bus route 50 is a bus route in the West Midlands, United Kingdom. Service 50 links Birmingham with Druids Heath and is among the busiest bus routes in Europe. It was introduced in 1949 and is currently served by National Express West Midlands and Diamond Bus.
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Service 50 was introduced by Birmingham City Transport between the City Centre and Maypole in October 1949 to replace a withdrawn tram route.[1] Service 48 covered the section beyond Maypole to Druids Heath via Salisbury Road. Service 49 journeys provided additional buses between City Centre and Kings Heath. During the 1970s West Midlands PTE simplified these services so that at bus deregulation in 1986 service 50 journeys covered the entire route.
Travel Your Bus operated on the route under the heading 50Y before they were taken over by Travel West Midlands, now known as National Express West Midlands, in 1994 and the route renumbered to 50.[2]
In 1999 route 50 became the first Travel West Midlands route to be operated using low-floor double-deck buses. It celebrated its 50th anniversary later in the same year.[1]
In January 2006 the route was criticised by local councillor Paul Tilsley for being overly popular with drug users.[3]
People's Express operated a rival service before being taken over by Diamond Bus. Sunrise Travel started operating on the 50 running every 30+ minutes in October 2006, but withdrew the service a couple of months later. Diamond Bus introduced a commercially operated night service 50N in September 2007. This was withdrawn in April 2008.
National Express West Midlands introduced new Alexander Dennis Enviro400s to the 50 in February 2008, replacing the Dennis Trident 2/Alexander ALX400s previously used on the route.
In connection with the South Birmingham Bus Review service 50A, which previously ran between Birmingham and Maypole four times a day, was withdrawn in October 2008 due to Worcestershire County Council withdrawing their subsidy. However service 69 was extended to provide Wythall with a bus.
Service 50 currently serves Birmingham, the edges of Sparkbrook, Moseley, Kings Heath, Maypole before ending at Druids Heath. The service is usually run by Alexander Dennis Enviro400s, many of which are branded specifically for the 50, although Dennis Trident 2/Alexander ALX400s also appear. Services 50 is run at very frequent intervals.
Route 50, which is operated from a depot in central Birmingham, is claimed by National Express to be one of the busiest routes in Europe.[4]
Service 50 also experiences competition from Diamond Bus, who run from Birmingham to Druids Heath, although at a lower frequency than National Express West Midlands and with no evening service.
Fifty is a new short set in Birmingham and produced in association with Screen West Midlands and the UK Film Council. ‘50’ is about racial tension in inner-city Birmingham; It seeks to explore and raise the awareness of important social issues such as racial conflict, teen pregnancy, violence on public transport and youth crime. The individuals of the number 50 bus are drawn together in a single event that will test their differences and explore the problems faced by their dwindling sense of community.
Twenty-two year old Shropshire-born director Ryan Vernava graduated from Westminster Film School with a first-class honors in 2009. His directing debut 'Lynx: Be Careful Who You Turn On' won 'Best Casting', 'Best in Brief' and 'Best Overall Advert' at the 2009 Kodak Commercial Awards hosted at Bafta.
His debut drama Prick won 'Best Short' at London Young Film Festival 2009 and Best Live Action Film at Exposures Festival 2009. It has also been selected for London Independent Film Festival 2010 and Screentest 2010. Ryan’s latest short Inept recently screened alongside Prick at the BFI’s 3rd Future Film Festival is association with BBC Blast.
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