West Midlands bus routes 246, 300, 311 and 313
The 246, 300, 300E, 311, 311A, 313, 313A, 313E & 399 are nine bus routes running in West Midlands, England. The 246, 311, 311A, 313 & 313A are operated by National Express West Midlands, whilst Diamond Bus operates the 300, 300E, 313E & 399.
Present
Currently, on a Monday - Saturday daytime, National Express West Midlands operates the 311 (Walsall - Stourbridge) and 313 (Walsall - Dudley) to a combined 7/8 minute frequency from Walsall. Diamond Bus operate service 300 at the same time (Walsall - Stourbridge) at a half hourly frequency.
The 246 service (Dudley - Stourbridge), runs every 15 minutes (combined with the 311 giving a 7/8 minute frequency) following the exact same route as the 311 between these two destinations. Again this service is run by National Express West Midlands.
The 313A meanwhile is operated by National Express West Midlands between Dudley and Walsall only, operating three am peak workings Monday - Friday.
The 399 runs to an hourly frequency between Walsall and Wednesbury by Diamond Bus, during Monday - Saturday daytimes.
During Monday - Saturday evenings, National Express West Midlands operates the 311A, which was previously numbered the 312. This is a service which follows a mixture of the 311 and 313 routes between Walsall and Stourbridge and runs to an hourly frequency, combined with the 311 to give a half hourly frequency.
Additionally, a shortened working of the 313, the 313E, also operates to a hourly frequency during evenings, by Diamond Busbetween Dudley and Wednesbury.
Sunday services are very similar to evening services, with the exception of the 313E. In its place, 300E journeys run between the Merry Hill Centre and IKEA, Wednesbury. These are then replaced by 313E journeys in the evening.
National Express West Midlands operates the 311/A and 313/A from its Walsall Garage using brand new Scania OmniLinks with a seating capacity of 43. The OmniLinks replaced just two year old Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Gemini buses on the route, which had a similar seating capacity. The 246 meanwhile is operated from the companies Pensnett Garage and is therefore operated using a mixture of Volvo B10L (Wright Liberator) and Volvo B10B-58 (Wright Endurance) single deck buses, in addition to the brand new Enviro300 bus, which is also a regular on the route.
Diamond Bus uses Dennis Darts on its services.
History
- Pre-deregulation in 1986 - These routes formed part of Midland Red's Service 245/246 route between Stourbridge, Brierley Hill, Dudley, Tipton and Wednesbury, and the jointly-worked Midland Red/Walsall Corporation Transport Services 65/265/865 between Dudley, Tipton, Wednesbury and Walsall (with certain variants continuing to Cannock and Stafford).
- 1998 - Five services operate along the corridor. The first of these is service 300 operated by Diamond Bus using Leyland Nationals between Walsall - Merry Hill Centre via Wednesbury & Dudley which runs every 30 minutes Monday - Saturday daytime. The remainder of the services were all operated by National Express West Midlands (then Travel West Midlands) using branded Volvo B10B Single Deck vehicles. Service 311 ran every 15 minutes Monday - Saturday daytime and hourly during Evenings and on Sundays between Walsall and Stourbridge, service 312 which ran between Walsall and Stourbridge every 60 minutes during evening and Sundays, service 313 which ran between Walsall and Stourbridge at a fifteen minute Monday - Saturday daytime frequency and finally service 313A which ran just three morning am peak workings between Stourbridge and Walsall.
- September 1999 - Travel West Midlands introduces new journeys on the corridor. Service 311E is introduced between Dudley and Stourbridge, running every 15 minutes during Monday - Saturday daytime and then hourly during Evenings & Sundays. Service 313E is also introduced running every half hour during Evenings & Sundays between Wednesbury and Dudley. Meanwhile, Diamond Bus introduce extra journeys between Dudley and Stourbridge on the 313, running during weekday peaks, in addition to a doubled frequency o the 310 and extra Sunday journeys on the service between Walsall and Wednesbury running every 30 minutes.
- 2001 - Diamond Bus introduce new service 300 between Walsall and Stourbridge, following a similar route to the 311/3 running at a combined 15 minute frequency with the 310, which has had its frequency reduced. Sunday journeys are unaffected. Additionally they start using Dennis Lances on the service. Travel West Midlands withdraw the 311E.
- 2003 - Travel West Midlands shorten the 313 so that it terminates at Dudley and no longer extends to Stourbridge. They are now the sole operator on the 313/A and operate the 313 to a 30 minute evening and Sunday frequency, whilst the daytime frequency is unchanged. Diamond Bus journeys on the 311 route are withdrawn. Additionally, peak workings on the 310 by Diamond Bus are shortened to terminate at Dudley, whilst the 310 service is shortened to terminate at the Merry Hill Centre. Additionally Travel West Midlands introduce the 246, running at the same times with the exception of the evening services as the previous 311E service.
- Mid-2000's - Diamond Bus completely withdraw the 310 and start operating the 300 only on Sundays. Additionally, the Centro Subsidised Evening Service on the 313 is awarded to the company.
- 2007 - The 312 is renumbered the 311A. Additionally the 246 is introduced.
- April 2009 - The 300 is extended to run between Walsall and Stourbridge and increased to run Monday - Saturday daytime. Sunday journeys are however shortened to terminate at IKEA instead of Walsall. The 300 now actually enters IKEA as well. As such, the 311 by Diamond Bus is withdrawn. Due to subsidy changes by CENTRO, the 313 evening service is shortened to run between Dudley and Wednesbury and at a reduced hourly frequency.
- June 2009 - National Express West Midlands start using brand new Scania OmniLinks on the 311/3, replacing just 2-year-old Volvo B7RLEs. Additionally, Diamond Bus announce plans to withdraw the 300 and 300E services from August.
Future
From the 7th August 2009, Diamond Bus are to withdraw off the 300 and 300E services.
See Also
- List of bus routes in the West Midlands county