Investment leads to bus services protected until 2025

An agreement between Transport for West Midlands and the bus operating companies means services will continue to near normal levels until the end of next year.

The deal stops the immediate threat of around one third of the region’s bus services being withdrawn or frequencies reduced.

This could have happened after the ending of Government Covid support funding in June.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and WMCA Chair, said:“Buses are the backbone of our public transport network - providing a vital daily service for tens of thousands of local people right across our region at the same time as helping us to tackle the climate emergency and reduce traffic congestion on our roads.

“That’s why we simply could not allow a substantial reduction in services and I personally made the case on behalf of our region during intensive discussions with the likes of National Express West Midlands and Government. By stepping in and arranging this funding package to maintain bus service provision, we’ve successfully secured much needed certainty for the network all the way through to the end of next year.

“We’ve taken action and shown leadership in the face of the immediate challenge confronting us but we all know that a more sustainable solution must be found in the years ahead. We continue to work closely with the bus companies - and of course with Government - to achieve exactly that objective over the longer term.

“We should not forget what a success story buses are here in the West Midlands. Investment in new cleaner zero-emission buses continues at pace, local people are already benefitting from bus priority measures - including the new Sprint routes - and bus fares in our region remain amongst the lowest anywhere in the country. We’re proud of our buses and will continue to protect the network as residents rightly expect and deserve.”

Alex Jensen, CEO National Express UK & Germany said: “We welcome the support from Transport for West Midlands which will ensure we can maintain the bus network at the current level until the end of 2024.

“Our many customers depend on our services every day and we are pleased to confirm they can continue to rely on them.

“Meanwhile we are continuing the investment in electric and zero-emission buses which are both good for the environment and will help keep costs low. We will also work closely with our partners to seek a long term solution to the issues facing the bus industry at the present time.”