West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive
Encyclopedia
The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE), sometimes known as Centro, is a local government organisation (Passenger Transport Executive
Passenger Transport Executive
In the United Kingdom, passenger transport executives are local government bodies which are responsible for public transport within large urban areas...

) responsible for certain transport services in the West Midlands county
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...

 in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Policies and budgets for the Executive are set by the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority (WMITA), formerly known as the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority (WMPTA). The Authority has 27 representatives appointed from the seven West Midlands metropolitan district councils (ten from Birmingham, three each from Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and Wolverhampton, and two from Solihull).

Following a reorganisation in 2006, the Transport Authority and Executive are, for many purposes, a single entity. The name 'Centro' has been used to refer to the Transport Executive alone, the Authority alone, and to the merged Executive and Authority secretariat.

Functions

Privatisation in the 1980s and 1990s led to the end of Centro as a public transport operator. Its activities are now restricted to :
  • Subsidising
    Subsidy
    A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...

    , and seeking government subsidy for, some remunerative bus
    Bus
    A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

    , train
    Train
    A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...

     and tram
    Tram
    A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

     services which it considers socially necessary. Some supported services have attracted public attention, such as the Stationlink bus in Birmingham which averaged 1.6 passengers per journey and the Walsall to Wolverhampton train, which carried on average fewer than 7 passengers per journey (both now discontinued).
  • Providing public transport street furniture, and bus stations. Virtually all bus stops are owned by Centro but there are several thousand without any form of shelter. The vast majority of stops have no seating, but since 2006 basic timetable information is usually provided. Bus station provision is patchy, with the largest urban centre (Birmingham) not having one.
  • Limited public transport information.
  • Administration of concessionary fares, and funding the Ring-and-Ride door to door service for the elderly and disabled, operated by West Midlands Special Needs Transport.
  • Limited participation in setting the fares and service levels of local train
    Train
    A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...

     services. In practice, the government and Network Rail
    Network Rail
    Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...

     are the principal decision makers.
  • Operating multi-operator travel pass arrangements.
  • Planning facilities and 'improvements', such as railway stations, park and ride, bus lanes, and the Midland Metro
    Midland Metro
    The Midland Metro is a light-rail or tram line in the West Midlands of England between the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. It is owned and promoted by Centro, and operated by West Midlands Travel Limited, a subsidiary of the National Express Group , under...

    . Park and ride has been a priority for Centro, with thousands of parking spaces being provided at rail stations at a cost of up to £30,000 each. Centro has claimed that a car going to or from a park and ride is not a road journey and the environmental benefits have been challenged. The environmental credentials of Centro's bus lane implementation has also led to policy reversals.

Establishment

Following the 1968 Transport Act
Transport Act 1968
The Transport Act 1968 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The main provisions made changes to the structure of nationally owned bus companies, created passenger transport authorities and executives to take over public transport in large conurbations.-National Bus Company:The Act...

, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive was established to operate and coordinate public transport in a large part of central England (the West Midlands Passenger Transport Area) including the large West Midlands conurbation which included the cities of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 and Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...

 as well as the Black Country
Black Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...

.

Policy for the Executive was set by the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, which was formed at the same time. The PTA included elected representatives from councils in the Passenger Transport Area.

On its formation in 1969 the PTE acquired the vehicles and other assets of the municipal bus fleets of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...

, West Bromwich
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...

 and Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...

. The former Birmingham City Transport
Birmingham City Transport
Birmingham City Transport was a municipal organisation that operated the passenger transport network in Birmingham between 1937 and 1969.-History:Birmingham City Transport was created out of Birmingham Corporation Tramways...

 was by far the largest constituent part of the combined fleet, and a modified version of that operator's blue and cream livery was adopted by the PTE. The ex-Birmingham assets became 'South Division', with the others forming the Walsall-based 'North Division'.

Although it was tasked with planning and coordinating bus and rail transport in the Passenger Transport Area, the Executive's activities in its early years were largely confined to partially integrating the inherited municipal bus operations. Most of the Passenger Transport Area was not served by PTE buses, and the Executive had minimal involvement in operation and planning of railway services. The Authority and Executive closed down the Walsall trolleybus system
Trolleybuses in Walsall
The Walsall trolleybus system once served the town of Walsall, then in Staffordshire, but now in West Midlands, England. Opened on , it gradually replaced the Walsall tramway network....

 in 1970, and did nothing to stop closure of the Wolverhampton Low Level to Birmingham Snow Hill railway
Birmingham Snow Hill-Wolverhampton Low Level Line
The Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Low Level Line was part of the Great Western Railway's London Paddington to Birkenhead Woodside route. As the name suggests, it ran between Birmingham Snow Hill and Wolverhampton Low Level in England...

 in 1972.

In the West Midlands conurbation
West Midlands conurbation
The West Midlands conurbation is the name given to the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the large towns of Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge, Halesowen in the English West Midlands....

 many bus services continued to be run by other operators. This was considered undesirable by the PTE, so it entered into negotiations to buy them out. In 1973 there was a transfer of assets and services between the Executive and the Midland Red
Midland Red
Midland Red was a bus company which operated in the English Midlands from 1905 to 1981. It was the trading name used by the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company , which was renamed Midland Red Omnibus Company in 1974...

 company, giving WMPTE a bus near-monopoly within the conurbation. At its peak, its fleet numbered around 2,500 vehicles.

Railway services

In the mid 1970s the Executive began to take a more active interest in the development of local railway services, but their operation remained in the hands of British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

. The Cross-City line, implemented in 1978, was a joint BR/WMPTE project, but modest in scope compared to Merseyrail's Loop and Link
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a train operating company and commuter rail network in the United Kingdom, centred on Liverpool, Merseyside. The network is predominantly electric with diesel trains running on the City Line. Two City Line branches are currently being electrified on the overhead wire AC system with...

 or the Tyne and Wear Metro
Tyne and Wear Metro
The Tyne and Wear Metro, also known as the Metro, is a light rail system in North East England, serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside and Sunderland. It opened in 1980 and in 2007–2008 provided 40 million public journeys on its network of nearly...

.

In the 1980s WMPTA/WMPTE decided to restore rail services through Snow Hill station
Birmingham Snow Hill station
Birmingham Snow Hill is a railway station and tram stop in the centre of Birmingham, England, on the site of an earlier, much larger station built by the former Great Western Railway . It is the second most important railway station in the city, after Birmingham New Street station...

 despite having made no effort to stop the closure of the Snow Hill lines in 1972. The two-stage restoration process, completed in 1995, did not include the Wolverhampton Low Level line, which was reserved for the Midland Metro
Midland Metro
The Midland Metro is a light-rail or tram line in the West Midlands of England between the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. It is owned and promoted by Centro, and operated by West Midlands Travel Limited, a subsidiary of the National Express Group , under...

.

Revised operating area

The 1972 Local Government Act
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

 led to the creation, on 1 April 1974, of the West Midlands metropolitan county
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...

. As a result, WMPTE's "operating" area was adjusted to be coterminous with the new county, although it continued to operate some services out-of-county.

At the same time, the PTE took over a fifth municipal bus fleet (Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

), which became its 'East Division'. The PTA was abolished, and its role taken over by the newly established West Midlands County Council
West Midlands County Council
The West Midlands County Council was, from 1974 to 1986, the upper-tier administrative body for the West Midlands county, a metropolitan county in England....

.

When the County Council was abolished in 1986, a new Passenger Transport Authority was established, with membership drawn from the metropolitan district councils.

Bus deregulation

As a result of the 1985 Transport Act
Transport Act 1985
The Transport Act 1985 was a Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It introduced deregulation of bus services throughout Great Britain, although a different system of franchised routes was applied in Greater London. It was introduced by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.Bus...

, bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

 services across Great Britain were deregulated. This brought about the creation of a private company, West Midlands Travel Ltd (WMT), which took over the bus assets and services of the WMPTE on 26 October 1986. From that date, WMPTE's functions were reduced to sundries such as transport planning, promotion, and concessionary passes.

WMT remained in public ownership under the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority until 1991, when it was sold to its management and employees in a behind-closed-doors process in which external offers from other businesses such as Stagecoach
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...

 were excluded. The sell-off was required as a condition of the government funding construction of Midland Metro
Midland Metro
The Midland Metro is a light-rail or tram line in the West Midlands of England between the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. It is owned and promoted by Centro, and operated by West Midlands Travel Limited, a subsidiary of the National Express Group , under...

. At the time, this was estimated to have cost the public purse £25 million.

Unlike Greater Manchester, where the former PTE bus operations
GM Buses
GM Buses was the main bus company serving Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. The company was public owned by Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, which is a public body responsible for helping to co-ordinate public transport services in the Greater...

 were split up to reduce the likelihood of a dysfunctional market, WMT was privatised as a single unit, with a market share of about 80%. Its power was further bolstered by the 'Travelcard' season ticket range inherited from WMPTE, to which other operators had no access. The extent of consumers' losses from the WMT monopoly are not known, but in 2009 the Office of Fair Trading found that bus fares tended to be about 9% higher in areas where there was no competition.

Finance

In 2009 Centro expected to lose £800,000 as a result of having money invested with an Icelandic bank. It had previously invested funds with the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International was a major international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier. The Bank was registered in Luxembourg with head offices in Karachi and London. Within a decade BCCI touched its peak...

, which was forcibly closed in 1991.

In October 2009, it emerged that chief executive Geoff Inskip was likely to receive a "bumper" 18% pay rise, worth £24,000-a-year, irrespective of any general public sector restraint. According to the Authority's spokesman, the raise was needed to bring the pay into line with the "industry standard".

Branding

In the early 1990s WMPTE adopted the 'corporate' name of Centro, although the name was already being used by a transportation authority
Central New York Regional Transportation Authority
The Central New York Regional Transportation Authority, known as Centro, is the operator of mass transit in Onondaga, Oswego, Cayuga, and Oneida counties in New York state. The CNYRTA was formed on August 1, 1970, along with similar agencies in Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo...

 in New York State, USA.

In the late 1990s WMPTE planned a segmentation of the public transport offer, incorporating a tier called 'Network West Midlands' (NWM). The concept, still being pursued as late as 2003, was never implemented. The name was re-used for a rebranding of the existing bus and train service from 2005 onwards, based on the premise that survey information had indicated that more people would use public transport if a strong brand was identifiable. The NWM graphic design resembled the British government's Preparing for Emergencies
Preparing for Emergencies
Preparing for Emergencies is a public information scheme, produced by the Home Office, a department of the United Kingdom Government, advising British citizens on what to do in the event of a natural disaster, accident or terrorism...

 'campaign'.

Promotion of the brand has included television advertising, and a Youtube video.
Following on from this, Centro's own corporate identity was reworked. Its new strapline, "transforming public transport", belies the fact that decisions on routes, frequencies, fares, and vehicle procurement are mostly made by other organisations, such as the Department for Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...

, and National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...

.

Following the Local Transport Act 2008, WMPTA has been renamed 'West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority'. However, supply of public transport remains deregulated and non-integrated, following the model established in the mid 1980s.

New Street railway station

Centro has backed the Gateway Plus project, over alternatives such as construction of an entirely new railway station for central Birmingham . Centro claims that Gateway Plus would "double the passenger capacity" of New Street station.

High speed rail

In August 2009 Centro's chief executive backed construction of new railway in the West Midlands area for use by high speed trains, which would allow existing lines to have "better and more frequent local services".

Showcase bus

In the 1990s, Centro considered 'Showcase' to be a new approach to running buses. In parallel with the introduction of new shelters, timetables, and raised kerbs at stops, bus operators would introduce low floor vehicles, and run them to timetable.

The designation was used for a few routes only. Increased use of low floor buses, and appearance of basic timetables at most stops from 2006, led to decreased use of the 'Showcase' name.

Midland Metro

Construction of a light rail network has been pursued since the mid 1980s, but only one line has been built. Midland Metro Line 1 carries about 5 million passengers per year, one third of the number forecast by Centro.

Bus rapid transit

Centro has shown a sporadic interest in bus based rapid transit. In the mid 1980s, it promoted the short-lived 'Tracline' guided bus, and since 2006 it has promoted more conventional bus rapid transit under the name 'Sprint'.

Car parking

As one of the biggest providers in central England, Centro has spent £14 million on building car parks since 1997.

Speed cameras

In 2009 Centro provided two members of the five-seat board administering speed cameras in the West Midlands county. This was restructured to a three-seat board, with (in March 2010) no mention of Centro. Peter Francis, one of the two members credited from Centro in 2009, was now credited as being from 'CEPOG'. Councillor Angus Adams, 'chair' of the speed camera board, was also Centro's
'Chairman of the Capital Projects Committee' and
'Lead Member for District Liaison & Metro/Rapid Transit Development'.

Aims

On its website, Centro has stated that it is "committed to sustainable forms of transport which benefit the environment and help to reduce global warming. It is especially important when you consider that road congestion on the West Midlands' busy roads costs regional businesses more than £2.3 billion a year." However, no explanation of this figure is given.

In addition, the Letzgogreen (sic) website, using static cartoon figures of a style similar to South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...

, has been set up to project Centro's view of public transport to schoolchildren. It suggests that a car journey from an unspecified point, near Marston Green
Marston Green
Marston Green is a village of around 5000 residents in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands, approximately 7 miles from Birmingham.The village is adjacent to Birmingham International Airport and the National Exhibition Centre...

, to Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

 would produce more carbon dioxide than a combined service 71 bus and train journey. However, a report co-funded by Centro stated that public transport in PTE areas has generally been more polluting than car travel for many years.

Midland Metro

In the foreword to its five year Environmental Strategy, Centro chairman Councillor Gary Clarke and chief executive Geoff Inskip stated that Midland Metro's emissions were "practically zero". However, Centro later stated that it did not know how much energy Midland Metro consumed, or what its emissions were.

Ticketing

Each transport operator has its own ticket range. In general a ticket is not usable on another company's service, but Centro passes with multi-operator validity are available, allowing travel on rail and/or bus, for periods ranging from 1 day to 1 year.

Chris Perry, then Centro's 'Customer Services Assistant Director', announced that Centro's nnetwork and nbus commercial tickets would "go Smart from April 2009". This did not happen, allegedly due to computer problems, and the completion date for network implementation is not known. The Birmingham Mail newspaper reported that local rail implementation would start in 2010.

Corporate

Centro publishes a number of documents related to corporate governance and transport strategy, including 'best value'
Best value
Best Value is government policy in the United Kingdom affecting the provision of public services in England and Wales. In Wales, Best Value is known as the Wales Programme for Improvement.- Introduction :...

 reports, though in practice, there is no requirement to deliver best value. The reporting period runs from 1 April to 31 March of the following year.

For the year 2008-2009, financial documents included the WMITA Final Accounts, the WMITA 'Group' Final Accounts, and the WMPTE Statement of Accounts.

The Centro website does not provide an organigramme
Organizational chart
An organizational chart is a diagram that shows the structure of an organization and the relationships and relative ranks of its parts and positions/jobs...

, or describe the size and activities of individual departments.

Centro falls within the scope of the 2000 Freedom of Information Act
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level...

 (FOIA) but in practice, more information was available before the Act was passed. For example, the number of statistics provided in the Centro 1997-98 Annual Statistical Report was much larger than the 2008-2009 equivalent.

Privatisation of transport operations has also affected disclosure. Centro has referred at least one person requesting information about property that it owns to Travel Midland Metro, a private concern apparently exempt from FOIA.

Governance and expenses

The Integrated Transport Authority and earlier Passenger Transport Authority have used committee structures, the form of which has changed over time. Membership is normally a subset of the full 27-member Authority. In March 2010, extant Committees were listed as:

  • Transport Strategy (15 councillors) - "responsible for setting the policies and strategies of Centro"

  • Business Improvement (12 councillors) - "responsible for monitoring of performance management process and the continuing improvement of its processes, structures and cultures"

  • Pension Fund (7 councillors) - "responsible for the proper administration of the Authority's Pension Fund"

  • Standards (6 councillors and 2 "independent co-opted members") - "responsible for promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by members of the Authority"

  • PTA Urgency [Sub-Committee] (at 10 March 2010, described as 'PTA', not 'ITA', on the Centro website, 5 councillors) - "to consider any matter of urgent business that cannot wait until the next scheduled meeting of the Authority"

  • Bus Shelter Appeals [Sub-Committee] (6 councillors) - "responsible for considering appeals against the siting of bus stops and shelters".


Councillors receive additional payments for serving on the Transport Authority, but the Centro website does not detail scope of these payments, individual hours spent on ITA business, number of meetings attended by councillors, or agendas and minutes of meetings.

The Integrated Transport Authority has seven Transport Users' Forums covering the district areas of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Public participation

Centro has stated that public participation is available through Transport Users' Forums, which "meet on average every two months at a local venue" in the 7 district areas, and allow submission of views to the Transport Authority via the Transport Strategy Committee.

Special needs transport

In the latest available accounts (2007-2008), Transport Authority councillors are named in the West Midlands Special Needs Transport directors list. Special needs transport is effectively a monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...

, and not exposed to a tender process of the type used to fill nominal gaps in the main bus network.

Companies providing local travel services

Bus

  • A Line Buses
  • A Line of Coventry
  • AirParks
  • AK Travel
  • AM PM Travel
    AM PM Travel
    AM PM Travel was a family-owned bus company who operated services across the West Midlands and Staffordshire. Operating from their depot in the Tyseley district of south Birmingham, AM PM ran a fleet of 23 low-floor single and step-entry double-deck buses....

  • Arriva Midlands
    Arriva Midlands
    Arriva Midlands is a division of Arriva. It operates bus services around the Midlands area of England and is made up of various previous bus operators.-Arriva Midlands North:...

  • Banga Buses
  • Central Buses
    Central Buses
    Central Buses is a bus company based in Birmingham, West Midlands, England, and operating services in the Birmingham and neighbouring Black Country and Warwickshire area's. Founded in 2003, the company has a fleet of 19 buses, which consists of fifteen Dennis Dart SLF single deck vehicles...

  • Central Connect
    Central Connect
    Connect Buses is the brand name used to cover all aspects of the Rotala Group bus operations. It operates in a number of mainly urban places in the United Kingdom, with the regional brand names reflecting the places served.-Central Connect/Blue Diamond:...

    ***
  • Central Logistics
  • Claribels
  • Coach Express
  • Coastal Liner
  • Codsall Cars
  • Diamond Bus
    Diamond Bus
    Diamond is a bus operator in the West Midlands, formed in 1986 as The Birmingham Coach Company.-Birmingham Coach Company:The company was created in 1986 as the Birmingham Coach Company operating a single route, 16, in competition with West Midlands Travel....

    ***
  • Finesse Coaches
  • FirstGroup
  • Golden Line Buses
  • Grosvenor Coaches
  • GRS Travel
  • Hansons
    Hansons
    Hansons is a family-owned bus company who operate services across the West Midlands and Worcestershire. Operating from their depot in the Lye district of Stourbridge.They run a fleet of 20 low-floor and step entrance Single deck buses.-Fleet:...

  • Harringtons
  • Heartlands Express
  • Hi-Ride
  • Joes Travel
  • Johnsons of Henley
  • Lynx Solutions
  • Midland
  • Midland Bus Company
  • Midland Rider
  • MRD Travel
  • National Express Coventry
    National Express Coventry
    National Express Coventry is the current trading name and brand name of West Midlands Travel Ltd , a company which operates bus services from its depot in the city of Coventry in the West Midlands region of England. All of West Midlands Travel Ltd other bus depots in the West Midlands operate...

    *
  • National Express West Midlands
    National Express West Midlands
    National Express West Midlands , formerly known as Travel West Midlands , is the trade name of West Midlands Travel Ltd , a company which operates bus services from depots in the cities of Birmingham, and Wolverhampton, as well as the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Walsall in the West...

    *
  • Redwing Contracts
  • Sandwell Travel
  • Silverline
  • Stagecoach
  • Star Bus
  • Sunny Travel
  • Thandi Buses
  • The Green Bus
    The Green Bus
    The Green Bus is the brand name for The Green Transport Company Limited, a school bus company operating in the Birmingham area of England.-History:...

     (Independent School bus company)
  • Travel de Courcey
    Travel De Courcey
    Travel de Courcey is a bus operator based near Coventry in the West Midlands region of England. They operate routes in the Coventry and Warwickshire area. The company was founded in 1972 by Mike de Courcey and now operate 74 vehicles, including 12 executive coaches, and employ around 130 staff...

  • Travel Express
  • Warstone Motors
  • Wombourne Private Hire
  • Valley Travel

Tram

  • Travel Midland Metro
    Travel Midland Metro
    Travel Midland Metro is the name of the company that operates the Midland Metro tram system between Birmingham and Wolverhampton in the UK. Travel Midland Metro is a fully owned subsidiary of the National Express Group, who also owns the local bus company National Express West Midlands...

    *


* - Part of the National Express Group
National Express Group
National Express Group plc is a British transport group headquartered in Birmingham that operates bus, coach, rail and tram services in the UK, the US and Canada, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe...



** - Part of the Go-Ahead Group
Go-Ahead Group
The Go-Ahead Group plc is a rail and bus operating company that was created following the privatisation of the UK's train and bus industries. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-Early history:...



*** - Part of the Rotala
Rotala
Rotala is an Alternative Investment Market listed company, which owns a variety of UK transport operators.Rotala was set up in 2005, with the main intention of acquiring or gaining majority interest in businesses within a number of areas.-Surrey Connect:...

 Group

**** - Part of the Arriva
Arriva
Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...

Group

External links

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