Historic No.11 bus route split in two due to jams
THE historic number 11 bus route in Birmingham will be split in two from July 4 due to delays in Perry Barr caused by ongoing works.
The step is intended to improve the service for 96 per cent of customers, although some customers will have to get off and get on a different bus in order to complete their journeys.
A temporary measure has been introduced where the route will be split into two overlapping routes until the work is completed – expected to be in the autumn.
The route – which has operated since 1926 and is Europe’s longest urban bus route at 25 miles – connects outer suburbs of the city and runs in a continuous loop.
Buses should run every eight minutes, but delays of up to an hour have been occurring at Perry Barr, where road works are taking place as part of a £700 million regeneration of the area.
Delays of more than 20 minutes are common at other points along the route, according to a briefing note from Transport for West Midlands.
It said: “National Express has reported that it has become almost impossible to maintain reliability and to provide an acceptable level of service to their customers.
“Often, the only recourse available when a bus has been significantly delayed is to take it out of service and ‘adjust’ it by instructing the driver to run out of service to another point on the route.
“This further creates gaps in service and exacerbates those caused by late buses.”
The anti-clockwise route (11A) will
now split at Acocks Green and again at Perry Barr with a stop change at Erdington – from Wood End Road to Sutton New Road.
The clockwise route (11C) will split at Erdington and again at Acocks Green.
Opposition groups on Birmingham City Council criticised the leadership for the disruption.
Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington), leader of the Conservative Group, said: “Labour ignored the warnings that public transport is being badly affected by their proposals but instead ploughed ahead. Now it is the residents of Birmingham who are suffering from the loss of the circular aspect due to the impact of their road changes.”
But Cllr Waseem Zaffar, cabinet member for transport and environment, said: “Whilst the Tories and the Lib Dems are spreading scare stories, I have assurances from National Express that the iconic Number 11 route will be restored in its entirety when these key works are completed, which is due to be in the autumn.”