TfWM bus network protected until 2025 after £40m investment

Bus services across the West Midlands will continue to operate at near current levels until the end of 2024 after an agreement was reached between Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and bus operating companies, including National Express and Diamond Bus.

The new agreement halts the threatened withdrawal and reduced frequency of about one third of the region’s bus services following the cessation of Government Covid support funding in June. 

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) led talks with the bus companies and Government to secure the agreement to protect services.

Under the agreement TfWM, which forms part of the WMCA, has re-allocated £40m from the region’s £88m Bus Service Improvement Plan grant to keep services running while a long-term sustainable funding solution is found. 

The aforementioned grant was awarded last year to fund a variety of initiatives to encourage greater bus usage.  However, despite diverting funds to support bus operators in the maintenance of present level services, TfWM is still on course to invest in improved bus priority, plus more electric and hydrogen buses.

The West Midlands has retained the vast majority of its bus routes despite a dramatic drop in usage during and since the Covid pandemic. The current network is operating at about 90% of pre-pandemic levels, a level many other regions have failed to maintain.

Andy Street 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.”

He added, “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.”