Future of popular bus service secured  

The 144a service between Bromsgrove and Longbridge is being improved.

The new look service will run hourly from Bromsgrove via Rubery, Longbridge and Northfield to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, with buses also running on a Sunday.

 

The National Express-run service will be launching on April 16 2023.

  

Councillor Mike Rouse, Worcestershire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: “I’m delighted that the future of this much-loved service has been secured for people in Bromsgrove.

 

“This new service will run every hour, rather than every 70 minutes as it is now, which is great news for bus users.

 

“We also expect that this will help to grow patronage further and make it a far more viable option for the majority of passengers.”

 

The County Council went out to tender to bus companies in February 2023 allowing operators to bid for the opportunity to deliver the service on its behalf.



In April last year, First Bus made changes to the 144 service which saw it stop at Catshill, and not travel onwards to Birmingham. National Express then agreed to run the service between Bromsgrove, Rubery and Longbridge, replacing the sections lost from the changes to the 144 service.

Since then, Worcestershire County Council has funded the replacement service from Bromsgrove Bus Station to Rubery and Longbridge, where bus users can connect to frequent services onward to Birmingham.