National Express West Midlands routes 66 & 66A

66
Overview
Operator National Express West Midlands
Route
Start Birmingham Priory Queensway
Via Nechells, Star City and Erdington
End Sutton Coldfield

Route History

These routes are the successors of trolleybus route 7, which ran from the city centre to Nechells from 1922–1940 and the motorbus route 43 which replaced it in 1940. The city centre to Ladywood portion of the route was served by former Birmingham City Transport route 95.[1][2][3]

North of the Nechells terminus of the former 43, the route was extended across Cuckoo Bridge, spanning the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal and then followed parts of the former BCT route 64 to Erdington and former Midland Red routes S63 and 107 from Erdington to Sutton via Boldmere.[4] This move was a result of the route development possibilities opened up by the creation of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive in 1969, whereby the Executive took over all of the municipal bus operators and Midland Red services in the West Midlands county and was able to integrate and combine the routes of the previous separate operators.[5] The short section of road between the 43 terminus over Cuckoo Bridge to Lichfield Road had not previously been used by a regular bus service.

Following service revisions on 28 March 2010 this route ceased to be a cross-city service. The section between City Centre and Five Ways / Ladywood is now covered by a revised service 80 running City Centre - West Bromwich via Five Ways, Ladywood, Cape Hill and Smethwick.

The route of the 66 became City - Erdington with a frequency of every 15 minutes Monday–Saturday every hour evenings and Sundays and a 66E City - Star City on the alternate hour during evenings.

66

On 9 June 2013, the route of the 66 was changed north of Erdington to run o Kingstanding Circle, instead of Sutton Coldfield of via New Oscott. In addition, Gravelly Industrial Park is served by daytime Monday to Friday journeys.[6] On Sundays, Route 66 runs between the city centre and Erdington only via Lichfiled Road. On 4 June 2017, the route was re-routed to Sutton Coldfield via Boldmere, the route from Erdington to Kingstanding is served by new route 96.

Paperwork at NXWM Perry Barr garage says that NXWM have asked the Gravelly Industrial Park management and security to operate the Saturday service through the estate between 6 am and 6 pm and Sundays between 10 am and 6 pm. They are also looking to extend the Monday-to-Friday operations from 5:30 am to 10 pm, as some of the business want to open earlier and later.

Vehicles

The route was operated by twelve two-step entrance Leyland Lynx, E F G and H registration plate 'Leyland DAF Lynxs' Around 2000 the 'Lynxs', were gradually phased out and National Express West Midlands invested in low-floored single decks, using around eighteen on the route at one stage.

In the later years route 66 was simplified and now used just ten low-floor Mercedes-Benz O405 single decks.

In recent years service 66 and 66A have had Scania Omnilink B43F as the vehicle of choice but are due to receive some mindi buses from the Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban series.

Current Route Summary

Service 66

References

  1. ↑ Mayou, A., Barker, T. and Stanford, J. Birmingham Corporation Trams and Trolleybuses. Glossop: The Transport Publishing Company, 1982
  2. ↑ Keeley, M., Russell, M. and Gray, P. Birmingham City Transport. Glossop: The Transport Publishing Company, 1977
  3. ↑ M. Keeley, Birmingham Buses Route by Route 1925-1975. Ian Allan, 2012
  4. ↑ Midland Red Timetable, Birmingham Area, 1 October 1966.
  5. ↑ M. Keeley, West Midlands - A History of West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive. Capital Transport Publishing, 1988
  6. ↑ 66 and 66A Bus Timetable leaflet, dated 9 June 2013
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