So the eagerly awaited follow up, we will now look at the latest batches of Alexander Dennis Enviro MMC’s to be introduced into the National Express West Midlands (NXWM) Fleet…

The follow on order to the Scarlet and Maroon batch were delivered in May/June 2015 to Birmingham Central Garage for the new 'Platinum' services which will be NXWM's flagship premium brand. The new buses will feature a new two tone grey livery with flashes of red which looks very sophisticated and slick. They also have a full external rear LED destination screen. Internally they feature luxury high back leather trimmed seats, extra leg room (with the removal of two sets of seats when compared to a standard MMC), on-board stop announcements and free Wi-​Fi, not to mention the suit wearing drivers which the local media seemed to pick up on when the idea was launched in October 2014.

 

With the Enviro 200MMC being a brand new design, I am sure for some people it may take a lot of getting used to. But in my opinion the Scarlet & Maroon does certainly suit the new design, I can’t say that for the TFL red versions which will be introduced at Stagecoach’s Romford garage very soon. I think the rear of the E200MMC is very much similar to the Scania Omnicity Single Deckers. And differs very much from the original Enviro 200’s. However I think the fatter curved front suits the Enviro 400 more.

 

 

 

They are following a very similar principle to all the other premium brands such as Arriva Sapphire/MAX or Stagecoach Gold. By providing a higher quality service on a standard routes. Especially if they link main towns such as Coventry, Solihull and Walsall with Birmingham. It also provides competition with the railway. They are also trying to increase patronage especially on key trunk routes which would hopefully reduce the number of cars travelling between these main towns. Even though this does not seem to be such as problem in the Midlands as during the morning peak, it’s been calculated that 28 people per second get on or off one of NXWM’s buses.

 

 

This is not forgetting that NXWM will become the first operator in the UK to introduce the Enviro 200MMC, the first of 50 vehicles began to be delivered to the Acocks Green Garage towards the end of June 2015 for the Routes 37, 71 & 72. The first of which entered service on 4^th July making them the first in the country. And within the first two weeks, 11 had been delivered with a steady three a week expected for the next few weeks. The first two ventured onto the Route 71 and 72 shortly after I visited, following the summer service changes on 20^th July.

 

 

The ‘E’ working. A very interesting concept that I have only really come across in the West Midlands. There seem to be two types of ‘E’ working; the Timetabled and the un-timetabled. The timetabled ‘E’ workings come in the form of regular short workings for example the platinum routes 900 and 957 combine to form eight buses an hour between Birmingham and Sheldon this comprises of 4 957’s, 2 900’s and 2 900E’s an hour. With the 900E’s only running to Birmingham Airport compared to the full 900 which reaches Coventry. Then there is also the un-timetabled, these may come in the form of a traditional ‘duplicate’ bus at peak times or could be a short working due to delay.

 



 

The Route 900 (Coventry to Birmingham via the Airport) was the first route to be upgraded to Platinum standard from 1^st June 2015. With the Route 957 (Solihull to Birmingham) following at the start of July. And routes X51 (Birmingham to Cannock), 934 and 935 (Birmingham to Walsall), 936 (Birmingham to Brownhills) & 997 (Birmingham to Wallsal Limited Stop) all expected to follow suit over the rest of the summer. Which means the first 18 platinum’s have been delivered to Birmingham Central Garage with the following 40 currently being delivered to Walsall Garage.  

 

 

There has been a lot of talk about the design of the MMC models and that is no more apparent than when you look at the rear of the MMC’s. The Picture above shows off the rear of an Enviro 200 MMC alongside an Enviro 400 MMC platinum. Both models have no rear window so reversing camera for the driver is provided. The E400MMC platinum’s also have a rear white LED destination screen, I am not convinced people will be looking at the back of the bus to see where it is going. And to be honest the rear is probably better off with a full rear advert or branding in this case.

A general refurbishment program has started with the rest of the National Express West Midlands fleet which comprises of an internal deep clean including new seat covers to match those that now feature on the new MMC’s buses. It is also includes an external re-livery into the new livery which also matches the new MMC’s buses. At the time of writing a quite a few of the older Enviro 400’s had been refurbished as well a handful of the Scania Omnilink’s.

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As a large number of London’s Enviro 400 MMC’s have now been delivered, with two more batches for Go Ahead and Stagecoach still to come, I thought I would take a trip out of the capital, to Britain’s second city, Birmingham. To see what their versions had to offer.

6108 (SN15LFS) is seen on Snow Hill Queensway, Birmingham while working on Route 9 to Stourbridge. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 16/05/15)

National Express West Midlands (NXWM), is one of the largest bus operators outside of London and even with London included they would still be ranked third largest (following Go-Ahead London and Metroline). They operate over 170 routes and around 1,600 buses working out of ten garages, they have a varied fleet from double deckers to articulated or bendy buses right down to small midi buses. And that doesn’t include sister company National Express Coventry. Also it’s worth noting that when compared to London their fleet is ageing, with still quite a few buses over 10 years old.

6141 (SN15LHL) is seen on Moor Street, Birmingham having just started its journey on the Route 50 to Druids Heath. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 16/05/15)

As part of the Transforming Bus Travel agreement, signed in 2013, NXWM are delivering more than £34 million of investment in the West Midlands bus services over a period of two years, this investment includes 300 new buses. This included 14/64 registered standard Enviro 200’s and 400’s as well as the remaining 171 buses which will be delivered this year,  mainly comprising of the largest order so far of Enviro 400 MMC's, they are also the first company to receive the new Enviro 200 MMC. The first Enviro 400 MMC’s hit the streets towards the end of March. And will form an average of one new bus hitting the region’s streets every day between March and August.

6111 (SN15LFV) is seen on Snow Hill Queensway, Birmingham while working on the Route 9 to Stourbridge. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 16/05/15)

Alongside the investment in new buses, improvements also include more real-time information on bus shelters, similar to what exists in London as well as other cities. There will also be improvements in CCTV coverage, to help reduce crime and dedicated cleaners at each end of certain routes to help improve cleanliness on buses. Which I think is a great idea as it happens on the trains, and it’s something other cities like London should be replicating to improve the standard of service for bus passengers.

6138 (SN15LHH) is seen on Park Street, Birmingham while working on the Route 50 to Druids Heath. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 16/05/15)

The first batch of Enviro 400 MMC’s where delivered between March and April 2015 and have been spilt between Pensnett and Yardley Wood garages for the Routes 9 and 50 respectively. All these buses were delivered in the new Scarlet and Maroon livery which is a looks very smart compared to the previous red and white livery. However most of the buses are route branded and in my opinion it slightly spoils the livery.

6134 (SN15LHD) is seen on next to The Bullring Shopping Centre, Birmingham showing the rear route branding for the Route 50. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 16/05/15)

The Route 9 runs between Stourbridge and Birmingham City Centre (approx. 13 miles) operating every 7-8mins in the peak times and every 10-20mins the rest of the time. The Route 50 runs between Druids Heath and Birmingham City Centre (approx. 6.5 miles) and is one of the most frequent bus services in the UK outside London running 24 hours a day with buses every 4-5mins Monday to Saturday daytimes. It was also the first route in the UK to operate low floor double decker buses.

6106 (SN15LFP) is seen on Snow Hill Queensway while working on the Route 9 to Stourbridge. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 16/05/15)

The Buses themselves… I am surprised NXWM have still continued to order single door buses as loadings can often be high which will lead to long dwells especially at busy stops. I am also surprised they did not go for the hybrid version of the MMC, as there are only two hybrid routes in Birmingham at the moment (Routes 23/24). But having ridden the route 9 from Stourbridge into Birmingham, trying to rein in my pro MMC bias, the buses are great, the seats are sturdy, which will prove useful on these busy routes they are allocated too. They weren’t too much of an issue on the hour long journey either. The buses are also very quick not as quick as the hybrid models (in London) but they are still able to get away from other buses when bunching occurs, which happened a few times I observed both routes 9 and 50. Also useful on the large amount of A-road’s on the Route 9. The ride was smooth, and it did iron out some of the smaller imperfections. Also it was quite evident that they have bedded in very well as the drivers seem very comfortable with them. They also seemed to be very popular with the local’s as well, which is always a good sign.  

6124 and 6130 are seen on Moor Street while working on the Route 50 to Druids Heath. (Taken by Kristian lake on 18/05/15)

So it looks like I will be returning to the Midlands hopefully within the next few weeks to see the 'Platinum' Enviro 400 MMC’s and Enviro 200 MMC’s so stayed tuned for Part 2.

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