Bus services on a major Sandwell route are better than elsewhere in the West Midlands, but often bear little resemblance to the timetable, according to a report to councillors on the watchdog West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority.

Poor performance on the busy bus routes from Birmingham, along the Dudley Road to Bearwood, Oldbury and Blackheath is set to be a hot topic at the first meeting of a new Sandwell Transport Users Forum on Wednesday (21 September, 6.00pm).

The forum has been set up by councillors on the PTA to give members of the public a greater say in the work of the Authority to coordinate and influence public transport in the borough.

“Getting public transport right is important to the lives of thousands of people and vital in our campaign to cut congestion,” comments Cllr Roger Horton, Sandwell lead member on the Passenger Transport Authority.  “We want users of buses, trains and trams to be our eyes and ears to help operators provide better services and we have set up these regular meetings to give more people a chance to have their say.”

Representatives from the major bus and train companies, as well as the Midland Metro operator, have been invited to the meeting at Sandwell Council House.  They will all face questions from members of the public about their services.

A report by public transport promoter Centro, the executive arm of the PTA, reveals an array of problems on routes 82, 87 and 88 through Sandwell.  They include gaps of between 15 and 25 minutes on so-called ‘frequent’ services, as many as two-thirds of buses not being on time and others showing the wrong destination or no destination at all.

Overall, the Centro survey showed only three per cent of buses failed to show and 65 per cent were on time.  This is better than the West Midlands average, but still fails to meet Government agency and local council targets.