Media Centre

Mayor unveils £3 million fleet of new buses for Walsall

17 Jun 2009

The Mayor of Walsall – Cllr John O’Hare – has unveiled a £3 million fleet of new National Express West Midlands buses for Walsall.

The 25 single deck buses are low floor, easy access to assist parents with buggies and passengers with limited mobility. They will operate along the 301 service which connects Walsall with Bloxwich and Mossley and the 311/ 313 bus routes which link Walsall with Dudley, Stourbridge, Wednesbury and the Russell Hall Hospital.

Alex Perry, Operations Director for National Express Bus and Coach, said: “We are very pleased that the Mayor of Walsall, Cllr John O’Hare, could join us today to launch these vehicles into service.  Each bus features low floor access, CCTV and Euro 4 engines which are amongst the cleanest on the market.”

National Express West Midlands has invested over £6 million in new vehicles since the start of the year to bring 60 new vehicles into their fleet.

Alex added: “We are committed to improving bus travel in the West Midlands and have invested £3 million in 25 new vehicles for Walsall and the surrounding region. This is in addition to the 20 new vehicles delivered to West Bromwich last month.”

Cllr Gary Clarke, Chairman of Centro, the region's transport authority, said: "These new buses will be a big boost for Walsall passengers. They are another example of the improvements National Express and Centro are making as part of their groundbreaking Transforming Bus Travel project which sets about improving the quality of bus services not just for existing passengers but also to attract car drivers onto public transport."

National Express’ bus garage in Walsall is one of the largest employers in the town with approximately 500 employees including over 400 drivers. They operate vehicles across over 80 bus routes in and around Walsall.

Note to editors:

·         311: Runs from Walsall - Wednesbury - Princes End - Dudley - Brierley Hill – Stourbridge via Russell Hall Hospital every 7 – 8 minutes throughout the day.

·         313: Runs from Walsall - The Myvod - Wednesbury - Princes End – Dudley via Wednesbury Parkway Metro up to every 7 – 8 minutes throughout the day.

·         301: runs from Walsall - Leamore - Bloxwich – Mossley up to every five minutes throughout the day. 

National Express is a leading bus operator in the West Midlands and Dundee. In the West Midlands the group provides Europe’s largest fleet of easy access vehicles operating on a single area bus network.  With a fleet of over 2,000 buses, National Express provides more than 500 bus services each year and also operates the Midland Metro light railway rapid transit system from Birmingham to Wolverhampton.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Carly O'Donnell, Media Executive, National Express, D: 0121 460 8867

Carly.O'Donnell@nationalexpress.com  www.nationalexpress.com