Bus transport in Bromsgrove

The 39B route was launched in September 2012 to link the town to Bournville College in Longbridge.^[6][7]

The current incarnation of the 90 route is operated by MRD Travel. It is an infrequent service, interworked with services 91 and 322. The service started on 10 February 2004 replacing the previous Clearway 94 service.^[8][9] Extra journeys were added on 5 September 2005.^[10]

The history of this service dates back to when it was a short working of the 90/91 Bromsgrove - Catshill circulars, and it has also been numbered as a short working of the 143. The current route is a school service, for Catshill Middle School, with one journey in each direction on school days. It was registered as a stand alone service by First on 4 September 2003,^[11] to be later withdrawn on 12 June 2005.^[12]

This route was operated by First Midland Red until end of service on 1 September 2008 when First de-registered the route; two days later it was taken over by Clearway of Catshill.^[13] It was originally operated to the same timetable, but from 31 August 2008 most off peak journeys were withdrawn. MRD Travel now also run a handful of journeys on the route.

These routes were taken over from Rover Coaches by Redline on 3 September 1990, though Rover Coaches continued to operate in competition. Originally a Monday - Friday only service, this was extended to Saturdays on 3 November 1990.^[14] Operation continued by Redline until the company ceased trading in 1998, when the routes were taken over by First Midland Red. Four years later Pete's Travel won the contract to operate the services on 3 November 2002, only to de-register them on 4 September 2003 when they were once again taken over by First Midland Red.^[11] Less than a year later, on 18 April 2004, the services once again changed hands, and they are now operated by Cofton Coaches.^[15][16]

When first registered, the 99 route was Catshill - Bromsgrove - Charford, though it was later curtailed to run Bromsgrove - Charford only. Currently operated by Clearway in addition to the 93 service.

This route was operated by Midland Red West until 31 August 1996 when the contract was lost to the Little Red Bus Company. An evening service was not included in this contract and so it was withdrawn from that date.^[17] Operation of the service returned to Midland Red West some years later. On 18 April 2004, service 140 was withdrawn and the 141 was reduced to operate at peak times only; off peak services were replaced by a new 940 service, which is pre-bookable by telephone.^[18][19] The 140 variant of this service was withdrawn on 14 April 2013.^[20]

From 12 April 2009, Diamond Bus won the contract to operate this service once again as routes 140 and 141, replacing First.^[21]

The first incarnation of the 143 route ran from Birmingham - Bromsgrove - Charford, eventually being changed to run Birmingham - Bromsgrove - Redditch - Alexandra Hospital, though the hospital extension was withdrawn in the late 1990s. 18 April 2004 saw the first of many changes to the route, it being re-routed in the Catshill area to replace the withdrawn 94 service. A year later on 12 June 2005 the 143 route was cut back to run Catshill - Bromsgrove - Redditch only, with its frequency halved.^[22] 4 September 2005 saw the route further cut back to run Bromsgrove - Redditch; an increase in the frequency of the 144 route made the Bromsgrove - Catshill section redundant.^[23]

Hardings Coaches and Johnsons Coaches took over several journeys throughout 2006 and 2007 - the first operation on the route by an operator other than First Midland Red in the route's history. On 8 June 2008 several journeys were re-routed in the Bromsgrove area to serve the Charford estate. Diamond Bus won the contract to operate several journeys on 31 August 2008, replacing Hardings Coaches and Johnsons Coaches on the route.

From 5 January 2009 many journeys were once again extended to Birmingham, though now operating via Lickey End, rather than Catshill.^[24] This is in competition with Diamond Bus, who shortly after dropped their fares to match those of First.

In March 2013, First's Redditch operation (which runs this service) was sold to Diamond Bus who have continued operation on this route.^[1]

Services on the 144 corridor running between Droitwich and Great Malvern go back to 1913, eventually being extended to Birmingham in 1914. At that time the route was numbered 25, and later 125. The 144 number came into use on 11 February 1928. The Malvern - Worcester section was withdrawn in 1976.^[25] Diamond Bus had a brief stint operating part of the route in competition with First.^[21]

The 145 is an infrequent route operated by Diamond Bus. In the past it has been operated by Travel West Midlands^[2] and First Midland Red. The full route used to run from Birmingham to Bromsgrove via the Pershore road, however it was curtailed to Cotteridge when taken over by Zak's Buses in 2003 (later Central Connect and Diamond Bus).^[24] First Midland Red took over the route in September 2011 when it was revised to run between Bromsgrove and Longbridge only.^[24]

In March 2013, First's Redditch operation (which runs this service) was sold to Diamond Bus who have continued operation on this route.^[1]

The 147 was introduced from 1 September 2014 as a replacement for the 007 route which had been withdrawn by Central Buses. It was an extension of the 144A route, following the same line of route as the 144A between Worcester and Catshill and the same route as the 007 between Catshill and Halesowen. It provided an increased frequency of one bus per hour, compared to the 007's frequency of one bus per 90 minutes.

The 147 service was cancelled by its operator, First, effective from 10 April 2016. A replacement service operated by Woosh, the bus division of Worcestershire County Council, commenced on 11 April 2016, operating between Catshill and Halesowen only, at a reduced frequency of approximately 2 hours. This was in response to a petition from residents of the village of Romsley, whose only bus service is the 147. They claimed that the service provided essential access to the nearby town of Halesowen, with the steep hill out of Halesowen making walking unsuitable, particularly for elderly residents.^[26][27]

Each service operates once a day in each direction.

The 202/204 originally operated by Stevensons was transferred to Ludlows in 1992 and runs an hourly frequency. Briefly in the late 1990s this route was extended to run to Merry Hill; however this was short-lived and within a year the route was curtailed to run between Halesowen and Bromsgrove once again. It is now operated by Diamond Bus.

Clearway originally operated the 322 route between Bromsgrove and Fairfield once a week; however it was withdrawn on 24 December 2003, to be taken over by MRD Travel on 30 December 2003.^[28] It has since been extended to Catshill and interworked with service 90.

MRD introduced this service as a 1 journey each direction running between Bromsgrove and the Merry Hill centre. This service only runs Tuesday and Thursdays.

The X3 originally started life as the X33. It first ran from 3 September 2000 as part of a scheme to connect the 3 main hospitals in Worcestershire.^[29] After several years the contract was taken over by Pete's Travel, however the contract was terminated early on 4 September 2003 as the parent company, Lionspeed entered administration and reverted to operations by First.^[30]