Halesowen back on the road to Russell Hall Hospital

Halesowen will soon have a direct bus to Russell Hall hospital and Sunday services to Dudley thanks to network improvements by National Express West Midlands. From 28 March the region’s largest bus operator is making a series of improvements to services 9 and 222 following customer feedback in the area. The 222 will run between Merry Hill and Halesowen every 20 minutes, providing a sought after link to Russell Hall Hospital. For the first time the route will also run on Sunday evenings to cover visiting hours at the hospital and provide a link to Dudley throughout the weekend. Phil Tonks, Operations Officer for England, Bus Users UK, said: "We are very pleased to see a direct link created between Halesowen, Cradley Heath and Russell Hall Hospital. It enables many more Black Country people to access the major hospital directly, as a patient or as a visitor. Staff will also benefit from this new link". As part of the changes the current 99 service is being withdrawn and the route will be covered by additional 9 services and an extended 222 between Halesowen and Dudley. The new timetables will provide a more regular service for customers travelling to Birmingham, resulting in less waiting time at bus stops. Bob Emery, Area Manager for National Express West Midlands, said: "From 28 March the 9 and 222 service will be relaunched to provide Halesowen with a direct bus link to Russell Hall Hospital and better coordinated services into Birmingham. We’ve spent several months looking at the services and have listened to customer feedback to design a timetable which provides more frequent and reliable buses throughout the day, everyday.”Key service changes from 28 March:   A more frequent 9 service running every 7/8 minutes during the day and every 20 minutes evenings and Sundays. This will replace the 99 service between Birmingham and Halesowen.  A better coordinated timetable from Halesowen, Quinton and the Hagley Road. This will reduce the time most passengers have to wait.  A direct link to Russell Hall Hospital on the 222 service from Halesowen  A new Sunday evening service on the 222 National Express West Midlands is holding a series of exhibitions to provide more details on the service changes. Bus users are encouraged to come along on the following dates with their queries:  Date Location Times Tuesday, 23 March Blackheath Town Centre 10:00am - 3:00pm Wednesday, 24 March Halesowen Bus Station 8:30am - 4:00pm Thursday, 25 March Oldbury Town Centre (exhibition bus) 10:00am - 3:00pm  

Published 8th March 2010