Passenger Transport

8th November 1963, Page 62

8th November 1963

Page 62

Page 62, 8th November 1963 — Passenger Transport

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MIDLAND RED IN THE BULL RING

WHEN officially opening the new VV Midland Red bus station, Bull Ring Centre, Birmingham, last Friday, the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Aid. Dr. Louis Glass, said that the station should bring additional trade to the centre of the city, and it is pertinent that the station is located on the ground floor of a multistorey building which will in a few months be an important shopping centre. Day visitors to Birmingham will therefore be able to satisfy their normal shormine needs without leaving the building.

,entre will cater for more than 10,000 buses a week carrying some 20m. passengers a year and as mentioned by Mr. D. M. Sinclair, general manager of the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co. Ltd., at the ceremony, the facilities provided by the station should materially reduce traffic congestion. Incoming buses will use four entrances leading to five loading bays and will leave by a single exit at the opposite end. Each loading platform is 7 ft, wide and there are 29 departure stands. At evening peak periods the throughput of buses will average 17 each five minutes. Night parking for around 45 buses will be available.

Entirely under cover, the station has a floor area of nearly 79,000 sq. ft. and includes staff, parcels and left-luggage offices in addition to toilet and washing facilities. An inquiry and booking office is located on the first floor (to which access is gained by a moving staircase) and adjoins a public restaurant and cafeteria, managed by Fortes Ltd., offering accommodation for more than 200 people.

All the 95 services, originally starting from five nearby streets, as well as the services formally based on the Dudley c I 8 Street terminus, will operate from the station and this concentration of services will greatly increase the convenience of the many, passengers for whom the station will be a transit centre. Longdistance services will continue to operate from Digberth Coach Station.

Equipment includes a Tennant 8080 heavy-duty sweeper capable of sweeping 90,000 sq. ft./hr.; it can cope with all types of rubbish, including metal chippings, sand, bottles and tins, and the 800-1b. hopper can be emptied in 10 sec.