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Service W28: Service History

Service W28 (1951–1974)

Operated by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited

In the late 1940s, a new Council House development was build at the top of Ronskwood Hill, opposite the “temporary” wartime hospital, that had been built in 1941. In c. 1948, Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) added Service W18 to Worcester's local bus network to serve this new housing estate.

Service W28 followed in c. 1951, as a short-working variation to Service W18. While the W18 ran along Canterbury Road to terminate at the junction with Westminster Road, the new Service W28 terminated at the junction with Ripon Road, which was only a short walk from the entrance to the aforementioned Ronkswood Hospital.

In 1963, Service W28 was extended along Canterbury Road to turn right into Liverpool Road, just before the Service W18 terminus, and terminate with the junction with Prestwich Avenue. A bus layby still exists at the site, but it has now been several decades since a bus last terminated there. At the time this change was introduced, both Service W18 and W28 ran a 15-minute frequency to give eight buses each hour over the shared sections of the routes.

By 1969, the combined frequency had been reduced to each route running every 20-minutes to give six buses and hour, then to every 30-minutes by 1972 to give four buses an hour.

Service W28 (1974–1981)

Operated by Midland Red Omnibus Company Limited

On Monday 3rd December 1973, Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) sold a number of depots in the Birmingham area, and the operations of those depots, to the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE). As a result of this, the company renamed to Midland Red Omnibus Company Limited (MROC) on Friday 29th March 1974.

The Ronkswood routes would continue to be run by MROC until the company ceased trading as a bus and coach operator on Saturday 5th September 1981. From the following day, the network of local Worcester bus routes would be operated by the newly formed Midland Red (West) Limited.

Meanwhile, that “temporary” wartime hospital that Service W28 was originally introduced to serve would finally close in 2002, outliving both the bus route and the company that ran it!