• Service X91

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Service X91 (Leicester–Hereford): Service Overview

Introduction

Service X91 was introduced by BMMO on Saturday 29^th June 1929, running daily once in each direction between Leicester (Western Boulevard) and Great Malvern (Belle Vue Terrace), departing Leicester at 0915, or 0930 on Sundays, with a journey time of 4 hours 42 minutes to Malvern.  The return journey departed Malvern at 1710 and took 4 hours 37 minutes to reach Leicester.

On 8^th February 1930, service X91 was extended at the Malvern end to Ledbury and Hereford (St. Peter’s Square) making it, at around 112 miles, the longest stage-carriage bus service (i.e., calling at all stops on the route) in the country.

Initially, the service was cut back during the winter months to run only on Saturdays and Sundays, with daily service being resumed in the summertime.  However, by 1932, winter operation also included running on Mondays, and summer operation had an extra journey so the service ran twice a day in each direction.

This continued unchanged until 23^rd September 1939, when service X91, along with many other Midland Red services, was suspended due to the Second World War, which had started three weeks earlier.  Service X91 was reinstated on 1^st June 1946.

Until the late 1960s, the X91 service was operated by one crew from Hereford depot and one from Southgate Street depot, Leicester working the whole route, once in each direction.  The journey time was 5½ hours each way, with a generous meal break of around 1½ hours at the terminus, making a 12½ hour day for the crews.  Today this would be illegal under driving hours regulations, but in days-gone-by it was quite common for staff to work double shifts so a 12½ hour day would not have been unusual.  In c. 1969 the workings were changed so crews would set out from Hereford and Leicester and swap buses at Stratford-upon-Avon, with vehicles working the whole route but the crews would return the their home depot having worked only half the route.  Later, in the mid-1970s, the workings were again changed so that vehicles would return to their home depots and through passengers changed at Stratford-upon-Avon.

On 19^th October 1974, the X91 route was changed between British Camp and Great Malvern to run along Jubilee Drive and Wyche Cutting, and therefore Service X91 no longer served Malvern Wells.  It is believed this change was made following requests from passengers.

On 31^st May 1980, with the introduction of the Leamington & Warwick MAP scheme, the X91 service was shortened to run only between Hereford and Stratford-upon-Avon.  The Leicester to Coventry X67 motorway service was extended to Stratford-on-Avon to replace the withdrawn section of the X91 service but, as the X67 followed the M69 motorway, Nuneaton and Hinkley were no longer served.

Three months later, on 30^th August 1980, the X91 route was again changed in the Malvern area.  At this time it was diverted to run via the Colwall between Wyche Cutting and Ledbury, with British Camp no longer being served.

At the break up of MROC in September 1981, service X91 was withdrawn and, at the request of Hereford & Worcestershire County Council, was replaced in part by new service X51 running only between Great Malvern and Stratford-on-Avon.  The Hereford to Great Malvern section of the route was not directly replaced.

On 7^th May 1983, Midland Red (West) Limited introduced a limited stop “Midland Express” service between Birmingham, Kidderminster and Aberystwyth, operating on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays during the summer months only.  This service also carried the route number X91, but had nothing in common with the original Leicester to Hereford service operated by BMMO.  See the “Service X91 (Birmingham–Aberystwyth): Service Overview” page for more details of this service.

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Route Summary

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Time summary

• 29^th June 1929–8^th February 1930
  One journey in each direction (Leicester to Malvern), daily during summer months
  One journey in each direction (Leicester to Malvern), Saturdays and Sundays only during winter months
• 8^th February 1930–c. Summer 1932
  One journey in each direction (Leicester to Hereford), daily during summer months
  One journey in each direction (Leicester to Hereford), Saturdays and Sundays only during winter months
• c. Summer 1932–23^rd September 1939
  Two journeys in each direction (Leicester to Hereford), daily during summer months
  One journey in each direction (Leicester to Hereford), Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays only during winter months
• 23^rd September 1939–1^st June 1946
  Service suspended during wartime
• 1^st June 1946–31^st May 1980
  Two journeys in each direction (Leicester to Hereford), daily
• 1^st June 1980–September 1981
  Two journeys in each direction (Stratford-on-Avon to Hereford)
• September 1981
  X91 service withdrawn

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Operators

• Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO — Midland “Red”) until 29^th March 1974
• Midland Red Omnibus Company Limited from 29^th March 1974 until 6^th September 1981

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Operating depots

• Hereford depot
• Southgate Street depot, Leicester
• Various other depots along the route provided duplicate vehicles at busy times

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Vehicles used

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Other Services operating along the X91 Route

Notes

1. Service 144 did not operate between Malvern Wells and Worcester after 1^st October 1976.
2. Service 387 was later renumbered to service 550.
3. Service 417 did not run between Ledbury and Hereford after c. 1960.
4. Services X51 and X52 were operated in the early 1980s to replace service X91, and therefore did not operate at the same time.

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