The West Midlands is set to take a major step towards public ownership of its bus network, with the first tranche of services to be franchised announced. Invitations to tender will open later this month for bus services in North/East Birmingham, Coventry, and Walsall, marking the start of a process that will see the entire network move away from private operator control by 2029.
Timeline for the first tranche
The tender process for Tranche One will run for approximately four months, with operations expected to go live by late 2027. This will be followed by Tranche Two, covering Dudley, Sandwell, and Wolverhampton, in 2028, and Tranche Three, including Solihull and South and West Birmingham, in 2029.
West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker, elected in 2024, has championed the move to franchising, arguing that it will give Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) greater control over fares, routes, and timetables. The current system, he says, has failed passengers despite significant public subsidy.
Why franchising is needed
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) currently provides around £50 million annually in subsidies to private operators, yet fares have continued to rise and services have been cut. A public consultation in 2025 found that approximately 75 per cent of respondents supported the introduction of a franchise model.
Mr Parker and the WMCA Board approved the transition in May last year, and earlier this year the authority held a pre-market engagement day with prospective operators. The move will also require the acquisition of depots and fleet, as well as the establishment of contract management and performance monitoring processes.
Mayor's stark warning
Speaking earlier this year, Mr Parker was blunt about the reasons for the change: "We are franchising the bus network out of necessity. The private sector operator has failed this region. They benefit from tens of millions of pounds through subsidies each year and services are declining and not improving."
He highlighted the impact on employment, recalling: "I remember talking to the Chamber of Commerce in Solihull and asked them what was their biggest priority. I didn't imagine them to say 'franchise the buses' but that's exactly what they did. There are jobs available in the most prosperous part of Solihull, the town centre, the airport, JLR and the south of the borough that young people in particular in the north of the borough simply cannot get to."
Aligning buses with work patterns
Mr Parker stressed that current timetables fail to match shift patterns: "The bus timetables don't run in any way to match or align to the shift patterns the employers need. The failure of our bus network undermines everything I want to do in terms of increasing opportunity."
He concluded: "Bus franchising gives us a great opportunity to re-frame the way in which buses work, to look at ways in which we can run the network, build a timetable that meets the needs of the West Midlands. That's why we're doing it."
