The Green Bus from Handsworth Boys
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The Green Bus from Handsworth Boys
After a discussion on here, I re-asked the Green Bus company if there are any plans to offer the service from HGS (boys). At the moment boys can catch the sevice to and from the Girls School (noting Helen mentioned sometimes a driver may drop the boys up to their school of a morning).
The company said it is currently reviewing bus routes and will know more in the New Year.
If any current and prospective parents are interested, then I suggest you drop them a line to express an interest.
If there is enough interest then this may have some influence.
https://www.thegreenbus.co.uk/contact/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The company said it is currently reviewing bus routes and will know more in the New Year.
If any current and prospective parents are interested, then I suggest you drop them a line to express an interest.
If there is enough interest then this may have some influence.
https://www.thegreenbus.co.uk/contact/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: The Green Bus from Handsworth Boys
Have emailed them, saying that the boys schools needs better service from them, they are losing out to public transport for a lot of boys who would prefer to not have to negotiate long walks from the girls school.
Fingers crossed.
Fingers crossed.
Re: The Green Bus from Handsworth Boys
I assume it's due to location? I used to have to drive past there for work, it was an awful journey that I don't miss.
Re: The Green Bus from Handsworth Boys
I think the only service they could offer would be on the Soho Road and not on Grove Lane. The 842 does drop off there on occasion, and there is no reason why the other buses couldn’t - indeed, the service should drop off and pick up at any WM bus stop en route. So, theoretically, boys travelling from the opposite direction (where KEA is after) could get off before the bus gets to the girls.
This would work too where KEA is 1st collection on the way home. It would do KEA, Handsworth Girls and then collect the boys from a stop on the Soho Road. Where the service starts at Handsworth Girls and then goes on to KEA they could not collect the boys from a stop on the Soho Road as it would cause a few traffic issues.
Unfortunately HGS and Grove Lane are not suited to a number of buses dropping off / picking up at the same time.
This would work too where KEA is 1st collection on the way home. It would do KEA, Handsworth Girls and then collect the boys from a stop on the Soho Road. Where the service starts at Handsworth Girls and then goes on to KEA they could not collect the boys from a stop on the Soho Road as it would cause a few traffic issues.
Unfortunately HGS and Grove Lane are not suited to a number of buses dropping off / picking up at the same time.
Re: The Green Bus from Handsworth Boys
I wonder where it pulled in when it used to pickup there?
Lategate, thanks, will see what they say.
Lategate, thanks, will see what they say.
Re: The Green Bus from Handsworth Boys
Hi
We are based in wolverhampton and i cant see any route option available for us using the green bus. We are looking at handsworth grammer, has anyone got any experience using the tram service from Wolverhampton? If anyone could share the rxperience and provide more info on times etc that would be helpfull. Thanks
We are based in wolverhampton and i cant see any route option available for us using the green bus. We are looking at handsworth grammer, has anyone got any experience using the tram service from Wolverhampton? If anyone could share the rxperience and provide more info on times etc that would be helpfull. Thanks
Re: The Green Bus from Handsworth Boys
There are a number of boys travelling from Wolverhampton by tram or areas on the route.I am aware as an example of boys from Codsall and Willenhall from last year whose parents have posted on the forum.It is a very doable journey.Services are very frequent and reliable.jym wrote:Hi
We are based in wolverhampton and i cant see any route option available for us using the green bus. We are looking at handsworth grammer, has anyone got any experience using the tram service from Wolverhampton? If anyone could share the rxperience and provide more info on times etc that would be helpfull. Thanks
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
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Abraham Lincoln
Re: The Green Bus from Handsworth Boys
I’ve had a reply from the green bus company, basically saying that they won’t operate a Wolverhampton route as they need at least 70 passengers to make it viable. There aren’t 70 passengers travelling from Wolverhampton (I wonder if they’re missing the point that they pick passengers up en route..?) but they didn’t reply about a service that serves the boys school. So i’ll email them again.Ricky74 wrote:I wonder where it pulled in when it used to pickup there?
Lategate, thanks, will see what they say.
We are near Bilston, the metro is the best bet from Wolverhampton. My son is in year 7, the current situation is that my FIL is driving him there in the morning, I do the same on Friday mornings, then DS is either buddying up with another year 7 student or is collected by FIL and they come home on the metro. I’ve collected him and brought him back on the metro, there’s a few older HGS students on there too. It’s efficient and simple to use, avoiding the dreadful traffic around the Soho Road.jym wrote:Hi
We are based in wolverhampton and i cant see any route option available for us using the green bus. We are looking at handsworth grammer, has anyone got any experience using the tram service from Wolverhampton? If anyone could share the rxperience and provide more info on times etc that would be helpfull. Thanks
The plan is to get the winter out of the way, then DS will be taking the metro to school in the mornings too.
Hope that helps.
Edited to actually answer the questions. DS gets on the metro at Winson Green at about 3:20 and is in Bilston for 3:50. We haven’t done the morning route yet, but I reckon he would need to get the metro at about 7:30 for a comfortable walk to school and some time to visit his locker and the toilet before school.
If you need travel buddies there will be a couple of boys around on the metro travelling to HGS. Feel free to ask on here too, we would be happy for the boys to buddy up and walk together to and from the metro.
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Re: The Green Bus from Handsworth Boys
Hi jym
We live between Dudley and Wolverhampton and DS has used the Metro since the beginning of Yr7 - now in Yr8. You are correct - there is no Green Bus service over here which would serve HGS. We could have chosen other grammar schools but decided on HGS as our first choice as the journey is so straight-forward. I am aware of the importance of distance and was not willing to commit him to a long and tiring daily commute. Driving him to school is not an option for us due to our working hours and so public transport was our only option.
We started getting him used to the journey at the end of Yr6 on the Open Night and Induction Day. We asked if there was any sort of 'travel buddy' system in place and were told there was not. This is because the staff 'cannot tell pupils who they have to go home with', this has to be an informal arrangement between parents /pupils but can only happen once term has started and they work out who travels where and how - unless you link up first on this forum of course! The first day of term fell on a Wednesday and I travelled with him there and back for the first 2 days, with the intention of doing this for at least the first week, however on the Friday morning he announced he was fine now and didn't need me to accompany him anymore!
DS has found the best way to school is to alight at Winson Green Outer Circle stop and walk straight up Boulton Rd. This is because Yrs 7 - 11 enter and exit the school via the back gate in Dawson Rd and not the front entrance in Grove Lane. I prefer him to cross the Soho Rd at the top of Boulton Rd as there is a central reservation and railings there as well as a pedestrian crossing, whereas at the top of Nineveh Rd there is only a pedestrian crossing. An added safety bonus for peace of mind when they are travelling alone. He has only been late for school once when a tram broke down and blocked the line in West Bromwich; it didn't faze him, he followed the other commuters, walked to West Brom bus station and caught the No.74 to the Soho Rd. There were a few break-downs in the afternoons over the summer which I understand was due to the heat causing problems with the overhead lines, our back-up plan if the trams let him down is the No.74 to Dudley but this is quite a long journey.
Another bonus from the Winson Green stop is that it sits on 2 bus routes, both run very frequently. The No.101 runs up Nineveh Rd and drops them at the junction with Dawson Rd/Grove Lane, the No.11 runs up Boulton Rd then turns left onto the Soho Rd so they alight just after the left turn then walk back and up Dawson Rd. The first option means they do not have to cross the Soho Rd on foot, with the second option they still do. As others have said, the walk takes approx. 10 mins, slightly longer if they are chatting with friends and lose track of time, even longer if they go via the sweet shop
.
DS is now very confident at using public transport, the Metro is clean, quick and reliable and he feels safer on it than on buses. There are quite a few pupils who use the Winson Green stop, most travel to/from the Birmingham direction. A few travel to West Bromwich or change at The Hawthorns for the rail link. A small number get off at the stops around Bilston area and one or two go as far as Wolverhampton. He does try to meet up with others in the mornings but they sometimes miss each other as the trams are only about 6 minutes apart.
In the mornings he gets a lift to our nearest Metro stop - I drop him at 7:45am. The journey is 25 mins then a 10 minute walk (or bus as described above). In the afternoons he usually makes the 3:20pm tram to Wolverhampton (St George's) then gets the bus home. He copes well with this, enjoys the social time and even sometimes catches up with a bit of forgotten revision etc, not to be encouraged
Hope this helps those who are considering using the public transport option from this direction - any questions please ask.
We live between Dudley and Wolverhampton and DS has used the Metro since the beginning of Yr7 - now in Yr8. You are correct - there is no Green Bus service over here which would serve HGS. We could have chosen other grammar schools but decided on HGS as our first choice as the journey is so straight-forward. I am aware of the importance of distance and was not willing to commit him to a long and tiring daily commute. Driving him to school is not an option for us due to our working hours and so public transport was our only option.
We started getting him used to the journey at the end of Yr6 on the Open Night and Induction Day. We asked if there was any sort of 'travel buddy' system in place and were told there was not. This is because the staff 'cannot tell pupils who they have to go home with', this has to be an informal arrangement between parents /pupils but can only happen once term has started and they work out who travels where and how - unless you link up first on this forum of course! The first day of term fell on a Wednesday and I travelled with him there and back for the first 2 days, with the intention of doing this for at least the first week, however on the Friday morning he announced he was fine now and didn't need me to accompany him anymore!
DS has found the best way to school is to alight at Winson Green Outer Circle stop and walk straight up Boulton Rd. This is because Yrs 7 - 11 enter and exit the school via the back gate in Dawson Rd and not the front entrance in Grove Lane. I prefer him to cross the Soho Rd at the top of Boulton Rd as there is a central reservation and railings there as well as a pedestrian crossing, whereas at the top of Nineveh Rd there is only a pedestrian crossing. An added safety bonus for peace of mind when they are travelling alone. He has only been late for school once when a tram broke down and blocked the line in West Bromwich; it didn't faze him, he followed the other commuters, walked to West Brom bus station and caught the No.74 to the Soho Rd. There were a few break-downs in the afternoons over the summer which I understand was due to the heat causing problems with the overhead lines, our back-up plan if the trams let him down is the No.74 to Dudley but this is quite a long journey.
Another bonus from the Winson Green stop is that it sits on 2 bus routes, both run very frequently. The No.101 runs up Nineveh Rd and drops them at the junction with Dawson Rd/Grove Lane, the No.11 runs up Boulton Rd then turns left onto the Soho Rd so they alight just after the left turn then walk back and up Dawson Rd. The first option means they do not have to cross the Soho Rd on foot, with the second option they still do. As others have said, the walk takes approx. 10 mins, slightly longer if they are chatting with friends and lose track of time, even longer if they go via the sweet shop
.DS is now very confident at using public transport, the Metro is clean, quick and reliable and he feels safer on it than on buses. There are quite a few pupils who use the Winson Green stop, most travel to/from the Birmingham direction. A few travel to West Bromwich or change at The Hawthorns for the rail link. A small number get off at the stops around Bilston area and one or two go as far as Wolverhampton. He does try to meet up with others in the mornings but they sometimes miss each other as the trams are only about 6 minutes apart.
In the mornings he gets a lift to our nearest Metro stop - I drop him at 7:45am. The journey is 25 mins then a 10 minute walk (or bus as described above). In the afternoons he usually makes the 3:20pm tram to Wolverhampton (St George's) then gets the bus home. He copes well with this, enjoys the social time and even sometimes catches up with a bit of forgotten revision etc, not to be encouraged
Hope this helps those who are considering using the public transport option from this direction - any questions please ask.
Re: The Green Bus from Handsworth Boys
HiLategate wrote:I’ve had a reply from the green bus company, basically saying that they won’t operate a Wolverhampton route as they need at least 70 passengers to make it viable. There aren’t 70 passengers travelling from Wolverhampton (I wonder if they’re missing the point that they pick passengers up en route..?) but they didn’t reply about a service that serves the boys school. So i’ll email them again.Ricky74 wrote:I wonder where it pulled in when it used to pickup there?
Lategate, thanks, will see what they say.
We are near Bilston, the metro is the best bet from Wolverhampton. My son is in year 7, the current situation is that my FIL is driving him there in the morning, I do the same on Friday mornings, then DS is either buddying up with another year 7 student or is collected by FIL and they come home on the metro. I’ve collected him and brought him back on the metro, there’s a few older HGS students on there too. It’s efficient and simple to use, avoiding the dreadful traffic around the Soho Road.jym wrote:Hi
We are based in wolverhampton and i cant see any route option available for us using the green bus. We are looking at handsworth grammer, has anyone got any experience using the tram service from Wolverhampton? If anyone could share the rxperience and provide more info on times etc that would be helpfull. Thanks
The plan is to get the winter out of the way, then DS will be taking the metro to school in the mornings too.
Hope that helps.
Edited to actually answer the questions. DS gets on the metro at Winson Green at about 3:20 and is in Bilston for 3:50. We haven’t done the morning route yet, but I reckon he would need to get the metro at about 7:30 for a comfortable walk to school and some time to visit his locker and the toilet before school.
If you need travel buddies there will be a couple of boys around on the metro travelling to HGS. Feel free to ask on here too, we would be happy for the boys to buddy up and walk together to and from the metro.
Many thanks for the info, we are also in Bilston and its great to know other people are using the tram service as this is the only viable option I could find. Hopefully will take you up on the offer of travel buddies thanks again for the info.
