Secret dates, jam sandwiches and school trips - mayor hopeful promises to bring back Number 11 bus

It was a summer day out for kids in Balsall Heath for the princely sum of 17p, the location of snatched kisses and romantic rendezvous galore, sometimes along with a bag of chips, and a vital lifeline for young workers. Now mayoral hopeful Richard Parker has promised to bring back the iconic Number 11 bus route as a full circular route.

It's a pledge that's gone down well with nostalgic Brummies. Labour candidate Parker says if he becomes mayor next week (voting on Thursday May 2nd) he would franchise bus services across the region - a way of bringing them back under public control. And one of his first moves will be to make the Number 11 route a full circuit again.

The number 11 bus is a Birmingham institution, so famous it has its own Wikipedia page. Once called an ‘icon’ of the city, the legendary bus route, which has run since 1926, was once the longest in Europe - and it has fascinated generations of Brummies for decades.

EAD MORE: Labour mayor candidate Richard Parker's five key manifesto pledges

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But in 2021 it was split in half, creating two separate routes, meaning passengers have to alight in Acocks Green to catch a different bus for onward journeys. Brummie MP Jess Phillips (Birmingham Yardley ) is backing her Labour colleague's call to bring back the circular and in a Twitter thread she asked people to share their memories of the iconic route - triggering an outporing of love for the route and calls for its return.

Radley Russell shared: "Once went on a date on the 11 bus route - bag of chips - it was my treat to her. Nice, cheap and cheerful. Did the whole route …didn’t see her for the next date on the number 8 (inner circle) route!"

Simon Dalling added: "I lived on the number 11 bus route in Bournville, we didn’t have a car until I was about 13 so it was walk or get the bus. Without the number 11, I would have had to travel into the city centre and back out again."

Said JohnJ: "Both myself and my wife as youngsters used the Number 11 to get to our Nan’s houses. Many hours travelled on this route. It’s not ‘public’ transport any more - only profit is considered."

Said Lesley Wilcox: "Every Saturday as kids we would get on the 11 at Bromford Lane (my Nans) go all the way round the circle, sometimes we went clockwise just for the change. Bottle of pop and jam sandwiches it was better than a day trip to Blackpool - happy days."

Gwyn Howard Davies joined in the nostalgia: "Omg - I live in Harborne..in the 70’s my Dad used to get me and my sister to sit on the front of the top deck of the No11 as a treat if we’d been good …we were so excited and used to shout “Yes ! We’re going on the circle”..cheap day out for our family , what a memory."

Paul wrote: "It was a big part of my dating life. Lived in Erdington, went out with a girl from Acocks Green - used the 11 to see her. Went out with a girl in Hall Green - used the 11 to see her. We also used to get the 11 to the Swan at Yardley. Without the 11 it just wouldn't have happened."

Carola studied on the bus, writing: "I did much of the reading for my Open University degree on the top deck of the #Number11. My Cotteridge to Witton commute through the city was shorter but the 11 went door to door and gave me extra study time. Usually via Bearwood but often via Yardley if I fancied a change."

It also triggered sayings, as one Brummie recalled: "Back in the 80s, if something was really depressing, me and my friends used to say 'it's worse than travelling on the number 11 on a Sunday, all the way round'."

The current service, with its half way disembarkation to get a different onward bus, is a frustration, said some passengers. One gent said: "I used the No 11 regularly until they changed the route, the last three times I did travel, from Acocks Green to Witton, we were thrown off at Erdington and told the road was busy so redirecting, get off. As someone with walking difficulties this was not good."

Another said: "My brother used to drive the 11 and it used to do the full circle. 11a means anticlockwise and 11c clockwise. If you want to go further than Acocks Green now you have to get off and wait up to half hour for the next one. The sooner public transport is run for the public the better."

Phillips, reacting to the response, said: "The stories from people about the 11 bus are making my heart sing. To outsiders it might seem like a small thing that the route has been ruined, but to us it matters. This is our patriotism! Vote Richard Parker to get the 11 bus back!"

It's a small example of the type of change Parker says would happen more smoothly and easily if the bus service for the West Midlands was franchised. He announced his plan at National Express's Perry Barr depot earlier this month, with the backing of Labour's transport lead Lou Haigh and deputy leader Angela Rayner.

"We will bring the buses back under public control and by doing so we can work closely with partners to ensure routes and times meet the needs of passengers and communities, not the other way around. We can also work more closely on issues like bus priority schemes," he said. He has also pledged to work up a full contactless integrated 'tap and go' scheme.

Parker has estimated the franchising operation could cost as little as £25 million to bring in, based on expert costings that have a positive bias because the network, IT and services are already in place. His main rival for the mayoralty, Andy Street, disputes the costings and says it would cost more than £100m and potentially make little impact for passengers.

Mr Street, Conservative, has already said he would instigate a full review first before deciding the best way forward, claiming bus services have improved significantly under his mayoral guidance. He has also secured funding for an improved integrated Swift card for passengers switching between different types of transport.

When asked if she would support bus franchising, Alex Jensen, in charge of the region's biggest bus company National Express, said the company had no skin in the political game and did not oppose franchising. "We all want the same thing - a public transport system that people can rely on. Franchising is the model in many cities in Europe where we operate successfully."

You can find a list of all of the mayoral candidates and a glimpse of what they stand for here.

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