On board a bus service set for a big overhaul

Cross City Bus Package 6 will see improvements made to the Number 74 bus route between Birmingham and West Bromwich

05:30, 16 Apr 2026

While there are a number of challenges using buses (overcrowding, smelly passengers, wailing kids, people yet to discover the wonder of headphones), the soul-destroying length some journeys can take is probably the biggest.

Congestion at any time of the day seems to be an accepted way of life in the West Midlands, despite the frustration it causes for those on the road network.

But its impact on bus timetables and reliability can be hugely negative and off-putting for people reluctant to leave their cars.

READ MORE: Inside the ‘forgotten’ Birmingham estate where piles of bin strike rubbish loom large

Last month, West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) Investment Board backed plans for a £15.5 million overhaul of a bus service covering one of Birmingham’s busiest routes.

The Cross City Bus Package 6 West scheme covers the Number 74 service and will see priority measures put in place between Birmingham City Centre and West Bromwich, including Soho Road in Handsworth.

It is hoped the scheme will help improve journey times and reliability by enabling services to bypass congestion on busy routes.

But how important is this project and is it needed? I decided to hop on board the Number 74 from Birmingham City Centre to find out.

There are a number of schools along Soho Road so I opted to get the 3.05pm bus from Colmore Circus in order to catch some of that traffic and get as full a picture as possible.

My chariot was awaiting me when I got there but there were dozens of people ready to pile on so I feared I wouldn’t get a seat.

Fortunately I did and, once everyone was on board, the driver pulled off and we were on our way.

Surprisingly, the bus moved quickly and effortlessly through the Jewellery Quarter, with little traffic on the roads.

Sure, it wasn’t rush hour and the golden mile of Soho Road was still ahead of us, but I began to think this was going to be a breeze and I’d soon reach the promised land of West Bromwich bus station.

That is until we navigated Hockley Circus and the traffic started building up along Soho Hill.

By the Rose Hill Road junction traffic lights, we were caught in a large queue. When we did move, we crawled short distances before having to stop again.

Of course, the bus stops kept coming so people would disembark to be replaced by a fresh batch of passengers.

My blissful memory of gliding through the city centre was now distant and suddenly I had doubts we’d make it to West Brom on time (the timetable said the journey should take 48 minutes).

Still, a glance outside the window revealed the monstrous line of cars on the other side of the road, heading back to the city centre, stuck in a jam. I thought I was suffering heading out of Birmingham but I didn’t know I was born.

One good thing about this journey was I was able to take in the sights and sounds of the street we were stuck on.

I was reminded how vibrant, colourful and bustling Soho Road is with the schools, places of worship, the plethora of Asian shops selling jewellery, clothes, food and sweets, general convenience stores and, er, a Cash Generator.

We finally started moving a little more freely by the time we got to the ‘Thank You For Visiting Soho Road’ sign.

There weren’t many school pupils on the bus and it was difficult not to believe they were in the cars clogging up both sides of the road, which is rather sad and disappointing.

Perhaps my disappointment was misplaced and home time was earlier than I assumed. Perhaps an earlier bus had been chock full of students making their way home.

By the time we reached the Hawthorns, traffic eased and the bus was once again moving way above snail’s pace.

Getting to West Bromwich town centre was easy from this point and we made it to the bus station at 4.05pm, eight minutes later than scheduled.

That might not sound like a lot but I suspected the traffic coming out of the city centre was only going to get worse in rush hour.

I pity the people who have to negotiate that journey daily – even more so those travelling into Birmingham as the queue of traffic was bigger than my overdraft on the other side of the road.

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But, to help me fully empathise with those poor souls, I decided to hop on the 74 and head back to Birmingham City Centre.

The packed bus I was on left the station at 4.12pm and I braced myself for an even tougher journey.

Amazingly, the journey back turned out to be a little less painful than expected. Sure, there were queues and the bus was full of people getting on and off along the way.

But the traffic I’d observed from the window of my West Brom bound bus seemed to have disappeared completely. Just like the cars in The Truman Show when Jim Carrey’s character stopped trying to leave town (ask your parents, kids).

I was back in Birmingham in 45 or so minutes – pretty much on time which was an unexpected surprise.

But, I’m sorry, there is no way it should take the best part of an hour to travel less than seven miles. Especially when traffic isn’t even at its worst.

A quicker and more reliable bus service will boost the areas it serves and might even encourage people out of their cars, bringing a heap of other benefits too.

For hundreds of daily Number 74 passengers, I suspect the Cross City Bus can’t come soon enough.