Bus transport in Bromsgrove has a long and varied history, dating back to Midland Red operations. In recent years, however, First Midland Red, which has evolved from the original Midland Red company, has severely reduced operations, leaving many independent operators running in the town.
Current operators
First Midland Red
First operate a single service in the town, the 144/144A route which ran to Birmingham in one direction and Worcester in the other. Service 144A terminated at Catshill instead of Birmingham. First previously operated many other services in the town, but in March 2013, the First depots at Kidderminster and Redditch were purchased by Diamond Bus. As of 1st May 2022 the 144A Has been renamed to 144 and the 144 has been withdrawn cancelling out the Birmingham section but National Express now operate a 20 from Bromsgrove to QE Hospital First sells Worcestershire bus services (From Redditch Advertiser) With effect from 1 May 2022, all journeys on service 144 terminate at Catshill, no longer continuing into Birmingham. The company states that insufficient passengers are carried between Catshill and Birmingham to make the section viable. As of June 2025, the X20 service runs from Birmingham City Centre and Bromsgrove replacing the 20 route.
Diamond West Midlands
Diamond operate the 52 service from Kidderminster to Redditch via Bromsgrove and Charford, and the 52A from Bromsgrove to Redditch Bus Station (formerly from the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bromsgrove to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch). Further expansion resulted from the acquisition of the Kidderminster and Redditch depots of First Midland Red.
Diamond additionally operates the 145/145A service between Rubery and Longbridge railway station to Droitwich Spa or Wychbold, via Bromsgrove and Barnt Green. Diamond announced that, from the 5th January 2025, the 145 would no longer serve Rubery, Droitwich and Wychbold, and the 145A would be withdrawn. Following County Council intervention, the planned changes have been cancelled while funding for the service is discussed.
Previous services Diamond had previously operated the commercial 64 service to Birmingham from Bromsgrove and its replacement, service 144. Diamond also operated the 007 prior to Midland Rider taking it over. Diamond restarted operations on the 007, which has been renumbered to the 147 service, and taken over by Kev's Cars and Coaches.
National Express West Midlands
Travel West Midlands formerly operated the 145 route in the town, alongside a single journey on the 318 route. They last operated in the town on 28 June 2003.Calls to save bus service (From Dudley News)
Following renaming as National Express West Midlands, the operator returned services to the town, when they began operating new service 144A from Longbridge, partly replacing First Midland Red service 144. This service has now been renumbered X20 and extended to Birmingham City Centre having replaced the 20 service in June 2025.
MRD Travel MRD operate a number of local services in the Bromsgrove area, mostly under contract to Worcestershire County Council. They have been operating since December 2003.
Previous operators
Redline Redline were a small local operator registered in School Lane, Lickey End, Bromsgrove. They operated local services 33, 92, 95, 96, 97, 98, 318, 319 and S23.Body A previous incarnation of the company had previously operated in Redditch on the 57 and 58 services, though the partnership broke up in 1989.Redline Bus Company
Current routes NumberFromToViaCurrent OperatorImage39B Bromsgrove Longbridge Catshill, Barnt Green, Alvechurch WMSNT The 39B route was launched in September 2012 to link the town to Bournville College in Longbridge.New route for Bromsgrove and Redditch bus users (From Bromsgrove Advertiser)Users of new bus service offered chance to travel for free (From Redditch Advertiser) Service has since been withdrawn.90 Bromsgrove Catshill MRD Travel The current incarnation of the 90 route is operated by MRD Travel. It is an infrequent service, interworked with services 91 and 322. The service started on 10 February 2004 replacing the previous Clearway 94 service.How's that for a bus service? (From Bromsgrove Advertiser) Extra journeys were added on 5 September 2005.91 Catshill Lickey End MRD Travel The history of this service dates back to when it was a short working of the 90/91 Bromsgrove - Catshill circulars, and it has also been numbered as a short working of the 143. The current route is a school service, for Catshill Middle School, with one journey in each direction on school days. It was registered as a stand-alone service by First on 4 September 2003, to be later withdrawn on 12 June 2005.93 Bromsgrove Charford Clearway, MRD Travel This route was operated by First Midland Red until end of service on 1 September 2008 when First de-registered the route; two days later it was taken over by Clearway of Catshill. It was originally operated to the same timetable, but from 31 August 2008 most off peak journeys were withdrawn. MRD Travel now run a handful of journeys on the route.9798 Bromsgrove Sidemoor / Foxwalks Cofton Coaches These routes were taken over from Rover Coaches by Redline on 3 September 1990, though Rover Coaches continued to operate in competition. Originally a Monday - Friday only service, this was extended to Saturdays on 3 November 1990.Worcester Bus Web Pages - "R" - Accessed 1 March 2009 Operation continued by Redline until the company ceased trading in 1998, when the routes were taken over by First Midland Red. Four years later Pete's Travel won the contract to operate the services on 3 November 2002, only to de-register them on 4 September 2003 when they were once again taken over by First Midland Red. Less than a year later, on 18 April 2004, the services once again changed hands, and they were then operated by Cofton Coaches.First Midland Red Bus Service News - Accessed 1 March 2009 These services have now been withdrawn.99 Bromsgrove Charford Clearway When first registered, the 99 route was Catshill - Bromsgrove - Charford, though it was later curtailed to run Bromsgrove - Charford only. Currently operated by Clearway in addition to the 93 service.141 Bromsgrove Droitwich Stoke Prior, Wychbold Diamond West Midlands This route was operated by Midland Red West until 31 August 1996 when the contract was lost to the Little Red Bus Company. An evening service was not included in this contract and so it was withdrawn from that date. Operation of the service returned to Midland Red West some years later. On 18 April 2004, service 140 was withdrawn and the 141 was reduced to operate at peak times only; off peak services were replaced by a new 940 service, which is pre-bookable by telephone.More bus changes are on the way (From Bromsgrove Advertiser) The 140 variant of this service was withdrawn on 14 April 2013.http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cms/pdf/2013-04-04%20Bus%20Service%20Changes.pdf
From 12 April 2009, Diamond Bus won the contract to operate this service once again as routes 140 and 141, replacing First. This service no longer runs.142143 MarlbrookPrincess of Wales Hospital Redditch Tardebigge, Aston Fields, Bromsgrove Diamond West Midlands The first incarnation of the 143 route ran from Birmingham - Bromsgrove - Charford, eventually being changed to run Birmingham - Bromsgrove - Redditch - Alexandra Hospital, though the hospital extension was withdrawn in the late 1990s. 18 April 2004 saw the first of many changes to the route, it being re-routed in the Catshill area to replace the withdrawn 94 service. A year later on 12 June 2005 the 143 route was cut back to run Catshill - Bromsgrove - Redditch only, with its frequency halved.Town services facing the axe (From Bromsgrove Advertiser) 4 September 2005 saw the route further cut back to run Bromsgrove - Redditch; an increase in the frequency of the 144 route made the Bromsgrove - Catshill section redundant.Shake-up for bus timetable (From Bromsgrove Advertiser)
Hardings Coaches and Johnsons Coaches took over several journeys throughout 2006 and 2007 - the first operation on the route by an operator other than First Midland Red in the route's history. On 8 June 2008 several journeys were re-routed in the Bromsgrove area to serve the Charford estate. Diamond Bus won the contract to operate several journeys on 31 August 2008, replacing Hardings Coaches and Johnsons Coaches on the route.
From 5 January 2009 many journeys were once again extended to Birmingham, though now operating via Lickey End, rather than Catshill.Reddibus Service Changes This is in competition with Diamond Bus, who shortly after dropped their fares to match those of First.
In March 2013, First's Redditch operation (which runs this service) was sold to Diamond Bus who have continued operation on this route. However the service, now numbered 43, has since been cut to operate between Redditch and Bromsgrove only.144/144A Birmingham Worcester Rubery, Marlbrook, Catshill, Bromsgrove, Droitwich First Services on the 144 corridor running between Droitwich and Great Malvern go back to 1913, eventually being extended to Birmingham in 1914. At that time the route was numbered 25, and later 125. The 144 number came into use on 11 February 1928. The Malvern - Worcester section was withdrawn in 1976. Diamond Bus had a brief stint operating part of the route in competition with First. First later cut the number of through journeys from 4 to 2, numbering the short workings between Worcester and Catshill 144A. All journeys terminated at Catshill from 1 May 2022 and were renumbered 144.20 Droitwich Queen Elizabeth Hospital Catshill, Rubery, Northfield, Queen Elizabeth Hospital National Express West Midlands The 20 was introduced as the 144A by National Express West Midlands on 3 May 2022 as a part replacement for the withdrawn section of First Midland Red's 144 as far as Longbridge. It was renumbered 20 and extended to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in 2023 and now runs hourly Mon-Sat, two hourly on Sundays.145, 145A Droitwich Longbridge Bromsgrove, Lickey End, Burcot, Barnt Green Diamond West Midlands The 145 is operated by Diamond West Midlands. In the past it has been operated by Travel West Midlands and First Midland Red. The full route used to run from Birmingham to Bromsgrove via the Pershore road, however it was curtailed to Cotteridge when taken over by Zak's Buses in 2003 (later Central Connect and Diamond Bus). First Midland Red took over the route in September 2011 when it was revised to run between Bromsgrove and Longbridge only.
In March 2013, First's Redditch operation (which ran this service) was sold to Diamond Bus who have continued operation on this route. It has since been extended to serve Droitwich in competition with First's service 144/144A. 147 Catshill Halesowen Romsley Kev's Cars and Coaches The 147 was introduced from 1 September 2014 as a replacement for the 007 route which had been withdrawn by Diamond Bus. It was an extension of the 144A route, following the same line of route as the 144A between Worcester and Catshill and the same route as the 007 between Catshill and Halesowen. It provided an increased frequency of one bus per hour, compared to the 007's frequency of one bus per 90 minutes.