Growth on Sapphire 110

Bus patronage has increased by over 10.2% year on year following the introduction of Arriva Midland’s Sapphire 110, which runs between Tamworth, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington and Birmingham. The service is now to benefit from roadside real-time signs and smart ticketing. Introduced on the route in October last year, were nine new ADL Enviro400s featuring free Wi-Fi, real time information, power and USB sockets, next bus stop audio/visual information and leather-style seats in a £2m investment. They benefit from an enhanced cleaning regime and the drivers have been given additional training. A marketing and publicity programme has been introduced to promote it, alongside fares and ticketing offers and a no quibbles money back guarantee if customers are not satisfied.

Regional MD for Arriva Midlands, Alex Perry, said, ‘We’re pleased to continue working in partnership with both Staffordshire County Council and Centro to deliver new initiatives including the development of our commercial products onto smartcard along with Real Time Information and the use of TGX ticket machine technology.’