West Midlands Bus route 8

(Redirected from Birmingham Inner Circle)

West Midlands Bus route 8, also known as the Birmingham Inner Circle, is a roughly circular bus route in Birmingham, England.[1] It follows the city's middle ring road with some small deviations on parts of the route. The service dates back to the days of Birmingham City Transport.

8
Overview
OperatorNational Express West Midlands
GaragePerry Barr
VehicleScania OmniLink
Route
StartSaltley or Bordesley Green
ViaBirmingham Inner Ring Road
EndSaltley or Bordesley Green

Present

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Like the Outer Circle service 11, buses on the 8 travel both anti-clockwise (8A) and clockwise (8C).[2] The service is operated by National Express West Midlands with Scania OmniLink single deck buses, and was formerly operated by Mercedes-Benz O405N buses, several of which were branded for the Inner Circle.[3]

In 2004, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre staged the musical "Ridin' The Number 8" by Laurie Hornsby and Euan Rose, in which a cast of 'Brummie' characters board an Inner Circle bus and reminisce about the people and places they encounter along the route.[4]

In October 2020, the 8 transferred to Perry Barr garage upon the closure of Bordesley; where the routes had been operated since 2005.

Route

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(Anti-clockwise from Saltley Gate, Alum Rock. Opposite direction for clockwise)[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Network West Midlands - Timetable search". jp.networkwestmidlands.com.
  2. ^ West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive, existence of both Birmingham circular routes 11 and 8.
  3. ^ National Express West Midlands, buses used on route 8 are from the Bordsley Depot
  4. ^ "Birmingham Rep Show Page". Archived from the original on 19 June 2004.

Further reading

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M.Hanson, D. Harvey and P. Drake The Inner Circle - Birmingham's No. 8 Bus Route. Tempus 2002.

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