Had a great experience catching a train from here to London. Quick drop off by my Uber at the drop…read moreoff and. A quick walk inside the station and they thought of the ones with suitcases and had a non step entrance! Yay! That's what they call it ! We grabbed a quick coffee and found our platform easily and thankfully they have escalators. The train had just pulled in and we were able to get on and get settled and took off right on time . Found a spot for our suitcases as soon as we get on close to our seats which we had reserved and were easy to find. Smooth ride and very efficient. Would go from here again if I need to. Nice central Birmingham location too.

This is a pretty massive station, though to be honest it can be pretty annoying to make your way…read morearound. Like, there are four zones, no doubt matching the platforms where the trains arrive. The thing is that you have to touch off and touch on to move between the zones. However, they happen to have quite a lot of shops here, and pubs, yeah, they have pubs as well, and a place to dump your bags as well, which is pretty cool.

Tesco Kidsgrove 10.05 Tuesday 12.5.15. May I offer my praise…read moreto the bus driver who seeing an elderly gentleman tottering down a slope went to his aid. He got there before me! He carried the gentleman's bag and walked backwards down the slope to monitor his progress. What an ambassador for your company! In today's world it is so easy to moan ;your employee showed that he was a caring,genuine human being. Well done!

It may seem a little strange to review a bus route, but this is my most used bus route in…read moreBirmingham. This route runs from the Bullring to Moseley and Kings Heath (and beyond, but I don't travel "beyond") and is incredibly regular. Travel West Midlands fares have increased somewhat since I first moved to Birmingham, but a single is now £2.20 or a daysaver (unlimited bus services) £4.20. The service runs as often as every 6 minutes (and is hardly ever empty in my experience) and actually runs for 24 hours. After 11pm or midnight, it reduces to every 1 hour. You can check the timetable online, via their app or at the stop itself (it has a electronic display which lets you know when the bus is due). To get from the Bullring to Moseley, it takes around 10 - 12 minutes (Kings Heath, around 15). The buses have always been pretty clean when I've used them. As this is a popular route, they tend to update the fleet fairly regularly and keep them all in top order. I've never had a problem with the bus breaking down mid-route (a sight which is fairly familiar on the Birmingham network). Again, I don't use the buses very often - but I will always catch the number 50 when I'm planning on having an evening out in Moseley or Kings Heath. With it's late service, it's reliable and an easy (and cheaper) way to get around.

The 50 is a legend in Birmingham…read more I don't mean the type of legend you describe your mate as when he manages to drink 12 pints and a double curry without being hospitalised. It is the "Most Regular" bus service in Europe which when you are standing waiting for one in horrible traffic seems unlikely. But during the day there is pretty much one at the Birmingham City Centre terminus by Selfridges almost non-stop. It's a legend because of the people and they are amazing. There might be someone preaching one minute someone singing another, You get spoken to by the public no matter how much you want them to leave you alone. 2014 saw it become a 24 hour service with hourly busses in the night. It hadn't had a proper night service in years, if ever. Tip: Don't sit by anyone :-)

I used to catch Diamond buses all the time, mainly because they were a much cheaper option to get…read moreto and from town when compared to West Midlands travel. But now, for 10p dearer, and the option to buy a day saver, West Midlands travel beats Diamond's (£1.80* single) service hands down; Unless you're only making one journey that is. If this bus service was more regular, I would probably use it more often, and buy a return/day saver. But at the moment, it's likely that you'll be waiting quite sometime for a return bus with Diamond, so it makes more sense to purchase a day saver ticket (£3.80*) with the consistent and reliable West Midlands service. However, particularly regarding the 17 route, there does seem to be an increase in this service, so maybe I will switch over to using them if they become more constant in other areas (such as the 50 route). Nevertheless, the only truly great fact about Diamond is the super fast time it takes to get to the city centre (mainly because nobody really catches it, so it doesn't stop very often!)

My first impressions of the Diamond buses were completely positive. I mean, eliminate flooring,…read moreleather seats, what's not to like. It's only been since I've began to buy a day-saver with the Travel West Midland buses, that Diamond have started to arrive at the completely wrong time, becoming more and more frustrating due to the fact that I'd have to spend another £1.80 just to use the bus. If all Birmingham based buses were tied to the same company this would not be an issue, but sadly, it is. These specific buses aren't as regular as Travel West Midland, so based on that fact and their ability to arrive at the worst possible points; I'm not a fan.

Disgusting Attitude from most of the drivers, 36 buses never seem to turn up at night. I was…read morewaiting for the 22:15 bus which never turned up, I then asked the 35 if it was possible if he could radio their controllers to see where it was and the driver on the 35 refused. I don't know why I've paid £570 for the year for terrible customer service.

great bus service, the buses i use are either early or on time, never usually late…read moresome bus drivers can be a bit mardy but overall, they are very friendly and are always happy to answer any questions you may have the only problem really is noisy passengers who play music too loud or feel they have the run of the bus so to speak and mess about as much as they feel the bus service overall though is generally good

Some things in life never change. One of these is probably Erdington station. You can be almost…read moreguaranteed that as you pass through it on your way into town, you'll see some poor sod running up the ramp from the street to try and catch the train you're on (the same frequently happens at Wylde Green too). As a station, Erdington does its job and does little more (but then, what more would it need to do?) It's got a waiting room (on the Brum-bound platform) and a bus-shelter on the Lichfield-headed one. The ticket office is located on the street at the entrance to the Brum platform. As the line runs over the road, the station is high up, which is why there's the ramp for people to always be running up. The station is about 10 minutes walk from the middle of Erdington and so if you're going to Erdington from anywhere in all honesty, you're probably better off getting one of the many buses that arrive in all directions and stop right by the High Street.

The new West Bromwich Bus Station is ten times better than the old station. The old station was…read morepretty embarrassing and was one of the worst bus stations I have ever seen. The station was run down and it was obvious it needed improving. Now West Bromwich Bus Station is a vast improvement from the old one. The new station has an information centre where you can get information on the different bus routes that operate within the Black Country and the West Midlands area. You can also get information on travelcards and fares. The buses that stop at West Bromwich Bus Station travel to various towns and cities in the West Midlands. There are buses that go to Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley etc. The Bus Station is also opposite the West Bromwich Central Tram Station. National Express and Diamond buses operate at West Bromwich Bus Station. Waiting for buses can be a real nightmare and I have experienced times where I have waited half an hour for a bus during the daytime when they should be coming at least every ten minutes.

As a public transport user many stations are super cold and drafty despite new builds (see Walsall…read morebus station for a concrete nightmare). West Brom bus station is perfectly located with the central tram stop across the road and it's accessibility and connection to the central shopping area through Kings Square indoor shopping centre. For a change it s a station with great signage, an information centre and really usable display boards for all the buses. With buses to Walsall running regularly and it only taking 20/30mins it is one of the better transport connections. At least with all the glass corridor designs it is much warmer and weather resistant than more open plan stations and much easier to navigate between the stops even if you are down the one end as it's such an accessible bus station. If you find your self stuck here then there could be much worse places to end up.

Once again, an English city that has multiple railway termini because, well, privatised railways…read more Then again, when it was built the only people investing in railways were private companies. However, this station is pretty massive. In fact it is so big that it is really quite easy to get lost in it. In fact, there are like four areas where you go to catch a train, and two of them don't meet (which means you have to exit, and then enter again). Anyway, this station isn't bad, and it even has a pub in it, which is cool.

Birmingham Moor Street might be one of the smaller stations in the city centre, and it might not be…read moreas big, bold and modern, while also lacking the number of railway services compared to New Street, but Birmingham Moor Street just has something I like. Its minimalistic style is beautiful and rather nice, it feels like a traditional old British railway station done well, even down to the platform numbers. It is right opposite the Bullring, I would recommend heading to a store inside there, or perhaps Subway to get some food for the train, as other than a few small stores, there isn't much on offer here especially if you are making a long journey. The station is managed by Chiltern Railways and is the terminus of their route into London Marleybone. Services are also offered by West Midlands Railway. Many of the services from this station are mainly local services, into the likes of Birmingham Snow Hill and Solihull, sadly there are no connections into Birmingham International (For the Airport and NEC). I found the staff at the station to be a little rude and unhelpful, which was a sad first interaction with Chiltern Railways. 3* - Traditional old station with a good feel to it, obviously the lack of services and unfriendly staff do let it down and I will always prefer travelling via New Street, but this isn't a bad alternative.

Chiltern's head office is actually based in Banbury, but they are well worth mentioning in a…read moreBirmingham context. They provide trains that run from Snow Hill and Moor Street to London Marylebone, with various stops at nice places like Banbury, Bicester and Harrow-on-the-Hill. I personally find travelling into Marylebone a far more relaxing experience than the New Street journey into Euston. The prices always strike me as more reasonable too, with an off-peak return fixed at £25.00. Chiltern Trains are in much better condition than the Virgin trains and they provide FREE WIFI on routes out of Moor Street, which is pretty awesome. I get quite gushy when talking about Chiltern, but I honestly think that their standard class beats Virgin First Class.

It's the free wifi that gets @chilternrailway the extra star. Not that it always works so not…read moreideal if you're 100% relying on it but certainly handy for emails. Chiltern have some shiny new trains which are clean and comfortable. Going from Moor St or Snow Hill (or both) adds to the convenience with the back entrance of Snow Hill being a mere 5 minute brisk walk from home for me. They also get you from Brum to London in 1 hour 39 minutes if you get on the right train! As with all train journeys, the further in advance you book, the less you pay too. Both stations have the glorious Centenary Lounge which is a bonus but there is often a refreshments trolly on board, which I 'm told they try and have on as many journeys as possible. Chiltern offer a great service too. I know trains don't run always (!) run on time on any network and it's not alway the fault of the train company but as long as they keep us informed, eh.