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National Express West Midlands strike on Monday 20 March 2023

As promised we write to provide an update with the limited information we have available to us at this time. You may be aware that NXWM bus drivers have voted for an indefinite strike commencing at 0001 on Monday 20 March 2023. This means that there will be no NXWM buses running that day, and potentially on subsequent days until the dispute is resolved.

 

The key points are these:

 

  1. NXWM run about 97% of the buses in the West Midlands (so almost the entirety of the bus network will not run).

 

  1. No other bus operator (including The Green Bus) is on strike: their services will operate as normal.

 

  1. The Green Bus expect their services to be extremely busy on Monday, and they may well not have sufficient capacity to satisfy demand.

 

  1. Pupils who are not currently a customer may use their services by purchasing a ticket on the myTrip app – this is the only payment method we accept – https://mytrip.today/

 

  1. They will give priority to their annual season ticketholders as much as they can, but this will not be easy to achieve on the way to school.

 

We will be as understanding and compassionate as we can with regard to lateness, punctuality and absence from school during this time. It is not of our or your making. We will run hybrid lessons on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week so that those students unable to attend at the start of the week due to the Bus strike can join lessons remotely and not miss their classes. Depending how long the strike is in operation for we will review the situation. However please make alternative plans for travel to and from school if your child usually uses the bus network operated by NXWM. Please alert school to your child’s absence due to the Bus strike via Schoolcomms.

 

Although it’s NXWM’s job to update you on their services, that’s unlikely to happen. We will update you as much as we can if and when we hear of developments.