53-561: The Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV is a battery electric double-decker bus produced by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis in partnership with Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD Auto since 2018. Based on its Alexander Dennis Enviro400 City body, which was launched in 2015 to compete with the hybrid electric New Routemaster , the Enviro400EV is produced at Alexander Dennis' Falkirk and Scarborough factories in
106-673: A "Millennium City". The Forensic Science Service , Linpac , Lafarge Cement UK and IMI plc are on the Birmingham Business Park in Bickenhill . The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is just north. ZF Lemförder UK 's site at Bickenhill makes axle modules for Land Rover. Newey and Eyre , Britain's largest electrical wholesaler, is at Sheldon. Neopost UK is off the A452. Goodrich UK is in Shirley . TRW Conekt have
159-531: A good local infrastructure. Coventry was one of England's most important cities during the Middle Ages , with its prosperity built upon wool and cloth manufacture. Birmingham and Wolverhampton have a tradition of industry dating back to the 16th century, when small metal-working industries developed. Birmingham was known for its manufacture of small arms , whereas Wolverhampton became a centre of lock manufacture and brass working. The coal and iron ore deposits of
212-547: A height of 227 metres (745 ft). There are 23 Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the county. One of these SSSIs is Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield, which has an area of 970 hectares (2,400 acres). As a result, it is one of the largest urban parks in Europe, and the largest outside of a capital city in Europe. The park also has national nature reserve status. There are numerous rivers that pass through
265-707: A main automotive engineering research centre at The Green Business Park in Shirley Heath. The Mormons (Latter Day Saints) have their European HQ in Solihull. The UK's VAT Registration Service , for Value Added Tax is at HMRC in Wolverhampton. Flint Ink UK in the east of the town centre, was the largest ink supplier in the British Empire , before being bought in 1998. Turner Powertrain Systems
318-543: A strongly rural character. A smaller piece of green belt between Birmingham, Walsall and West Bromwich includes Barr Beacon and the Sandwell Valley . The highest point in the West Midlands is Turners Hill , with a height of 271 m (889 ft). The hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest . Barr Beacon is another hill in the West Midlands, located on the border of Birmingham and Walsall, with
371-460: Is also used for the much larger West Midlands region , which sometimes causes confusion. Geographically the county is on the eastern side of the region, the western side comprising Shropshire and Herefordshire and the southern side comprising Worcestershire and Warwickshire . Although the modern county has only existed since 1974, the settlements of the West Midlands have long been important centres of commerce and industry as well as developing
424-690: Is based in the West Midlands. The national headquarters of One Stop is in Brownhills , at Clayhanger . Poundland is in Willenhall . Wedge Group , based in Willenhall, is the largest hot dip galvanising company in the UK. Assa Abloy UK (and Yale UK, former Yale & Towne), is also in Willenhall, as the town is known for manufacture of locks. A.F. Blakemore , supplies most of the SPAR shops in
477-471: Is bordered by Staffordshire to the north and west, Worcestershire to the south, and is surrounded by Warwickshire to the east. The largest settlement is the city of Birmingham . The county is almost entirely urban, with an area of 902 km (348 sq mi) and a population of 2,919,600, making it the second most populous county in England after Greater London . After Birmingham (1,144,919)
530-565: Is home to numerous sports teams. In rugby union , the West Midlands is home to various clubs including Wasps RFC , Birmingham Barbarians, Sutton Coldfield RFC , Moseley Rugby Football Club , Birmingham & Solihull RFC , and Coventry RFC . In rugby league , the Midlands Hurricanes are the only team from the county playing in the professional ranks, currently in the third tier League 1 . In association football , there are six Premier League and Football League teams in
583-541: Is one of the largest urban parks in Europe. The area between Solihull and Coventry is part of the Forest of Arden , and the rivers Sowe and Sherbourne flow through Coventry. The metropolitan county exists in law, as a geographical frame of reference, and as a ceremonial county . As such it has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff . Between 1974 and 1986, the West Midlands County Council
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#1732791067154636-480: Is the world market leader for transmissions for backhoe loaders , mini excavators telescopic handlers , and site dumpers is further south, near Dunstall Hill . Tata Steel (former site of British Steel Seamless Tubes until 1995) have their Wednesfield Steelpark (built in 1999) on the Walsall boundary. Essar Steel UK in west Dudley, is the largest independent steel toll processor in the UK. Hadley Group near
689-621: The Black Country area provided a ready source of raw materials. The area grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution , and by the 20th century had grown into one large conurbation. Coventry was slower to develop, but by the early 20th century it had become an important centre of bicycle and car manufacture. 1966 saw a substantial reform in the local government of the area as the patchwork of county boroughs with municipal boroughs and urban district councils in between
742-802: The Cambridge Citi 6 service. 22 Enviro400EVs were also delivered to Stagecoach Bluebird for service in Aberdeen in April 2022, which were joined by 13 more in 2023; Stagecoach West Scotland also received two Enviro400EVs for service in Ayrshire in this same order. First Leeds ordered five Enviro400EVs for the Stourton Park & Ride, which entered service with the opening of the site in mid-2021, while First Glasgow also ordered 91 Enviro400EVs alongside 22 Enviro200EVs in 2021. Delivery of
795-918: The District of Lichfield , Staffordshire . Further boundary changes came into effect in 1995, when part of the Hereford and Worcester parish of Frankley (including the south-west part of Bartley Reservoir ) was transferred to Birmingham and became part of the county. On 17 June 2016, a new administrative body, the West Midlands Combined Authority was created for the county, under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 , which created several other combined authorities in England. The new body has powers over transport, economic development, skills and planning. A new directly elected position of Mayor of
848-716: The Warwickshire Constabulary . The West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority was established in 1968. In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 came into effect, creating the metropolitan county of West Midlands. This area was based on the seven county boroughs and the other non-county boroughs and urban districts around the fringe of the conurbation. The new area consisted of seven new metropolitan boroughs, with Aldridge-Brownhills added to Walsall ; Halesowen and Stourbridge to Dudley and Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham. A new borough of Sandwell
901-947: The West Midlands to 329. National Express Transport Solutions , the tour coaching arm of the National Express Group, also took delivery of four Enviro400EVs in May 2022 for tourist shuttle services to the Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden . Stagecoach Manchester took delivery of 32 Enviro400EVs in early 2020, which were allocated to the Sharston depot for service in South Manchester. In addition, Stagecoach in Cambridge received two in February 2020 on
954-556: The West Midlands Combined Authority . The county was historically part of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire. The west of the county encloses the valley of the River Tame and its tributaries; the highest point of the surrounding area is Turners Hill , at 271 metres (889 ft). West Midlands contains the Sutton Park Site of Special Scientific Interest , which has an area of 970 hectares (2,400 acres) and
1007-589: The EV range by introducing the Enviro400FCEV fuel cell bus in 2021, with the first completed example of the type being shown at the 2022 Euro Bus Expo. The Enviro400FCEV can be equipped with either a 45 kW or 60 kW Ballard FCmove-HD hydrogen cell as well as a 30 kWh electric reserve battery from Impact Clean Power Technologies, and the Enviro400FCEV has a maximum power output of 350 kWh provided by
1060-513: The Enviro400 City body and built on a BYD chassis. It is the second battery electric bus model from Alexander Dennis, following 2016's launch of the single deck Enviro200EV , also produced in partnership with BYD. Initially, the first 10.9 metre Enviro400EVs first entered service with Transport for London (TfL) operator Metroline on route 43 in 2019, followed by a shorter 10.3 metre variant launched in 2021. Alexander Dennis added to
1113-623: The Soho Foundry is the largest cold roll forming manufacturer in the UK. Caparo Precision Tubes in Oldbury, is the UK's largest producer of electric resistance welded (ERW) steel tubes, and Wellman Group make boilers to the west. Metsec , east of Oldbury, is one of the UK's largest cold roll-forming companies. The AA have a main office in Rounds Green , west of Oldbury. 2 Sisters Food Group , Britain's largest processor of chicken,
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#17327910671541166-662: The UK. The West Midlands contains ten universities, seven of which are located in Birmingham: Both of Coventry University and the University of Warwick are located in Coventry whilst University of Wolverhampton is located in Wolverhampton with campuses in Telford and Walsall . Each of the local authorities has at least one further education college for students aged over 16, and since September 1992 all of
1219-496: The UK. Birmingham , Wolverhampton , the Black Country and Solihull together form the third most populous conurbation in the United Kingdom with a combined population of around 2.44 million. However, the West Midlands is not entirely urban; Coventry is separated from the West Midlands conurbation by a stretch of green belt land approximately 13 miles (21 km) across, known as the " Meriden Gap ", which retains
1272-411: The United Kingdom, with production of the type at the company's Larbert headquarters set to also commence in mid-2023. The Enviro400EV is available both as a complete integral battery electric bus and as a battery electric bus body on a BYD K series chassis, as well the integral Enviro400FCEV fuel cell bus . In 2018, Alexander Dennis launched the Enviro400EV in partnership with BYD Auto , based on
1325-549: The Voith Electrical Drive System, offering a maximum range of 300 miles (480 km). A second-generation Enviro400EV, featuring a newly restyled exterior and driver's cab, a new Voith driveline with a 410 kW peak power output, as well as options for either 472kWh or 354kWh NMC batteries repositioned further towards the front of the bus, was announced by Alexander Dennis in November 2022, with
1378-502: The West Midlands was created in 2017 to chair the new body. The first Mayoral election was held in May 2017, and the position was won by Andy Street of the Conservative Party . The West Midlands is a landlocked county that borders the counties of Warwickshire to the east, Worcestershire to the south, and Staffordshire to the north and west. The West Midlands County is one of the most heavily urbanised counties in
1431-735: The West Midlands , a position currently held by Richard Parker of the Labour Co-op . Other county-wide bodies include the West Midlands Police , the West Midlands Fire Service and Transport for West Midlands . The county is sometimes described as the "West Midlands metropolitan area " or the " West Midlands conurbation " or "Greater Birmingham", although these have different, less clearly defined, boundaries. The main conurbation or urban area does not include Coventry, for example. The name "West Midlands"
1484-446: The West Midlands is divided into districts called metropolitan boroughs . There are seven boroughs in the West Midlands, six of which are named after the largest settlement in their administrative area. The West Midlands is unusual amongst the metropolitan counties in that three of its boroughs have city status ; Coventry is a city by ancient prescriptive usage , Birmingham was granted city status in 1889, and Wolverhampton in 2000 as
1537-566: The West Midlands metropolitan area by the Redcliffe-Maud Report . The 1974 reform created the West Midlands County Council that covered the entire area and dealt with strategic issues. A new West Midlands Police service was formed covering the entire area, with the West Midlands Constabulary and Birmingham City Police abolished, and also taking over responsibility from the county forces. West Midlands
1590-493: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.150 via cp1114 cp1114, Varnish XID 957845085 Upstream caches: cp1114 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 10:51:07 GMT West Midlands (county) West Midlands is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the larger West Midlands region of England. A landlocked county, it
1643-499: The Zero-Emission Regional Bus Areas (ZEBRA2) scheme, and 17 Enviro400EVs built to TfL specification were additionally ordered by Stagecoach London for delivery in early 2025. Transdev Blazefield 's Harrogate subsidiary is to take delivery of 19 Enviro400EVs equipped with pantograph chargers for use on the 36 service between Harrogate , Ripon and Leeds from September 2024, with the first bus from
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1696-610: The abolition of the county council, some county-wide bodies continued to exist, which were administered by various joint-boards of the seven districts, among these were the West Midlands Police , the West Midlands Fire Service and the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive . In 1994, the western/southern shores of Chasewater , plus the adjacent Jeffreys Swag, were transferred from the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall to
1749-439: The area is served by BBC Radio WM and BBC CWR covering Coventry . Commercial radio stations include Hits Radio Birmingham , Capital Midlands , Capital Mid-Counties , Heart West Midlands , Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire , Smooth West Midlands , Greatest Hits Radio Birmingham & The West Midlands , and Greatest Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire . Community radio stations include: The West Midlands
1802-466: The area of countryside between Solihull and Coventry, whilst Coventry itself received only small changes and Wolverhampton was unaltered. This led to (apart from in the east, with Coventry and the Meriden Gap) quite a tightly defined metropolitan border, excluding such places as Burntwood , Bromsgrove , Cannock , Kidderminster , Lichfield and Wombourne which had been considered for inclusion in
1855-410: The city with St Helens via Knowsley . The first bus from this order was completed in November 2022, and the first buses started entering service with Arriva in May 2023. Issues with the supply of green hydrogen fuel meant that between 2023 and early 2024, most of Arriva's Enviro400FCEVs were non-operational, however combined with both the finding of a stable supply of green hydrogen and a battery refit,
1908-1067: The city. Customers include Go-Ahead London , who alone have ordered 169 of the type for delivery throughout 2023, Metroline , RATP Dev Transit London , Stagecoach London and Abellio London . Ten of Stagecoach London's Enviro400EVs were used to shuttle delegates and world leaders at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow prior to entering London service, while a batch of Abellio Enviro400EVs operating on route 63 were delivered with enhanced interiors specified under TfL's Future Bus project. Go-Ahead London also took delivery of eighteen Enviro400EVs fitted with pantograph chargers for service on route 132 in 2021. National Express West Midlands and National Express Coventry are also major operators of first-generation Enviro400EVs, with its first 19 entering service in Birmingham in July 2020 and an additional 10 arriving at Coventry later in
1961-604: The county had a two-tier system of local government, and the seven districts shared power with the West Midlands County Council . However, the Local Government Act 1985 abolished the metropolitan county councils, and the West Midlands County Council ceased to exist in 1986. Most of its functions were devolved to the West Midland boroughs, which effectively became unitary authorities , with responsibility for most local authority functions. Following
2014-467: The county of which two, Aston Villa , and Wolverhampton Wanderers , play in the Premier League. The following clubs are often referred to as the West Midlands "Big Six": The West Midlands is also home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club , who are based at Edgbaston Cricket Ground , which also hosts Test matches and One Day Internationals . The Birmingham Panthers basketball team replaced
2067-635: The county, including the River Tame . The river basin is the most urbanised basin in the United Kingdom, with approximately 42% of the basin being urbanised. The River Tame is fed by the River Rea , River Anker , and the River Blythe , which in turn is fed by the River Cole . The River Sowe and River Sherbourne both flow through Coventry. The River Stour flows through the west of the West Midlands county. Like other metropolitan counties ,
2120-578: The early 1990s (and in Halesowen in 1982) as the local authorities changed direction towards further education colleges. All secondary state education in Dudley and Sandwell is mixed comprehensive, although there are a small number of single sex and grammar schools existing in parts of Birmingham, Solihull, Wolverhampton and Walsall. In August 2009, Matthew Boulton College and Sutton Coldfield College merged to become Birmingham Metropolitan College , one of
2173-797: The first 50 buses began to be delivered to Go North West for Bee Network services in Bolton in June 2023, and the remaining 50 entered service with Stagecoach Manchester in Oldham from March 2024. Twenty Enviro400FCEVs were ordered by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority for use on contract to both Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire and Arriva Merseyside . The "publicly owned" hydrogen buses are branded for Liverpool 's MetroBus network and operate on service 10A, Liverpool's busiest bus route which connects
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2226-650: The first batches of these buses began following the COP26 conference. Four Enviro400EVs were delivered to Lothian Buses in March 2021 with branding advertising Scottish Power , who helped to fund Lothian's order for the buses, and 12 Enviro400EVs were delivered to Xplore Dundee , entering service in early 2022. Transport for Greater Manchester ordered 100 Enviro400EVs in 2022 for use on its franchised ' Bee Network ' bus services, which commenced operations in September 2023;
2279-599: The first complete bus unveiled in November 2023. An open top variant was also announced upon the launch of the second-generation Enviro400EV, while a variant built to TfL specification, offered with 14 year or 1 million kilometres (620,000 mi) warranty that allowed the buses to be used for two consecutive TfL bus contracts without requiring battery replacement, was revealed in August 2024. Large numbers of first-generation Enviro400EVs on BYD chassis have entered service with London's bus operators for TfL bus services across
2332-580: The fleet of 20 Enviro400FCEVs were set to begin re-entering service from mid-2024. The Stagecoach Group were the first operator to order and take delivery of the second-generation Enviro400EV, taking delivery of the first of 55 Enviro400EVs for Stagecoach West 's Oxford depot in March 2024, branded as 'electro' buses for use in the Oxford SmartZone . A further 180 were ordered by the group for delivery between 2025 and 2026, intended for Stagecoach subsidiaries receiving central government funding from
2385-576: The largest further and higher education institutions in the country. Plans are afoot for the construction of a new campus in the Perry Barr area of Birmingham. The area is served by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central which both broadcast from Birmingham , the local based-television station TalkBirmingham also covers the area. Television signals are received from the Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter. In terms of BBC Local Radio ,
2438-497: The largest settlements are the cities of Coventry (345,324) and Wolverhampton (263,700), Solihull (126,577), and Sutton Coldfield (109,899). Nearly all of the county's settlements belong to the West Midlands and Coventry built-up areas, though the ' Meriden Gap ' between them is rural. For local government purposes West Midlands comprises seven metropolitan boroughs : Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley , Sandwell , Solihull , Walsall , and Wolverhampton. They collaborate through
2491-792: The local authorities have operated traditional 5–7 infant, 7–11 junior, and 11-16/18 secondary schools for students in compulsory education. This followed the demise of 5–8 first, 8–12 middle and 12-16/18 secondary schools in the Sutton Coldfield area . For 18 years before September 1990, Dudley had operated 5–8 first, 8–12 middle, and 12-16/18 secondary schools before then, while Halesowen (September 1972 until July 1982) and Aldridge-Brownhills (September 1972 until July 1986) had both operated 5–9 first, 9–13 middle and 13-16/18 secondary schools. Many local authorities still have sixth form facilities in secondary schools, though sixth form facilities had been axed by most secondary schools in Dudley since
2544-401: The order delivered to the company in June 2024. Reading Buses is to take delivery of 24 Enviro400EVs to replace biogas double-deckers on its Purple 17 and Claret 21 services, the latter serving the University of Reading , in June 2025 as part of a 53-vehicle order for Alexander Dennis buses placed by the operator. Battery electric bus Too Many Requests If you report this error to
2597-578: The year. National Express Coventry began taking delivery of an order of 130 Enviro400EVs in late 2022 as part of a plan for Coventry to have the first all-electric bus fleet in a UK city, with the completion of the order in September 2023 coverting the National Express Coventry fleet to 80% zero-emission vehicles. A further 170 Enviro400EVs were ordered by National Express West Midlands in April 2023, which upon their delivery in 2024, will take National Express' total fleet of Enviro400EVs in
2650-542: Was also established as a new ceremonial county , with the offices of Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff created. Its constituent components had previously been, for ceremonial purposes, under the equivalent offices of Warwickshire ( Birmingham CB , Coventry CB, Solihull CB, Sutton Coldfield MB and Meriden RD ), Staffordshire ( Wolverhampton CB, Walsall CB, West Bromwich CB, Dudley CB and Aldridge-Brownhills UD ) and Worcestershire ( Warley CB, Stourbridge MB and Halesowen MB). Between 1974 and 1986,
2703-494: Was formed by the merger of West Bromwich and Warley. The actual designation of Warley itself was abolished and the three towns of Smethwick, Oldbury and Rowley Regis reinstated as component parts of Sandwell, although these areas formed the Warley postal district. Solihull took in much of the suburban fringe to the east of Birmingham, including the former villages of Chelmsley Wood and Castle Bromwich , also Birmingham Airport , and
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#17327910671542756-554: Was replaced by a core of county boroughs covering a contiguous area, roughly as follows: Near the area, three other towns remained separate ( Halesowen , Stourbridge and Sutton Coldfield ), while Aldridge and Brownhills joined to form a single unit, called Aldridge-Brownhills . In the same year, a single West Midlands Constabulary was formed for the Black Country county boroughs, whilst Birmingham retained its Birmingham City Police and Solihull continued being policed by
2809-424: Was the administrative body covering the county; this was abolished on 31 March 1986, and the constituent metropolitan boroughs effectively became unitary authorities . A new administrative body for the county (and some of the district surrounding it as Non-Constituent members), the West Midlands Combined Authority , was created in June 2016. Since May 2017, the authority has been headed by a directly elected Mayor of
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