70-531: The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) was the public body responsible for public transport in the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom from 1969 until 2016. The organisation operated under the name Centro from 1990, and was publicly branded as Network West Midlands from 2005. Initially, WMPTE was also responsible for the operation of bus services within
140-769: A central point of contact. PTEG became Urban Transport Group in 2018. In Scotland, the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport , formerly Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive, Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive, and Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority, covers the former region of Strathclyde , which includes the urban area around Glasgow . All of Scotland is now divided into partnership areas for Transport. A similar body, Transport for London , exists in Greater London . In shire county areas, similar functions are carried out by county councils . County Borough County borough
210-508: A county borough, and thus independent from the administrative county it would otherwise come under. Some cities and towns were already independent counties corporate , and most were to become county boroughs. Originally ten county boroughs were proposed; Bristol , Hull , Newcastle upon Tyne and Nottingham , which were already counties, and Birmingham , Bradford , Leeds , Liverpool , Manchester , and Sheffield , which were not. The Local Government Act 1888 as eventually passed required
280-535: A handful of out-of-county services to nearby towns, original plans to include adjoining areas such as Bromsgrove and Redditch within WMPTE's operating area were dropped. In 1973 WMPTE entered into an agreement with British Rail to take on responsibility for managing and developing local rail services within its area, and to the 'natural terminus' of each line. They became responsible for setting fares and service frequencies, and providing grants for local services, but
350-399: A light blue and green livery when Network West Midlands was established. Following the franchise passing to London Midland , the introduction of Class 172 rolling stock, and the repainting of the 323s into London Midland livery, Centro livery disappeared from local trains. The name Network West Midlands was used for a rebranding of existing bus and train services from 2005 onwards, based on
420-409: A population of 200,000 or more should become one-tier "new counties", with "new county boroughs" having a population of 60,000 – 200,000 being "most-purpose authorities", with the county council of the administrative county providing certain limited services. The report envisaged the creation of 47 two-tiered "new counties", 21 one-tiered "new counties" and 63 "new county boroughs". The recommendations of
490-624: A population of over 50,000 except in the case of existing counties corporate. This resulted in 61 county boroughs in England and two in Wales ( Cardiff and Swansea ). Several exceptions were allowed, mainly for historic towns, including Bath and Dudley , which would still remain below the 50,000 limit by the time of the 1901 census. Some of the smaller counties corporate— Berwick upon Tweed , Lichfield , Poole , Carmarthen and Haverfordwest —did not become county boroughs, although Canterbury , with
560-417: A population under 25,000, did. The county councils and county borough councils came into operation on 1 April 1889. Just seven months later, on 9 November 1889, the city of Oxford was the first borough which had not been made a county borough by the 1888 Act to be elevated to county borough status. Various other new county boroughs were constituted in the following decades, generally as more boroughs reached
630-596: A success, and were withdrawn in 2008 due to low patronage. As a result of the Transport Act 1985 , bus services were deregulated . This resulted in the transfer of the bus services to a separate legal entity, West Midlands Travel Ltd (WMT), which took over the bus assets and services of the WMPTE on 26 October 1986. WMT remained in public ownership under the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority until 1991, when it
700-720: Is a statutory one to provide services using the resources provided to them by the ITAs. There are currently six passenger transport executives in England , covering areas which correspond - though are not limited - to metropolitan counties . When a combined authority is created the integrated transport area and integrated transport authority are replaced with the combined area and combined authority. This happened in Greater Manchester on 1 April 2011 and happened in three other integrated transport areas from 1 April 2014: to become
770-634: Is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent term used in Scotland was a county of city . They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales , but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in Northern Ireland . In
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#1732780832956840-593: Is the case in London (see London Buses ). The Passenger Transport Executive Group (PTEG) was a federated body based in Leeds to bring together and promote the interests of the six PTEs in England, plus associate members Strathclyde Partnership for Transport; Transport for London ; Nottingham City Council; and Bristol and the West of England. PTEG's main tasks were facilitating the exchange of knowledge and good practice within
910-704: The House of Commons , despite the approval of the Local Government Board – the removal of Cambridge from Cambridgeshire would have reduced the income of Cambridgeshire County Council by over half. Upon recommendation of a commission chaired by the Earl of Onslow , the population threshold was raised to 75,000 in 1926, by the Local Government (County Boroughs and Adjustments) Act 1926 , which also made it much harder to expand boundaries. The threshold
980-536: The Republic of Ireland they remain in existence but have been renamed cities under the provisions of the Local Government Act 2001 . The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 re-introduced the term for certain " principal areas " in Wales. Scotland did not have county boroughs but instead had counties of cities . These were abolished on 16 May 1975. All four Scottish cities of the time— Aberdeen , Dundee , Edinburgh , and Glasgow —were included in this category. There
1050-511: The Urban Transport Group (Passenger Transport Executive Group (PTEG) until 2016), in which Transport for London and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport also participate. The first PTEs and Passenger Transport Authorities (PTAs) were established in the late 1960s by the Transport Act 1968 as transport authorities serving large conurbations , by the then transport minister Barbara Castle . Prior to this, public transport
1120-609: The line to Kidderminster and Worcester . In 1999 the former Snow Hill to Wolverhampton line , was reopened as part of the Midland Metro tram line. Restoration of passenger services on the Chase Line between Walsall and Rugeley, between 1989 and 1998 was a joint project of WMPTE and Staffordshire County Council . Passenger services on the Walsall to Wolverhampton Line were also restored in 1998, although these were not
1190-455: The 50,000 minimum and then promoted Acts to constitute them county boroughs. The granting of county borough status was the subject of much disagreement between the large municipal boroughs and the county councils. The population limit provided county councils with a disincentive to allow mergers or boundary amendments to districts that would create authorities with large populations, as this would allow them to seek county borough status and remove
1260-593: The Birmingham travel-to-work metropolitan area. Swift is the multi-modal, multi-operator smart travel card, similar to the Oyster card scheme in London, that was introduced by WMPTE. Rather than being a single card, it is a range of contactless passes and cards that share a common system and brand name. WMPTE began a phased rollout of the Swift card scheme in 2012, which was still ongoing in 2016 when responsibility for
1330-555: The City of Birmingham, the County Boroughs of Dudley , Solihull , Walsall , Warley , West Bromwich , and Wolverhampton , and nearby parts of northern Worcestershire , northern Warwickshire , and southern Staffordshire . On its formation in 1969 the WMPTE acquired the vehicles and other assets of the municipal bus fleets of Birmingham , Walsall , West Bromwich and Wolverhampton . The former Birmingham City Transport
1400-527: The Commissions did not complete their work before being dissolved, a handful of new county boroughs were constituted between 1964 and 1968. Luton , Torbay , and Solihull gained county borough status. Additionally, the Teesside was formed from a merger of the existing county borough of Middlesbrough , and the municipal boroughs of Stockton-on-Tees , Redcar and Thornaby ; Warley was formed from
1470-491: The East Staffordshire district, and Teesside, which was split up between three non-metropolitan districts. County boroughs to be abolished prior to 1974 were: The county boroughs of Belfast and Derry were created by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 . In Northern Ireland , local government has not used county boroughs since 1973, but they remain in use for lieutenancy . For administrative purposes
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#17327808329561540-625: The Executive's activities in its early years were largely confined to integrating the inherited municipal bus operations. Much of the Passenger Transport Area was not served by WMPTE buses, many bus services continued to be run by the Midland Red bus company. This was considered undesirable by WMPTE, so it entered into negotiations to partly buy them out. On 3 December 1973, there was a transfer of assets and services between
1610-515: The Local Government Acts of 1888 (that created them) and 1972 (that abolished them from 1974). Only four districts with more than one county borough were formed: Wirral , Sandwell , Sefton and Kirklees . Elsewhere, county boroughs usually formed the core or all of a district named after the county borough – with the exceptions of Halifax, whose metropolitan district was named Calderdale , Burton upon Trent, which became part of
1680-533: The Midland Red and the Executive involving routes that operated wholly (or almost wholly) within the proposed West Midlands county. By April 1974, the WMPTE's fleet numbered around 2,600 vehicles. The 1972 Local Government Act led to the creation, on 1 April 1974, of the West Midlands metropolitan county . As a result, WMPTE's operating area was adjusted to match that of the new county, most notably adding Meriden and Coventry . While it continued to operate
1750-604: The Network West Midlands initiative; later this was replaced by a custom typeface called Network. Following creation of Transport for West Midlands , a new logo and signage has been introduced. WMPTE was created by the Transport Act 1968 and came into being on 1 October 1969 to operate and coordinate public transport in the large West Midlands conurbation . At that time, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Area comprised
1820-777: The PTE network, and raising awareness nationally about the key transport challenges which face the city regions, and the public transport solutions which PTEs are implementing. PTEG's strategy and policy was determined by the Directors General of the PTEs, who met every quarter. It administered a number of specialist task groups which bring together professionals from across the pteg network to focus on specific policy areas and to share expertise and good practice. The PTEG Support Unit, based in Leeds , co-ordinated PTEG's activities and acted as
1890-481: The PTEs. They are responsible for funding the PTEs, and making the policies which the PTEs carry out on their behalf. PTEs secure services on behalf of the ITA but it is the ITA that pays for them. In the six metropolitan counties, councillors are appointed to the ITAs or the transport committees of combined authorities by the metropolitan boroughs , or in the case of Strathclyde by the twelve unitary authority councils in
1960-750: The WMPTA reconstituted as the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority (WMITA). In its final form, the WMITA functioned as a committee formed of the leaders of the seven metropolitan boroughs, and a non-voting representatives from each of the region's three local enterprise partnerships , that set the strategic agenda for the WMPTE. These agenda were broken down into six groups, with a set of councillors responsible for each: Public consultations were held to gather public views on proposed projects and policies. The authority
2030-454: The WMPTE provided ticketing under the 'Network West Midlands' brand: nBus tickets were valid on almost all operators' services in the county. Tickets could be purchased for travel within various local travel areas or across the whole of the county, and were valid for periods ranging from one day to a year. nTrain passes were valid on all local train services within the Network West Midlands zonal rail map, and to select out-of-county stations in
2100-656: The West Midlands, with the development of the Midland Metro . Plans for a multi-line light rail system for the West Midlands were first drawn up in the early 1980s. However the first (and so far only) line of the Midland Metro was opened in 1999 between Birmingham Snow Hill and Wolverhampton . In 2016 the line was extended into the streets of the Birmingham city centre , from its original terminus at Birmingham Snow Hill to Birmingham New Street . In 2019, it
2170-533: The West Midlands. However, following deregulation in 1986 it ceased operating services directly and assumed a purely coordinating role. WMPTE was dissolved in 2016 following the establishment of the West Midlands Combined Authority and its transport arm, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM). When first established, WMPTE was governed by the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority (WMPTA). Initially, this consisted of members from
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2240-403: The area. The ITAs are not "precepting authorities", so they have to negotiate a "levy" every year that is applied to council tax collected by the local authorities in the areas that they serve. The executive usually requests a budget and the council representatives on the ITAs negotiate from this position. It is worth bearing in mind that PTEs do not, strictly speaking, own anything - their role
2310-451: The benefits of sustainable transport. While each private operator had its own range of tickets that were not transferable to another company's services, WMPTE offered a range of tickets that were valid across the entire network with any participating operator. Under Centro, these included: "Centrocard" (covering Bus, Metro and Train), "Busmaster" (covering Bus services only) and "Railmaster" (covering Train services only). In its final years,
2380-614: The commission extended to a review of the division of functions between different tiers of local government, and thus fell outside its terms of reference, and its report was not acted upon. The next attempt at reform was by the Local Government Act 1958, which established the Local Government Commission for England and the Local Government Commission for Wales to carry out reviews of existing local government structures and recommend reforms. Although
2450-433: The county borough of Smethwick and the non-county boroughs of Oldbury and Rowley Regis ; and West Hartlepool was merged with Hartlepool . Following these changes, there was a total of 79 county boroughs in England. The Commission also recommended the downgrading of Barnsley to be a non-county borough, but this was not carried out. The county boroughs of East Ham , West Ham and Croydon were abolished in 1965 with
2520-418: The creation of Greater London and went on to form parts of London boroughs . The remaining county boroughs were abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , and replaced with non-metropolitan districts and metropolitan districts , all beneath county councils in a two-tier structure. In Greater London and the metropolitan counties the lower tier districts retained a wider range of powers than in
2590-476: The creation of a boundary commission to bring coordination to local government reform. The policy in the paper also ruled out the creation of new county boroughs in Middlesex "owing to its special problems" . The Local Government Boundary Commission was appointed on 26 October 1945, under the chairmanship of Sir Malcolm Trustram Eve , delivering its report in 1947. The commission recommended that towns with
2660-480: The environment and helped to reduce global warming, citing road congestion on the West Midlands' busy roads costs regional businesses more than £2.3 billion a year. Centro had a comprehensive green charter and action plan for the environment and was a full signatory of the UITP Charter for Sustainable Development. In addition, the award winning Letzgogreen (sic) website educated school pupils and teachers about
2730-419: The first improvements made under WMPTE's auspices, was to the local services between Birmingham Moor Street , Dorridge and Shirley which were doubled in frequency to half-hourly in 1975. Efforts were also undertaken to create new services: The flagship Cross-City Line , implemented in 1978, which included new stations serving Birmingham University and Longbridge , plus the reopening of Five Ways station,
2800-460: The functions of both boroughs and counties). Although unitary authorities are functionally equivalent to county boroughs, only in Wales is the title given official recognition by Act of Parliament. [REDACTED] The map depicts the county boroughs in England immediately prior to their abolition in 1974. County boroughs in Wales and Northern Ireland are not shown. This table shows those county boroughs that existed in England and Wales between
2870-427: The larger Liverpool City Region, as well as Sheffield City Region, and West Yorkshire combined areas. In South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and West Midlands, the PTE has been absorbed into the combined authority, and is no longer a separate legal entity; in these areas the combined authority itself is the executive. In recent years the PTEs and ITAs have campaigned to be given more powers to regulate local bus services, as
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2940-407: The local government authorities then existing within WMPTE's operating area. The Local Government Act 1972 led to the abolition of these local authorities and the creation of the West Midlands metropolitan county and its seven metropolitan boroughs (Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, and Wolverhampton), which came into being on 1 April 1974. From that date, the original WMPTA
3010-478: The mid 1990s. The PTE's were also stripped of their powers to regulate the fares and timetables of private bus operators. A number of changes to PTE/As were made under the Local Transport Act 2008 . The main changes made were: The integrated transport authorities (ITAs) from 2008 onwards are the bodies which administer the executives; they are made up of councillors representing the areas served by
3080-578: The newly established metropolitan counties of South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire . The 1974 reorganisation also abolished the PTAs, and their role was taken over by the Metropolitan county councils (MCCs). However, when the MCCs were abolished in 1986, the PTAs were re-created. Local government re-organisation in Scotland in 1975 created the region of Strathclyde , and the existing Greater Glasgow PTE
3150-509: The non-metropolitan counties. This situation did not persist long. In 1986 the metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council were abolished, returning the metropolitan boroughs to a status equivalent to the former county boroughs, but sharing some powers (police and transport for example). In the 1990s, many of the nonmetropolitan former county boroughs were reformed again as unitary authorities – essentially
3220-540: The old county borough, in other cases much larger). Burton upon Trent became an unparished area in the East Staffordshire borough, and has now been divided into several parishes. In Wales, several principal areas are county boroughs: For all practical purposes, county boroughs are exactly the same as the other principal areas of Wales called " counties " (including " cities and counties ") as all these areas are run by unitary authorities (i.e.: have
3290-407: The operation of the services continued to be in the hands of British Rail, later passing to Central Trains and then London Midland following privatisation. Rail services supported by the PTE carried WMPTE (and later Centro) livery. From the mid-1970s onwards, WMPTE took on a more active role in the development of local railway services: Service frequencies were improved on many local lines: One of
3360-540: The original model existed until 2001. Under the Local Government Act 2001 (which replaced most existing local government legislation in Ireland), the term "County Borough" was abolished and replaced with "City" (and hence, "Corporation" with "City Council"). However Kilkenny , while a traditional city, was never a county borough. Under the Local Government Reform Act 2014 , the borough of Kilkenny
3430-404: The premise that survey information had indicated that more people would use public transport if a strong brand were identifiable. Promotion of the brand included television advertising, print media, and online media. All bus stops, Metro stops, and railway station signs were replaced with Network West Midlands signage. VAG Rounded was originally used as the corporate typeface by Centro as part of
3500-490: The public, in reference to the WMPTE initials. When the creation of the West Midlands County Council expanded the WMPTE's operating area into Coventry , WMPTE absorbed the vehicles and assets of that city's municipal transport undertaking, Coventry Transport, which became its 'East Division'. Although it was tasked with planning and coordinating bus and rail transport in the Passenger Transport Area,
3570-496: The route. Similarly the enquiry office at Wolverhampton Interchange has received new signage West Midlands Network . Centro backed the Gateway Plus project to rejuvenate Birmingham New Street station . In August 2009 Centro backed construction of a new railway in the West Midlands region for use by High Speed 2 trains, which would allow existing lines to have "better and more frequent local services". The Midland Metro
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#17327808329563640-589: The same as a county borough. As a result, by 2015, most former county boroughs were either metropolitan boroughs or unitary authorities with a status similar to the old county boroughs. In England, most of those former county boroughs that did not gain unitary authority status— Barrow-in-Furness , Burnley , Canterbury , Carlisle , Chester , Eastbourne , Gloucester , Great Yarmouth , Hastings , Ipswich , Lincoln , Northampton , Norwich , Oxford , Preston , and Worcester —have given their names to non-unitary local government districts (in some cases coterminous with
3710-427: The scheme passed to TfWM. Passenger transport executive In the United Kingdom , passenger transport executives ( PTEs ) are local government bodies which are responsible for public transport within large urban areas. They are accountable to combined authorities , which were created between 2011 and 2016 and took the role of integrated transport authorities (ITAs). The PTEs have joined together to form
3780-405: The tax base from the administrative county. County boroughs to be constituted in this era were a mixed bag, including some towns that would continue to expand such as Bournemouth and Southend-on-Sea . Other towns such as Burton upon Trent and Dewsbury were not to increase in population much past 50,000. 1913 saw the attempts of Luton and Cambridge to gain county borough status defeated in
3850-644: The two county boroughs in Northern Ireland were replaced with two larger districts ( Belfast and Londonderry ). The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 created county boroughs in Ireland. Under the Act, four former counties corporate ( Cork , Dublin , Limerick and Waterford ) became county boroughs. Galway became a county borough in 1986. In the Republic of Ireland , the relevant legislation remained in force (although amended), and county boroughs on
3920-411: Was a joint BR/WMPTE project. In the 1980s, WMPTE decided to reopen and restore rail services through Birmingham Snow Hill station , which had closed in 1972. The restoration process took place in two stages: The first stage, completed in 1987, saw the opening of new Snow Hill station for services to the south. The second stage, completed in 1995, saw the restoration of the rail link between Snow Hill and
3990-470: Was an additional category of large burgh in the Scottish system (similar to a municipal borough in England and Wales), which were responsible for all services apart from police, education and fire. When county councils were first created in 1889, it was decided that to let them have authority over large towns or cities would be impractical, and so any large incorporated place would have the right to be
4060-469: Was appointed in May 1935 to "investigate whether the existing status of Merthyr Tydfil as a county borough should be continued, and if not, what other arrangements should be made" . The commission reported the following November, and recommended that Merthyr should revert to the status of a non-county borough, and that public assistance should be taken over by central government. In the event county borough status
4130-467: Was by far the largest constituent part of the combined fleet, accounting for around two thirds of the new 2100-strong fleet and 8500 employees, and so a modified version of that operator's blue and cream livery was adopted by the WMPTE. The ex-Birmingham assets became 'South Division', with the others forming the Walsall-based 'North Division'. The buses subsequently became known as Wumpty buses by
4200-578: Was disbanded. In its place, the new West Midlands County Council (WMCC) became the PTA for the West Midlands. However, this new arrangement ultimately proved to be short lived, as the Local Government Act 1985 abolished the metropolitan county councils, the WMCC among them, with effect from 1 April 1986. On that date, a new WMPTA was formed, comprising members from the West Midlands' seven metropolitan borough councils. The Local Transport Act 2008 subsequently saw
4270-481: Was extended to Library with an extension to Edgbaston scheduled to open in 2021. Following the creation of the West Midlands Combined Authority and its transport arm, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), the WMPTE and the WMITA were abolished on 16 June 2016, and their responsibilities, functions, assets, and staff were transferred to the Combined Authority. The WMPTE's Network West Midlands brand
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#17327808329564340-454: Was initially retained by TfWM as the public-facing brand for public transport information in the region. However this has since been relaunched as West Midlands Network with a new hexagonal W M logo. This has been applied to most bus stops (on an ongoing roll-out) and timetables. Certain bus routes have been branded Network Bus with buses painted an identical shade of red, irrespective of operator and with tickets valid on either operator on
4410-639: Was named after, and made to cover the new region. PTAs were recreated by the Local Government Act 1985 when the metropolitan county councils were abolished. The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 had the same effect in the Strathclyde Region. Until the mid-1980s the PTEs operated bus services in their areas, but bus deregulation by the Transport Act 1985 forced them to separate their bus operations into new arms lengths companies. These were called PTC's which were all sold off by
4480-426: Was owned by the WMPTE and run under concession by National Express Midland Metro . It opened in May 1999. An extension through the city centre of Birmingham opened in May 2016. Towards the very end of its existence, WMPTE developed plans for a new network of 'Sprint' services to be implemented by the incoming transport authority, TfWM. The WMPTE, Centro, was committed to sustainable forms of transport which benefited
4550-593: Was primarily funded by a council tax levy from the seven metropolitan boroughs, although some projects were funded by the Department for Transport and the European Union . In 1990 WMPTE adopted the corporate name of Centro . Local Class 150 and Class 323 trains were painted in a green Centro livery. Central Trains later applied an updated lime green livery to the Class 150 fleet. From 2007, some received
4620-464: Was raised to 100,000 by the Local Government Act 1958 . The viability of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil came into question in the 1930s. Due to a decline in the heavy industries of the town, by 1932 more than half the male population was unemployed, resulting in very high municipal rates in order to make public assistance payments. At the same time the population of the borough was lower than when it had been created in 1908. A royal commission
4690-435: Was re-organised in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 . The re-organisation created the six metropolitan counties , and the existing four English PTEs were named after, and made to match the borders of the new counties (for example West Midlands PTE was expanded to take on Coventry and Tyneside PTE expanded to include Sunderland becoming Tyne and Wear PTE in the process). In addition to this, two new PTEs were created for
4760-564: Was retained by the town, with the chairman of the Welsh Board of Health appointed as administrative adviser in 1936. After the Second World War the creation of new county boroughs in England and Wales was effectively suspended, pending a local government review. A government white paper published in 1945 stated that "it is expected that there will be a number of Bills for extending or creating county boroughs" and proposed
4830-412: Was run by individual local authorities and private companies, with little co-ordination. The PTEs took over municipal bus operations from individual councils, and became responsible for managing local rail networks. The 1968 Act created five PTE/As. These were: Initially they covered slightly different areas from the ones covered by integrated transport authorities today. Local government in England
4900-484: Was sold to its management and employees for £60 million. WMT was subsequently purchased by National Express in April 1995. However, WMT could have been purchased by Stagecoach instead if Brian Souter 's £85 million was accepted. It was rejected on the grounds of the PTE being reluctant sellers and taking concern over the quality of bus services. The WMPTE was also responsible for the reintroduction of tram services to
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