Tuesday 18 August 2026
Today, the WMCA board announced it will acquire the bus operations of Mobico-owned National Express West Midlands.
Mobico Group confirmed their intentions to derisk their operations; with the future of their services unclear as franchising looms above them. This comes after the National Express coaching network has been streamlined in an attempt to bring the company back into a profitable light against the threat of Flixbus.
So what does this mean for passengers?
WMCA will run the company, to be named ‘West Midlands Buses’ as an arms-length organisation, in a structure closely mirroring Reading Buses.
Furthermore, this arrangement avoids conflict while the region transitions toward the franchising model, for which the tenders for tranche 1 were issued not long ago.
Most things will remain unchanged, such as fares, timetables and services. The only change, however, is a new logo on the side of the buses themselves.