On Thursday 16th October, James (VP Democracy and Development) and Alijah (President) met with National Express (NX) to raise student feedback about their services. We really appreciated NX sitting down with us and the University’s Transport Team to understand what issues students were having and where they can improve the service. As officers, we’ll continue to lobby, listen and campaign to get you a bus service you can rely on, in line with our manifesto commitments. 

We raised a number of queries, including the possibility of a 10 week pass at the same per week rate as the 4-week pass, so students are not either doing ‘pay as you go’ for the last two weeks of a term or paying for two ‘extra weeks’. Our goal is to get both as an option, to retain flexibility for students. NX are setting up a further meeting with us to progress this, so we’ll keep you updated. 

On night-time buses, NX are now running the 12X at 23:50 and 00:20 every day from Pool Meadow, which is new for this term. The latter one has had poor take-up, so we’d encourage you to spread the word about this so it remains viable for NX to run this service. The 11 is also continuing to run later to and from Leamington. 

Finally, we raised issues regarding students in student accommodation blocks in Coventry. We have been assured that NX is monitoring student numbers, especially considering the University’s decision to put first-year students in these blocks rather than on campus. If there are any issues, please contact James (vpdd@warwicksu.com) so he can raise this further. We specifically raised a query regarding the new student accommodation on Burnsall Road in Canley, and bus access to that and the surrounding area. NX said they would look at a potential route change, but this is still up in the air. 

NX raised with us a concern over how bus franchising may affect the “cross-boundary” services they offer, specifically the 11, when this comes into effect in October 2027. This could mean that it stops in Kenilworth instead of continuing to Leamington. We will seek to meet and input into the consultation process with the West Midlands Combined Authority and Transport for West Midlands. 

James and Alijah will also be meeting Stagecoach on 6th November to discuss your concerns. If you have anything specific, testimonials, or just general comments, please let James know (vpdd@warwicksu.com). We’ll also be doing some more general feedback for Stagecoach, so do look out for this on the SU Instagram and on the weekly email!