Express & Star

How many of these old West Midlands bus liveries do you remember?

What colour will the new West Midlands buses be?

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Richard Parker, the new elected mayor for the West Midlands, has announced a shake-up of bus services in the region, which will see all services adopt a new corporate branding. It will the latest in a long line of colour schemes used by bus services in the area over the years.

At the moment, the majority of buses in the region are run by National Express West Midlands, which employs two colour schemes: crimson with gold trim for the 'regular' buses, and dark grey with red detailing for the premium 'platinum' buses.

But in years gone by, there was far more variety and the colour of the buses often varied from one town to another.

The blue-and-cream livery of West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive was used from 1969 to 1988. Picture credit: Secret Coach Park

Up until 1969, bus services were largely run by local council transport departments, each which had their own liveries. Wolverhampton had its distinctive green-and-yellow buses, while West Bromwich buses were navy blue and cream. Walsall also had a predominantly blue livery, although this was a lighter royal blue, sometimes in a two-tone colour scheme featuring a contrasting turquoise blue. Dudley never had a council-run operator, rather its services were largely provided by the regional Midland Red company, had a depot in the town.