Had a very fun day trying out some of the restructed and new routes in West London today:
1. Route 120 from home to Adrienne Avenue
2. Route E7 to Ruislip Station
3. Route 278 to Heathrow Central
4. Route X140 to Harrow Bus Station
5. Route 182 to Wembley, Lakeside Way
6. Route 440 to Turnham Green
7. Route 267 to Hammersmith Bus Station
8. Route 306 to Bromyard Avenue
9. Route 218 to North Acton Station
10. Central Line and then GWR home.
The 69 plate Smart Hybrids on the 278 are splendid and it makes me so happy to see such a wonderfully clean, brand spanking new bus with the lovely new smell. Quite a few people were inquisitive about the double decker that wasn't a 114 at Ruislip Station and it was hilarious seeing peoples' shocked and confused faces when the bus was going past them going down Long Lane and Hillingdon Station. This bus was very empty.
The X140 is a splendid route, it cuts the journey time between Heathrow and Harrow by quite a bit (My future usage of the 140 is looking very low
). A lot of people were very confused that there was an extra X in front the route number and the bus driver had to answer a lot of questions. It doesn't help that someone has forgotten to remove some 140 tiles and timetables at some Harlington bus stops and there was a lack of publicity about these changes. I even heard a few people saying 'This bus is like the 607 but for the 140 because it skips out stops'. I think TfL should programme the iBus so that it includes 'Limited Stop' after the destination like on the X68 and it should also be rolled out on the 607 and X26. The 607 being numbered that is really bugging me now and I hope TfL decide to change the route number to X207 to make it fit in with its fellow express routes. The X140 had very healthy loads on it.
The 440 extension was helpful and was surprised to see many people using the route from Wembley. I think the 440 really benefits from missing out the residential Noel Road section. I must say the Christmas decorations in Chiswick Business Park are very fantastic.
The 306 is also quite a pleasant route although there were many people in Hammersmith Bus Station waiting for a 266 to come.
The nice selection of vehicles on the 218 is also very nice. The TT moquette with the First colours is a funky but cool mix. And to think that those E200s were doing my local 95 only a few months ago. I must say that the seat padding these buses have received do really feel better. On the 95, the padding had been worn out so bad that it felt like sitting on concrete whilst getting lurched around when the bus was turning. Don't get me started when the bus would go over a speed bump
). The WVs are just your bog standard crappy ones. The E200 will always reign supreme in the single decker market.
It's a real shame that there was lack of publicity for these changes, there was a lot of frantic searching for a 140 , 391 or 266 and a lot of confusion when a X140 or a 218 or 306 or 278 turned up instead. It's also quite sad that every new bus route today was affected by road works. The X140 and 278 had to face the temporary lights at Hayes and Harlington Stn whilst the 218 and 306 had the closure of King Street to contend with and a lengthy diversion.
There were huge gaps on the 278 towards the end of the afternoon and the evening and I remember checking LVF and seeing only one bus towards Ruislip! I'm sure Abellio will eventually provide a decent service (although they might pull another 207 or 427 and mess the route up). The route also had to contend with the temporary lights and traffic so the bunching was understandable.
The X140 had quite even gaps throughout the day which was very pleasing to see.
The 218 struggled like the 278 at similar times but this is perhaps due to the lengthy diversion on the first day of service. My bus was the first one in a convoy of four 218s all parading up Uxbridge Road
. I'm sure TT will get used to the route soon enough and an end to the diversion will also help even everything out.
Surprisingly, the 306 managed quite fine today, unlike the 218. There were even headways throughout the day.