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Post by lundnah on Aug 28, 2023 17:57:54 GMT
Sometimes TFL re look at converting a route to SD. The H50 when it became the 350 did then went SD again when the routing was swapped with the U5. I'm not sure but wasn't the 95 DD at some point You can check for yourself here
(and yes it was)
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Post by vjaska on Aug 28, 2023 19:09:01 GMT
I would honestly be extremely surprised to see the 481 revert to single deck operation. TfL specified double decks due to Turing House School opening on Hospital Bridge Road, and this is likely to continue even with two extras operated by TUK. It would be more expensive to retender it as a single deck route with peak DD extras than to leave the whole route using deckers. If the VHs are needed elsewhere, then either RDTL need to find/buy other hybrid or electric double decks, or lose the route. Don't forget that there are still a few of the H91's vehicles which remain unallocated and the E3 is also going to start a new contract around that time, so finding sufficient vehicles should be no hard task even if the 481 is retained with its existing VHs. Sometimes TFL re look at converting a route to SD. The H50 when it became the 350 did then went SD again when the routing was swapped with the U5. The H50/350 is a unique example as they’ve never really been sure about what type of vehicle should be used. The H50 was single deck at first with Spryte Darts, then went double decker with Volvo B7TL’s, then went back to single decker when it was restructured and renumbered 350, then was converted back to double deckers again before being switched back to single deckers when it & the U5 switched routings in Hayes. The 481 in comparison has been steadily a single decker route for its lifetime until recently
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Post by southlondonbus on Aug 28, 2023 19:20:40 GMT
Sometimes TFL re look at converting a route to SD. The H50 when it became the 350 did then went SD again when the routing was swapped with the U5. The H50/350 is a unique example as they’ve never really been sure about what type of vehicle should be used. The H50 was single deck at first with Spryte Darts, then went double decker with Volvo B7TL’s, then went back to single decker when it was restructured and renumbered 350, then was converted back to double deckers again before being switched back to single deckers when it & the U5 switched routings in Hayes. The 481 in comparison has been steadily a single decker route for its lifetime until recently The 350 always seemed to hinge on 2 or 3 peak journeys from Hayes and Harlington to Stockley Park then the rest of the day/week was fairly quiet and I guess at times full DD service seemed more efficient and then was found to be inefficient. I'm not sure if the 481 has built up a continued custom or whether it's simply due to school loadings like the 353/412.
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Post by LK65EBO on Aug 29, 2023 20:54:18 GMT
Only just noticed it mentioned Feltham here too. Might be far fetched but a 24 hour version of the 117?
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Post by southlondonbus on Aug 29, 2023 21:16:27 GMT
Only just noticed it mentioned Feltham here too. Might be far fetched but a 24 hour version of the 117? I'd say pretty far fetched with it running outside London. Hopefully atleast it may see changes to a route in the area to finally get a DD route between Feltham and Hounslow.
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Post by JUNIOR26 on Aug 29, 2023 22:59:03 GMT
Only just noticed it mentioned Feltham here too. Might be far fetched but a 24 hour version of the 117? The Feltham ome, I'm thinking it may involve a direct link between Feltham Town Centre and Ashford Hospital, which it currently it doesn't have. It was part of the review a few years ago when TFL were reviewing Bus services to Hospital and Ashford Hospital was included involving a direct link to Feltham Town Centre which I do think is really needed. But we'll wait and see, what is proposed?
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Post by londonbuses on Aug 29, 2023 23:39:37 GMT
It's very unlikely but I really hope extending the 116 from Ashford Hospital to Staines will be part of the upcoming consultation.
It would provide a much quicker link between Hounslow and Staines, reduce overcrowding on the overcrowded single decker 117, would improve cross-border connections in the area, and would be a relatively simple and cost effective extension probably needing 2 extra buses.
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Post by evergreenadam on Aug 30, 2023 7:06:40 GMT
It's very unlikely but I really hope extending the 116 from Ashford Hospital to Staines will be part of the upcoming consultation. It would provide a much quicker link between Hounslow and Staines, reduce overcrowding on the overcrowded single decker 117, would improve cross-border connections in the area, and would be a relatively simple and cost effective extension probably needing 2 extra buses. I agree that would be desirable. The curtailing of route 116 at Ashford Hospital always seemed ridiculous as it is not that much further, albeit beyond the London boundary, to get to Staines which would be a destination that would generate significant passenger demand. The 117 and 203 are indirect between Hounslow and Staines, so take longer and only operate with single deck buses at x20mins. Whilst I think the 117 deserves a frequency increase in its own right to x15mins, not least due to the popularity of the direct Hounslow town centre to West Middlesex Hospital route, extending the 116 to Staines to relieve the 117 and 203 of through traffic would be helpful in the short term.
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Post by evergreenadam on Aug 30, 2023 7:10:14 GMT
Only just noticed it mentioned Feltham here too. Might be far fetched but a 24 hour version of the 117? The Feltham ome, I'm thinking it may involve a direct link between Feltham Town Centre and Ashford Hospital, which it currently it doesn't have. It was part of the review a few years ago when TFL were reviewing Bus services to Hospital and Ashford Hospital was included involving a direct link to Feltham Town Centre which I do think is really needed. But we'll wait and see, what is proposed? I’m not sure it could be provided very easily by amending an existing route. Would have to be a new route and would probably operate at such a low frequency as to be unattractive.
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Post by cardinal on Aug 30, 2023 7:40:29 GMT
It's very unlikely but I really hope extending the 116 from Ashford Hospital to Staines will be part of the upcoming consultation. It would provide a much quicker link between Hounslow and Staines, reduce overcrowding on the overcrowded single decker 117, would improve cross-border connections in the area, and would be a relatively simple and cost effective extension probably needing 2 extra buses. 100% agree with this. More logical and would fit in with ULEZ agenda. As for Feltham to Ashford Hospital. Could be achieved with a switch around of the 117 and 216 . Rationale would be the 216 between Sunbury Village and Ashford Hospital is duplicated by SCC funded 555. So let them provide that link. This leaves the 117 able to be rerouted via Ashford Hospital (well to the A30 junction) and then down to Stanies.
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Post by BE37054 (quoll662) on Aug 30, 2023 7:42:07 GMT
It's very unlikely but I really hope extending the 116 from Ashford Hospital to Staines will be part of the upcoming consultation. It would provide a much quicker link between Hounslow and Staines, reduce overcrowding on the overcrowded single decker 117, would improve cross-border connections in the area, and would be a relatively simple and cost effective extension probably needing 2 extra buses. 100% agree with this. More logical and would fit in with ULEZ agenda. As for Feltham to Ashford Hospital. Could be achieved with a switch around of the 117 and 216 . Rationale would be the 216 between Sunbury Village and Ashford Hospital is duplicated by SCC funded 555. So let them provide that link. This leaves the 117 able to be rerouted via Ashford Hospital (well to the A30 junction) and then down to Stanies. Exactly what I was thinking!
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Post by greenboy on Aug 30, 2023 8:07:00 GMT
It's very unlikely but I really hope extending the 116 from Ashford Hospital to Staines will be part of the upcoming consultation. It would provide a much quicker link between Hounslow and Staines, reduce overcrowding on the overcrowded single decker 117, would improve cross-border connections in the area, and would be a relatively simple and cost effective extension probably needing 2 extra buses. I agree that would be desirable. The curtailing of route 116 at Ashford Hospital always seemed ridiculous as it is not that much further, albeit beyond the London boundary, to get to Staines which would be a destination that would generate significant passenger demand. The 117 and 203 are indirect between Hounslow and Staines, so take longer and only operate with single deck buses at x20mins. Whilst I think the 117 deserves a frequency increase in its own right to x15mins, not least due to the popularity of the direct Hounslow town centre to West Middlesex Hospital route, extending the 116 to Staines to relieve the 117 and 203 of through traffic would be helpful in the short term. Somebody suggested previously rerouting the 235 to West Middlesex Hospital replacing the 117 at a higher frequency with a new route from Hounslow to Ealing which would also assist the 65. I don't think a bus service into North Brentford Quarter is needed and extra capacity to Ealing will be far more beneficial.
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Post by cardinal on Aug 30, 2023 8:25:02 GMT
I agree that would be desirable. The curtailing of route 116 at Ashford Hospital always seemed ridiculous as it is not that much further, albeit beyond the London boundary, to get to Staines which would be a destination that would generate significant passenger demand. The 117 and 203 are indirect between Hounslow and Staines, so take longer and only operate with single deck buses at x20mins. Whilst I think the 117 deserves a frequency increase in its own right to x15mins, not least due to the popularity of the direct Hounslow town centre to West Middlesex Hospital route, extending the 116 to Staines to relieve the 117 and 203 of through traffic would be helpful in the short term. Somebody suggested previously rerouting the 235 to West Middlesex Hospital replacing the 117 at a higher frequency with a new route from Hounslow to Ealing which would also assist the 65. I don't think a bus service into North Brentford Quarter is needed and extra capacity to Ealing will be far more beneficial. Now we know the E1 extension is happening that helps the 65. I think the 117 should actually be every 15 mins at least.
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Post by evergreenadam on Aug 30, 2023 8:51:02 GMT
Somebody suggested previously rerouting the 235 to West Middlesex Hospital replacing the 117 at a higher frequency with a new route from Hounslow to Ealing which would also assist the 65. I don't think a bus service into North Brentford Quarter is needed and extra capacity to Ealing will be far more beneficial. Now we know the E1 extension is happening that helps the 65. I think the 117 should actually be every 15 mins at least. In many ways I would have preferred if the E1 were extended to Hounslow via the full length of Ealing Road, so that you could then reroute the 235 to West Middlesex Hospital instead of the 117. I am not sure there will be enough demand to justify the high frequency of the E1 extension between Gillette Corner and Ealing Road but we will see. It is probably being subsided by developer contributions from sites along the Great West Road so has to go that way or it wouldn’t happen at all. The North Brentford Quarter bus service is well used and the frequent temporary service curtailments to Brentford County Court whenever there is a problem with the access gate or private road into the North Brentford Quarter, also known as Great West Quarter, is robustly challenged by local councillors. So any removal of the bus service would be politically unacceptable. The problem is more intractable due to the long gap in southbound bus stops on Ealing Road which means the 65 cannot stop at the entrance to the development on Ealing Road which would have been nice.
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Post by cardinal on Aug 30, 2023 9:11:00 GMT
Now we know the E1 extension is happening that helps the 65. I think the 117 should actually be every 15 mins at least. In many ways I would have preferred if the E1 were extended to Hounslow via the full length of Ealing Road, so that you could then reroute the 235 to West Middlesex Hospital instead of the 117. I am not sure there will be enough demand to justify the high frequency of the E1 extension between Gillette Corner and Ealing Road but we will see. It is probably being subsided by developer contributions from sites along the Great West Road so has to go that way or it wouldn’t happen at all. The North Brentford Quarter bus service is well used and the frequent temporary service curtailments to Brentford County Court whenever there is a problem with the access gate or private road into the North Brentford Quarter, also known as Great West Quarter, is robustly challenged by local councillors. So any removal of the bus service would be politically unacceptable. The problem is more intractable due to the long gap in southbound bus stops on Ealing Road which means the 65 cannot stop at the entrance to the development on Ealing Road which would have been nice. I’d have the E1 going to Hounslow Bus Stn via H91 then via 111.
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