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Post by 6HP502C on Feb 2, 2019 20:44:41 GMT
I am just curious , what form of DL-A do people prefer. The old one running from Tower Hill following the 25 all the way to Stratford then the 238 to Barking. That one time DL-A went from Canning Town straight down Barking Road all the way to Barking then normal routing to Dagenham East or the current one running from Tower Hill to Bow following the 25 ,the A12 to serve Bromley By-Bow then the A13 to Canning Town to serve the bus station then non-stop to Barking. They all have their pros and cons. Route 1 - Tower Hill to Stratford then 238 to Barking, supported by the Mile End to Stratford service was a good strategy when supported by the Mile End to Stratford via Bromley/Plaistow service. It had its downsides - very slow for people going longer distances and the supporting service was withdrawn in favour of local bus ticket acceptance, leaving a bit of a hole in the replacement provision. There was also the issue of people gladly using the free RRB to get to Stratford instead of the 25 with a lot even having the cheek to request extra stops in between. There were problems with the stand at Aldgate, Mansell Street as there were poorly behaved residents of the estate beside the stand who took great joy in attacking drivers and passers by with water bombs. And pigeons who had a different kind of bomb to drop on the drivers. As an experienced replacement driver I used to sit inside a bus at the stand and thus stayed dry. What was good about the service is it took care of the thousands of people per hour who made it to Stratford to go to Upton Park, East Ham and Barking. Route 2 - that one off routing via the Barking Road was a one off for good reasons. The only real pro was faster journeys for people going further east from Canning Town. But passenger redirection was a problem given the distances Plaistow, Upton Park and East Ham stations were from the Barking Road. Plaistow was something like a 17 minute walk away. I spent much of the shift listening to passengers complain at how far they were dropped from the station and people were struggling with reaching the correct stops to pick the replacement bus up, resulting in the 5 collecting passengers the rail replacement bus really ought to have. TfL did take on the feedback and this strategy wasn't used again. Route 3 - the current routing via Bromley-by-Bow and Canning Town. It looks the best on paper and with Service B, all stations are served except West Ham which is easily reached from Canning Town. It also stops a free, express 25 service operating along the A11 to Stratford. The only issue is Stratford. It's a major traffic generator for the District Line, even though it doesn't quite go there and people along that corridor know they can get a bus to/from Stratford to connect with the Central Line. On Saturday evenings it seems nearly every single 238 is leaving Stratford full as far as Upton Park, even well beyond midnight. This is despite an extra 4 bph operating on the 238 during closure weekends. Apart from that, it works quite well.
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Feb 2, 2019 23:10:34 GMT
I am just curious , what form of DL-A do people prefer. The old one running from Tower Hill following the 25 all the way to Stratford then the 238 to Barking. That one time DL-A went from Canning Town straight down Barking Road all the way to Barking then normal routing to Dagenham East or the current one running from Tower Hill to Bow following the 25 ,the A12 to serve Bromley By-Bow then the A13 to Canning Town to serve the bus station then non-stop to Barking. They all have their pros and cons. Route 1 - Tower Hill to Stratford then 238 to Barking, supported by the Mile End to Stratford service was a good strategy when supported by the Mile End to Stratford via Bromley/Plaistow service. It had its downsides - very slow for people going longer distances and the supporting service was withdrawn in favour of local bus ticket acceptance, leaving a bit of a hole in the replacement provision. There was also the issue of people gladly using the free RRB to get to Stratford instead of the 25 with a lot even having the cheek to request extra stops in between. There were problems with the stand at Aldgate, Mansell Street as there were poorly behaved residents of the estate beside the stand who took great joy in attacking drivers and passers by with water bombs. And pigeons who had a different kind of bomb to drop on the drivers. As an experienced replacement driver I used to sit inside a bus at the stand and thus stayed dry. What was good about the service is it took care of the thousands of people per hour who made it to Stratford to go to Upton Park, East Ham and Barking. Route 2 - that one off routing via the Barking Road was a one off for good reasons. The only real pro was faster journeys for people going further east from Canning Town. But passenger redirection was a problem given the distances Plaistow, Upton Park and East Ham stations were from the Barking Road. Plaistow was something like a 17 minute walk away. I spent much of the shift listening to passengers complain at how far they were dropped from the station and people were struggling with reaching the correct stops to pick the replacement bus up, resulting in the 5 collecting passengers the rail replacement bus really ought to have. TfL did take on the feedback and this strategy wasn't used again. Route 3 - the current routing via Bromley-by-Bow and Canning Town. It looks the best on paper and with Service B, all stations are served except West Ham which is easily reached from Canning Town. It also stops a free, express 25 service operating along the A11 to Stratford. The only issue is Stratford. It's a major traffic generator for the District Line, even though it doesn't quite go there and people along that corridor know they can get a bus to/from Stratford to connect with the Central Line. On Saturday evenings it seems nearly every single 238 is leaving Stratford full as far as Upton Park, even well beyond midnight. This is despite an extra 4 bph operating on the 238 during closure weekends. Apart from that, it works quite well. On Saturday and Sunday nights the non stop Canning Town to Barking service has been useful to be. It's faster than the train if you time it right! The old DL-A which ran via the 238 and 25 was the most useful however. It stopped as close to stations as you could get them, and even with that the 238 would be chronically overloaded. However it does show East London's dependency on the District Line, I can't think of another area which gets this bad and needs such an intensive replacement bus service to cater for the crowds which build up just due to one line being down.
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lg
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Post by lg on Feb 12, 2019 21:43:22 GMT
Not sure if this is of interest but the nine day shut down of the Three Bridges to Brighton and Lewes lines begins on Saturday.
According to an article in the Brighton local paper over 200 vehicles will be involved, I would think a fair number of those will come from London.
Three Bridges Station car park is to be made into a temporary "bus hub" with toilets and refreshments available as well as a large number of additional staff to assist passengers.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2019 8:25:51 GMT
This is a long way away , but I would like everyone to know that there is a pretty big closure on the Piccadilly/District from the 25th to the 27th of May. No Piccadilly from Hammersmith to Heathrow/Uxbridge and no District from Turnham Green to Ealing Broadway. This is due to signalling systems being migrated from one location to another (the main Piccadilly signalling centre) this needs a major testing before it can be passed for passenger use it will affect night tube between Hammersmith and Heathrow between 0045 and 0630 on the Saturday night on the 23/24 Feb and further closure as more sig nalling areas are migrated on 25-27 May EDIT on the 23/24 Feb there are 3 different RRS operating Service A ECT HAM TUR ACT ECM EBY STH EAL NFD BOS OST HWE HWC HWW HAT T23 T5 Service B GRP ECT T23 Service C GRP HPC KNI SKN GRD ACT Any idea of the operators of these? I notice the signs are up already.
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Post by paulsw2 on Feb 13, 2019 10:58:50 GMT
No idea who is operating these but it is only between 0030 and 0630 (I will get stitched up going home from work because of this)
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Post by 6HP502C on Feb 14, 2019 0:02:49 GMT
EDIT on the 23/24 Feb there are 3 different RRS operating Service A ECT HAM TUR ACT ECM EBY STH EAL NFD BOS OST HWE HWC HWW HAT T23 T5 Service B GRP ECT T23 Service C GRP HPC KNI SKN GRD ACT Any idea of the operators of these? I notice the signs are up already. Abellio will be operating services B and C. In the meantime, the 9 day East Croydon to Birkbeck Tramlink replacement job starts from this weekend. Will be interesting to see what vehicles appear on it. The last job in 2017 was borrowed V/Y reg Tridents and Go Coach PVLs. I wonder if some refurbished 207 E400s might appear if they're sitting at TF doing nothing. It will run every 10 minutes and call at the following stops; Cherry Orchard Road / East Croydon Station Addiscombe Tram Stop Parkview Road Ashburton Park Arena Tram Stop Elmers End / Tesco Elmers End Station Birkbeck Station Two 9 day jobs at the same time - there's the enormous Go-Ahead run closure which I assume will be utilising a fair amount of spare buses and PCV holders. There's also the Bexleyheath Line emergency closure on until at least Monday which is seeing a variety of operators from the South East on it. Will be interesting to see if there is enough resource to go around and cover the usual closure in the region. All owners of buses with a Class 6 ticket should in with a shout with some work! This Sunday will see a slightly weird situation where there will sort of be two operators on a route on the same day. The western half of the NLL will be shut for until 1200 with a replacement service running between Camden Road and Gunnersbury. Then the evening closure will be on again. Time will only tell if a 66 plate MMC from the P13 will be on the 2215 Stratford to Richmond trip!
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Post by richard on Feb 14, 2019 1:31:10 GMT
Any idea of the operators of these? I notice the signs are up already. Abellio will be operating services B and C. In the meantime, the 9 day East Croydon to Birkbeck Tramlink replacement job starts from this weekend. Will be interesting to see what vehicles appear on it. The last job in 2017 was borrowed V/Y reg Tridents and Go Coach PVLs. I wonder if some refurbished 207 E400s might appear if they're sitting at TF doing nothing. It will run every 10 minutes and call at the following stops; Cherry Orchard Road / East Croydon Station Addiscombe Tram Stop Parkview Road Ashburton Park Arena Tram Stop Elmers End / Tesco Elmers End Station Birkbeck Station Two 9 day jobs at the same time - there's the enormous Go-Ahead run closure which I assume will be utilising a fair amount of spare buses and PCV holders. There's also the Bexleyheath Line emergency closure on until at least Monday which is seeing a variety of operators from the South East on it. Will be interesting to see if there is enough resource to go around and cover the usual closure in the region. All owners of buses with a Class 6 ticket should in with a shout with some work! This Sunday will see a slightly weird situation where there will sort of be two operators on a route on the same day. The western half of the NLL will be shut for until 1200 with a replacement service running between Camden Road and Gunnersbury. Then the evening closure will be on again. Time will only tell if a 66 plate MMC from the P13 will be on the 2215 Stratford to Richmond trip! Wonder if some Arriva or Ex Arriva will run stuff would be nice I haven't seen any Arriva stuff run on a RRBS since the first GOBLIN closure
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Post by 6HP502C on Feb 14, 2019 21:52:36 GMT
Wonder if some Arriva or Ex Arriva will run stuff would be nice I haven't seen any Arriva stuff run on a RRBS since the first GOBLIN closure The lion's share of TfL rail replacement is with Abellio and Metroline these days. Arriva have some work - off the top of my head they do Wimbledon - Earl's Court/Olympia, Tower Hill to Barking and the weekend Hackney to Chingford. But these contract last for a year a time, sometimes with multiple contracts operating on one route so you never know who will spring up on what!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2019 21:59:18 GMT
Wonder if some Arriva or Ex Arriva will run stuff would be nice I haven't seen any Arriva stuff run on a RRBS since the first GOBLIN closure The lion's share of TfL rail replacement is with Abellio and Metroline these days. Arriva have some work - off the top of my head they do Wimbledon - Earl's Court/Olympia, Tower Hill to Barking and the weekend Hackney to Chingford. But these contract last for a year a time, sometimes with multiple contracts operating on one route so you never know who will spring up on what! Sullivan’s as well. This scene has become quite boring. Used to be much more variety.
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Post by 6HP502C on Feb 17, 2019 17:28:22 GMT
So I drove the East Croydon to Birkbeck Tramlink replacement service. This is being operated with 56/07 E400s spare from the 452 and 12 plate E400s revived from Twickenham - some which have been refurbished for the 207, some still waiting their turn.
The route
The service is supposed to run every 10 minutes during the day and every 15 in the evening, serving Elmers End then connecting with a tram shuttle service running between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction. It's a very straightforward route, picking up on Dingwall and Cherry Orchard Road in East Croydon, thence following the 289 along Long Lane to Elmers End, then straight over the Hayes Line to Birkbeck.
It serves East Croydon, Addiscombe, Blackhorse Lane, Woodside, Arena, Elmers End Tesco, Elmers End Station and Birkbeck, or within around 400 metres of each tram stop at least. Harrington Road isn't really possible to serve without using a minibus! The tram was operating between Addiscombe and East Croydon.
The stand is at Anerley station.
Running times
The evening shift was a tail chaser. Even with a healthy Topodynised E40D I was unable to make up any time and I lost some mileage in both halves. Things calmed down at the end of service where it only took 9 minutes to get from Anerley to East Croydon.
The first trip took 35 minutes end to end with 24 minutes of running time and 6 minutes stand time given. I had a pilot on board to help with pointing out the correct stops to serve.
Loadings
Rather light on the first night. I heard some customers complaining about insufficient publicity and having a hard time finding the correct bus stop to wait at. As it was the first day, I showed extra discretion with picking people up who were flagging the bus from the wrong stops and was sure to make clear announcements at every stop (no iBus on this route). Quite a few people were curiously looking at the bus and I suspect some who should have been using it were instead using other local routes. I expect people will come to learn about the service by the middle of the week. Addiscombe and Birkbeck were the busiest stops.
Vehicle choice
All E400s. I had Euro 4 9411 and Euro 5 9534 - both nippy and limited to 40mph. Not quite as much fun as the Euro 2 TAs from the last closure in 2017, but nice nonetheless. I thought I wouldn't get to drive one of the lovely 12 plate Enviros again given they've gone over to the west side.h
Summary
Short and sweet route but we'll see how it goes on working days. I expect it will be very busy at 6 bph.
Route difficulty rating - 1/3 (easy) Enjoyability - 3/5 (moderate)
Next route review - Lewisham to Dartford via Bexleyheath
On a side note, Stratford to Richmond is on tonight - slim chance an Enviro200 MMC from the P13 will be on the 2215 trip. Although it's specced for a single decker, anything might turn up on it!
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Post by sid on Feb 18, 2019 15:52:53 GMT
So I drove the East Croydon to Birkbeck Tramlink replacement service. This is being operated with 56/07 E400s spare from the 452 and 12 plate E400s revived from Twickenham - some which have been refurbished for the 207, some still waiting their turn. The routeThe service is supposed to run every 10 minutes during the day and every 15 in the evening, serving Elmers End then connecting with a tram shuttle service running between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction. It's a very straightforward route, picking up on Dingwall and Cherry Orchard Road in East Croydon, thence following the 289 along Long Lane to Elmers End, then straight over the Hayes Line to Birkbeck. It serves East Croydon, Addiscombe, Blackhorse Lane, Woodside, Arena, Elmers End Tesco, Elmers End Station and Birkbeck, or within around 400 metres of each tram stop at least. Harrington Road isn't really possible to serve without using a minibus! The tram was operating between Addiscombe and East Croydon. The stand is at Anerley station. Running timesThe evening shift was a tail chaser. Even with a healthy Topodynised E40D I was unable to make up any time and I lost some mileage in both halves. Things calmed down at the end of service where it only took 9 minutes to get from Anerley to East Croydon. The first trip took 35 minutes end to end with 24 minutes of running time and 6 minutes stand time given. I had a pilot on board to help with pointing out the correct stops to serve. LoadingsRather light on the first night. I heard some customers complaining about insufficient publicity and having a hard time finding the correct bus stop to wait at. As it was the first day, I showed extra discretion with picking people up who were flagging the bus from the wrong stops and was sure to make clear announcements at every stop (no iBus on this route). Quite a few people were curiously looking at the bus and I suspect some who should have been using it were instead using other local routes. I expect people will come to learn about the service by the middle of the week. Addiscombe and Birkbeck were the busiest stops. Vehicle choiceAll E400s. I had Euro 4 9411 and Euro 5 9534 - both nippy and limited to 40mph. Not quite as much fun as the Euro 2 TAs from the last closure in 2017, but nice nonetheless. I thought I wouldn't get to drive one of the lovely 12 plate Enviros again given they've gone over to the west side.h SummaryShort and sweet route but we'll see how it goes on working days. I expect it will be very busy at 6 bph. Route difficulty rating - 1/3 (easy) Enjoyability - 3/5 (moderate) Next route review - Lewisham to Dartford via Bexleyheath On a side note, Stratford to Richmond is on tonight - slim chance an Enviro200 MMC from the P13 will be on the 2215 trip. Although it's specced for a single decker, anything might turn up on it! I had a ride on the East Croydon to Birkbeck service this morning and chaos and confusion reign supreme with many passengers having no idea what was going on and the driver didn't seem entirely sure either. I tried to assist a few people as I know the area very well and to avoid the poor old driver getting bombarded with questions, one lady thought I was an official and started complaining, I eventually managed to convince her that I was just a passenger and I suggested she direct her complaints to TfL or the Tramlink twitter. She pointed out that the replacement bus service was advertised as serving all tram stops between East Croydon and Birkbeck when in reality it only serves Addiscombe and Elmers End, ok it does stop near Woodside but passengers for Blackhorse Lane would be better off using the 197 and it goes nowhere near Harrington Road stop and a considerable walk from Arena. The 130, 197 or 312 are the only option for Harrington Road and they stop some distance from the tram stop. Her other complaint was the lack of coordination between buses and trams at Birkbeck and I was rather puzzled about the logic in running trams just between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction and this was reduced to Birkbeck to Beckenham Road for a time this morning because of a faulty tram. Presumably the two trams are berthed overnight at Elmers End? Would it not be simpler to run the replacement bus service to Beckenham Junction to save passengers changing and Birkbeck is an awful interchange with steps up to the platform although I realise the topography of the area makes providing an efficient replacement bus service difficult. By contrast the Brighton to Three Bridges rail replacement service seems to have gone well this morning.
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lg
Cleaner
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Post by lg on Feb 19, 2019 11:54:49 GMT
So I drove the East Croydon to Birkbeck Tramlink replacement service. This is being operated with 56/07 E400s spare from the 452 and 12 plate E400s revived from Twickenham - some which have been refurbished for the 207, some still waiting their turn. The routeThe service is supposed to run every 10 minutes during the day and every 15 in the evening, serving Elmers End then connecting with a tram shuttle service running between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction. It's a very straightforward route, picking up on Dingwall and Cherry Orchard Road in East Croydon, thence following the 289 along Long Lane to Elmers End, then straight over the Hayes Line to Birkbeck. It serves East Croydon, Addiscombe, Blackhorse Lane, Woodside, Arena, Elmers End Tesco, Elmers End Station and Birkbeck, or within around 400 metres of each tram stop at least. Harrington Road isn't really possible to serve without using a minibus! The tram was operating between Addiscombe and East Croydon. The stand is at Anerley station. Running timesThe evening shift was a tail chaser. Even with a healthy Topodynised E40D I was unable to make up any time and I lost some mileage in both halves. Things calmed down at the end of service where it only took 9 minutes to get from Anerley to East Croydon. The first trip took 35 minutes end to end with 24 minutes of running time and 6 minutes stand time given. I had a pilot on board to help with pointing out the correct stops to serve. LoadingsRather light on the first night. I heard some customers complaining about insufficient publicity and having a hard time finding the correct bus stop to wait at. As it was the first day, I showed extra discretion with picking people up who were flagging the bus from the wrong stops and was sure to make clear announcements at every stop (no iBus on this route). Quite a few people were curiously looking at the bus and I suspect some who should have been using it were instead using other local routes. I expect people will come to learn about the service by the middle of the week. Addiscombe and Birkbeck were the busiest stops. Vehicle choiceAll E400s. I had Euro 4 9411 and Euro 5 9534 - both nippy and limited to 40mph. Not quite as much fun as the Euro 2 TAs from the last closure in 2017, but nice nonetheless. I thought I wouldn't get to drive one of the lovely 12 plate Enviros again given they've gone over to the west side.h SummaryShort and sweet route but we'll see how it goes on working days. I expect it will be very busy at 6 bph. Route difficulty rating - 1/3 (easy) Enjoyability - 3/5 (moderate) Next route review - Lewisham to Dartford via Bexleyheath On a side note, Stratford to Richmond is on tonight - slim chance an Enviro200 MMC from the P13 will be on the 2215 trip. Although it's specced for a single decker, anything might turn up on it! I had a ride on the East Croydon to Birkbeck service this morning and chaos and confusion reign supreme with many passengers having no idea what was going on and the driver didn't seem entirely sure either. I tried to assist a few people as I know the area very well and to avoid the poor old driver getting bombarded with questions, one lady thought I was an official and started complaining, I eventually managed to convince her that I was just a passenger and I suggested she direct her complaints to TfL or the Tramlink twitter. She pointed out that the replacement bus service was advertised as serving all tram stops between East Croydon and Birkbeck when in reality it only serves Addiscombe and Elmers End, ok it does stop near Woodside but passengers for Blackhorse Lane would be better off using the 197 and it goes nowhere near Harrington Road stop and a considerable walk from Arena. The 130, 197 or 312 are the only option for Harrington Road and they stop some distance from the tram stop. Her other complaint was the lack of coordination between buses and trams at Birkbeck and I was rather puzzled about the logic in running trams just between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction and this was reduced to Birkbeck to Beckenham Road for a time this morning because of a faulty tram. Presumably the two trams are berthed overnight at Elmers End? Would it not be simpler to run the replacement bus service to Beckenham Junction to save passengers changing and Birkbeck is an awful interchange with steps up to the platform although I realise the topography of the area makes providing an efficient replacement bus service difficult. By contrast the Brighton to Three Bridges rail replacement service seems to have gone well this morning. The Brighton to Three Bridges service hasn't gone so well this morning www.theargus.co.uk/news/17442669.passengers-in-shock-as-tree-rips-hole-through-front-of-rail-replacement-bus/
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Post by 6HP502C on Feb 20, 2019 1:15:23 GMT
I had a ride on the East Croydon to Birkbeck service this morning and chaos and confusion reign supreme with many passengers having no idea what was going on and the driver didn't seem entirely sure either. I tried to assist a few people as I know the area very well and to avoid the poor old driver getting bombarded with questions, one lady thought I was an official and started complaining, I eventually managed to convince her that I was just a passenger and I suggested she direct her complaints to TfL or the Tramlink twitter. She pointed out that the replacement bus service was advertised as serving all tram stops between East Croydon and Birkbeck when in reality it only serves Addiscombe and Elmers End, ok it does stop near Woodside but passengers for Blackhorse Lane would be better off using the 197 and it goes nowhere near Harrington Road stop and a considerable walk from Arena. The 130, 197 or 312 are the only option for Harrington Road and they stop some distance from the tram stop. Her other complaint was the lack of coordination between buses and trams at Birkbeck and I was rather puzzled about the logic in running trams just between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction and this was reduced to Birkbeck to Beckenham Road for a time this morning because of a faulty tram. Presumably the two trams are berthed overnight at Elmers End? Would it not be simpler to run the replacement bus service to Beckenham Junction to save passengers changing and Birkbeck is an awful interchange with steps up to the platform although I realise the topography of the area makes providing an efficient replacement bus service difficult. By contrast the Brighton to Three Bridges rail replacement service seems to have gone well this morning. I think they're doing the best they can with the route. It's imperative the buses serve Addiscome so that dictates the route followed to Elmers End. The stop for Arena is a 5 minute walk from the tram stop which isn't ideal but not unacceptable. I searched "tram replacement" on Twitter and there are further complaints about the Woodside and Blackhorse Lane bus stops. Problem is the tram cuts a path through backstreets between corridors. The only choice really is what's running with up to 500 metre walks between tram stops and replacement bus stops, or running a minibus service that can access the back roads. The step free element is an issue and I will forward on the feedback. Who knows, it may lead to an alternative strategy for the many upcoming closures of the same sections in the next few months. Extending the route to Beckenham Junction would require a detour via Penge Pawleyne Arms. I'm not sure TfL would do it Go-Ahead style and bang through Beck Lane with anything bigger that the 354's mini E200s. I observed a few of my passengers wanting Beckenham Junction electing not to carry on to Birkbeck and instead making their own way from Elmers End. Meanwhile I did a short 4 rounder PM peak duty today and had 9413, 9405, 9422, 9421 and 9530 today. Not by choice but for "operational requirements". Some of them have had iBus and thus the microphone removed so I ended up shouting out the stops, but couldn't really do my extended interchange announcements at Addiscombe or Birkbeck. People seem to be getting used to the service.
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Post by vjaska on Feb 20, 2019 2:18:28 GMT
I had a ride on the East Croydon to Birkbeck service this morning and chaos and confusion reign supreme with many passengers having no idea what was going on and the driver didn't seem entirely sure either. I tried to assist a few people as I know the area very well and to avoid the poor old driver getting bombarded with questions, one lady thought I was an official and started complaining, I eventually managed to convince her that I was just a passenger and I suggested she direct her complaints to TfL or the Tramlink twitter. She pointed out that the replacement bus service was advertised as serving all tram stops between East Croydon and Birkbeck when in reality it only serves Addiscombe and Elmers End, ok it does stop near Woodside but passengers for Blackhorse Lane would be better off using the 197 and it goes nowhere near Harrington Road stop and a considerable walk from Arena. The 130, 197 or 312 are the only option for Harrington Road and they stop some distance from the tram stop. Her other complaint was the lack of coordination between buses and trams at Birkbeck and I was rather puzzled about the logic in running trams just between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction and this was reduced to Birkbeck to Beckenham Road for a time this morning because of a faulty tram. Presumably the two trams are berthed overnight at Elmers End? Would it not be simpler to run the replacement bus service to Beckenham Junction to save passengers changing and Birkbeck is an awful interchange with steps up to the platform although I realise the topography of the area makes providing an efficient replacement bus service difficult. By contrast the Brighton to Three Bridges rail replacement service seems to have gone well this morning. I think they're doing the best they can with the route. It's imperative the buses serve Addiscome so that dictates the route followed to Elmers End. The stop for Arena is a 5 minute walk from the tram stop which isn't ideal but not unacceptable. I searched "tram replacement" on Twitter and there are further complaints about the Woodside and Blackhorse Lane bus stops. Problem is the tram cuts a path through backstreets between corridors. The only choice really is what's running with up to 500 metre walks between tram stops and replacement bus stops, or running a minibus service that can access the back roads. The step free element is an issue and I will forward on the feedback. Who knows, it may lead to an alternative strategy for the many upcoming closures of the same sections in the next few months. Extending the route to Beckenham Junction would require a detour via Penge Pawleyne Arms. I'm not sure TfL would do it Go-Ahead style and bang through Beck Lane with anything bigger that the 354's mini E200s. I observed a few of my passengers wanting Beckenham Junction electing not to carry on to Birkbeck and instead making their own way from Elmers End. Meanwhile I did a short 4 rounder PM peak duty today and had 9413, 9405, 9422, 9421 and 9530 today. Not by choice but for "operational requirements". Some of them have had iBus and thus the microphone removed so I ended up shouting out the stops, but couldn't really do my extended interchange announcements at Addiscombe or Birkbeck. People seem to be getting used to the service. Other than Anerley not being on the tram network, is there any reason why buses don't continue in service to Anerley as I remember you mentioned that buses run light to stand at Anerley?
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Post by sid on Feb 20, 2019 6:00:23 GMT
I had a ride on the East Croydon to Birkbeck service this morning and chaos and confusion reign supreme with many passengers having no idea what was going on and the driver didn't seem entirely sure either. I tried to assist a few people as I know the area very well and to avoid the poor old driver getting bombarded with questions, one lady thought I was an official and started complaining, I eventually managed to convince her that I was just a passenger and I suggested she direct her complaints to TfL or the Tramlink twitter. She pointed out that the replacement bus service was advertised as serving all tram stops between East Croydon and Birkbeck when in reality it only serves Addiscombe and Elmers End, ok it does stop near Woodside but passengers for Blackhorse Lane would be better off using the 197 and it goes nowhere near Harrington Road stop and a considerable walk from Arena. The 130, 197 or 312 are the only option for Harrington Road and they stop some distance from the tram stop. Her other complaint was the lack of coordination between buses and trams at Birkbeck and I was rather puzzled about the logic in running trams just between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction and this was reduced to Birkbeck to Beckenham Road for a time this morning because of a faulty tram. Presumably the two trams are berthed overnight at Elmers End? Would it not be simpler to run the replacement bus service to Beckenham Junction to save passengers changing and Birkbeck is an awful interchange with steps up to the platform although I realise the topography of the area makes providing an efficient replacement bus service difficult. By contrast the Brighton to Three Bridges rail replacement service seems to have gone well this morning. I think they're doing the best they can with the route. It's imperative the buses serve Addiscome so that dictates the route followed to Elmers End. The stop for Arena is a 5 minute walk from the tram stop which isn't ideal but not unacceptable. I searched "tram replacement" on Twitter and there are further complaints about the Woodside and Blackhorse Lane bus stops. Problem is the tram cuts a path through backstreets between corridors. The only choice really is what's running with up to 500 metre walks between tram stops and replacement bus stops, or running a minibus service that can access the back roads. The step free element is an issue and I will forward on the feedback. Who knows, it may lead to an alternative strategy for the many upcoming closures of the same sections in the next few months. Extending the route to Beckenham Junction would require a detour via Penge Pawleyne Arms. I'm not sure TfL would do it Go-Ahead style and bang through Beck Lane with anything bigger that the 354's mini E200s. I observed a few of my passengers wanting Beckenham Junction electing not to carry on to Birkbeck and instead making their own way from Elmers End. Meanwhile I did a short 4 rounder PM peak duty today and had 9413, 9405, 9422, 9421 and 9530 today. Not by choice but for "operational requirements". Some of them have had iBus and thus the microphone removed so I ended up shouting out the stops, but couldn't really do my extended interchange announcements at Addiscombe or Birkbeck. People seem to be getting used to the service. I was wondering whether it would have been better running the replacement bus service direct to Beckenham Junction after Elmers End and people can change there for the tram shuttle service to Beckenham Road and Avenue Road, I would think most people for Birkbeck would walk from Elmers End. Also extend the tram shuttle one stop further to Harrington Road. People would be doubling back on themselves a bit but Beckenham Junction would be a much better interchange than Birkbeck, step free and it should allow for better coordination between bus and tram?
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