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Post by 6HP502C on May 13, 2019 12:09:48 GMT
Does anyone know the operators for the Central Line routes this weekend? I think ‘B’ has been Arriva The Shires before? Abellio London are operating services A and B. Service C, most likely gone to a local operator. I've got shifts on White City to Ealing Broadway on Friday night/Saturday morning and White City to West Ruislip on Sunday and will review both routes in due course! Meanwhile Acton Central to Richmond and Walthamstow to Barking will be on on Sunday, also run by Abellio.
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Post by MoEnviro on May 13, 2019 12:19:38 GMT
Does anyone know the operators for the Central Line routes this weekend? I think ‘B’ has been Arriva The Shires before? Abellio London are operating services A and B. Service C, most likely gone to a local operator. I've got shifts on White City to Ealing Broadway on Friday night/Saturday morning and White City to West Ruislip on Sunday and will review both routes in due course! Meanwhile Acton Central to Richmond and Walthamstow to Barking will be on on Sunday, also run by Abellio. Thanks, so Abellio are providing Single deckers for the ‘B’ then?
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Post by 6HP502C on May 15, 2019 9:11:59 GMT
Thanks, so Abellio are providing Single deckers for the ‘B’ then? Yes, will be single deckers. There's a notorious lack of spare single deckers across the whole of London on Saturdays hence why provincial operators usually appear so will be interesting to see what Abellio do.
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2019 15:02:43 GMT
Thanks, so Abellio are providing Single deckers for the ‘B’ then? Yes, will be single deckers. There's a notorious lack of spare single deckers across the whole of London on Saturdays hence why provincial operators usually appear so will be interesting to see what Abellio do. Pretty sure RATP have previously helped run this particular service with single decks.
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Post by londonbuses1503 on May 17, 2019 15:49:31 GMT
Thanks, so Abellio are providing Single deckers for the ‘B’ then? Yes, will be single deckers. There's a notorious lack of spare single deckers across the whole of London on Saturdays hence why provincial operators usually appear so will be interesting to see what Abellio do. Also - South Ruislip has a low bridge so kinda does have to be SD if it's going same LOR as last time.
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Post by 6HP502C on May 17, 2019 23:53:51 GMT
Yes, will be single deckers. There's a notorious lack of spare single deckers across the whole of London on Saturdays hence why provincial operators usually appear so will be interesting to see what Abellio do. Also - South Ruislip has a low bridge so kinda does have to be SD if it's going same LOR as last time. Yes. I brought some single deckers to Battersea. Now got 2411 on the Shepherd's Bush to Ealing Broadway night job.
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Post by 6HP502C on May 18, 2019 5:21:43 GMT
On my way back to QB I saw 8522, 8523, 8220 and 8224 running along the Embankment on their way to West Ruislip. Understand there will also be some buses from WL and a well respected provincial operator out. None likely to show in Countdown this weekend.
The buses from the 407 are limited to 40mph but have a bit of oomph, being 1st gen E200s. The MMCs from the R70 are Voith boxed stop starters and presumed limited to 65mph. Hopefully I'll get one on Sunday.
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Post by snowman on May 18, 2019 6:10:40 GMT
On my way back to QB I saw 8522, 8523, 8220 and 8224 running along the Embankment on their way to West Ruislip. Understand there will also be some buses from WL and a well respected provincial operator out. None likely to show in Countdown this weekend. . Sorry to be naive, but what is the advantage of not likely to show on Countdown ? Do the controllers prefer not to know where buses are, sounds to me like someone has decided it isn’t required, so trying to understand the thinking of having it on some replacements, but not others.
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Post by 6HP502C on May 18, 2019 12:01:45 GMT
On my way back to QB I saw 8522, 8523, 8220 and 8224 running along the Embankment on their way to West Ruislip. Understand there will also be some buses from WL and a well respected provincial operator out. None likely to show in Countdown this weekend. . Sorry to be naive, but what is the advantage of not likely to show on Countdown ? Do the controllers prefer not to know where buses are, sounds to me like someone has decided it isn’t required, so trying to understand the thinking of having it on some replacements, but not others. Not sure why it doesn't appear, there isn't any advantage to it. The services are controlled by roadside controllers in any case.
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Post by MoEnviro on May 18, 2019 13:01:09 GMT
Sorry to be naive, but what is the advantage of not likely to show on Countdown ? Do the controllers prefer not to know where buses are, sounds to me like someone has decided it isn’t required, so trying to understand the thinking of having it on some replacements, but not others. Not sure why it doesn't appear, there isn't any advantage to it. The services are controlled by roadside controllers in any case. When ever there is more than one operator on a route, then it won’t show on countdown/I-bus
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Post by 6HP502C on May 18, 2019 16:37:11 GMT
So I drove White City to Ealing Broadway covering the Friday night/Saturday morning Night Tube service. The Central Line is closed west of White City all weekend, but between 1am and 4am today, was closed west of Marble Arch. The routeThe service runs every 20 minutes to match the frequency of the Night Tube to Ealing Broadway. The service was specified to call at White City, East Acton, North Acton, West Acton, Ealing Common and Ealing Broadway. Buses were specified to have unadvertised calls at Shepherd's Bush between 1am and 4am, just in case anybody decided they wanted to get the 94/148/N207 from Marble Arch and interchange at Shepherd's Bush for the rail replacement. I gather this wasn't a popular choice, although some people did board the service at Shepherd's Bush. The stand is at Brook Green. Buses would proceed around Shepherd's Bush Green, pick up outside the Central Line station, proceed past White City Bus station to White City station, then go via Du Cane Road, Savoy Circus, the A40, Gypsy Corner and North Acton to follow the 440 through West Action to the Uxbridge Road. From there, straight through Ealing Common and around Haven Green to set down and pick up outside Ealing Broadway station. I last drove this route 3 or 4 years ago and was fine between White City and Ealing Broadway. The only difference was at North Acton where there is now a bidirectional routing. Going towards Brook Green, I got lost in the White City complex in an attempt to reach Shepherd's Bus station. It is unrecognisable from the last time I was there, which was when I drove the 607 in 2015. I made a wrong turn and accidentally ended up in the bus station. I got my bearings however and got out of there unscathed! No passengers were on board. The left turn from the A40 into Old Oak Common Lane is banned for rail replacement buses because many buses have fallen victim to the high kerb there. However it is entirely passable with care and caution. The route is quite short, but one would be foolish to assume that means its easy. In years gone by many a bus have missed turns and end up in places like Perivale and Northolt before returning up the A40 as far as Shepherd's Bush! One has to be paying attention in the North Acton area and preferably know the route rather than rely on signposts. Running timesI left on time on each trip and continually lost time, arriving at the other end around 7 minutes late. There was a senior member of staff on my bus for the entire shift so I was rolling along at 19mph for most of the time. For at least two trips, I was catching every single red light which was very tedious in the dead of night, especially in East and North Acton where you can be waiting for 2 or 3 minutes to cross or get onto the A40. That said, layovers appeared to be generous. At first glance one might assume that the service would comfortably run with one less bus, but then drivers keep their bus on night shifts, so a 30 minute break also forms part of the cycle time. LoadingsI did 4 trips and carried less than 10 passengers across the whole night. This is doubtless because the service did not connect with the Night Tube, which was kicking out at Marble Arch and not many people do local trips between White City and Ealing at night. The N207 is a popular and well known service to West Londoners and would have picked up most of the demand for people travelling to the Acton and Ealing areas, with the 266 and N7 probably seeing a few extra passengers. One passenger who had presumably used Citymapper's journey planner did board at Ealing Common to travel to West Acton, much to my surprise! Mine was the first bus from White City at 01:00 where I picked up 3 people. Reportedly some of the buses behind me left fully loaded because some Central Line trains did run through to White City in service before stabling there for the weekend. Vehicle choice9401 and 9525, the garage's best Euro 4 and Euro 5 E400s were parked up in all their glory but it was decided hybrids would go out on the night element. My allocated bus was 2411. SummaryRoutes where there is next to no demand are pretty boring to drive. I favour busy, high frequency routes with lots of people about. It's a more complicated route than people give it credit for which is probably why route learning sessions were run during the week. Route difficulty rating - 2/3 (intermediate) Enjoyability - 2/5 (fairly unenjoyable) Next route review - White City to West Ruilsip, Sunday 19th May 2019
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Post by 6HP502C on May 20, 2019 0:25:07 GMT
So I drove White City to West Ruislip yesterday. I'm on an ongoing quest to drive rail replacement over every Tube line outside of Zone 1 and I'm getting there! The routeThe service runs every 10 minutes during the day, calling at White City, North Acton, Northolt, South Ruislip, Ruislip Gardens and West Ruislip. I picked up my bus at White City. There was no stand, just a hestiation point at the pick up stop. This worked during the day but in the evening there was a bit of time to take a breather so I "hesitated" in the underground White City bus stand, where I could access facilities. Turns out a load of other rail replacement buses from Service C (Metroline operated) had set up camp there too. The stand evoked memories of recent visits to Singapore and Hong Kong who also utilise space sub surface to stand lots of buses. The route was moderately easy - via the A40 to Gypsy Corner, serve North Acton, via the A40 to the Target Roundabout, serve Northolt, via Eastcote Lane, Victoria Road and Station Approach to South Ruislip then via West End Road and Wood Lane to West Ruislip. The stand was some distance away near Hillingdon station. Signposts were very good but I missed the stop at South Ruislip towards White City the first time for a few reasons. Firstly the bus stop was situated in a grass verge which was unexpected. Secondly the bus stop flag had been rotated 90 degrees so impossible for an apporaching driver to see it. Thirdly there was no bus stop cage or anything at all indicating there was a stop on the highway! maps.app.goo.gl/wFXDJ9pzynhe2KNE9I realised I had passed it and pulled over in front of the station. Have to give a shout out to all the staff who were on hand at White City. All evening it appeared to be managed smoothly, no mean feat with three replacement bus services and trains tipping out quite a lot of passengers 20+ odd times an hour. Running timesDaytime runtimes were generous. Evening runtimes kicked in after 7pm and were spot on out of town, doable if a little tight going into town. LoadingsSurprisingly for a Sunday evening it was actually quite busy. Didn't have many standees but certainly most seats were taken on all trips out of White City. The bridge at South Ruislip constrains the route to single deckers. Abellio put out as many 10.9m MMCs as it could with 8334 being the only exception. London United also supplied longer MMCs as did CT Plus. CT also sent a single door bus from the 394 which was the only bus I saw carrying standing loads on the A40. Reading Buses had standbys at either end. Vehicle ChoiceNo choice today. First bus was Voith boxed E200 MMC 8224 and second was E200 8334 from the 484. I was happy with this as all other Abellio buses out were the Allison boxed MMCs from the C10 which may have a high top speed but are rather subdued performance wise. SummaryAs routes go, this one was pleasant and fairly straightforward. I don't find routes with long non stop sections particualrly exciting - part of the fun really is navigating around town roads. Gypsy Corner and North Acton continue to be a challenge for the unfamiliar and any route that features this can't get an easy rating. Route difficulty rating - 2/3 (intermediate) Enjoyability - 3/5 (moderate) Next route review - Hammersmith to Heathrow Terminal 5 ***NIGHT TUBE REPLACEMENT SHIFT***, Saturday 25th May 2019
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Post by 6HP502C on May 23, 2019 17:06:08 GMT
PICCADILLY LINE: Saturday 25, from 0100, and all day Sunday 26 and Bank Holiday Monday 27 May, no service between Hammersmith and Heathrow (all terminals) / Uxbridge.Service A: Gunnersbury (For District line and London Overground) - Acton Town - Ealing Common - Ealing Broadway (For Central line) - South Ealing - Boston Manor - Osterley - Hounslow East - Hounslow Central - Hounslow West - Hatton Cross - Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 Service B: Hammersmith - Heathrow Terminal 5, non-stop Service C: Hammersmith - Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3, non-stop Service D: Gunnersbury (For District line and London Overground) - Acton Town - Ealing Common - North Ealing - Hanger Lane (For Park Royal and Central line) - Alperton - Sudbury Town - Sudbury Hill - South Harrow - Rayners Lane (For Metropolitan line) Service A will be extended to run to/from Hammersmith and Heathrow T5 in Night Tube hours. Services B and C will be coaches. The cap might make an obligatory appearance on both weekends. Service A will be operated by Abellio London Service B will be operated by Abellio London with coaches Service C will be operated by Abellio London with coaches Service D will be operated by Metroline Service A looks to be a very long route. A few years ago I did Hammersmith to Boston Manor but studying the maps, it's looking like Boston Manor to T5 will be the challenging part. I believe a lot of route learning is taking place this week. Hopefully 9401 or 9525 will be available tomorrow night. If all goes well should be 0038 and 0458 from T5 and 0230 from Hammersmith in the small hours of Saturday!
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Post by Green Kitten on May 23, 2019 17:25:54 GMT
PICCADILLY LINE: Saturday 25, from 0100, and all day Sunday 26 and Bank Holiday Monday 27 May, no service between Hammersmith and Heathrow (all terminals) / Uxbridge.Service A: Gunnersbury (For District line and London Overground) - Acton Town - Ealing Common - Ealing Broadway (For Central line) - South Ealing - Boston Manor - Osterley - Hounslow East - Hounslow Central - Hounslow West - Hatton Cross - Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 Service B: Hammersmith - Heathrow Terminal 5, non-stop Service C: Hammersmith - Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3, non-stop Service D: Gunnersbury (For District line and London Overground) - Acton Town - Ealing Common - North Ealing - Hanger Lane (For Park Royal and Central line) - Alperton - Sudbury Town - Sudbury Hill - South Harrow - Rayners Lane (For Metropolitan line) Service A will be extended to run to/from Hammersmith and Heathrow T5 in Night Tube hours. Services B and C will be coaches. The cap might make an obligatory appearance on both weekends. Service A will be operated by Abellio London Service B will be operated by Abellio London with coaches Service C will be operated by Abellio London with coaches Service D will be operated by Metroline Service A looks to be a very long route. A few years ago I did Hammersmith to Boston Manor but studying the maps, it's looking like Boston Manor to T5 will be the challenging part. I believe a lot of route learning is taking place this week. Hopefully 9401 or 9525 will be available tomorrow night. If all goes well should be 0038 and 0458 from T5 and 0230 from Hammersmith in the small hours of Saturday! Interesting to see Abellio London provide the coaches. It’s crazy how many there will need to be for the weekend! The section between Acton Town and Osterley is frustrating. So much zig zagging... Boston Manor to Northfields takes sooooooo long. I remember the survey took 2 hours... each direction... Part of me just wants to explore the Piccadilly service and some of the RRBS to see how smoothly everything is running. Best of luck with your shift tomorrow night!
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Post by snowman on May 23, 2019 17:35:50 GMT
PICCADILLY LINE: Saturday 25, from 0100, and all day Sunday 26 and Bank Holiday Monday 27 May, no service between Hammersmith and Heathrow (all terminals) / Uxbridge.Service A: Gunnersbury (For District line and London Overground) - Acton Town - Ealing Common - Ealing Broadway (For Central line) - South Ealing - Boston Manor - Osterley - Hounslow East - Hounslow Central - Hounslow West - Hatton Cross - Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 Service B: Hammersmith - Heathrow Terminal 5, non-stop Service C: Hammersmith - Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3, non-stop Service D: Gunnersbury (For District line and London Overground) - Acton Town - Ealing Common - North Ealing - Hanger Lane (For Park Royal and Central line) - Alperton - Sudbury Town - Sudbury Hill - South Harrow - Rayners Lane (For Metropolitan line) Service A will be extended to run to/from Hammersmith and Heathrow T5 in Night Tube hours. Services B and C will be coaches. The cap might make an obligatory appearance on both weekends. Service A will be operated by Abellio London Service B will be operated by Abellio London with coaches Service C will be operated by Abellio London with coaches Service D will be operated by Metroline Service A looks to be a very long route. A few years ago I did Hammersmith to Boston Manor but studying the maps, it's looking like Boston Manor to T5 will be the challenging part. I believe a lot of route learning is taking place this week. Hopefully 9401 or 9525 will be available tomorrow night. If all goes well should be 0038 and 0458 from T5 and 0230 from Hammersmith in the small hours of Saturday! And looks like no rail replacement to Chiswick Park, when did this walk to another suburban station become acceptable
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