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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2019 18:42:15 GMT
All change on the Acton Town to Rayners Lane branch - from tomorrow the replacement service will be operated by Abellio London Ltd. I presume a number of the older E400s will be used alongside some hybrids. Do only Abellio , Metroline and Sullivan’s bid for this work !!
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Post by 6HP502C on Sept 9, 2019 23:26:02 GMT
All change on the Acton Town to Rayners Lane branch - from tomorrow the replacement service will be operated by Abellio London Ltd. I presume a number of the older E400s will be used alongside some hybrids. Do only Abellio , Metroline and Sullivan’s bid for this work !! I guess it's down to whoever has spare buses and drivers and wants to make a bit of coin on weekends. Two of the three have a lot of casual labour at their disposal who like doing rail replacement on weekends. Go-Ahead are very busy covering National Rail work as our railway infrastructure is knackered. If Govia lose any more franchises that could change. They have an army of part time rail replacement drivers and would be a force to be reckoned with if they decided to bid for TfL rail work, which I recall them stating to be the plan a couple of years ago. Elsewhere in London it may be that there are less spare buses and/or a policy of not hiring in casual labour to do rail on weekends. At some garages, service work is only just about covered by pushing drivers to do overtime and there just isn't the resource to cover the extra work. The SWR mainline is shut this weekend. The usual 7 minutes is given between Wimbledon and Raynes Park which is great - but Worple Road is shut medium term with buses diverted via Ridgeway. Hopefully this won't come as a complete surprise on the day and will be interesting to see what happens at Raynes Park station - will the normal stops be served and all the buses double back via the gyratory? Definitely something which needs communicating as I can foresee some buses bypassing the station when turning onto Durham Road. The frequency for buses on the Clapham Junction to Twickenham route has been reduced from 4bph to 2bph. Wimbledon to Surbiton still consists of 2x all stops Surbiton buses and 2x Hampton Court single deckers. The very much missed Clapham - Earlsfield - Wimbledon - Raynes Park - Surbiton semi fast service isn't back alas. Nevertheless it'll be good to return to that part of town!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2019 23:55:50 GMT
Do only Abellio , Metroline and Sullivan’s bid for this work !! I guess it's down to whoever has spare buses and drivers and wants to make a bit of coin on weekends. Two of the three have a lot of casual labour at their disposal who like doing rail replacement on weekends. Go-Ahead are very busy covering National Rail work as our railway infrastructure is knackered. If Govia lose any more franchises that could change. They have an army of part time rail replacement drivers and would be a force to be reckoned with if they decided to bid for TfL rail work, which I recall them stating to be the plan a couple of years ago. Elsewhere in London it may be that there are less spare buses and/or a policy of not hiring in casual labour to do rail on weekends. At some garages, service work is only just about covered by pushing drivers to do overtime and there just isn't the resource to cover the extra work. The SWR mainline is shut this weekend. The usual 7 minutes is given between Wimbledon and Raynes Park which is great - but Worple Road is likely to be shut with buses diverted via Ridgeway. Hopefully this won't come as a complete surprise on the day and will be interesting to see what happens at Raynes Park station - will the normal stops be served and all the buses double back via the gyratory? Definitely something which needs communicating as I can foresee some buses bypassing the station when turning onto Durham Road. The frequency for buses on the Clapham Junction to Twickenham route has been reduced from 4bph to 2bph. Wimbledon to Surbiton still consists of 2x all stops Surbiton buses and 2x Hampton Court single deckers. The very much needed Clapham - Earlsfield - Wimbledon - Raynes Park - Surbiton semi fast service hasn't made a return. Nevertheless it'll be good to return to that part of town! The SWT service certainly provides a wide variety and standard of buses ! I think Abellio do a great job working in unfamiliar parts of London for their drivers.
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Post by snowman on Sept 10, 2019 5:32:54 GMT
Do only Abellio , Metroline and Sullivan’s bid for this work !! I guess it's down to whoever has spare buses and drivers and wants to make a bit of coin on weekends. Two of the three have a lot of casual labour at their disposal who like doing rail replacement on weekends. Go-Ahead are very busy covering National Rail work as our railway infrastructure is knackered. If Govia lose any more franchises that could change. They have an army of part time rail replacement drivers and would be a force to be reckoned with if they decided to bid for TfL rail work, which I recall them stating to be the plan a couple of years ago. Elsewhere in London it may be that there are less spare buses and/or a policy of not hiring in casual labour to do rail on weekends. At some garages, service work is only just about covered by pushing drivers to do overtime and there just isn't the resource to cover the extra work. The SWR mainline is shut this weekend. The usual 7 minutes is given between Wimbledon and Raynes Park which is great - but Worple Road is shut medium term with buses diverted via Ridgeway. Hopefully this won't come as a complete surprise on the day and will be interesting to see what happens at Raynes Park station - will the normal stops be served and all the buses double back via the gyratory? Definitely something which needs communicating as I can foresee some buses bypassing the station when turning onto Durham Road. The frequency for buses on the Clapham Junction to Twickenham route has been reduced from 4bph to 2bph. Wimbledon to Surbiton still consists of 2x all stops Surbiton buses and 2x Hampton Court single deckers. The very much missed Clapham - Earlsfield - Wimbledon - Raynes Park - Surbiton semi fast service isn't back alas. Nevertheless it'll be good to return to that part of town! There is still a lot of cycle lane construction and delays between Norbiton and Kingston as well And the work in Penryn Road (between Kingston and Surbiton) is still causing delays I would easily see Wimbledon-Kingston-Surbiton buses taking over an hour daytime due to the multiple roadworks Couldn’t buses use Pepys Road to reach the Rayners Park gyratory without doubling back In SWT days Tri-axles used to appear (from Newbury ?) so was always interesting
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Post by 6HP502C on Sept 11, 2019 8:56:55 GMT
There is still a lot of cycle lane construction and delays between Norbiton and Kingston as well And the work in Penryn Road (between Kingston and Surbiton) is still causing delays I would easily see Wimbledon-Kingston-Surbiton buses taking over an hour daytime due to the multiple roadworks Couldn’t buses use Pepys Road to reach the Rayners Park gyratory without doubling back In SWT days Tri-axles used to appear (from Newbury ?) so was always interesting I've had a look at Pepys Road on Google Maps and I'm not sure if a 10 metre bus can get into either end of that road. Presumably this is why the 57 and 131 are diverting via normally banned-to-PSVs Durham Road instead, even though it means bypassing the station at Raynes Park. Technically rail replacement buses can serve the normal stops. Towards New Malden it isn't especially awkward to turn left out of Durham Road, along Coombe Lane then around the gyratory to serve the station. Towards Wimbledon however, doing this will be problematic. Getting 20bph to drive past Durham Road, serve the station, drive around the gyratory then do a conflicting right turn into Durham Road will be challenging. Alternatively buses could just serve the next pair of stops west of the station. But this will cause chaos with 20 rrbph plus 57s and 131s turning right out of Durham Road which is virtually perpendicular to the stop J cage. And station staff would need to be briefed on stopping arrangements. The triaxles are immaculate but their utility on the metro routes was questionable in SWT days - they used to skip stops they wouldn't fit into like Mortlake. First have gotten rid of the sticky stopping arrangemenets at Mortlake, Teddington and Strawberry Hill (for through buses only) so this might no longer be a problem.
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Post by snowman on Sept 13, 2019 13:22:56 GMT
There is still a lot of cycle lane construction and delays between Norbiton and Kingston as well And the work in Penryn Road (between Kingston and Surbiton) is still causing delays I would easily see Wimbledon-Kingston-Surbiton buses taking over an hour daytime due to the multiple roadworks Couldn’t buses use Pepys Road to reach the Rayners Park gyratory without doubling back In SWT days Tri-axles used to appear (from Newbury ?) so was always interesting I've had a look at Pepys Road on Google Maps and I'm not sure if a 10 metre bus can get into either end of that road. Presumably this is why the 57 and 131 are diverting via normally banned-to-PSVs Durham Road instead, even though it means bypassing the station at Raynes Park. Technically rail replacement buses can serve the normal stops. Towards New Malden it isn't especially awkward to turn left out of Durham Road, along Coombe Lane then around the gyratory to serve the station. Towards Wimbledon however, doing this will be problematic. Getting 20bph to drive past Durham Road, serve the station, drive around the gyratory then do a conflicting right turn into Durham Road will be challenging. Alternatively buses could just serve the next pair of stops west of the station. But this will cause chaos with 20 rrbph plus 57s and 131s turning right out of Durham Road which is virtually perpendicular to the stop J cage. And station staff would need to be briefed on stopping arrangements. The triaxles are immaculate but their utility on the metro routes was questionable in SWT days - they used to skip stops they wouldn't fit into like Mortlake. First have gotten rid of the sticky stopping arrangemenets at Mortlake, Teddington and Strawberry Hill (for through buses only) so this might no longer be a problem. And just to prove how well transport is (not) co-ordinated, now appears that this weekend plans are to have lane closures outside Kingston station to rebuild ramps to raised tables, work that will continue to 29 Sept
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Post by 6HP502C on Sept 15, 2019 7:56:02 GMT
And just to prove how well transport is (not) co-ordinated, now appears that this weekend plans are to have lane closures outside Kingston station to rebuild ramps to raised tables, work that will continue to 29 Sept It's not 9am yet and it looks like it's already kicking off. However I'm sure it will have calmed down by the time everyone comes out around midday.
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Post by 6HP502C on Sept 17, 2019 0:42:40 GMT
I drove the Clapham Junction to Twickenham via Kingston route on Sunday.
The route
The service was scheduled to run every 30 minutes during the day, calling at Clapham Junction, Earlsfield, Wimbledon, Raynes Park, New Malden, Norbiton, Kingston, Hampton Wick, Teddington, Strawberry Hill and Twickenham. No changeover point as buses were taken out of the garage for all shifts. Several operators were out on the Twickenham, Surbiton, Epsom and Chessington routes. Abellio, Arriva, Hallmark, NPC, Red RouteMaster, Mortons with at least one triaxle, Stagecoach Gold and others. With so many routes operating, I took the initiative to scrawl my destination on A4 paper and stick it in the windscreen.
The route is quite long. There are several ways to get from Clapham Junction to Earlsfield. Abellio wanted buses to go out via Wandsworth Town, Wandsworth town centre and Garratt Lane, but back via the 77 then across Strath Terrace to set down on St Johns Hill.
Between Wimbledon and Raynes Park we did divert via Ridgeway and Durham Road. Well some buses did. The route was not suitable for the super duper long wheelbase buses that some operators sent. One I was following went over kerbs, clobbering roadside furniture and others went via South Wimbledon. Pepys Road was a definite no-no, even an 8.9m bus would struggle to turn in at both ends. I did the turn via the one way system at Raynes Park in both directions, serving the bus stops on both sides of the road. The diversion added about 5 minutes during the day and a negligible amount of time vs the 7 scheduled minutes in the evening.
From Norbiton to New Malden, at one point Coombe Lane East was shut by the police. I had to do a 3 point turn and follow the 213 route via The Triangle. A 57 managed to get totally lost and ended up in New Malden - I picked up distressed passengers who wanted to go to Wimbledon.
Kingston wasn't too bad as it happened. Lots of roadworks for sure but no traffic so it was all good.
I was confused at Teddington - some sources like the map and National Rail say the replacement stop was at The Causeway bus stand. But others, like the duty card say on the high street. I served both, just in case.
Loadings
Busier than it should have been. There was a question mark over whether or not any buses turned up to cover several duties on the Twickenham, Surbiton and Hampton Court routes. On one trip I drove from Twickenham to beyond Wimbledon before seeing a rail replacement bus on any of the routes pass in the opposite direction. Hampton Court - there was one 06 plate LDP I kept seeing on the common section between Clapham Junction and Kingston but otherwise I didn't see any single deck buses at all. Except at Clapham Junction and I presume they were on the Woking route. There were so many angry passengers at every bus stop asking for Surbiton and Hampton Court and quite a few demands for me to find out where their bus was.
With the service under severe pressure, there were no staff to be seen at some key locations. Wimbledon for example, where there was a huge crowd of people waiting at the bus stop like there always is. When I pulled into Wimbledon going towards Clapham Junction, people would run across the road asking if I was going to Surbiton or Hampton Court. It was a bit of a safety issue.
There were staff at Kingston, sometimes. Nobody at the bus stop at Twickenham, but passengers did find their way there so I presume there were staff at the station, somewhat distant from the road directing people.
Running times
Around 73 minutes were given. Late afternoon it was taking closer to 95 minutes, but that included extended dwells whilst dealing with large numbers of people at bus stops asking if I was going to Surbiton.
Once the shops had closed, the running time was pretty much spot on, if a little generous on one or two sections.
Vehicle Choice
I took 2437, an E400H. I was not taking a LT around those roads between Wimbledon and Raynes Park and an E40H is more ergonomic and more importantly on this route, manoeuvrable than a MMC.
Summary
I love doing these routes. Pleasant areas to drive through, the routes are a nice length and well timed. The route would get a 2 rating for difficulty, but Norbiton station forecourt still poses a logistical issue at random times due to inconsiderate parking and the odd delivery truck.
Route difficulty rating - 2.5/3 (intermediate)
Enjoyability - 5/5 (very enjoyable)
Next route review - Acton Town to Rayners Lane
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Post by 6HP502C on Sept 23, 2019 22:58:32 GMT
I drove the Acton Town to Rayners Lane Piccadilly Line replacement service the other weekend. The routeThe service was scheduled to run every 10 minutes during the day, calling at Acton Town, Ealing Common, North Ealing, Hanger Lane (for Park Royal), Alperton, Sudbury Town, Sudbury Hill, South Harrow and Rayners Lane. The changeover point was on Bollo Lane in Acton where there was ample room to park buses. Just as well as actual layovers were exceedingly generous! This part of London is unfamiliar to me and I'd never been along a few of the corridors the route followed. Generally on rail replacement you get a sense of whether or not you're following the line. It was fairly straightforward between Acton and Sudbury Hill, after which there was a lot of twisting and turning, so close attention had to be paid to the signposts which were well placed and visible. The route sounds long, but I don't know if it was really. The fastest trip was completed in 24 minutes and daytime trips were generally less than a hour provided the bus didn't get lost. Most of the stations were close enough to the bus stops, but a few were out of eyeshot - North Ealing, Alperton and Sudbury Town. I made announcements at every stop, including Hanger Lane where I advised people to interchange for the 95 or 487 if they wanted to get to Park Royal. Alperton was a pain to serve at times as abandoned buses were littering the bus stop cages. By no means the only place in London this happens but normally it's something that happens during the end of service run-in, not in the middle of the day. The locals seemed well used to this however and waited on a kerbless, battered bit of road behind where the buses were parked to be picked up. I almost drove straight past them the first time I served that stop. LoadingsModerately busy out of Acton Town on the late shifts but enough seats for everybody. Very small numbers travelling between stops north of there. Quite a few people were going to the Sudbury stations and a fair number were making end to end trips. I got the feeling that quite a lot of those people had come from Central London and would have saved time by finding their way to the Metropolitan Line. The likes of which was also shut between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Uxbridge with a replacement service operated by Sullivan Buses. That service appeared to be rather more busy! Running timesNorthbound they were spot on. Southbound there was a bit of excess and I found I was arriving at Acton 15 minutes early with 30+ minutes layover. The usual traffic on the North Circular gyratory and in Sudbury was well catered for. I didn't overtake a single bus in either direction all weekend. The service pretty much ran like clockwork so well done to those who planned and operated it! Vehicle ChoiceI took 9449 out of QB as I hadn't driven a Euro 4 Enviro for a while. 9401 was my plated bus for the second half. I also had 9421 and some very slow Euro 5 Enviros. SummaryA nice enough route with some pleasant views over Horsenden Hill. Driving over Sudbury Hill and Roxeth Hill was an interesting experience. The route was a little short for my liking though, won't be in a hurry to do it again. Route difficulty rating - 2/3 (intermediate) Enjoyability - 3/5 (moderate) Next route review - Lewisham to Dartford via Sidcup
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Post by 6HP502C on Sept 25, 2019 19:23:21 GMT
I recently drove the Lewisham to Dartford via Sidcup the other weekend. I've now done all three of the Dartford Loop routes - one being via Bexleyheath and the other via Woolwich Arsenal. The routeThe service was scheduled to run every 30 minutes during the day, calling at Lewisham, Hither Green, Lee, Mottingham, New Eltham, Sidcup, Albany Park, Bexley, Crayford and Dartford. Lewisham to Hither Green was easy enough. Via Molesworth Street and the 225 to Hither Green Lane, then down Ennersdale Road, turning immediately in front of the 13'0" bridge to Nightingale Grove. As luck would have it, oncoming Citaros made running on this road an interesting experience. The station was served by the junction with Maythorne Cottages, a stone's throw from the station entrance. Hither Green to Lee was an unexpectedly convoluted routing. Via Springbank Road to the South Circular. Then left onto Manor Lane, right onto Southbrook Road and right again onto Burnt Ash Road to serve Lee station. That 13'0" bridge on Ennersdale Road was the cause of this meandering detour. Lee to Mottingham - via the South Circular and the A20 Sidcup Road. Mottingham to New Eltham - another meander via Court Road, the unserved North Park which was flanked by some very pretty houses and Footscray Road. New Eltham to Sidcup - via Footscray Road, Longlands Road and Hatherley Crescent, then into the station forecourt on Jubilee Way. Albany Park is served from Hurst Road, a bit of a distance from the station. Officially the stop is by the junction of Hurst Road and Carisbrooke Avenue but there was an instruction to stop again on Foots Cray Lane. Hurst Road/the A222 took us through Bexley and the A223 then London Road led us to Crayford town centre. Crayford station was situated on a loop served in both directions - Station Road, Royston Road, Heathview Avenue and Lower Station Road. Finally, Dartford was reached via the A207 and A226. Lots of left turns, right turns, back streets and dead ends to serve. Nowhere near as linear as the route via Woolwich Arsenal. I had to run at a reduced speed the first rounder as I was following the map and heavily relying on road signs being present to reduce the chances of missing any turns. Fortunately I didn't miss any. LoadingsModerately light, not too surprising for a Sunday evening. I did cop some flak from a fair number of irritated passengers who said they had been waiting for a long time. All the buses were running, but not all of them necessarily made it to the right place to serve the stations. Cue Twitter lighting up. There were two rail replacement bus services at Lewisham - this one and the Lewisham to Orpington via Grove Park service. Only some of the passengers asked me if I was going to their stop, which I happily answered. Other passengers just got on without saying anything - only when it became clear I was not going to Grove Park or Orpington did they ask where I was going. Running timesVirtually spot on during the day in both directions. I lost a little bit of time from Lee to Hither Green due to traffic on the South Circular and conflicts in the Hither Green area but other than that it was easy to remain on time. I was running at a reduced speed due to inspecting the map but didn't lose time. The times aren't reduced in the evening so there were some waits of up to 3 minutes in places, less in others where there's generally no traffic delays at any time. However I don't leave a second early on these kind of routes - it's not fair on the passengers. SummaryA winding route with a lot of turns and surprises, it's not the easiest of routes to navigate. However it is quite pleasant with no real traffic delays and a nice length, if a little quiet. My favourite route out of the three is via Woolwich Arsenal, then this one, then via Bexleyheath. Via Woolwich was a drag between Lewisham and Woolwich Dockyard, but busy and tightly timed east of there. Via Bexleyheath was a very interesting route, but passengers don't like using it because the meandering and double running borders on the extreme, to the point where it's significantly quicker to use local routes. Unusually for a NR rail replacement, tickets are accepted on local routes when that line is shut. Route difficulty rating - 2.5/3 (fairly difficult) Enjoyability - 3/5 (moderate) Next route review - New Cross Gate to West Croydon via Forest Hill N.B. I will no longer be driving the 22:15 Stratford to Richmond replacement service that runs every 2 or 3 months. It runs this Sunday but not with Abellio, so no more escapes for the P13's MMCs. Was glad to have the opportunity to drive London's longest rail replacement route it and will sorely miss it
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Post by richard on Sept 25, 2019 19:53:45 GMT
I recently drove the Lewisham to Dartford via Sidcup the other weekend. I've now done all three of the Dartford Loop routes - one being via Bexleyheath and the other via Woolwich Arsenal. The routeThe service was scheduled to run every 30 minutes during the day, calling at Lewisham, Hither Green, Lee, Mottingham, New Eltham, Sidcup, Albany Park, Bexley, Crayford and Dartford. Lewisham to Hither Green was easy enough. Via Molesworth Street and the 225 to Hither Green Lane, then down Ennersdale Road, turning immediately in front of the 13'0" bridge to Nightingale Grove. As luck would have it, oncoming Citaros made running on this road an interesting experience. The station was served by the junction with Maythorne Cottages, a stone's throw from the station entrance. Hither Green to Lee was an unexpectedly convoluted routing. Via Springbank Road to the South Circular. Then left onto Manor Lane, right onto Southbrook Road and right again onto Burnt Ash Road to serve Lee station. That 13'0" bridge on Ennersdale Road was the cause of this meandering detour. Lee to Mottingham - via the South Circular and the A20 Sidcup Road. Mottingham to New Eltham - another meander via Court Road, the unserved North Park which was flanked by some very pretty houses and Footscray Road. New Eltham to Sidcup - via Footscray Road, Longlands Road and Hatherley Crescent, then into the station forecourt on Jubilee Way. Albany Park is served from Hurst Road, a bit of a distance from the station. Officially the stop is by the junction of Hurst Road and Carisbrooke Avenue but there was an instruction to stop again on Foots Cray Lane. Hurst Road/the A222 took us through Bexley and the A223 then London Road led us to Crayford town centre. Crayford station was situated on a loop served in both directions - Station Road, Royston Road, Heathview Avenue and Lower Station Road. Finally, Dartford was reached via the A207 and A226. Lots of left turns, right turns, back streets and dead ends to serve. Nowhere near as linear as the route via Woolwich Arsenal. I had to run at a reduced speed the first rounder as I was following the map and heavily relying on road signs being present to reduce the chances of missing any turns. Fortunately I didn't miss any. LoadingsModerately light, not too surprising for a Sunday evening. I did cop some flak from a fair number of irritated passengers who said they had been waiting for a long time. All the buses were running, but not all of them necessarily made it to the right place to serve the stations. Cue Twitter lighting up. There were two rail replacement bus services at Lewisham - this one and the Lewisham to Orpington via Grove Park service. Only some of the passengers asked me if I was going to their stop, which I happily answered. Other passengers just got on without saying anything - only when it became clear I was not going to Grove Park or Orpington did they ask where I was going. Running timesVirtually spot on during the day in both directions. I lost a little bit of time from Lee to Hither Green due to traffic on the South Circular and conflicts in the Hither Green area but other than that it was easy to remain on time. I was running at a reduced speed due to inspecting the map but didn't lose time. The times aren't reduced in the evening so there were some waits of up to 3 minutes in places, less in others where there's generally no traffic delays at any time. However I don't leave a second early on these kind of routes - it's not fair on the passengers. SummaryA winding route with a lot of turns and surprises, it's not the easiest of routes to navigate. However it is quite pleasant with no real traffic delays and a nice length, if a little quiet. My favourite route out of the three is via Woolwich Arsenal, then this one, then via Bexleyheath. Via Woolwich was a drag between Lewisham and Woolwich Dockyard, but busy and tightly timed east of there. Via Bexleyheath was a very interesting route, but passengers don't like using it because the meandering and double running borders on the extreme, to the point where it's significantly quicker to use local routes. Unusually for a NR rail replacement, tickets are accepted on local routes when that line is shut. Route difficulty rating - 2.5/3 (fairly difficult) Enjoyability - 3/5 (moderate) Next route review - New Cross Gate to West Croydon via Forest Hill N.B. I will no longer be driving the 22:15 Stratford to Richmond replacement service that runs every 2 or 3 months. It runs this Sunday but not with Abellio, so no more escapes for the P13's MMCs. Was glad to have the opportunity to drive London's longest rail replacement route it and will sorely miss it Who will be taking over just out of interest i am guessing Metroline?
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Post by MrMaguire on Sept 25, 2019 20:00:39 GMT
I recently drove the Lewisham to Dartford via Sidcup the other weekend. I've now done all three of the Dartford Loop routes - one being via Bexleyheath and the other via Woolwich Arsenal. The routeThe service was scheduled to run every 30 minutes during the day, calling at Lewisham, Hither Green, Lee, Mottingham, New Eltham, Sidcup, Albany Park, Bexley, Crayford and Dartford. Lewisham to Hither Green was easy enough. Via Molesworth Street and the 225 to Hither Green Lane, then down Ennersdale Road, turning immediately in front of the 13'0" bridge to Nightingale Grove. As luck would have it, oncoming Citaros made running on this road an interesting experience. The station was served by the junction with Maythorne Cottages, a stone's throw from the station entrance. Hither Green to Lee was an unexpectedly convoluted routing. Via Springbank Road to the South Circular. Then left onto Manor Lane, right onto Southbrook Road and right again onto Burnt Ash Road to serve Lee station. That 13'0" bridge on Ennersdale Road was the cause of this meandering detour. Lee to Mottingham - via the South Circular and the A20 Sidcup Road. Mottingham to New Eltham - another meander via Court Road, the unserved North Park which was flanked by some very pretty houses and Footscray Road. New Eltham to Sidcup - via Footscray Road, Longlands Road and Hatherley Crescent, then into the station forecourt on Jubilee Way. Albany Park is served from Hurst Road, a bit of a distance from the station. Officially the stop is by the junction of Hurst Road and Carisbrooke Avenue but there was an instruction to stop again on Foots Cray Lane. Hurst Road/the A222 took us through Bexley and the A223 then London Road led us to Crayford town centre. Crayford station was situated on a loop served in both directions - Station Road, Royston Road, Heathview Avenue and Lower Station Road. Finally, Dartford was reached via the A207 and A226. Lots of left turns, right turns, back streets and dead ends to serve. Nowhere near as linear as the route via Woolwich Arsenal. I had to run at a reduced speed the first rounder as I was following the map and heavily relying on road signs being present to reduce the chances of missing any turns. Fortunately I didn't miss any. LoadingsModerately light, not too surprising for a Sunday evening. I did cop some flak from a fair number of irritated passengers who said they had been waiting for a long time. All the buses were running, but not all of them necessarily made it to the right place to serve the stations. Cue Twitter lighting up. There were two rail replacement bus services at Lewisham - this one and the Lewisham to Orpington via Grove Park service. Only some of the passengers asked me if I was going to their stop, which I happily answered. Other passengers just got on without saying anything - only when it became clear I was not going to Grove Park or Orpington did they ask where I was going. Running timesVirtually spot on during the day in both directions. I lost a little bit of time from Lee to Hither Green due to traffic on the South Circular and conflicts in the Hither Green area but other than that it was easy to remain on time. I was running at a reduced speed due to inspecting the map but didn't lose time. The times aren't reduced in the evening so there were some waits of up to 3 minutes in places, less in others where there's generally no traffic delays at any time. However I don't leave a second early on these kind of routes - it's not fair on the passengers. SummaryA winding route with a lot of turns and surprises, it's not the easiest of routes to navigate. However it is quite pleasant with no real traffic delays and a nice length, if a little quiet. My favourite route out of the three is via Woolwich Arsenal, then this one, then via Bexleyheath. Via Woolwich was a drag between Lewisham and Woolwich Dockyard, but busy and tightly timed east of there. Via Bexleyheath was a very interesting route, but passengers don't like using it because the meandering and double running borders on the extreme, to the point where it's significantly quicker to use local routes. Unusually for a NR rail replacement, tickets are accepted on local routes when that line is shut. Route difficulty rating - 2.5/3 (fairly difficult) Enjoyability - 3/5 (moderate) Next route review - New Cross Gate to West Croydon via Forest Hill N.B. I will no longer be driving the 22:15 Stratford to Richmond replacement service that runs every 2 or 3 months. It runs this Sunday but not with Abellio, so no more escapes for the P13's MMCs. Was glad to have the opportunity to drive London's longest rail replacement route it and will sorely miss it I rode the route on ex-WVL271 a few months ago and was surprised by the use of North Park instead of the high street. During my trip the road seemed a bit busy and not quite wide enough. The houses are indeed very pretty. My dad says he's going to live in one some day. No comments about the bus(es) you drove? I like reading those.
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Post by vjaska on Sept 25, 2019 21:39:51 GMT
I recently drove the Lewisham to Dartford via Sidcup the other weekend. I've now done all three of the Dartford Loop routes - one being via Bexleyheath and the other via Woolwich Arsenal. The routeThe service was scheduled to run every 30 minutes during the day, calling at Lewisham, Hither Green, Lee, Mottingham, New Eltham, Sidcup, Albany Park, Bexley, Crayford and Dartford. Lewisham to Hither Green was easy enough. Via Molesworth Street and the 225 to Hither Green Lane, then down Ennersdale Road, turning immediately in front of the 13'0" bridge to Nightingale Grove. As luck would have it, oncoming Citaros made running on this road an interesting experience. The station was served by the junction with Maythorne Cottages, a stone's throw from the station entrance. Hither Green to Lee was an unexpectedly convoluted routing. Via Springbank Road to the South Circular. Then left onto Manor Lane, right onto Southbrook Road and right again onto Burnt Ash Road to serve Lee station. That 13'0" bridge on Ennersdale Road was the cause of this meandering detour. Lee to Mottingham - via the South Circular and the A20 Sidcup Road. Mottingham to New Eltham - another meander via Court Road, the unserved North Park which was flanked by some very pretty houses and Footscray Road. New Eltham to Sidcup - via Footscray Road, Longlands Road and Hatherley Crescent, then into the station forecourt on Jubilee Way. Albany Park is served from Hurst Road, a bit of a distance from the station. Officially the stop is by the junction of Hurst Road and Carisbrooke Avenue but there was an instruction to stop again on Foots Cray Lane. Hurst Road/the A222 took us through Bexley and the A223 then London Road led us to Crayford town centre. Crayford station was situated on a loop served in both directions - Station Road, Royston Road, Heathview Avenue and Lower Station Road. Finally, Dartford was reached via the A207 and A226. Lots of left turns, right turns, back streets and dead ends to serve. Nowhere near as linear as the route via Woolwich Arsenal. I had to run at a reduced speed the first rounder as I was following the map and heavily relying on road signs being present to reduce the chances of missing any turns. Fortunately I didn't miss any. LoadingsModerately light, not too surprising for a Sunday evening. I did cop some flak from a fair number of irritated passengers who said they had been waiting for a long time. All the buses were running, but not all of them necessarily made it to the right place to serve the stations. Cue Twitter lighting up. There were two rail replacement bus services at Lewisham - this one and the Lewisham to Orpington via Grove Park service. Only some of the passengers asked me if I was going to their stop, which I happily answered. Other passengers just got on without saying anything - only when it became clear I was not going to Grove Park or Orpington did they ask where I was going. Running timesVirtually spot on during the day in both directions. I lost a little bit of time from Lee to Hither Green due to traffic on the South Circular and conflicts in the Hither Green area but other than that it was easy to remain on time. I was running at a reduced speed due to inspecting the map but didn't lose time. The times aren't reduced in the evening so there were some waits of up to 3 minutes in places, less in others where there's generally no traffic delays at any time. However I don't leave a second early on these kind of routes - it's not fair on the passengers. SummaryA winding route with a lot of turns and surprises, it's not the easiest of routes to navigate. However it is quite pleasant with no real traffic delays and a nice length, if a little quiet. My favourite route out of the three is via Woolwich Arsenal, then this one, then via Bexleyheath. Via Woolwich was a drag between Lewisham and Woolwich Dockyard, but busy and tightly timed east of there. Via Bexleyheath was a very interesting route, but passengers don't like using it because the meandering and double running borders on the extreme, to the point where it's significantly quicker to use local routes. Unusually for a NR rail replacement, tickets are accepted on local routes when that line is shut. Route difficulty rating - 2.5/3 (fairly difficult) Enjoyability - 3/5 (moderate) Next route review - New Cross Gate to West Croydon via Forest Hill N.B. I will no longer be driving the 22:15 Stratford to Richmond replacement service that runs every 2 or 3 months. It runs this Sunday but not with Abellio, so no more escapes for the P13's MMCs. Was glad to have the opportunity to drive London's longest rail replacement route it and will sorely miss it Once I checked out that bridge, it looked familiar - my instructor used to tell me to drive down there and it's certainly not for buses of any height as once past the bridge, there's a width restriction up ahead just after a bend - the first time I drove down there was a little nerve racking coming round a bend and being confronted almost immediately by the width restriction
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Post by 6HP502C on Sept 28, 2019 8:12:33 GMT
N.B. I will no longer be driving the 22:15 Stratford to Richmond replacement service that runs every 2 or 3 months. It runs this Sunday but not with Abellio, so no more escapes for the P13's MMCs. Was glad to have the opportunity to drive London's longest rail replacement route it and will sorely miss it Who will be taking over just out of interest i am guessing Metroline? I don't think it's Metroline. I don't think it's publicised who wins rail replacement routes until they're seen running and I also don't think this one will show up in the Countdown data. Could be wrong on all counts but it might be that the only way to find out is to go out on Sunday night...!
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Post by galwhv69 on Oct 5, 2019 13:42:52 GMT
Abellio, Metroline, CT Plus & Sullivans Buses all on the District Line job (the branch from Wimbledon)
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