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Post by ak121 on Dec 7, 2019 22:30:37 GMT
Do the VWs at HD have blinds for the X140? I'm not sure if all of them do, but the ones running on the route today did. They also had USB ports retrofitted on to the seats as well on the X140's buses. Interestingly, Metroline have chosen to only allocate 66 plate vehicles to the X140 so far, rather than a mix of 16 and 66 regs.
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Post by kmkcheng on Dec 7, 2019 22:40:57 GMT
Do the VWs at HD have blinds for the X140? Yes they do as on the running day a couple of weeks ago, there was a VW blinded for the X140
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Post by kmkcheng on Dec 7, 2019 23:33:48 GMT
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Post by rif153 on Dec 8, 2019 0:24:49 GMT
Do the VWs at HD have blinds for the X140? I'm not sure if all of them do, but the ones running on the route today did. They also had USB ports retrofitted on to the seats as well on the X140's buses. Interestingly, Metroline have chosen to only allocate 66 plate vehicles to the X140 so far, rather than a mix of 16 and 66 regs. I imagine we'll see HD being quite strigent with their allocations to ensure that the VWHs with USB ports are always on the X140, I was surprised to see several people using the charging ports when I went on the X140 earlier. If the X140 becomes popular and proves a sucess, it may go the same way as the X26 with luggage racks to cater for the demand to Heathrow, however I think I'm getting ahead of myself, as I can't see that happening.
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Post by vjaska on Dec 8, 2019 0:51:28 GMT
I think the 24 flings around more due to there not really being a garage that suited to it since Chalk Farm closed. Who ever operates it always is a little but further north or south of the route. SF, AR, HT, SW and now QB. Not dissimilar to the 19 really aswell since the loss of BA (AR, SW, BN and N). The 36 survives at NX as it's either been the terminal or a passing point (in the Lewisham days). The 19 wasn't run by N - it was BA & BN under Arriva. N merely held the remainder of it's allocation due to space limitation elsewhere.
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Post by rj131 on Dec 8, 2019 6:26:01 GMT
I have a feeling the 24 and 266 will both be back in 5 years time, along with the 232. The 24 and 266 never seem to leave Metroline very long at all - would also be nice to see the 251 come back after 10 years with LS (By the time the contract ends it would've been 10 years). 183 could also return just like the 114 and 292 already have. The trio were run for a 5 year contract back in the 90s with Ms before going to London Sovereigns predecessor BTS and staying there ever since - but are slowly coming back one by one. I wouldn't be so sure about the 24, Both SW and QB do seem to be better locations for it as opposed to HT. I think the reason this route tends to fling about a lot is because it's effectively a grade listed route which seems to make it untouchable when it really is one that needs to be changed a bit. I'm not usually one for cutting buses in Central London but the 24 is one that genuinely needs to be looked at. It might be worthwhile splitting it into overlapping routes which then extend a bit further north and a bit further south. Maybe a route from Golders Green to Tottenham Court Road and a route from Camden Town to Nine Elms. This should hopefully make the service along the routes much better and not give operators a huge headache trying to operate routes that are almost impossible to get right. As for the 266 it's an interesting one. The last award was only for two years and Metroline seem to have thrown everything at it just to win it, using all sorts of scraps that they could find. It's also notable the award was actually for Metroline West (presumably WJ) while it ended up back in W just for them to lose it again to a garage in exactly the same area. It seems to me as if Cricklewood is not the optimal place to operate the route out of, with a garage in Harlesden actually being much better placed for it. The 24 is such a sad state of affairs. In its hayday under Go-Ahead it had a PVR of around 30 and was carrying 9 million a year. All along the route there were buses packed to the rafters even in the quieter times. Now you’d be lucky if there were more than 20 people on board off peak. As much as I hate the 24 for garishly obvious reasons you just outlined, it would be a real shame to me if it was altered. Being London’s oldest bus route left completely unchanged since 1912, I don’t think the route will be altered. As much as what is practical and I agree with you, TfL probably feel obligated if you like to keep it as it is. Obligated by precisely who I don’t know, but I think you get the gist of what I’m trying to say
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2019 14:21:14 GMT
114 was never run by Metroine prior to September 2016. IIRC it was run by HD for a while but that wasn't a part of Metroline Travel yet. 183 on the other hand run by Metroline up until 1999 with DLDs and replaced by the SDPs which were replaced by 27xx Plaxton Presidents in 2001. The SDPs went on loan to Mitcham Belle and some entered the Sovereign Hertfordshire operation.
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Post by ak121 on Dec 8, 2019 21:51:03 GMT
I'm not sure if all of them do, but the ones running on the route today did. They also had USB ports retrofitted on to the seats as well on the X140's buses. Interestingly, Metroline have chosen to only allocate 66 plate vehicles to the X140 so far, rather than a mix of 16 and 66 regs. I imagine we'll see HD being quite strigent with their allocations to ensure that the VWHs with USB ports are always on the X140, I was surprised to see several people using the charging ports when I went on the X140 earlier. If the X140 becomes popular and proves a sucess, it may go the same way as the X26 with luggage racks to cater for the demand to Heathrow, however I think I'm getting ahead of myself, as I can't see that happening. Yes, I used the X140 again today and it was a delight seeing loads of people using the USB port facilities on the bus. I'm also pleased to see healthy loads on the bus as well and most people have quickly adapted to the changes and have started using the express route. To be honest, I don't think there is a large demand for luggage racks on the service and the luggage racks would just take up valuable space on the VWHs.
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Post by kmkcheng on Dec 8, 2019 21:52:04 GMT
114 was never run by Metroine prior to September 2016. IIRC it was run by HD for a while but that wasn't a part of Metroline Travel yet. 183 on the other hand run by Metroline up until 1999 with DLDs and replaced by the SDPs which were replaced by 27xx Plaxton Presidents in 2001. The SDPs went on loan to Mitcham Belle and some entered the Sovereign Hertfordshire operation. Metroline ran the 183 with Ms, not DLDs. When the 183 was won by Sovereign, it was converted to single decks which they realised was a big mistake and double decked again
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Post by kmkcheng on Dec 8, 2019 21:57:10 GMT
I imagine we'll see HD being quite strigent with their allocations to ensure that the VWHs with USB ports are always on the X140, I was surprised to see several people using the charging ports when I went on the X140 earlier. If the X140 becomes popular and proves a sucess, it may go the same way as the X26 with luggage racks to cater for the demand to Heathrow, however I think I'm getting ahead of myself, as I can't see that happening. Yes, I used the X140 again today and it was a delight seeing loads of people using the USB port facilities on the bus. I'm also pleased to see healthy loads on the bus as well and most people have quickly adapted to the changes and have started using the express route. To be honest, I don't think there is a large demand for luggage racks on the service and the luggage racks would just take up valuable space on the VWHs. Certainly luggage racks wasn’t needed when I used the 140 a couple of months ago. I travelled on the 140 from Harrow Weald to Heathrow to catch my flight with a large suitcase which fit snuggly in the luggage rack so wouldn’t had space to put anything else on and luckily no one needed to use it throughout my journey
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Dec 8, 2019 22:03:15 GMT
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Post by southlondonbus on Dec 8, 2019 22:03:15 GMT
I wonder If next renewal the X140 would be awarded with single door buses with luggage racks like on the X26. The fact that the WVLs seem to take ages and were probably quite costly to modify means the current X140 VWHs won't be modified.
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Post by redexpress on Dec 8, 2019 22:18:37 GMT
I think the 24 flings around more due to there not really being a garage that suited to it since Chalk Farm closed. Who ever operates it always is a little but further north or south of the route. SF, AR, HT, SW and now QB. Not dissimilar to the 19 really aswell since the loss of BA (AR, SW, BN and N). The 36 survives at NX as it's either been the terminal or a passing point (in the Lewisham days). The 19 wasn't run by N - it was BA & BN under Arriva. N merely held the remainder of it's allocation due to space limitation elsewhere. IIRC there were Norwood-based drivers for the 19, so it wasn't just a case of BA parking their buses there. I agree N weren't in charge of the route though.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2019 22:50:30 GMT
114 was never run by Metroine prior to September 2016. IIRC it was run by HD for a while but that wasn't a part of Metroline Travel yet. 183 on the other hand run by Metroline up until 1999 with DLDs and replaced by the SDPs which were replaced by 27xx Plaxton Presidents in 2001. The SDPs went on loan to Mitcham Belle and some entered the Sovereign Hertfordshire operation. Metroline ran the 183 with Ms, not DLDs. When the 183 was won by Sovereign, it was converted to single decks which they realised was a big mistake and double decked again My mistake, I did mean Metrobuses, I remember them going past the hostel I was staying in at the time in Kenton.
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Post by rj131 on Dec 8, 2019 23:15:22 GMT
114 was never run by Metroine prior to September 2016. IIRC it was run by HD for a while but that wasn't a part of Metroline Travel yet. 183 on the other hand run by Metroline up until 1999 with DLDs and replaced by the SDPs which were replaced by 27xx Plaxton Presidents in 2001. The SDPs went on loan to Mitcham Belle and some entered the Sovereign Hertfordshire operation. Metroline ran the 183 with Ms, not DLDs. When the 183 was won by Sovereign, it was converted to single decks which they realised was a big mistake and double decked again Judging by how ridiculously busy the 183 is today I bet when it got converted to single deckers the route just imploded. How long was it until they converted back to DDs again? Couldn’t have been long lol
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Post by kmkcheng on Dec 8, 2019 23:20:55 GMT
Metroline ran the 183 with Ms, not DLDs. When the 183 was won by Sovereign, it was converted to single decks which they realised was a big mistake and double decked again Judging by how ridiculously busy the 183 is today I bet when it got converted to single deckers the route just imploded. How long was it until they converted back to DDs again? Couldn’t have been long lol 2 years. It was single-decked in 1999 and converted back to double decks in 2001
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