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Post by Hassaan on Jan 22, 2020 23:57:49 GMT
Finally the road works by my bus stop have finished and the stop reopened today, after 2 weeks of having to walk to another stop. They actually finished last night but when I left in the morning, the stop still had the cover on . It was tempting to take a chance and wait there anyway , but as I had enough time to reach another stop, I did the sensible thing . As my VWH2273 had the very smiley and helpful driver, I asked her if the stop could be used again. Her reply: They'd been asked to stop there again, but TfL were slow in removing the cover, and couldn't guarantee if the other drivers would stop. Anyway, I've given up with avoiding Z1 in the evening. Last week Tuesday and Wednesday I once again ended up taking nearly an hour to do Willesden to North Acton on the 266, so on Thursday I used Jubilee line and Bakerloo line to Paddington. Friday I had to go Harrow first, and then had good connections with the X140 and 120. This week I've again gone via Z1 in the evening. Didn't make much of a difference on Monday. However, yesterday and today it saved a lot of time. Especially today, when the bus I ignored took a good 75 minutes to do Willesden to North Acton! Yep, I was already home by the time that ADE reached North Acton! In the morning, I got lucky with just about making the 0753 train yesterday and today (especially yesterday when it was late due to the previous train delaying it) . Did have to wait 10-12 minutes yesterday at Acton Main Line for anything to turn up on the 260 and 266, about double the previous longest time.
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Post by capitalomnibus on Jan 22, 2020 23:58:09 GMT
Did the 136 from Elephant & Castle to Grove Park today. Not the most scenic route, and the speed humps on the early part of the route are trully horendous. Speaking of speed humps, there are just too many of them on certain roads. An example is Carlton Vale. Try using the 6 or 316 along there and you're guaranteed an excessively bumpy ride, exacerbated by some 6 drivers often going fast along that section. There are too many speed humps in close proximity to each other, those useless 'speed tables' in between should be removed in my opinion. Makes me feel bad for the poor VWHs in particular (less concerned about the awful 316 DEs) even though their suspension are built to handle it Well as usual a measure used to punish the so called motorist , in turn punishes bus passengers (ie speed humps) I have noticed on road were speed cushions were in Waltham Forest that were put in to be bus friendly have recently been changed to standard speed humps. Take a look at James Lane as a road for example. Most modern cars can fly past these humps with adaptable suspension.
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Post by rmz19 on Jan 23, 2020 0:23:46 GMT
Speaking of speed humps, there are just too many of them on certain roads. An example is Carlton Vale. Try using the 6 or 316 along there and you're guaranteed an excessively bumpy ride, exacerbated by some 6 drivers often going fast along that section. There are too many speed humps in close proximity to each other, those useless 'speed tables' in between should be removed in my opinion. Makes me feel bad for the poor VWHs in particular (less concerned about the awful 316 DEs) even though their suspension are built to handle it Interesting that many drivers on the 6 don't really slow down for humps. Over here on the 120, almost no driver slows down anywhere near enough, and I'm just fed up of it. B5LHs are a bit too bouncy anyway due to their awkward wheelbase and rear-heavy design, and then drivers make it worse. Always nicer when a VW turns up, as their longer wheelbase helps a lot in being less bouncy. Although neither are good for body lean, which makes the side roads section on the 105 between Southall and Greenford quite grim (those side roads are full of odd road cambers and having raised tables at ends of roads). Indeed the B5LH chassis has an awkward wheelbase due to the large rear overhang, the assymetry in the wheelbase makes it bounce over humps more so than other chassis types due to its slight imbalance between the front and rear axles. I thought grounding would be an issue when the chassis was first introduced but this is mitigated by the rear angled upwards slightly. I don't mind speed humps in general, however as I highlighted along Carlton Vale they are quite high and there are too many of them spaced out unevenly. Perhaps just sticking to Speed Tables and removing the humps would be a better idea. Also humps should be smoother so the suspension and body of buses are not affected in the long run.
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Post by vjaska on Jan 23, 2020 1:02:52 GMT
Did the 136 from Elephant & Castle to Grove Park today. Not the most scenic route, and the speed humps on the early part of the route are trully horendous. Welcome to Southwark, the only borough who literally built mountains on their roads that are disguised as speed bumps. There are some speed tables out there in a few places especially when a borough hasn't been looking after them but Southwark's speed humps are the worst I've ever come across - thankfully, the 37 & P4 only have two short sections with them so I don't have to endure them too much.
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Post by Nathan on Jan 23, 2020 10:03:33 GMT
Did the 136 from Elephant & Castle to Grove Park today. Not the most scenic route, and the speed humps on the early part of the route are trully horendous. Welcome to Southwark, the only borough who literally built mountains on their roads that are disguised as speed bumps. There are some speed tables out there in a few places especially when a borough hasn't been looking after them but Southwark's speed humps are the worst I've ever come across - thankfully, the 37 & P4 only have two short sections with them so I don't have to endure them too much. I'm still not used to the fact that they added speed bumps on a short section Half Moon Lane leading up to North Dulwich Station, which ruined the 37 route along that part 😡
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Post by DT 11 on Jan 23, 2020 13:26:33 GMT
Welcome to Southwark, the only borough who literally built mountains on their roads that are disguised as speed bumps. There are some speed tables out there in a few places especially when a borough hasn't been looking after them but Southwark's speed humps are the worst I've ever come across - thankfully, the 37 & P4 only have two short sections with them so I don't have to endure them too much. I'm still not used to the fact that they added speed bumps on a short section Half Moon Lane leading up to North Dulwich Station, which ruined the 37 route along that part 😡 Speaking of Speed Humps Lewisham Council have recently put some speed humps on Beckenham Hill Road. The Bromley part of the road is 30 and has no speed humps
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Post by george on Feb 1, 2020 18:45:47 GMT
337 to Gipsy Lane, was an E but really nothing of interest to say 430 from Huntingfield Road to Medfield, short Journey up Dover Park Drive so again don't have much to say about. 85 to Kingston, Now this where it starts to get good, was able to get SP40107 and It was amazing have been getting a bit bored of the standard VHs on the route so it was nice to get something different. galwhv69 if you not been on an SP on the 85 do so you'll like it I'm sure. After being in Kingston for a while looked on LVF to see if any Darts where on either the 481 and K1 and sure enough 8037 was on the K1, on it's way to Kingston so I made my way to Cromwell Road bus Station to get it, arrived a few minutes late but all good until two Abellio drivers were talking, the driver of the bus was speaking to his colleague talking about how the bus engine keeps cutting off when he tries to start it or something along those lines to which the reply was "Not driven these buses for ages up to you if you take it out" thankfully the driver did take it out, although if he decided not to I wouldn't have had a problem with that. Got the bus to Malden Manor Station, the original plan was to do the full route but the bus got cut short there not sure how common this turn is? Bus and route was brilliant, so nice to go on Dart before they all leave London services for the final time and the route wasn't half bad either good to go on it before it passes to RATP. I'm sure many people would find it boring has it as it has lots of twists and turns around the houses but I don't actually mind these types of routes, I personally find complete straight routes boring. Walk to Plough Green bus stop to catch a 213 to New Malden the fountain, first time on this route but journey was so short there was nothing to say 265 *DLE30132* to Roslyn Park Rugby Football club, One of my favourite routes In London used it many times before I love how quick it is despite the long distance between Tolworth and Putney, found the old DPS better but DLEs aren't bad at all. 33 back home.
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Post by londonbuschannel on Feb 1, 2020 19:13:31 GMT
District to Barking C2C to Stratford GA to Liverpool Street LO to Hackney Downs LO to Homerton LO to Highbury & Islington Victoria to Green Park Piccadilly to Hammersmith PL-2 to Central Bus Station X26 to Hatton Cross (Did some planespotting) PL-1 to Heathrow Central TfL Rail to Paddington Bakerloo to Oxford Circus Central to Mile End District to Dagenham Heathway District to West Ham DLR to West Silvertown
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Post by galwhv69 on Feb 1, 2020 19:34:00 GMT
85 to Kingston, Now this where it starts to get good, was able to get SP40107 and It was amazing have been getting a bit bored of the standard VHs on the route so it was nice to get something different. galwhv69 if you not been on an SP on the 85 do so you'll like it I'm sure. Lol, I'm trying so hard to get one! They're evading me like heck, missed one by 10 minutes yesterday due to traffic
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Post by george on Feb 1, 2020 21:15:13 GMT
85 to Kingston, Now this where it starts to get good, was able to get SP40107 and It was amazing have been getting a bit bored of the standard VHs on the route so it was nice to get something different. galwhv69 if you not been on an SP on the 85 do so you'll like it I'm sure. Lol, I'm trying so hard to get one! They're evading me like heck, missed one by 10 minutes yesterday due to traffic Lol that's bad luck, I only made it by a minute was planning to get ot from Putney but that wasn't possible.
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Post by vjaska on Feb 1, 2020 21:46:32 GMT
Yesterday's mostly awful journey: Walked to Brixton Underground Station Went to tap in and my card doesn't do anything - walked over to the top my machine and my card doesn't register and then to confirm even more, tried the kiosk who couldn't get to work either. So I decided to ask one of the staff members and quite frankly, I wish I hadn't bothered because he didn't seem remotely interested and gave me mainly duff information as well as I later found out. Thankfully, I had my contactless bank card which I don't usually carry so I made my way to Victoria info centre to sort it out Spoke to the guy behind the counter and he couldn't get it to work so I informed him I had a £10 top up to collect off the card and he told me it bounces back if it's not collected whereas the staff member said I had to get a refund which I told the guy behind the counter. He said I'd been given false information but I was thankful that the money would come back so in the end, I only lost 70p which could of been worse. I brought a new card and consoled myself with a Greggs at Victoria Coach Station before walking back to Victoria Station The Victoria Line to Green Park The Piccadilly Line to Heathrow Airport 1, 2 & 3 - my original goal of the journey was to do another round on the 459 but my Piccadilly Line train was regulated numerous times and by the time I reached Heathrow, I'd of missed my connection and as I really didn't want to hang around at T5 for an hour, I jumped off rather annoyed and decided to catch a bus to Uxbridge The U3 to Uxbridge Station (TE951) - at first, didn't take much notice at what was on stand but suddenly noticed a UX TE and thought, it must be a double deck U3 ride which was a small consolation, possibly my first as my brain keeps telling me I've rode a TN on the route before - I know I've definitely seen one on route in person at Heathrow many years ago. The journey was really nice with a good ride throughout, some speed here & there and it's overall quite a nice route to do from the top deck The 427 to Acton, King Street (2003) - was nice to grab something different as well my last end to end journey on the route. The smart hybrid wasn't sluggish and moved pretty well - sadly the second driver drove at a snails pace from the Iron Bridge onwards The 207 to Shepherd's Bush (2576) - quite a slow journey again, nothing too interesting to report The Central Line to Oxford Circus The Victoria Line to Brixton The 59 to Brixton Water Lane (LT721) - nothing interesting to report Walked home NB: Noticed many 207's & 427's were loaded well or really busy across the corridor as well as many crush loaded 607's despite being outside peak hours on a weekday which was nice to see. Interesting to see was the 2 new to Metroline TE's at UX on the U3 along with one ex First example
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mr24
Conductor
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Post by mr24 on Feb 1, 2020 22:23:41 GMT
Speaking of speed humps, there are just too many of them on certain roads. An example is Carlton Vale. Try using the 6 or 316 along there and you're guaranteed an excessively bumpy ride, exacerbated by some 6 drivers often going fast along that section. There are too many speed humps in close proximity to each other, those useless 'speed tables' in between should be removed in my opinion. Makes me feel bad for the poor VWHs in particular (less concerned about the awful 316 DEs) even though their suspension are built to handle it Well as usual a measure used to punish the so called motorist , in turn punishes bus passengers (ie speed humps) I have noticed on road were speed cushions were in Waltham Forest that were put in to be bus friendly have recently been changed to standard speed humps. Take a look at James Lane as a road for example. Most modern cars can fly past these humps with adaptable suspension. I guess adaptable suspension may well be a new technology for the next generation of buses, apart of course from basically going full electic/hyrdogen. I went on a trip to East London today to try out various bus routes. I had been planning this trip for a while and was rather excited for the entire thing. I started off the day in Stratford to catch my first route, the D8. While waiting 10 minutes for one to turn up about 6 25s came passed and every single one was extremely well loaded at 8am on a Saturday morning - I can see why it is one of London's busiest routes. D8: I was really looking forwards to the D8, I thought it would provide a good combination of thrash and some brilliant views of regenerated East London. My bus was VN36137 and it really did not provide any thrash, which was great because I got more time to stare at the spectacular views, which were well beyond what I expected. I also did not realise that the D8 passes Balfron Tower, the older, slightly taller, slightly less good looking cousin of Trellick Tower, which is one of my favourite buildings in London, as you can probably tell by my profile picture. That was a pleasant surprise. 135: I walked off the D8 at Crossharbour Asda straight onto the 135. My bus was EHV1, which must be one of the first E400MMC bodied busses in London, and had a very interesting tour around the Isle of Dogs. I got extremely lucky in that for some reason Canary Wharf 'was closed' (it cannot have been - I had been through it on the D8) so the bus did not bother looping through and just beelined straight under Westferry Circus to Westferry station, saving me 15 minutes and a second journey through Canary Wharf, which would have been a bit pointless as I have already done it. The rest of the journey was nice enough, it got into the City very quickly and shows you a bit of Shoredich before ending outside Moorfields Eye Hospital. 188: I then got the tube to Russell Square (a trip which in hindsight would have been better by bus) where I got on the 188. The allocation on this route really is not very nice, I was hoping for an Evoseti to turn up, but a Gemini 3 Frog came instead. I could not really enjoy the first section down Kingsway and across Waterloo bridge as much as normal because the sun was blaring in my eyes, the section on the ring road is uninspiring, Jamaica Road was pretty formulaic (and very slow) and although there were good views of Canary Wharf I felt I had beaten that to death by this point. I did enjoy the section around Surrey Quays, although the section through Greenwhich would have been more enjoyable if I wasdd not in a bus with a huge pillar in the way. Overall my experience of the 188 was not particularly thrilling. I now needed to head to Lewisham to get my next bus, and since a 108 was turning up I hopped on it, which turned out to be one of the better journeys of the day. I was very impressed by the Citaro's hill climbing ability around Westcombe Park, but my favourite part of the journey was Blackheath, which I found fascinating because Blackheath really feels like someone copied Hampstead and transplanted it in southeast London for the following reasons: -It has a narrow twisty high road, surrounded either side by quaint shops and restaurants, this area known as Blackheath Village (just like Hampstead Village) -It has a big green heath open area nearby -It has its fair share of huige mansions and grand victorian houses, and a general feeling of affluence throughout which you do not normally see in this part of southeast London. -All of its posh residents are too stubborn/lazy/rich to use public transport, so they all clog up the streets of Blackheath with their huge 4x4s, making transport slow and the centre much more congested and much less pleasant than it ought to be. 180: I got to Lewisham and got on the 180, bagging a front seat at the packed bus stop. I was extremely excited as I had heard rave reviews for this route, and I was looking forwards to going to Belvedere, a bit of London which I thought I really did not know at all, although I realised as I took the journey that I was actually rather familiar with much of this part of London. The bus, WVL324, was really nice, quick and smooth, but that was about as lucky as I got. The bus filled up pretty quickly and was soon extremely behind schedule and rammed as well. The journey was rather interesting but tediously slow, and there were not as many good views as I had expected. My favourite part of the route has got to be when bus just drives right through the middle of the Plumstead roundabout and provides a great view of the Plumstead garage. Unfortunately we were running so behind that we got overtaken by another 180. As you can imagine the journey provided minimal thrash which I was excited for, and to make matters worse the bus was curtailed at Belvedere station, despite there being 2 dozen people on the bus who needed to go further. I would have waited for the next bus but a train at Belvedere was coming soon so I decided to get on that instead, which was a shame because I did not get to see the industrial estate and walk along the river and explore this rather alien part of London as I had initially planned. I will definitely come back and try the 180 again, I think once Crossrail opens it may be rerouted, so before then that is firmly on my to do list. 343: I got the train back to Lewisham and a 136 to New Cross Gate where I boarded the 343, my final bus of the day. Unlike the other 4 buses I had never heard much about the 343 - I just saw a map of it and thought it looked interesting, and it really was. It mostly uses back streets as far as Elephant, and that is what makes it so unique, as well as the views, and Peckham Rye's bustle. It then heads for London Bridge but turns right onto Tooley Street and crosses the river on Tower Bridge. I really do think crossing Tower Bridge Northbound is about as good as Thames crossings get, with a nice view of the Tower of London and the City's cluster of skyscrapers behind it. I really enjoyed the 343 and would definitely reccomend ridiing it. I think overall though the D8 in the morning was the best route I rode, and although not every route provided a great experience it was still a very nice day out in East London.
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Post by rj131 on Feb 1, 2020 22:49:03 GMT
Well as usual a measure used to punish the so called motorist , in turn punishes bus passengers (ie speed humps) I have noticed on road were speed cushions were in Waltham Forest that were put in to be bus friendly have recently been changed to standard speed humps. Take a look at James Lane as a road for example. Most modern cars can fly past these humps with adaptable suspension. I guess adaptable suspension may well be a new technology for the next generation of buses, apart of course from basically going full electic/hyrdogen. I went on a trip to East London today to try out various bus routes. I had been planning this trip for a while and was rather excited for the entire thing. I started off the day in Stratford to catch my first route, the D8. While waiting 10 minutes for one to turn up about 6 25s came passed and every single one was extremely well loaded at 8am on a Saturday morning - I can see why it is one of London's busiest routes. D8: I was really looking forwards to the D8, I thought it would provide a good combination of thrash and some brilliant views of regenerated East London. My bus was VN36137 and it really did not provide any thrash, which was great because I got more time to stare at the spectacular views, which were well beyond what I expected. I also did not realise that the D8 passes Balfron Tower, the older, slightly taller, slightly less good looking cousin of Trellick Tower, which is one of my favourite buildings in London, as you can probably tell by my profile picture. That was a pleasant surprise. 135: I walked off the D8 at Crossharbour Asda straight onto the 135. My bus was EHV1, which must be one of the first E400MMC bodied busses in London, and had a very interesting tour around the Isle of Dogs. I got extremely lucky in that for some reason Canary Wharf 'was closed' (it cannot have been - I had been through it on the D8) so the bus did not bother looping through and just beelined straight under Westferry Circus to Westferry station, saving me 15 minutes and a second journey through Canary Wharf, which would have been a bit pointless as I have already done it. The rest of the journey was nice enough, it got into the City very quickly and shows you a bit of Shoredich before ending outside Moorfields Eye Hospital. 188: I then got the tube to Russell Square (a trip which in hindsight would have been better by bus) where I got on the 188. The allocation on this route really is not very nice, I was hoping for an Evoseti to turn up, but a Gemini 3 Frog came instead. I could not really enjoy the first section down Kingsway and across Waterloo bridge as much as normal because the sun was blaring in my eyes, the section on the ring road is uninspiring, Jamaica Road was pretty formulaic (and very slow) and although there were good views of Canary Wharf I felt I had beaten that to death by this point. I did enjoy the section around Surrey Quays, although the section through Greenwhich would have been more enjoyable if I wasdd not in a bus with a huge pillar in the way. Overall my experience of the 188 was not particularly thrilling. I now needed to head to Lewisham to get my next bus, and since a 108 was turning up I hopped on it, which turned out to be one of the better journeys of the day. I was very impressed by the Citaro's hill climbing ability around Westcombe Park, but my favourite part of the journey was Blackheath, which I found fascinating because Blackheath really feels like someone copied Hampstead and transplanted it in London for the following reasons: -It has a narrow twisty high road, surrounded either side by quaint shops and restaurants, this area known as Blackheath Village (just like Hampstead Village) -It has a big green heath open area nearby -It has its fair share of huige mansions and grand victorian houses, and a general feeling of affluence throughout which you do not normally see in this part of southeast London. -All of its posh residents are too stubborn/lazy/rich to use public transport, so they all clog up the streets of Blackheath with their huge 4x4s, making transport slow and the centre much more congested and much less pleasant than it ought to be. 180: I got to Lewisham and got on the 180, bagging a front seat at the packed bus stop. I was extremely excited as I had heard rave reviews for this route, and I was looking forwards to going to Belvedere, a bit of London which I thought I really did not know at all, although I realised as I took the journey that I was actually rather familiar with much of this part of London. The bus, WVL324, was really nice, quick and smooth, but that was about as lucky as I got. The bus filled up pretty quickly and was soon extremely behind schedule and rammed as well. The journey was rather interesting but tediously slow, and there were not as many good views as I had expected. My favourite part of the route has got to be when bus just drives right through the middle of the Plumstead roundabout and provides a great view of the Plumstead garage. Unfortunately we were running so behind that we got overtaken by another 180. As you can imagine the journey provided minimal thrash which I was excited for, and to make matters worse the bus was curtailed at Belvedere station, despite there being 2 dozen people on the bus who needed to go further. I would have waited for the next bus but a train at Belvedere was coming soon so I decided to get on that instead, which was a shame because I did not get to see the industrial estate and walk along the river and explore this rather alien part of London as I had initially planned. I will definitely come back and try the 180 again, I think once Crossrail opens it may be rerouted, so before then that is firmly on my to do list. 343: I got the train back to Lewisham and a 136 to New Cross Gate where I boarded the 343, my final bus of the day. Unlike the other 4 buses I had never heard much about the 343 - I just saw a map of it and thought it looked interesting, and it really was. It mostly uses back streets as far as Elephant, and that is what makes it so unique, as well as the views, and Peckham Rye's bustle. It then heads for London Bridge but turns right onto Tooley Street and crosses the river on Tower Bridge. I really do think crossing Tower Bridge Northbound is about as good as Thames crossings get, with a nice view of the Tower of London and the City's cluster of skyscrapers behind it. I really enjoyed the 343 and would definitely reccomend ridiing it. I think overall though the D8 in the morning was the best route I rode, and although not every route provided a great experience it was still a very nice day out in East London. Its the back street part of the 343 you mentioned that gave it the title of one of the most overcrowded routes in London. The frequency was no one where good enough for the amount of people wanting to use it, so most people trying to get into Central London on that section simply couldn’t board. An MP (I think it was an MP, her name is on the tip of my tongue but I can’t remember it) pushed for changes which bought about the 136 extension over that section too to help assist it.
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Feb 1, 2020 23:02:02 GMT
Its the back street part of the 343 you mentioned that gave it the title of one of the most overcrowded routes in London. The frequency was no one where good enough for the amount of people wanting to use it, so most people trying to get into Central London on that section simply couldn’t board. An MP (I think it was an MP, her name is on the tip of my tongue but I can’t remember it) pushed for changes which bought about the 136 extension over that section too to help assist it. It's quite funny cause I'd probably even go as far as to say the 136 is the busier of the two routes on that section, and the usage stats of the 136 seem to be higher than that of the 343 now. I imagine the residents are making use of the link to Grove Park and Lewisham from the back streets of Peckham as well as residents in Lewisham using the link to Elephant & Castle, which was a previous gaping hole in the network.
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Post by busaholic on Feb 2, 2020 0:03:12 GMT
I guess adaptable suspension may well be a new technology for the next generation of buses, apart of course from basically going full electic/hyrdogen. I went on a trip to East London today to try out various bus routes. I had been planning this trip for a while and was rather excited for the entire thing. I started off the day in Stratford to catch my first route, the D8. While waiting 10 minutes for one to turn up about 6 25s came passed and every single one was extremely well loaded at 8am on a Saturday morning - I can see why it is one of London's busiest routes. D8: I was really looking forwards to the D8, I thought it would provide a good combination of thrash and some brilliant views of regenerated East London. My bus was VN36137 and it really did not provide any thrash, which was great because I got more time to stare at the spectacular views, which were well beyond what I expected. I also did not realise that the D8 passes Balfron Tower, the older, slightly taller, slightly less good looking cousin of Trellick Tower, which is one of my favourite buildings in London, as you can probably tell by my profile picture. That was a pleasant surprise. 135: I walked off the D8 at Crossharbour Asda straight onto the 135. My bus was EHV1, which must be one of the first E400MMC bodied busses in London, and had a very interesting tour around the Isle of Dogs. I got extremely lucky in that for some reason Canary Wharf 'was closed' (it cannot have been - I had been through it on the D8) so the bus did not bother looping through and just beelined straight under Westferry Circus to Westferry station, saving me 15 minutes and a second journey through Canary Wharf, which would have been a bit pointless as I have already done it. The rest of the journey was nice enough, it got into the City very quickly and shows you a bit of Shoredich before ending outside Moorfields Eye Hospital. 188: I then got the tube to Russell Square (a trip which in hindsight would have been better by bus) where I got on the 188. The allocation on this route really is not very nice, I was hoping for an Evoseti to turn up, but a Gemini 3 Frog came instead. I could not really enjoy the first section down Kingsway and across Waterloo bridge as much as normal because the sun was blaring in my eyes, the section on the ring road is uninspiring, Jamaica Road was pretty formulaic (and very slow) and although there were good views of Canary Wharf I felt I had beaten that to death by this point. I did enjoy the section around Surrey Quays, although the section through Greenwhich would have been more enjoyable if I wasdd not in a bus with a huge pillar in the way. Overall my experience of the 188 was not particularly thrilling. I now needed to head to Lewisham to get my next bus, and since a 108 was turning up I hopped on it, which turned out to be one of the better journeys of the day. I was very impressed by the Citaro's hill climbing ability around Westcombe Park, but my favourite part of the journey was Blackheath, which I found fascinating because Blackheath really feels like someone copied Hampstead and transplanted it in London for the following reasons: -It has a narrow twisty high road, surrounded either side by quaint shops and restaurants, this area known as Blackheath Village (just like Hampstead Village) -It has a big green heath open area nearby -It has its fair share of huige mansions and grand victorian houses, and a general feeling of affluence throughout which you do not normally see in this part of southeast London. -All of its posh residents are too stubborn/lazy/rich to use public transport, so they all clog up the streets of Blackheath with their huge 4x4s, making transport slow and the centre much more congested and much less pleasant than it ought to be. 180: I got to Lewisham and got on the 180, bagging a front seat at the packed bus stop. I was extremely excited as I had heard rave reviews for this route, and I was looking forwards to going to Belvedere, a bit of London which I thought I really did not know at all, although I realised as I took the journey that I was actually rather familiar with much of this part of London. The bus, WVL324, was really nice, quick and smooth, but that was about as lucky as I got. The bus filled up pretty quickly and was soon extremely behind schedule and rammed as well. The journey was rather interesting but tediously slow, and there were not as many good views as I had expected. My favourite part of the route has got to be when bus just drives right through the middle of the Plumstead roundabout and provides a great view of the Plumstead garage. Unfortunately we were running so behind that we got overtaken by another 180. As you can imagine the journey provided minimal thrash which I was excited for, and to make matters worse the bus was curtailed at Belvedere station, despite there being 2 dozen people on the bus who needed to go further. I would have waited for the next bus but a train at Belvedere was coming soon so I decided to get on that instead, which was a shame because I did not get to see the industrial estate and walk along the river and explore this rather alien part of London as I had initially planned. I will definitely come back and try the 180 again, I think once Crossrail opens it may be rerouted, so before then that is firmly on my to do list. 343: I got the train back to Lewisham and a 136 to New Cross Gate where I boarded the 343, my final bus of the day. Unlike the other 4 buses I had never heard much about the 343 - I just saw a map of it and thought it looked interesting, and it really was. It mostly uses back streets as far as Elephant, and that is what makes it so unique, as well as the views, and Peckham Rye's bustle. It then heads for London Bridge but turns right onto Tooley Street and crosses the river on Tower Bridge. I really do think crossing Tower Bridge Northbound is about as good as Thames crossings get, with a nice view of the Tower of London and the City's cluster of skyscrapers behind it. I really enjoyed the 343 and would definitely reccomend ridiing it. I think overall though the D8 in the morning was the best route I rode, and although not every route provided a great experience it was still a very nice day out in East London. Its the back street part of the 343 you mentioned that gave it the title of one of the most overcrowded routes in London. The frequency was no one where good enough for the amount of people wanting to use it, so most people trying to get into Central London on that section simply couldn’t board. An MP (I think it was an MP, her name is on the tip of my tongue but I can’t remember it) pushed for changes which bought about the 136 extension over that section too to help assist it. At a guess the MP would be Harriet Harman, ex deputy leader of the Labour party.
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