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Post by Busboy105 on Apr 6, 2024 23:39:11 GMT
Over A month into the Sutton & Croydon bus changes so I headed to Sutton for the Sutton side of the changes (got a big day planned for the Croydon side) Piccadilly line- Wood Green to King's Cross St Pancras Thameslink- St Pancras International to St Helier As I left St Helier there was a nice bus just waiting, and it was about to leave in a minute. I made it obviously. SEe304 (S2)- St Helier Station to Epsom High Street (decent loadings throughout. Liked the section around Ewell) Walked to Epsom Station SWR- Epsom to Worcester Park DOE49 (151)- Worcester Park Station to Sutton Green (love to see the DOEs still around) 8149 (S3)- Sutton Green to H&R Broomloan Lane SE284 (470)- H&R Broomloan Lane to Sutton Station Walked to Sutton Station Southern- Sutton to Victoria Victoria line- Victoria to Finsbury Park Piccadilly line- Finsbury Park to Wood Green Walked home Can’t be SE284 on the 470, that’s at MG for the 286. That's weird, I wrote it down after I boarded it. Must've made a mistake
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Post by vjaska on Apr 7, 2024 1:11:27 GMT
Can’t be SE284 on the 470, that’s at MG for the 286. That's weird, I wrote it down after I boarded it. Must've made a mistake If it was yesterday, it would be one of SE235-239 as they were all out according to LVF?
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Post by Busboy105 on Apr 7, 2024 5:11:42 GMT
That's weird, I wrote it down after I boarded it. Must've made a mistake If it was yesterday, it would be one of SE235-239 as they were all out according to LVF? Yeah I've checked LVF but none of them rang a bell so I just edited my post and put question marks
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Post by borneobus on Apr 7, 2024 12:46:59 GMT
I’m back out east where six-wheeled, twelve metre plus, Tower Transit Enviro 500s rule the roost, and where it’s considerably warmer, drier and less windy than Ealing Broadway / Haven Green was at 7am on Friday morning; the starting point of seven e2e rides.
226 / BE37093 / Ealing Broadway Station-Golders Green Station 0712/0809 – Standing room only from Ealing Broadway and rammed from Hanger Lane Station, I wondered where everyone would alight and should have worked it out that it would be Central Middlesex Hospital. The BYD possesses quite a turn of acceleration, even with 50ish on board and by Cricklewood less than 20% full and remained that way until Golders Green.
240 / TE1314 / Golders Green Station-Edgware Station 0817/0903 – Busy on Golders Green Road but pleasantly quiet after crossing the North Circular – although 12 years old, TE1314 feels robust and still ‘fit for purpose’, similar to her cousins operating my local route, the U3. As a post-script Electroliner WDE2794 was the one ‘stray’ operating the 240 on Friday.
251 / VMSL2850 / Edgware Bus Station-Arnos Grove Station 0956/1047 – The Broadwalk Shopping Centre may not be the newest, or most ‘exciting’ shopping centre but don’t knock it: there’s facilities available when you need them and of course adjacent to the Bus Station and EW/BT Garage. Quietish throughout and after Burnt Oak / Mill Hill Broadway a lovely ‘London Country’ route for a couple of miles taking in Highwood Hill and Totteridge. It was interesting to contrast a couple of single-deck EVs: the Metroline Volvo on the 251 with the RATP BYD earlier on the 226. It turns of oomph the BYD wins, but maybe that was just the driver but in terms of pax comfort / ambiance / moquette it’s the Volvo for me, particularly the view from the single raised nearside seat adjacent to the driver.
298 / E51 / Arnos Grove Station-Potters Bar Station 1050/1131 – I would have preferred longer, may be the chance for an early lunch in Arnos Grove but as there was a Sullivan Buses Enviro 400 sitting at the station I thought, particularly in light of a few adverse reports that I should take it which I did. E51 in another life was Abellio 9552 and truth be told felt a little tired. North of Cockfosters Station the route goes all ‘London Country’ and we chugged slowly up Stagg Hill until a awful traffic jam. I looked at Google Maps “Must be access to the M25”. Wrong. Horrendous temporary traffic lights at Hadley-on-the-Hill. Ho hum. At least the run-in to Potters Bar was straight-forward and for the entire route only one fellow traveller joined me on the upper deck.
313 / LT216 / Potters Bar Station-Chingford Station 1211/1318 – After lunch in Potters Bar I checked LVF. I really didn’t fancy a new Routemaster but the two ‘strays’ would involve a long, long wait (DW circa 60 minutes and my preferred choice T would be 90 minutes) so New Routemaster it was and more ‘London Country’ – east of Potters Bar look south whilst on The Ridgeway and there’s a gentle, rolling valley – bizarre to see this from a NRM! We were non-stop as well – all the way to Chase Farm Hospital. Enfield was quiet for a Friday lunchtime and hardly noticed the driver change at E but retribution needed to settled for this remarkably quick progress and was duly paid with horrendous temporary traffic lights besides the resevoirs adjacent to the King George Sailing Club stop. 15-20 minutes lost, a hole in the road but devoid of workers. Ho hum.
In Chingford the first thing I saw pleased me, Scania 15044 working the 97 but at the station a couple of StreetDecks waited for their departure time (18906 & 18912). I noted Stagecoach Enviro 200 36540 working the recently gained 379 and looked rather out of place with its TL stencil.
179 / 19775 / Chingford Station-Hainault Street 1319-1417 - Stagecoach was the fifth operator of the day and the Enviro 400 operated 179 was quietish, both pax and traffic wise with little to report save good to ride another diesel DD e2e before they go.
At this point the plan was complete, but options were a) home form Ilford on Elizabeth Line (a bit early) b) 123/29 to TCR and home from there (I'm not that keen!) so I plumped for 167 to Loughton, and I just needed to cross the road at Hainault Street. 167 / 36669 / Hainault Street-Loughton Station 1421/1507 – 40-50% full for the duration, nice straight undemanding route that flirts with parts of the Central Line’s Hainault Loop – not quite as picturesque as the 298/313 but pleasant enough.
Home via Central Line to Stratford and Elizabeth line.
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Post by ronnie on Apr 7, 2024 17:09:39 GMT
4/4/24: a couple of additional end to ends
415 (elephant and castle to tumse hill): had already done the OKR Tesco - elephant & castle bit so only had this bit outstanding. Was very quick - only took 25 min from E&C to Tulse Hill (did it around noon). Quick pleasant journey throughout
Took a very busy 2 back to Stockwell and then northen to TCR where I was grabbing a coffee with a friend
Then northern - Bakerloo to elephant and castle
196 (Elephant and castle to Norwood junction): initially the next bus was being shown as 16 min away but luckily one turned up in 3 min. This was a complete contrast to the 415. Pick any 2 points along its route, the 196 somehow manages to find a slower / long-drawn out route of getting there (68/468 is faster from E&C - herne hill, 133/415 will beat it from E&C to Brixton, 68/415/468 from E&C to Tulse Hill, 344 from E&C to Vauxhall, 2 from Vauxhall to Brixton, 2/432 from Brixton to Tulse Hill etc etc. the driver even managed to regulate a couple of times to add insult to injury. Ended up taking almost 90 min end to end and was dreadfully soporific
Took overground to New Cross - 53 - 286 to get home
This completes all routes in the central congestion zone (the 196 has 1 stop inside!), elephant and castle, Brixton. Need to complete the 197 and P13 to wrap up all buses in Southwark / Lewisham boroughs, and the 410 to wrap up the borough of Bromley. Have already done all buses in the borough of Greenwich, Bexley, tower hamlets, newham (well except SL2!) and havering
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Post by Busboy105 on Apr 10, 2024 21:20:57 GMT
Had a ride on the Wright GB Kites today. Originally meant for the E7 but find themselves running on the R70 in SW London.
Piccadilly line- Wood Green to Finsbury Park Victoria line- Finsbury Park to Vauxhall SWR- Vauxhall to Twickenham Walked into the town centre and saw a Kite headed towards Richmond as I was waiting for one to come towards Hampton which was to come in 20 minutes so I decided to take that instead. Was starting to rain a little anyway. 1708 (R70)- Heath Road/Twickenham to Manor Circus (Nice setup of seats although the rear seats might be a problem for me with my long legs 😂😂😂) DLE30041 (110)- Manor Circus to Hammersmith Bus Station Walked to the upper bus station. The lower bus station looks so dead nowadays compared to a couple of years ago. That bridge can't open soon enough) LT747 (9)- Hammersmith Bus Station to Aldwych/Drury Lane LT439 (76)- Aldwych/Drury Lane to London Wall/Moorgate Station Walked to Moorgate station Great Northern- Moorgate to Bowes Park Walked to Bounds Green HV224 (221)- Bounds Green Station to Cline Road Stopped at my mums then headed home
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Post by Busboy105 on Apr 13, 2024 23:04:03 GMT
Headed to parts of Croydon to do the Croydon section of the Sutton/Croydon changes last month.
Piccadilly line- Wood Green to King's Cross St Pancras Northern line- King's Cross St Pancras to London Bridge Southern- London Bridge to Waddon Short walk over to Stafford Road Ee123 (154)- Stafford Gardens to Wilsons School 8329 (S4)- Wilsons School to Waddon Marsh Tram Stop (the sooner E200s go the better. That's all I'll say) SEe248 (439)- Waddon Marsh Tram Stop to Court Bushes Road (not really many passengers on this route. A cause for concern? But the ride into Kenley was very nice I'll give it that even if its temporary. Or is it?) 2503 (407)- Court Bushes Road to Bourne Court The Caterham Valley bus stop was closed because of works so walk a bit further back to catch the 434 190 (434)- Temp stop to Ridgemount Avenue (very very light. I was the only constant passenger up until Coulsdon) Walked down Rickman Hill. Very steep ENL108 (166)- Chipstead Valley Road/Rickman Hill to Swan and Sugar Loaf (barely any loadings on the ex-455 section. Never understood the change. The 405 seems adequate enough for Pampisford Road and even if another service had to go there, the 312 made more sense as its essentially replacing the 455 past Croydon) ENL67 (312)- Swan and Sugar Loaf to Canons Hill and back towards Reedham Walked to Reedham station, saw that the train to London Bridge was due in 29 minutes so I walked a little further down to Purley station instead. Southern- Purley to London Bridge Northern line- London Bridge to King's Cross St Pancras Piccadilly line- Kings Cross St Pancras to Bounds Green Walked to my mums house then headed back home after a fairly long and enjoyable day
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Post by YY13VKP on Apr 14, 2024 9:28:37 GMT
Headed to parts of Croydon to do the Croydon section of the Sutton/Croydon changes last month. Piccadilly line- Wood Green to King's Cross St Pancras Northern line- King's Cross St Pancras to London Bridge Southern- London Bridge to Waddon Short walk over to Stafford Road Ee123 (154)- Stafford Gardens to Wilsons School 8329 (S4)- Wilsons School to Waddon Marsh Tram Stop (the sooner E200s go the better. That's all I'll say) SEe248 (439)- Waddon Marsh Tram Stop to Court Bushes Road (not really many passengers on this route. A cause for concern? But the ride into Kenley was very nice I'll give it that even if its temporary. Or is it?) 2503 (407)- Court Bushes Road to Bourne Court The Caterham Valley bus stop was closed because of works so walk a bit further back to catch the 434 190 (434)- Temp stop to Ridgemount Avenue (very very light. I was the only constant passenger up until Coulsdon) Walked down Rickman Hill. Very steep ENL108 (166)- Chipstead Valley Road/Rickman Hill to Swan and Sugar Loaf (barely any loadings on the ex-455 section. Never understood the change. The 405 seems adequate enough for Pampisford Road and even if another service had to go there, the 312 made more sense as its essentially replacing the 455 past Croydon) ENL67 (312)- Swan and Sugar Loaf to Canons Hill and back towards Reedham Walked to Reedham station, saw that the train to London Bridge was due in 29 minutes so I walked a little further down to Purley station instead. Southern- Purley to London Bridge Northern line- London Bridge to King's Cross St Pancras Piccadilly line- Kings Cross St Pancras to Bounds Green Walked to my mums house then headed back home after a fairly long and enjoyable day The 439's overall usage is difficult to read at this stage, though there are loads of variables affecting it - time of day being one of them. I got a 439 yesterday afternoon around 15:30 to Kenley from Waddon Marsh and I'd say the bus was about 50% full throughout the entire journey. I spoke to another passenger whilst waiting for the bus who only found out the 439 existed by seeing the bus itself and wondering where it was going but said the direct link between Waddon Marsh and Purley was very useful (even though there was already the 289). As I've said many times since it was introduced, TfL really didn't do themselves any favours by not doing any publicity for the 439's introduction and I just hope the same mistake isn't repeated if and when the 434 is eventually introduced to the top of Kenley. The 434's usage is also variable dependent, with the route the way it is currently if one comes before a 407 does between Caterham and Purley, you'll see quite a few people on it. Though I wouldn't be surprised if the 434 and 439 did swap routing again between Whyteleafe and Kenley.
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Post by borneobus on Apr 17, 2024 13:25:06 GMT
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Post by LK65EBO on Apr 17, 2024 14:45:36 GMT
Had an absolutely ridiculous 40 minute wait for the 235 today in the Sunbury Village area today. Must've been a lot of "traffic" as someone on here would say. The diarrhea like operation certainly spreads to the 235.
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Post by WH241 on Apr 17, 2024 14:57:30 GMT
Had an absolutely ridiculous 40 minute wait for the 235 today in the Sunbury Village area today. Must've been a lot of "traffic" as someone on here would say. The diarrhea like operation certainly spreads to the 235. Way outside my area but not sure if the below would have had an impact. Bell Rd TW3 routes 81 110 111 116 117 120 203 222 235 237 281 423 H32 H98 E8 H20 H22 H28 N9: Road is closed due to works from 15 April 08:00 until 26 April 17:00. Buses are on diversion. 81 203 222 H32 H98 N9 E 8 H22 towards Slough, Staines, Southall, Heathrow will miss stop Bell Corner / Hounslow Civic Centre. H20 towards will be cut short to Grove Road and will not serve stops between Bell Corner and Civic Street.
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Post by LK65EBO on Apr 17, 2024 15:26:13 GMT
Had an absolutely ridiculous 40 minute wait for the 235 today in the Sunbury Village area today. Must've been a lot of "traffic" as someone on here would say. The diarrhea like operation certainly spreads to the 235. Way outside my area but not sure if the below would have had an impact. Bell Rd TW3 routes 81 110 111 116 117 120 203 222 235 237 281 423 H32 H98 E8 H20 H22 H28 N9: Road is closed due to works from 15 April 08:00 until 26 April 17:00. Buses are on diversion. 81 203 222 H32 H98 N9 E 8 H22 towards Slough, Staines, Southall, Heathrow will miss stop Bell Corner / Hounslow Civic Centre. H20 towards will be cut short to Grove Road and will not serve stops between Bell Corner and Civic Street. The road in question has nothing to do with the 110, 111, 116, 117, 235, 237, 281, 423 and H28 so not sure why you've posted that. It also clearly states below the routes which are affected. Regardless, even if that named road did affect the 235 it should not be used as an excuse to cover up for a 40 minute gap in the service. Several people on here now have complained about the 235s joke of a service and rightly so. Of course you do also get the RATP advocates who try to deflect about the state of this route and talk about random routes like the 90 and 237 (which actually perform significantly better in person). One of them seems to have vanished though. How can Metroline Brentford manage under much harder conditions which were the very long winded Feltham Bridge Roadworks but RATP can't for a minor hiccup. Someone'd probably talk too loudly and you'd have half the route terminating at Sunbury Cross . Overall, this has been going on for years now and it's clear that no improvements will be made, at least not under RATPEE anyway. Unfortunately, even if this route is terminated early which I think is starting to get unlikely there's no chance of it moving back to AH or even TF (who were somehow better than WK) as both are full. Additionally, RATP have the annoying advantage of having existing whilst both TUK and Metroline would need new.
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Post by WH241 on Apr 17, 2024 16:43:52 GMT
Way outside my area but not sure if the below would have had an impact. Bell Rd TW3 routes 81 110 111 116 117 120 203 222 235 237 281 423 H32 H98 E8 H20 H22 H28 N9: Road is closed due to works from 15 April 08:00 until 26 April 17:00. Buses are on diversion. 81 203 222 H32 H98 N9 E 8 H22 towards Slough, Staines, Southall, Heathrow will miss stop Bell Corner / Hounslow Civic Centre. H20 towards will be cut short to Grove Road and will not serve stops between Bell Corner and Civic Street. The road in question has nothing to do with the 110, 111, 116, 117, 235, 237, 281, 423 and H28 so not sure why you've posted that. It also clearly states below the routes which are affected. Regardless, even if that named road did affect the 235 it should not be used as an excuse to cover up for a 40 minute gap in the service. Several people on here now have complained about the 235s joke of a service and rightly so. Of course you do also get the RATP advocates who try to deflect about the state of this route and talk about random routes like the 90 and 237 (which actually perform significantly better in person). One of them seems to have vanished though. How can Metroline Brentford manage under much harder conditions which were the very long winded Feltham Bridge Roadworks but RATP can't for a minor hiccup. Someone'd probably talk too loudly and you'd have half the route terminating at Sunbury Cross . Overall, this has been going on for years now and it's clear that no improvements will be made, at least not under RATPEE anyway. Unfortunately, even if this route is terminated early which I think is starting to get unlikely there's no chance of it moving back to AH or even TF (who were somehow better than WK) as both are full. Additionally, RATP have the annoying advantage of having existing whilst both TUK and Metroline would need new. It's funny the sh#t response you get on here you are not flavor of the month. The same with the passive aggressive likes but I digress. That's all very well regarding the road but all I did was go onto the TfL status page to see if there was any issues on the 235, it had a status alert and that's what I copied in my initial post, I did point out I was not local so how would I know otherwise? If the route is not affected then its a TfL issue not mine, I can only go by the website. People are always moaning about poor service on here, maybe direct the complaints at TfL or the operating company.
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Post by TB123 on Apr 17, 2024 16:48:36 GMT
The road in question has nothing to do with the 110, 111, 116, 117, 235, 237, 281, 423 and H28 so not sure why you've posted that. It also clearly states below the routes which are affected. Regardless, even if that named road did affect the 235 it should not be used as an excuse to cover up for a 40 minute gap in the service. Several people on here now have complained about the 235s joke of a service and rightly so. Of course you do also get the RATP advocates who try to deflect about the state of this route and talk about random routes like the 90 and 237 (which actually perform significantly better in person). One of them seems to have vanished though. How can Metroline Brentford manage under much harder conditions which were the very long winded Feltham Bridge Roadworks but RATP can't for a minor hiccup. Someone'd probably talk too loudly and you'd have half the route terminating at Sunbury Cross . Overall, this has been going on for years now and it's clear that no improvements will be made, at least not under RATPEE anyway. Unfortunately, even if this route is terminated early which I think is starting to get unlikely there's no chance of it moving back to AH or even TF (who were somehow better than WK) as both are full. Additionally, RATP have the annoying advantage of having existing whilst both TUK and Metroline would need new. It's funny the shi'ty resposeses you get on here you are not flavor of the month. The same with the passive aggressive likes but I digress. That's all very well regarding the road but all I did was going onto the TfL status page to see if there was any issues on the 235, it had a status alert and that's what I copied in my initial post, I did point out I was not local so how would I know otherwise? If the route is not affected then its a TfL issue not mine, I can only go by the website. People are always moaning about poor service on here, maybe direct the complaints at TfL or the operating company. Common denominator with these supposedly 'sh*tty' responses interestingly.
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Post by SN17MOA on Apr 17, 2024 17:11:13 GMT
Had an absolutely ridiculous 40 minute wait for the 235 today in the Sunbury Village area today. Must've been a lot of "traffic" as someone on here would say. The diarrhea like operation certainly spreads to the 235. Though quite a bit of distance from where I am, the 235 is a joke. Its always packed and when I see a bus on the route at Hounslow, its common to see one being circulated to Hounslow Heath or Sunbury Cross. I'm no regular to the route but I feel sorry for people that do. I admit, I did like the variety it used to have under TF control. It was common to have a day when several 02 reg darts, RN52 & 04 reg nimbuses, 08 reg Euro IV Enviros, 59, 10, 11, 62 and 13 reg Euro V Enviros and the quite rare appearances of the 61 and 12 regs were all on the route.
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