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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2014 13:51:27 GMT
a little different subject i live in north London and i use the bus route 34 most days to work the route is run by Arriva London for what ever reason the route has been run badly for the last few years and they have very old and dirty buses on it. so i can,t wait for tender results for February which 34 route is part of so i am hoping that another Operator takes over with new buses. I hope one of Stagecoach Go Ahead or even Tower Transit takes over don,t get me wrong guys Arriva is a fantastic company all their routes in my area have new buses except the 34, so what do think guys. has any of you on here used this route before.
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Post by performance1 on Jan 15, 2014 14:32:02 GMT
A new operator will provide new buses, but so will Arriva if they retain the route. The route is a tough one to operate for an operator as just one incident on the lovely A406 can cause additional running time of 20 to 60 minutes depending on the nature of the incident. Even late at night lane closures and tunnel closures cause 20 minute delays until traffic eases.
I agree the condition of the buses have not been as pleasing to the eye as they should be and buses at times break down but things should improve once the route moves to Palmers Green Garage from early March. Some of the DLA's will move with the route so it will be a mixture of DLP's and DLA's allocated to the route. The condition of buses from Palmers Green is better than those from Lea Valley. The schedule may be amended as well with improved running time but this has yet to be confirmed but looks likely. I firmly believe with new buses no operator will be able to run it as good as Arriva can.
I am guessing a new operator will have end on change overs which limits a driver most of the time to two full round trips. Arriva have driver change overs in the middle part of the route which can add an extra half trip to a spell. Go Ahead could change over at Ikea but that can be a problem as when Arriva had changeovers there an accident on that stretch of the A406 caused mayhem. If the driver is due off the bus it has to enter the problem area.
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Post by snoggle on Jan 15, 2014 15:04:59 GMT
I think Arriva do a decent enough job with the 34 - I use it occasionally as a connector to routes at Edmonton and Arnos Grove. It allows me to get to, for example, Edgware on 2 buses by changing to the 251 (another quick service).
As already stated the A406 can have very volatile traffic conditions making it difficult to maintain reliability. The DLAs are also decent enough - at least they can get up a decent turn of speed to make the most of the A406 when it is free flowing and can accelerate reasonably well away from stops rather than crawling and needing a huge gap in the traffic. I doubt any replacement vehicle will be as quick meaning a slower service when the route is retendered. I don't think they're any more scruffy than most buses. The faster speeds will throw up more muck from the carriageway making exteriors a bit more grimy.
The other thing with the 34 is that it is increasingly busy across the day - patronage up 75% over 12 years. I see well loaded buses every day of the week and not just at peak times. It'll be interesting to see if TfL boost the frequency a little bit - say up to 8 bph from 7.
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Post by vjaska on Jan 16, 2014 4:01:53 GMT
a little different subject i live in north London and i use the bus route 34 most days to work the route is run by Arriva London for what ever reason the route has been run badly for the last few years and they have very old and dirty buses on it. so i can,t wait for tender results for February which 34 route is part of so i am hoping that another Operator takes over with new buses. I hope one of Stagecoach Go Ahead or even Tower Transit takes over don,t get me wrong guys Arriva is a fantastic company all their routes in my area have new buses except the 34, so what do think guys. has any of you on here used this route before. The DLA's on the 34 are not exactly very old - they are 03 reg so are just hitting 11 years old. As for dirty buses, exterior wise, I've never seen them dirty - interior wise, I've only been one one DLA on the 34 so can't really judge but it was lot cleaner than some of the buses down here in South London.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 8:09:53 GMT
I am talking about interior i use the bus must evening coming from work on the lower deck the newspapers are covering the floor and on upper deck it smells very bad and their are empty cans and bottles rolling round which a bit annoying. i am a bus driver i know it is not our job to clean the bus but at least the driver should remove the empty cans and bottles that are rolling around thats what i do all the time making sure my bus is clean from hazards.
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Post by vjaska on Jan 16, 2014 12:56:02 GMT
I am talking about interior i use the bus must evening coming from work on the lower deck the newspapers are covering the floor and on upper deck it smells very bad and their are empty cans and bottles rolling round which a bit annoying. i am a bus driver i know it is not our job to clean the bus but at least the driver should remove the empty cans and bottles that are rolling around thats what i do all the time making sure my bus is clean from hazards. You will find newspapers & empty cans & bottles on just about every bus across London - passengers are too lazy to take their rubbish with them.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 13:10:59 GMT
vjaska you are right about some passengers been lazy but i use 34 from Walthamstow going towards Barnet Church 5 nights a week but on this route its different its very dirty. i mean i use the 102 144 149 259 and many more routes alot but 34 is unusual i don,t know why
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Post by RM5chris on Jan 16, 2014 13:12:01 GMT
I am talking about interior i use the bus must evening coming from work on the lower deck the newspapers are covering the floor and on upper deck it smells very bad and their are empty cans and bottles rolling round which a bit annoying. i am a bus driver i know it is not our job to clean the bus but at least the driver should remove the empty cans and bottles that are rolling around thats what i do all the time making sure my bus is clean from hazards. You will find newspapers & empty cans & bottles on just about every bus across London - passengers are too lazy to take their rubbish with them. Yes Quite - new buses and/or a new operator will make no difference if the 'animals' that are transported decide to leave a mess. I also don't think your description (smelly bus, newspapers spread all over together with cans/bottles) would cover every bus on the road - you may have just been unfortunate. The cans/bottles may also have been deposited on the trip you were on - the driver may remove them upon reaching a terminus. As a driver, would you stop (whilst you are in service and have passengers on board) and remove bottles? I think you may be on shaky ground being out of the cab if something were to kick off.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 13:31:32 GMT
getting out of the cab no chance but when i said smelly buses i meant smell of booze and food to be honest with you this is mostly in the evening but its seems ok in the day time.
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Post by snoggle on Jan 16, 2014 14:07:16 GMT
vjaska you are right about some passengers been lazy but i use 34 from Walthamstow going towards Barnet Church 5 nights a week but on this route its different its very dirty. i mean i use the 102 144 149 259 and many more routes alot but 34 is unusual i don,t know why A complete guess on my part but perhaps there are still vehicle cleaners at Edmonton Green Bus Station (the common factor with the other routes you list) but no longer at Walthamstow? I can't recall the last time I saw a cleaner do a quick litter pick on a bus parked at Walthamstow although they still keep the bus station clean. No scope for cleaners to attend to the 34 when it's at Barnet Church.
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ROUTE 34
Jan 16, 2014 17:11:55 GMT
via mobile
Post by Green Kitten on Jan 16, 2014 17:11:55 GMT
I take the 34 relatively often, all my journeys on the 34 have been quite good... The buses aren't that old. To be honest, I'll be disappointed when the 34 is taken over by boring ol' E400s - a DLA is the only way to take a 34 it's one of my favourite routes.
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ROUTE 34
Jan 16, 2014 17:28:29 GMT
via mobile
Post by Ice Prxnce on Jan 16, 2014 17:28:29 GMT
I've been on the 34 a few times from Arnos Grove and Edmonton Cambridge and I have to say the DLAs are really fast and they also have good thrashing aswell. The only point where the route can get into traffic is around the Angel Corner and sometimes around Crooked Billet. I haven't noticed the buses dirty either.
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Post by snoggle on Jan 16, 2014 17:44:29 GMT
The DLA's on the 34 are not exactly very old - they are 03 reg so are just hitting 11 years old. True but don't forget there are two older refugees - DLA293 and 299 - on the 34.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 18:01:25 GMT
I wouldn't mind GAL or TT getting the 34, with some B5LH
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2014 18:23:32 GMT
The DLA's on the 34 are not exactly very old - they are 03 reg so are just hitting 11 years old. True but don't forget there are two older refugees - DLA293 and 299 - on the 34. 299 is for the 657 ... and 293 is only about as they managed to write off 350
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