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Post by DT 11 on Dec 10, 2014 19:38:56 GMT
I'm afraid I can't get quite so excited about the 136 extension, for me it was just a cheap option when what the North Peckham area really needs is a direct link to the West End. The restoration of an Elephant & Castle to Lewisham link is somewhat indirect and it's probably quicker just to change buses at NX, swapping the southern terminals of the 21 and 453 would be the ideal solution for me. Metrobus has sadly gone downhill since Go Ahead took over and I would expect further route losses. Abellio seems to still be going from strength to strenght whilst the Arriva decline continues. Good to see Uno entering the TfL market, I wonder whether Ensignbus will ever return to it? More LT's, I quite like the buses themselves but running them in OPO mode just defeats the whole purpose of them. The double decking of the 285 finally happens and there have been (unconfirmed?) reports that more single deck buses are to be double decked which has to be a good move. Some more improvements to Sunday services would be good, some of which are relics from before the days of Sunday trading. Hopefully Stagecoach can aquire some new premises in SE London with TB, TL and PD all near full capacity. Actually regarding the 136 you are wrong last month I was in a rush to get to Elephant & Castle so I changed at New Cross for a 53, believe it or not, the bus on the 136 I was on previously actually got to Elephant & Castle before my 53... I personally prefer the 136 to anything on Old Kent Road because they are too busy. The 136 & 343 are faster than than 12 & 171 as well. One time I was meeting up with friends to go into Central London, my 136 was behind 2 171s, the 171 is slower and My bus got to Elephant & Castle before the 171 my friend was on and he got to New Cross before me and two buses ahead. Was quite annoyed that day, shows the 136 is just as fast as at certain times of the day the bus whizzes through Peckham. I usually use the 136 right from Grove Park sometimes to go into Central London as the route is pretty much very close to me instead of boarding mid route in Catford where it is very full. North Peckham does not desperately need a bus link into the West End, the actual need was an additional bus service to assist the 343 which has been done. There are lots of routes around Peckham, Camberwell & Elephant & Castle which go directly into the west end. I hardly see it as a cheap option, but the most logical candidate. |
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Post by rmz19 on Dec 11, 2014 9:40:44 GMT
The Good  : The new B5LH, E40H and E20D being introduced to the bus network. Seeing a couple of Gemini 3 B5TL demonstrators in service (be on the roads already!  ). The 136 extension, not much to shout about but a good thing nonetheless, helping out the 343 and an alternative to E&C was needed. 500 extra buses for London being announced. Old Tridents being replaced by newer buses. The 64 converting to 24 Hour and the N64/T31/T32 being withdrawn, also the renumbering of the T33 as 433. The DW411 back on the roads redesigned, looks better with its longer wheelbase. The unveiling of the new Enviro MMC DD/SD, new Optare MetroDecker, and new StreetDeck  The Bad  : Yet more LTs creeping their way into London, not all have had their Air Cooling units fixed!. SPs and Olympus' diminishing in quantities. No sign of the Volvo MCV B9TL, the demonstrators have disappeared. Old Enviro DDs/SDs are still lingering, old Omnidekkas need to disappear!. Whilst I'm fond of PVLs (53 reg onwards), it's about time they're replaced now. Not sure about the poo-powered Enviro SD!  In 2015!: Hopefully there will be more DD and SD varieties in London and I hope the MCV B9TL gets some light!. The 108 and 316 need full size SDs, or DDs for the 316. The 486 needs a frequency increase in peaks. |
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Post by sid on Dec 11, 2014 11:35:03 GMT
The Good : The new B5LH, E40H and E20D being introduced to the bus network. Seeing a couple of Gemini 3 B5TL demonstrators in service (be on the roads already! ). The 136 extension, not much to shout about but a good thing nonetheless, helping out the 343 and an alternative to E&C was needed. 500 extra buses for London being announced. Old Tridents being replaced by newer buses. The 64 converting to 24 Hour and the N64/T31/T32 being withdrawn, also the renumbering of the T33 as 433. The DW411 back on the roads redesigned, looks better with its longer wheelbase. The unveiling of the new Enviro MMC DD/SD, new Optare MetroDecker, and new StreetDeck The Bad : Yet more LTs creeping their way into London, not all have had their Air Cooling units fixed!. SPs and Olympus' diminishing in quantities. No sign of the Volvo MCV B9TL, the demonstrators have disappeared. Old Enviro DDs/SDs are still lingering, old Omnidekkas need to disappear!. Whilst I'm fond of PVLs (53 reg onwards), it's about time they're replaced now. Not sure about the sh*t-powered Enviro SD! In 2015!: Hopefully there will be more DD and SD varieties in London and I hope the MCV B9TL gets some light!. The 108 and 316 need full size SDs, or DDs for the 316. The 486 needs a frequency increase in peaks. Yes the 486 certainly does need more buses at the North Greenwich end, probably only as far as Welling though |
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Post by DT 11 on Dec 11, 2014 13:28:34 GMT
The Good : The new B5LH, E40H and E20D being introduced to the bus network. Seeing a couple of Gemini 3 B5TL demonstrators in service (be on the roads already! ). The 136 extension, not much to shout about but a good thing nonetheless, helping out the 343 and an alternative to E&C was needed. 500 extra buses for London being announced. Old Tridents being replaced by newer buses. The 64 converting to 24 Hour and the N64/T31/T32 being withdrawn, also the renumbering of the T33 as 433. The DW411 back on the roads redesigned, looks better with its longer wheelbase. The unveiling of the new Enviro MMC DD/SD, new Optare MetroDecker, and new StreetDeck The Bad : Yet more LTs creeping their way into London, not all have had their Air Cooling units fixed!. SPs and Olympus' diminishing in quantities. No sign of the Volvo MCV B9TL, the demonstrators have disappeared. Old Enviro DDs/SDs are still lingering, old Omnidekkas need to disappear!. Whilst I'm fond of PVLs (53 reg onwards), it's about time they're replaced now. Not sure about the sh*t-powered Enviro SD! In 2015!: Hopefully there will be more DD and SD varieties in London and I hope the MCV B9TL gets some light!. The 108 and 316 need full size SDs, or DDs for the 316. The 486 needs a frequency increase in peaks. Yes the 486 certainly does need more buses at the North Greenwich end, probably only as far as Welling though Don't see the point of running Short Workings to Welling when changeovers at Bexleyheath. I think the 486 could be extended to Slade Green with the 89 cut to BX to improve reliability |
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Post by sid on Dec 11, 2014 14:28:23 GMT
Yes the 486 certainly does need more buses at the North Greenwich end, probably only as far as Welling though Don't see the point of running Short Workings to Welling when changeovers at Bexleyheath. I think the 486 could be extended to Slade Green with the 89 cut to BX to improve reliability I think the Welling to Bexleyheath section is overbussed as it is |
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Post by DT 11 on Dec 11, 2014 14:52:13 GMT
Don't see the point of running Short Workings to Welling when changeovers at Bexleyheath. I think the 486 could be extended to Slade Green with the 89 cut to BX to improve reliability I think the Welling to Bexleyheath section is overbussed as it is That section is not really overbussed, only 3 High frequency and 1 Low Frequency and that section can get quite busy at times. Does not seem a good idea to have buses on the 486 going as Far as Welling Corner which is pretty much the middle of nowhere. |
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Post by rmz19 on Dec 11, 2014 15:09:03 GMT
Yes the 486 certainly does need more buses at the North Greenwich end, probably only as far as Welling though Don't see the point of running Short Workings to Welling when changeovers at Bexleyheath. I think the 486 could be extended to Slade Green with the 89 cut to BX to improve reliability While I do agree that short workings would be pointless on the 486, I'm not so sure about extending it to Slade Green, won't that make the route quite long and unreliable? |
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Post by sid on Dec 11, 2014 15:39:37 GMT
Don't see the point of running Short Workings to Welling when changeovers at Bexleyheath. I think the 486 could be extended to Slade Green with the 89 cut to BX to improve reliability While I do agree that short workings would be pointless on the 486, I'm not so sure about extending it to Slade Green, won't that make the route quite long and unreliable? Surely putting extra buses where they are not needed is pointless? Even NG to QEH would probably be sufficient for peak hour extras and they could run out of service against the flow. I don't know if it has been mentioned on here but am peak extras on the 472 between NG and Charlton Station were introduced recently. I'm not sure about the 486 to Slade Green, the 89 should be ok when Lewisham is sorted out although I appreciate it is a long term project. |
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Post by DT 11 on Dec 11, 2014 15:55:10 GMT
While I do agree that short workings would be pointless on the 486, I'm not so sure about extending it to Slade Green, won't that make the route quite long and unreliable? Surely putting extra buses where they are not needed is pointless? Even NG to QEH would probably be sufficient for peak hour extras and they could run out of service against the flow. I don't know if it has been mentioned on here but am peak extras on the 472 between NG and Charlton Station were introduced recently. I'm not sure about the 486 to Slade Green, the 89 should be ok when Lewisham is sorted out although I appreciate it is a long term project. Not really as the 486 has got busier over the years, introducing short working buses will just make buses which are doing the entire route busier, and already people dont read blinds so lots of Transfer tickets being issued, and QEH the middle of nowhere and dead... Then run dead to BX seems pointless may as well complete the entire route... Additional AM & PM journeys doing the full route during busy hours would be better. |
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Post by DT 11 on Dec 11, 2014 16:07:50 GMT
While I do agree that short workings would be pointless on the 486, I'm not so sure about extending it to Slade Green, won't that make the route quite long and unreliable? I'm not sure about the 486 to Slade Green, the 89 should be ok when Lewisham is sorted out although I appreciate it is a long term project. Regarding the 89, its Not just Lewisham its Shooters Hill and other parts of the route, the 89 is pretty much follows traffic locations most of its route. The 89 & 321 are the worst operated bus routes in Lewisham with frequent curtailments at both ends and at least DT are not running them because they would be a lot worse. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2014 16:29:41 GMT
Looking forward to MMC's entering service, also more NBFLs. Also will be exciting to see Tower Transit's new interior livery. Bad, more and more Tridents leaving service:( |
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). The 136 extension, not much to shout about but a good thing nonetheless, helping out the 343 and an alternative to E&C was needed. 500 extra buses for London being announced. Old Tridents being replaced by newer buses. The 64 converting to 24 Hour and the N64/T31/T32 being withdrawn, also the renumbering of the T33 as 433. The DW411 back on the roads redesigned, looks better with its longer wheelbase. The unveiling of the new Enviro MMC DD/SD, new Optare MetroDecker, and new StreetDeck 
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