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Post by 6HP502C on Jan 13, 2015 1:01:25 GMT
A quick random scan of several night routes shows buses in service and heading into and out of town. Obviously not a firm indication of anything in particular but there are buses running when you might have expected them not to. It's tomorrow night that night duties won't be signing on according to the publicity. I expect night buses out at the moment will stay out until the end of their duty.
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Post by westhamgeezer on Jan 13, 2015 1:13:43 GMT
A quick random scan of several night routes shows buses in service and heading into and out of town. Obviously not a firm indication of anything in particular but there are buses running when you might have expected them not to. It's tomorrow night that night duties won't be signing on according to the publicity. I expect night buses out at the moment will stay out until the end of their duty. Thats correct, I believe services will run normally until roughly the end of night services, (4-6am)
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Post by overgroundcommuter on Jan 13, 2015 2:16:00 GMT
A normal night bus service on Routes 12, 176 and N63 so far.
I take the night bus drivers start before midnight working the daytime workings?
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Post by vjaska on Jan 13, 2015 2:31:52 GMT
The strike starts at 4am so everything should be running normal until then
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Post by Steve80 on Jan 13, 2015 2:34:27 GMT
Yes, the schedules on the S4 was appalling. At one stop I was 5-6 minutes early and then further along the route I was 10 minutes late. It was an utter shambles and when I called Ibus for details about the running times, I was basically told to do whatever I wanted! It didn't matter how early or how late I was running I would not get punished Obviously it was good for us drivers but for the passengers on the route it was very poor. I never got into great detail on how upset some of the passengers were. Constant looks from the passengers, and many questions about the long waits. I recall one journey when I was going along Worcester Road, just after Sutton Station (towards Roundshaw) and a pedestrian that was walking suddenly turned and look at my bus and then shook his head. It was obvious that he was waiting for my bus. Not sure why he didn't put his hand out to stop me. Maybe he was near home. A few other drivers on the route have also told me the grief they have got - passengers calling them on the other side of the road asking where the bus is and others moaning about the company. Anyway, it did make me wonder about the scheduling, as to who is in charge of such matters? Is it the company or is it TFL? Don't such staff check or proof read the times? Why did TFL approve the schedules when it clearly didn't work? I'm not sure how these things work but I thought that when companies bid for a route, they get some kind of guideline from TFL about how things should run such as the running times, curtailments, when the bus should run and at what frequencies, etc. You also mentioned about operators cutting costs and stripping away contingency plans. I wonder if this is the real reason why Arriva have lost so many routes? They probably said enough is enough and they are refusing to undercut anymore. If that's the case then hopefully all the other companies will follow suit. I also noticed how companies are increasing the PVR of their routes before when a tender is due It is clearly down to the bus company to provide a schedule as that underpins how many drivers and vehicles are needed and the cost of the bid. TfL specify start times, end times, frequencies, when frequencies should build up or fall back etc. TfL will also have a view as to what the running time should be by section and overall. There is also the track record of the previous operator on a route (unless a route is brand new). If I was going to bid to win an existing route I'd want to monitor and analyse how the route runs every day of the week right across the day. I'd have people on the buses or out and about looking to see how things run so I could put in a robust bid with supporting evidence for the choices I'd made in producing the schedule. I understand that TfL may well negotiate with the winning bidder to fine tune a schedule which is why I am so surprised that the S4 schedule was such a shambles and had to be changed so quickly. IME of looking at old and new timetables when routes change companies it is rarely the case that you get massive changes in times unless TfL have changed the spec. When I used to take the 123 about 0630 in the morning the times with First and with Arriva were barely any different - nothing more than 1 or 2 mins difference and the headway was no different despite it being the time when journey times increase so you can get odd headways. Going back to the S4 a look at the performance charts for the route shows a very good level for mileage - consistently around 99% - and pretty much on or above target for on time departures (just the occasional dip presumably due to roadworks). If I was bidding that would tell me that Quality Line's schedule was pretty much spot on as a starting point. Thanks for the info. I going to have to compare the S4 times under Abellio and when it was with Quality Line. I suppose Abellio put in a much cheaper bid hoping us drivers would drive that little bit faster. I was on it last night and there wasn't any problems with the route traffic wise but when I went to take my bus out of the garage, the bus wasn't even there. The bus finally came 7 minutes after I was due to take the bus out. The driver told me he was late because of the school rush hour. I certainly had problems when I did it last on the school kicking out times and I was running 20-30 minutes late. I wonder if Quality Line had the same problems
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Post by 6HP502C on Jan 13, 2015 2:48:19 GMT
Sound like it has a lot of dramas, that route!
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Post by Steve80 on Jan 13, 2015 3:16:52 GMT
As for the strike, a few drivers at BC will be out on the picket line from 4am. I going try and stay up and see via the LVF if the first 157 will be leaving from Morden or Crystal Palace at 0420.
Also wanted to mention that while on the S4 last night, I had several passengers asking if the strike is still on and one or two asking about the 151 and 154. The amount of passengers asking was making me late
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Post by DT 11 on Jan 13, 2015 6:01:16 GMT
As not all drivers are striking, The 181, 284 & 320 are running with a Limited Service currently 2 buses on each route currently, 1 bus on Route 185 currently, 7 buses on the 47, 4 on Route 136, 3 on Route 208, 3 on Route 261
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Post by sw11simon on Jan 13, 2015 6:24:06 GMT
I've skimmed through this thread and I have a few opinions on this strike. Firstly, it needs to be long haul. The main movable cost in competitive tendering is staff so the demand in question reflects a demand to completely overhaul the tender system. That will take more than a one day strike. Leading on from that, how may drivers on a good rate are going to be willing to continue supporting a campaign and lose money for something that will give them (personally) no long term gain. As far as the operators failing to meet around a table and discuss pay rates, I believe this may be a breach of the competition act. Collusion is prohibited and can result in large fines. And my final point... which union represented bus drivers during privatisation and the introduction of the tender system? T&GWU, now part of Unite. You may find a number of reps around that time with rather large houses bought with profitable share options taken. Just saying... Bus driving is underpaid for a lot of drivers in London and all over the country. I do not think this campaign will resolve it, although I'd gladly be proven wrong. The Unite union say they do not expect higher paid drivers to drop their pay to meet a lower or average standard. They are doing this to make lower paid drivers reach up to their standard. That is not what I meant. A driver on a high rate will lose money every day they strike. If this campaign gains what it is after, they will not personally significantly benefit from it.
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Post by ServerKing on Jan 13, 2015 6:31:48 GMT
E2 and E8 and E10, 237, 297 running according to LVF - 63, 195, 207, 267, 243, 279, 349 appear to be out of action today from a quick look at LVF...
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Jan 13, 2015 6:55:02 GMT
The 86 seems to have decided to run in the morning, but kinda gave up at around 7am. There are no 62s, 368s, 397s. But weirdly there are 2 396s
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Post by COBO on Jan 13, 2015 7:21:15 GMT
The 140, 182, H12, 105, 7, 395, 79, 297, 90, E6, 112, 16, 32, 189, 139, 332, 316 and 326 is running.
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Post by smoothcriminal on Jan 13, 2015 7:25:00 GMT
The 86 seems to have decided to run in the morning, but kinda gave up at around 7am. There are no 62s, 368s, 397s. But weirdly there are 2 396s That was the last of the night bus 86's can't see anything pulling out of ns today
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Post by londonbuses67 on Jan 13, 2015 7:25:45 GMT
NRM routes 148 and 453 NO SERVICE. No service on the 172 .
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2015 7:44:30 GMT
FW / S / PK / TV / V looks like all out , nothing at all on any of their routes.
HH have several double deckers out on the 285
TB running a few buses on the 208 between Bromley and Orpington
London General garages South of the river appear to be running near normal services
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