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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2015 19:24:55 GMT
As we all know today is sadly the 10 year anniversary of 7/7.
Do you have any memories of that day particularly using buses or being a driver on that day? I remember being at work and buses carried on running normally in and around east London.
Am I right in thinking buses became free that day? I also remember a few special workings for example I see a 5 running on from Canning Town to Blackwall during the early evening of 7/7.
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Post by mondraker275 on Jul 7, 2015 19:50:16 GMT
I was abroad and so missed all the aftermath of the incidents and coverage and so it is quite weird when I look back on it now.
I notice that 19000, the 7/7 memorial bus was out on the 103 shortly after the 11:30am remembrance. It was also taken out at 7.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2015 19:54:32 GMT
Was nice to see George Psaradakis getting a lot of press coverage - I seem to remember he suffered a hard time after 7/7 and stopped driving buses? I believe he now works as a shuttle driver at WH.
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Jul 7, 2015 19:55:24 GMT
I was abroad and so missed all the aftermath of the incidents and coverage and so it is quite weird when I look back on it now. I notice that 19000, the 7/7 memorial bus was out on the 103 shortly after the 11:30am remembrance. It was also taken out at 7. 19000 was on the 252 before the 11:30 silence, it vanished for about 20min. I honestly think that the bus should have taken an active part in today's events rather than being out in Romford on the 103. Maybe they could have had a special run on the 205 today or even loaned it to LI to run on the 30. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2015 19:58:38 GMT
I was abroad and so missed all the aftermath of the incidents and coverage and so it is quite weird when I look back on it now. I notice that 19000, the 7/7 memorial bus was out on the 103 shortly after the 11:30am remembrance. It was also taken out at 7. 19000 was on the 252 before the 11:30 silence, it vanished for about 20min. I honestly think that the bus should have taken an active part in today's events rather than being out in Romford on the 103. Maybe they could have had a special run on the 205 today or even loaned it to LI to run on the 30. I was thinking the same thing - Could have parked it in Tavistock Sq as a tribute. |
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Post by M1199 on Jul 7, 2015 20:10:32 GMT
I was abroad and so missed all the aftermath of the incidents and coverage and so it is quite weird when I look back on it now. I notice that 19000, the 7/7 memorial bus was out on the 103 shortly after the 11:30am remembrance. It was also taken out at 7. I was like you, I was in Prague when this happened so I missed all the aftermath, only found out about it towards late afternoon time, my mate had a dozen missed calls off his girlfriend, called her back up, she was bawling her eyes out! It was odd coming back home and getting on the bus to find the luggage rack tapped off with not in use notices all over it. I did feel slightly uneasy the first time I used the tube after what happened, but when you start to feel like that, that's when you know they've won! I've seen that 19000 is in normal service today, was it used as part of the commemorations before taking up service? |
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Post by rambo on Jul 7, 2015 20:23:36 GMT
I was a minicab driver for a firm in shoreditch, picked a woman up who wanted euston station, told her I would get her a close as possible, she moaned like f*ck!
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Post by snoggle on Jul 7, 2015 20:27:30 GMT
I remember being in the office and the operational people on our floor started to get phone calls. They looked worried and dashed off. Then my boss called to tell us that something was amiss. There was a period of about an hour when things were not clear but eventually we were told what had transpired. The operational people looked drained and worn out when we saw them later. The tube was progressively closed down, trains were stopped outside of the Greater London boundary and all buses were taken off the road. There was nothing we could do to help directly and we'd just have got in the way if we'd turned up at one of the sites. The staff on the team were obviously upset but we tried to keep people occupied and informed. We also tried to get hold of travel info for people needing to get home or at least suggesting how to walk home. We also had to try to arrange a taxi for a team member who would not be able to walk home for health reasons. I remember stocking up with water for the walk home and set off from Leicester Square through Holborn and Bloomsbury and Islington. There were people walking everywhere but it was evident that many had no clue how the streets fitted together judging from the volume of maps and A-Zs in people's hands. At the Angel I saw some RMLs on the 38 heading into town so a decision had clearly been taken to get buses back on the road for the PM peak. Remember this was before I-Bus and social media and Twitter and all that stuff. I reached Balls Pond Road and was heading to Dalston when I spotted a 56 parked round the back of what is now the Arriva "depot". It started to move so I ran to the next stop and managed to catch it. We very quickly ended up packed full but it meant I got to the Bakers Arms OK. Once there I think I had to walk home but saw some more buses at Walthamstow Central. The next day I was gobsmacked that so much of the tube was running like normal. I can also remember weeks later when the Picc Line service was restored being on a nearly empty train at about 0700 at Finsbury Park with only a few other people and us all looking at each other. Needless to say such emptiness didn't last long once people realised the line was open again. This was the time when First Group buses were pulled in from all over the country to run the rail replacement service from Seven Sisters to Arnos Grove. 
First Leicester 32077 RRS Seven Sisters (102_0227_2) by plcd1, on Flickr 
First Manchester 61216 61226 RRS Seven Sisters (102_0228_2) by plcd1, on Flickr |
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Post by iranair747 on Jul 7, 2015 21:00:17 GMT
I remember when I heard about it - I was in a music class in High school.
Anyone have details on the LU service after the attacks?
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Post by snoggle on Jul 7, 2015 21:58:39 GMT
I remember when I heard about it - I was in a music class in High school. Anyone have details on the LU service after the attacks? |
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Post by LX09FBJ on Jul 7, 2015 22:32:57 GMT
I was in Year 6 at the time, and I seem to recall that it was raining in Hampton, so we spent break in the classroom and the first time that I learnt what happened was on the BBC website, and I was shocked and horrified. I also recall the bus was erroneously reported as a number 205 at first, not a 30. Later that night I remember getting emotional about terror attacks and why do they have to happen. Was nice to see George Psaradakis getting a lot of press coverage - I seem to remember he suffered a hard time after 7/7 and stopped driving buses? I believe he now works as a shuttle driver at WH. 18500/19000 should, in my view be named in his honour. |
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Post by Steve80 on Jul 7, 2015 22:36:56 GMT
This day was a bit of a blur to me. I had a late shift on the 155 but first I had to deliver a hire van back to the rental site somewhere along Purley Way (I hired it the day before) but I had trouble getting there due to a security alert in Croydon. I dropped the van and made my way back to Croydon via the 119 and the driver decided he would tell all passengers at every stop about the traffic problems in Croydon. I can't criticise the driver for being helpful but the journey was a lot longer than it should have been  I got home and made my way to work and went to pick up my bus along Tooting High Street (towards Elephant) and waited over an hour for my bus. I saw plenty buses including an WVL on the 155 (I believe it was from Stockwell as Merton didn't have any at the time) but my bus never turned up. I sat there till my break was due and went on my meal relief. Unfortunately, I can't remember the rest of the day afterwards although I seem to recall passengers asking many questions. Anyway, it was only when I got home and read about the reports it was then when everything hit home as to what truly happened |
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Post by thesquirrels on Jul 7, 2015 22:52:12 GMT
I had been in Hampstead for an early appointment and found myself back on Fitzjohns Avenue around 9:30am oblivious to the events unfolding in town, having cleared the Circle Line in town by 8:30. It was a warm and pleasant morning like the ones we've had in the last week and I decided to go into town to do a few things by way of a 46 instead of slinking down the hill to Finchley Road tube (had I done so I would have been met with whiteboards and lattice gates, but so it was).
A DLD rocked up blinded for Farringdon Street and I got on, a little busier than usual for that time of morning but nothing major. I couldn't spy any double seats free down the back so I sat in the granny seats behind the driver and off we went.
The first sign that anything was amiss was swinging the right past Hampstead station and noting that it was closed. About 20-30 people got on and from that point we were full. People were remarking to the driver that the tube was out but nobody had any real idea of why. Various messages were going out over the drivers radio regarding piecemeal tube suspensions but nothing cohesive or conclusive. We picked up more as we went on - all suited, all heading into town, nobody alighting, an unusual crowd for the post-peak. By Camden we were carrying well over capacity, the drone of the engine muffled by the standing mass and the messages from the drivers radio becoming more frequent and strained in tone - the word "incident" kept coming up, a reference was made to Upper Woburn Place being closed, again referring to an incident. I remember the knot in my stomach as I started to twig what might be going on. I was also aware I'd forgotten my phone at home that morning.
The bus never made it to Farrringdon Street - we terminated round the back of St. Pancras station. No explanation offered by the driver other than "this is as far as I can go". A few other buses were parked up on hazards, empty. But that wasn't the really odd sight here, all around were people in large numbers trudging away from Kings Cross up towards Camden. It was eerily quiet save for distant sirens coming from the Euston Road. I headed south, ready to abandon my plans and go home to Tottenham, I presumed that even if there were no trains I would at least be able to get a bus. As it turns out there were plenty of buses on Euston Road but they weren't going anywhere and we weren't being allowed anywhere near them. Most of the traffic was emergency vehicles. I couldn't get to the front entrance of the station for whatever reason - I don't remember whether it was a physical blockade of tape/vehicles or just crowding that prevented it, tbh the details begin to blur from there. I still wasn't aware of what had actually happened, only that it was very serious.
So I had to get home from Kings Cross to Tottenham. There were no buses leaving York Way for Caledonian Road (e.g. 259) and no signs of a 73/476 going towards the Angel. I sloped up Pentonville Road, the growing heat of the day making itself felt, others walking silently along with me. Up to the Angel, no buses. Essex Road station? Maybe National Rail was unaffected here? A0 flipchart sign in the entrance, no service due to "power issues". On I walked, life at the top of the Essex Road felt comparatively normal, albeit with a lack of buses, people outside of shops, talking. I think I eventually picked up a 341 at Newington Green, took that back to Chestnuts Park then walked home - the driver just waved us on, no attempt or interest in checking tickets. I eventually got home around midday, put on the TV and BBC News 24 relayed to me the full severity of what was going on. My PC screen was one flashing bar of msn messages, my phone had two dozen missed calls and a string of texts from friends checking I was ok. I don't think I forgot to take it out with me again for five or six years.
The suspicion in the air was palpable for weeks after - I took a Customer Service summer position with South West Trains at a major suburban station where we were constantly being called to unattended items. I recall being asked to investigate a suspicious item in the ladies toilet.. 30 seconds later I emerged with a hawaiian t-shirt on the end of a litter picker I'd brought in for the purpose. The sighting of this had cleared the toilets. There are other more serious stories but I will have to think about how to word them before writing them up in a public forum. In terms of days that define a city it was up there with the riots. I try and piece together my thoughts on it and I struggle, it was just a day where things happened and peoples true selves came out as a result, the basic kindness of others, the need to cooperate. I grew up with the low-level fear in my mind that there would be bombs.. some of the older forum members will remember the IRA bombings in the 1990s (or perhaps even before) which were a weekly event at one point and in material terms pretty devastating. But the human effects of this were of a different order.
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Post by vjaska on Jul 7, 2015 23:28:34 GMT
I can't quite remember where I was at the time but I most probably was at school as I was in Year 11 (16 years old). We heard murmurings throughout the day but we had no clue unlike the tradegy of 9/11 where need spread like wildfire. It was only when I got home that my mum had the television on and I saw what had happened. I was just in shock that such a thing could happen here. For the next few weeks, everyone on a bus looked decidedly uncomfortable and the tension was there to see. Although I wasn't anywhere near the 7/7 bombings, my own experience of the riots in 2011 gave me an idea of the anxiety and fear that swept around 7/7.
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Post by ilovelondonbuses on Jul 8, 2015 0:45:57 GMT
I was 9 years old (Year 4) when this happened. I remember my school in Kennington being complete lockdown and we all instructed to go into the big playroom to play as classes were cancelled while parents were called to see to inform about them about a major emergency has happened to pick us up ASAP. I remember my mum and lot of other parents panic stricken to pick us up. It was only when we got home to put on the news we found the severity of 7/7. RIP to the victims, they will never be forgotten.
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