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Post by thesquirrels on Jul 17, 2021 11:07:11 GMT
For the most part but it did have some Ms running it too Oh yes, because it was in 1997 that it moved to County Bus having been M operated at AD until then. Leaside Travel operated some school journeys with their Ms until the route's conversion back to double deck - this made it one of the final routes in London to see the type.
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Post by thesquirrels on Jul 14, 2021 20:26:16 GMT
That was the original idea. Unfortunately by the late 90s the concept had been watered down so that it was only a modest frequency increase, not a doubling. The 295 for example went from x10 mins with DDs to x8 mins with Darts, so there was nowhere near the same capacity as before. Add in the extra accessibility, which attracted people who wouldn't otherwise have used the bus (e.g. parents with buggies), and it's no surprise that the Darts were overcrowded from the start.
I wonder how they would cope with the 31s current loadings between Camden and Kilburn On the old 5 minute frequency (daily!) it would probably just about cope. In midibus days the peak weekend service between Camden and NHG was every 3 minutes! The larger capacity Marshalls saw the drop to 12bph. Part of the Centrewest 28/31 midibus experiment was to hire drivers on a lower wage than their 'big bus' counterparts, I am sure this had a hand in entrenching single deck operation on those VHF routes well after they had proven to be unsuitable for the loads asked of them. I am glad most traces of that era are now removed from London's bus network. From a passenger perspective to have busy, long distance routes, such as the 295 with few or no paralell DD routes - operating with crammed single deckers was deeply unattractive. The 34 and 230 are two other North London examples I encountered regularly. And the 144, which got some of the very first low floor double decks in 1999 to alleviate what was already chronic crowding on the incumbent SLWs.
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Post by thesquirrels on Jul 4, 2021 8:07:31 GMT
Hey all Does anyone know if the Metrobuses ever had a refurbishment when they were in service in London or did they maintain it's original D78 stock moquette without boosting it's upholstery. Metroline refurbished a small batch of Ms when they won the 292 back from BTS in 1993. From memory I think they were fitted with the standard red/white/blue moquette that all London Buses subsidiaries were using at the time, as well as grey carpeting on the interior walls.
Other than those used on Airbus work I can't think of any other Ms that were refurbished internally for London work. Arriva East Herts & Essex did refurbish a few ex-London Ms for the 310.
I think it must have been the ex-292 Ms I saw out on the 82 then in the last couple of years of M operation. Thought the refurb was much more recent than 93 but even c.2001 the carpeted walls felt like an early 90s thing (I first saw them on the J-WHJ Darts on my local 444). I think the moquette had been changed again by then, to a dark grey. I wondered at the time whether Metroline had plans to keep Metrobuses going on the 82 into the 2000s but the low floor revolution was inexorable! M1253 did several years of 149/279 work refurbished to Leaside Travel spec - R/W/B moquette with red grab poles and light grey interior finishes IIRC, not too different to the J-BSH Ls, but with added illuminated Leaside Swans each side of the destination blind - these were latterly blanked out.
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Post by thesquirrels on Jun 18, 2021 20:45:15 GMT
See St. Albans in 2019 electing Daisy Cooper for another example of this. Largely wealthy commuter town, well educated, historically Tory, went LD. Remain voters in '16, with little time for Johnson's nationalistic schtick, and some growing disquiet at how the current show are running things, especially post-covid. There was a degree of tactical voting by Labour voters in C&A to get the LD candidate in and keep the Tory candidate, who by all measures seemed a little complacent, out. Cheryl Gillan was well respected across the floor - her majority was not just on the back of her party, but also her good standing in the area. I don't think her replacement fully recognised this in the campaign he fought.
It was an intensely fought by-election that the Lib Dems did a decent job with, scrambling resources from across the country. My inlaws have a lot of paper recycling for the next bin collection.
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Post by thesquirrels on Jun 14, 2021 22:47:04 GMT
How many routes are there that have Station on both termini? I’ll start: 313- Potters Bar Station to Chingford Station 444 - Turnpike Lane Station to Chingford Station 66 - Leytonstone Station to Romford Station
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Post by thesquirrels on Jun 10, 2021 21:37:05 GMT
205 puts in a good effort along the northern Circle for a similar distance. Paddington, Edgware Road (Bakerloo and Circle), Baker Street, Regents Park, Great Portland Street, Warren Street, Euston, Euston Square, King's Cross St. Pancras, then off to more stations over to the east.. 205 is much longer than 3 miles though I think by virtue of the 521 being almost uniquely such a short route there are unlikely to be any other examples that compare. King's Cross to Paddington is just under three miles so I figured the comparison would be of interest.
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Post by thesquirrels on Jun 10, 2021 20:55:40 GMT
521, shortest bus route which serves the most tube stations ? ( Waterloo, Holborn, Chancery Lane, St Paul’s, Mansion House, Bank, Monument, Cannon Street ,London Bridge ) ? ?? 205 puts in a good effort along the northern Circle for a similar distance. Paddington, Edgware Road (Bakerloo and Circle), Baker Street, Regents Park, Great Portland Street, Warren Street, Euston, Euston Square, King's Cross St. Pancras, then off to more stations over to the east..
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Post by thesquirrels on Jun 7, 2021 23:05:46 GMT
Is Edgware Road for the Bakerloo line and Edgware Road for District, Circle and Ham and City lines considered as on station or two different stations? Two distinct stations.
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Post by thesquirrels on Jun 7, 2021 23:00:34 GMT
While I do thing your three lines proposal could work, it in the grand scheme is unfeasible. The Metropolitan Line being split into National Rail networks would still end up inconveniencing quite a few people. I did mention earlier it's relatively lightly used in the Central portion, but it is still used. I imagine people could change at Baker Street, but it may not be worth it. Moving the line to Overground also brings in the problems of converting the LU lines into National Rail lines and while possible, it would probably work out to be a logistical nightmare. Might not be as complicated due to already sharing some tracks with Chiltern services. And if converted to London Overground, another option might be to cut the Piccadilly line back to Rayners Lane rather than sharing tracks. Though has worked with the Bakerloo/District sharing tracks with the Overground, and the East London line moving to the Overground network. Besides being underused towards Aldgate, I think another issue with the Metropolitan line is that a tube service is not ideal for journeys to outer stations around Amersham. Existing Chiltern services are useful alongside, but have limited capacity with far fewer carriages than the S8 stock, likely due to use beyond Amersham. Though unlikely to happen, my suggestion would be to have Rickmansworth as more of a hub station, being within the M25 and probably the furthest station where a stopping service is appropriate. The station would need to be relocated slightly to the east, alongside the station car park, with the existing sidings used for terminating platforms. This would segregate TFL stopping services, with additional Chiltern services introduced alongside towards Amersham. This role of Rickmansworth as a hub would also take over from Moor Park, which doesn't require as many services here. Another option might also be to have a shuttle service between Watford and Chesham, at 2 or 3 tph. The Watford branch is lightly used, with much faster services to London at Watford Junction. Passengers nearer to Watford tube and Croxley would be able to change at Rickmansworth for faster services into Marylebone or Baker Street. In this case, TFL services could provide 8tph from Baker Street to Northwood, with 4tph continuing to Moor Park and Rickmansworth. Regardless, I also think it might be worth renaming Watford tube to something like Watford West, as the current name could be misleading given the distance from the town centre. The pre-2010 arrangement of comfortable transverse seats on an all-day fast service worked perfectly well for stations north of Rickmansworth, and had done so for the previous 49 years. I'm not sure a rewrite of the entire Met/Chiltern relationship is necessary to return to that, especially as Chiltern into Marylebone relies on polluting diesels - unless there is a suggestion to electrify into Marylebone, in which case the costs really do outweigh the benefits being touted. It is worth noting that Rickmansworth to Chalfont merits an 8tph service in the peaks and (pre covid at least) passenger numbers very much justify that level of service - the operation up there is very heavily skewed towards commuters, and many of those are bound for Finchley Road (for the Jubilee) or the City. I am a part-time Amersham commuter so I get to see all of this in action frequently (or did, until covid - the numbers are finally beginning to climb again). Croxley and Watford get station numbers comparable to the ends of the Central line so breaking their link into London seems unnecessarily punitive when the curve would just sit there unused while Croxley commuters get left to fight it out for another stopping train at Rickmansworth, or stand on a fast train from Amersham or Aylesbury. They would rightly be annoyed at such a proposal! Chesham can't support more than 2tph in any case due to the long single track section north of Chalfont. Chesham, also, has seen a gradual but significant growth in passenger numbers since the link into London went all-day, drawing passengers not just from Amersham but also, to an extent, BR at Berkhamsted as it trounces London Midland in the price stakes. This is new revenue for LU and it would easily slide away if the direct link was broken. Give the top of the Met an all day fast service and comfier seats and we would be happy. The problem becomes one of how to provide Northwood etc with the 8tph it needs without using the Amersham/Chesham services - this would need some engineering of its own with extra turnback facilities somewhere appropriate.
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Post by thesquirrels on Jun 6, 2021 20:34:04 GMT
it also does not help at times NMCC uses some very long diversions which heavily impacts the route. That Muswell HIll area is a no go zone. It is also hampered by drivers in cars using apps telling them various short cuts away from traffic. Absolutely, I really have to lmao and crease at the planning decision by Haringey Council to add a low traffic neighborhood in the Bowes area when pre pandemic Brownlow Road would be at a stand still between the North Circular & Bounds Green Station and at the junction with Colney Hatch Lane just east of Muswell Hill. I don't know how the 102 has survived as long as it has to be honest, not to mention Temple Fortune is an absolute travesty all the way to Henlys, the traffic up High Rd E Finchley towards Muswell Hill since the cycle lane was introduced plus it battling the North Circular between Bounds Green & Edmonton. Plus you have even more irritating things such as the Henlys Corner traffic light system, you can sometimes be say waiting for up to 10 minutes because of how bad it is. I wouldn't call Muswell Hill a no go zone but I'd say traffic can be especially bad due to there being no tube station in a very high residential area + you combine it with neighbouring Crouch End & Alexandra Park. Now I look forward to the next set of ideas regarding the 102. I've already jinxed myself Unless plans have changed, the next part of the LTN on Enfield's side involves putting a bus gate on Brownlow Road and blocking it to through motor traffic.
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Post by thesquirrels on Jun 3, 2021 21:45:52 GMT
Metrobus, because that's what I was brought up with (AR, E & WN), but the Titan always felt like a more refined product.
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Post by thesquirrels on May 31, 2021 9:45:37 GMT
But that's just it......... it's not a novelty. Remote working been going on for some years now as advances in technology has made it viable. I'm not at all surprised that 43 out of 50 are looking at a mix of both and I'm not suggesting that offices will become totally obsolete but the amount of office blocks that have been converted into flats or demolished over recent years speaks for itself. The amount offices demolished? Yes mostly end of life buildings built in the 50s and 60s. Are you honestly ignoring all the new blocks that have gone up in the last few years? I go up London a lot and have yet to see these offices that are flats. Do people really think families for example will move into central London? What about things like schools, supermarkets, health care? cost of travel in Zone 1? or you suggestion these people working from home who live in Zone 3 will buy a new flat in zone 1 to work from home
Technology has advanced yes but things like home broadband are not designed for business critical services. Can see it now phoning in stick will be replaced with "I can't work today as my home broadband is down! also have to consider things like security, I wouldn't really feel comfortable giving personal details over the phone to someone outside of a office environment, you have no idea where that info will end up. Yes the same can happen in a office but less of a risk.
Might as well cancel the Elizabeth line whilst we at it seen no one needs to travel as for High speed 2! Just buy everyone a laptop job done. Why would it be unsuitable for, say, an office block behind Moorgate to become flats, when the sprawling Barbican Estate is right behind? Whitecross Street market? Waitrose? When you zoom in on "Central London", down to the fine grain, there are residential communities everywhere already, and the schools and retail/services to support them, run by competent local authorities and CCGs with expertise in expanding and cutting back services as the population chanages require it. There are housing estates in the West End and all over Victoria, Westminster, Holborn, Clerkenwell - and schools quietly tucked away serving those. This is why routes like the 24 have been left intact to do what they do. I don't think we will see a sudden conversion of the newest city buildings to residential pads - more likely their spaces will be filled by less high-end companies at more attractive rents because the likes of Land Securities will want the money coming in, even if it turns out to be less than their projections pre-covid would have had it. The older buildings those companies vacate, in areas like Shoreditch, Aldgate, Southwark and Holborn, will become candidates for residential conversions, areas where there are already long established residential communities and the infrastructure to back them up. There will be no absolute either/or in my opinion, there absolutely are plenty of businesses that need real office space for all sorts of reasons, but that doesn't discount the fact that many even within those companies could work from home 2-4 days a week. I think the shift is inevitable, but not absolute, and any change towards former office block living in London would take a decade to really make a mark on the fabric of central London.
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Post by thesquirrels on May 28, 2021 19:11:46 GMT
Chaos in Wood Green and TPL today. 121,184,,221, 232 and 329 all terminating at Wood Green. 29,67,141 and the 230 being diverted between Wood Green and TPL via Lordship Lane and Downhills Way. 144 continuing onto Station Road towards Muswell Hill. W3 unaffected. Shooting by Ducketts Common last night - the victim didn't survive and whole area was a crime scene until a few hours ago. Left the area northbound at 0645, passed five terminating buses outside WN disgorging over 200 passengers between them. Remarked to the OH that things were getting back to normal post covid, not realising that actually meant a resurgence in weapon crime in the Turnpike Lane area.
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Post by thesquirrels on May 26, 2021 22:50:06 GMT
Well worth having a look around on their channel, they have other videos from the late 90s on the W3, 189, 260 and others. A very keen Titan run on the 114 too. They put up a new video once a week or so. Yes indeed, credit to @route92 who linked the channel first. I recommend the 114, 320, 102 & W3 videos - it allowed me to learn a lot about one of my other hobbies as well Can guess what it might be and, yes, the W3 video was evocative for me in that regard! A rich variety in Haringey and Islington at the time.
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Post by thesquirrels on May 26, 2021 21:49:53 GMT
This one is a youtube POV of the 102 on a MCW Metrobus (It's interesting to see how some stuff is still the same up to this day and other things changed) Enjoy www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbceMJWZ1bUWell worth having a look around on their channel, they have other videos from the late 90s on the W3, 189, 260 and others. A very keen Titan run on the 114 too. They put up a new video once a week or so.
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