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Post by enviroPB on Aug 19, 2019 18:34:16 GMT
Positives are this info was at least released a week in advance. Negatives are TfL have a Notting Hill page on their website and no info is up there as yet. If it's ready, put the bus related information up on your dedicated page so people can easily access it? Nah, too much logic for those in TfL Towers The 205 loses its express service and there is skimping from the 36X in the form of return journeys, Joe & Jenny Public encouraged to take the normal 36 instead with its increased evening service from Harrow Road. The 52 seems determined to not let anyone onto its shorts for carnival from document phrasing. Routes 18 and 328 are worthy mentions with their extra buses; very disappointing with Craven Park- Elgin Avenue shorts for the former. Especially with the 205X being withdrawn, TfL should've considered sending the extra buses further eastbound; even terminating at Paddington Green/Edgware Road would've made a considerable difference to customers' onwards jounerys. The 328's shorts are smart: Chelsea to Notting Hill Gate & Golders Green to Harrow Road, Elgin Avenue. Just can't wait till next week for the overpriced chicken, Elgin Avenue effectively becoming an outstation for X and packed N18s on the way home; as if TfL don't realise that a million or so people are concentrated in one area and they can't all pack onto the last train home!
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Post by enviroPB on Aug 18, 2019 12:30:54 GMT
Iโve just had a thought that Iโve been thinking about overnight. Instead of introducing this new 533, couldnโt TFL just have the Mortlake end of the 209 extended to Hammersmith via Chiswick Bridge while still terminating at Castelnau/Lonsdale Road on the other end? I've been suggesting exactly this for a while now, TFL's changes in the Barnes area have been quite messy and confusing with more new routes introduced than necessary, introducing the 378 and 533 when the 209/485/etc could have perhaps been modified instead. I'm sure TFL could adjust some frequencies to make this possible, otherwise perhaps the 378 could take over the 533 contract at AH, with the MMCs at AF operating a combined 209/533 route. TfL are super reluctant to modify any existing routes as it'll be harder to kill the links if they're popular. Victoria Dock Road in Custom House was shut for so long that residents were calling for temporary route 541 to be made permanent! Obviously the round the corner links from Barking Road into New Barn Street & Freemasons Road proved very popular, but it would be overkill once the 241 returned to its line of route. The same feeling I get from the 378 really; TfL don't want to send it up to Hammersmith even though the 220 really needs the support. Well the 220 has always craved for a higher frequency of every 15 minutes in the evenings south of Hammersmith, but given the bridge closure TfL seem more indignant to not increase the 220's frequency.
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Post by enviroPB on Aug 9, 2019 10:55:32 GMT
Nice to see the 158 gets a frequency increase, especially when the 58's frequency increase of 7.5 bph during the day and 5bph at nights was cancelled spring last year. Is this a more expensive climb-down by TfL? This is pretty much the highest PVR the 158 can get now before TfL are forced to consider another route along Blackhorse Lane/Higham Hill. The new housing being built there will see Joe and Jenny Public needing more links than just to & from Stratford. An easy fix I guess would be to reroute the 357 between Crooked Billet and Walthamstow Central, but we'll see how long that option needs to be considered once all the new housing units are mostly or fully occupied.
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Post by enviroPB on Aug 9, 2019 3:29:35 GMT
I was traveling tonight on the N8 and unbeknownst to me, I was subject to the new boarding changes on the LT route.
There are stickers stating the middle & rear doors are for exit only and to board at the front door with your ticket. Middle doors has its wheelchair logo as is expected. All readers bar the driver's has a red sticker and points to the cab if in case anyone falls through the net.
I was actually surprised that passengers along the route waited near the head of the bus flag, no sporadic dispersal when the bus pulled up. Seems the messages advertised prior to the change was heeded well. However dispite notable disruption on the N8 tonight, the bus did arrive 3 minutes later than predicted.
Don't know how to judge this; there were no attempted jumpers on the N8 but the bus was noticeably delayed due to the change. Guess we'll see the latter magnified in the 8 service later today, and I'm sure the fare jumpers will wake up by then to give drivers a headache later today.
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Post by enviroPB on Aug 8, 2019 15:04:14 GMT
sorry for the stupid question ๐ but is it possible to get the X68 at Russell and get off at waterloo or is that just for pick up only. Thanks No, first set down West Norwood. Is that the procedure on paper? The only time I used the X68 was September last year, from Holborn to Waterloo Station. Didn't have to plead with the driver to let me off, though I think I was the only one to alight the bus at Waterloo.
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Post by enviroPB on Aug 1, 2019 17:54:13 GMT
There was at one point a proposed night bus review that never seemed to happen. This was expected after the night tube bus review that bought us the N199 and weekend 154, 486 etc. I was expecting that review to return to the notion of the N prefix in some cases as tfl realised the potential efficacy (savings) of 1 N route rather then we or 3 24h routes. That "review" was one of the things Sadiq said when coming into the Mayor's office one he got elected. TfL's savage predictions of underused, superfluous capacity with night routes once the Night Tube came into effect were to be culled in sync with the introduction of 17 weekend 24-hour routes, 2 daily 24 hour routes and one new night route (the N199). However none of the Night Tube lines started on September 12th 2015 as planned, herego this review to monitor usage of routes once the Night Tube had started.In all reality, there was no dynamic review, just a staggering of vicious cuts already decided by TfL before Night Tube. I'm pretty sure that 'review' excuse was given to the residents along the 154 route when they asked for the route to run all nights of the week. It's almost 4 years since the 154N has been operating, I wonder if locals will think again to call for the weekend 24-hour service to be upgraded.
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Post by enviroPB on Aug 1, 2019 13:41:12 GMT
I saw that tripe message on a N8 in Bishopsgate early this morning. Utterly useless to create, design and commission a bus for open boarding to only row back on the capabilities of the new Routemasters. Might as well do a Boris and pull them all off the roads if fare evasion is that big a problem, but I suspect this isn't the main issue behind it. Most of my observations see very minimal fare dodgers, no higher than 5-10% of all boardees with it being next to nil at night on certain routes. Ironically this 'trial method' has happened to me on a N8 sometime in early summer last year. Driver forced everyone to board through the front. At first I thought I was being discriminated and typecast by opting to go for the rear door, but this driver seemed determined to catch fare dodgers out. I had no problem with his noble efforts, what I was worried about was missing my connecting bus home at Stratford and sure enough; when the N8 driver restricted open boarding that made the bus later than originally scheduled. TfL should be prepared for operators asking for amended timetables left, right & centre if this gets a blanket rollout; regardless if it's a day or night route.
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Post by enviroPB on Jul 31, 2019 13:58:38 GMT
11038 on the 330 heading towards Canning Town but the side blind displays Wanstead Park 11038 is a LED bus, so I'm sure that's more of an electrical fault than an incorrect blind display!
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Post by enviroPB on Jul 9, 2019 16:29:34 GMT
When the 388 does stand in Liverpool Street bus station, I think it'd be wise if the route didn't acutally serve the bus station. 388 passengers have had to tolerate their route being constantly tampered with and if the route serves the bus station, some passengers may get use to picking the 388 up in the bus station only for more confusion to arise in October when the 388 is extended to London Bridge. Having the last stop as Liverpool Street Bus Station wouldn't be the end of the world but I think having the first stop on Bishopsgate would be more wise so passengers aren't waiting in vain at the bus station come 12th October I agree. Might be missing something here but is there a reason the 388 never took the route 100 London Wall stand instead of Aldgate bus station. Driver facilities at Aldgate? I know there's Stratford City bus station on the other end of the 388 but I suspect diverting it to stand at Aldgate over London Wall is likely because of traffic building up on Moorgate. Depending if Crossrail have workers halting the road near Finsbury Circus or an influx of trucks coming onto/off site, Moorgate can be standstill for most of the day.
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Post by enviroPB on Jul 9, 2019 15:51:21 GMT
Delete the areas outside of london from the list but certainly Dagenham, Hornchurch, North Harrow would be on the list. Bar probably a couple of journeys a night/weekend I doubly many N routes pay for themselves. Whilst it's normal to relieve a subsidy to routes there is no way TFL will run non profit making services across the border. Feltham does have the (N285). Nigh Bus : Stratford Forest Gate Manor Park Ilford Green Lane Becontree Rush Green Heathway Dagenham ( N145?) Night Bus NR1: Romford Hornchurch Upminster Gidea Park Romford N183: Golders Green Hendon West Hendon Kingsbury Kenton Harrow North Harrow Eastcote Northwood Mount Vernon Hospital I think the already established N145 can be justified nightly if it had a western terminus that has more footfall at night. An extension to Walthamstow Central with a double run in Leytonstone town centre then following the 257 route would barely add 15 minutes onto the schedule at present, and outside of weekends links to Ilford from Walthamstow would help the N145 drum up patronage. Still would like to see a nightly service to Upminster; best way to do that is to reroute the N86 from Romford and in turn make the 174 24/7. Don't think a completely circular night route will work out too well. Haven't been up to Mount Vernon Hospital but I have hopped on the 183N a couple times and demand fizzles from Kenton and is near dead departing Harrow for Pinner. Not a local but I'd like to see Ruislip served nightly, so maybe make the 114N run all week? Its patronage numbers don't suggest such a service but it does see trains at Mill Hill Broadway deposit people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in the form of Thameslink services. With that and the lack of alternative routes in the North Harrow/Eastcote areas, a nightly 114 would slowly build up a customer base.
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Post by enviroPB on Jul 2, 2019 16:29:27 GMT
The 159 is already 24 hour running between Marble Arch and Streatham. However, I know many members of this forum are unhappy with the current N109/N159 situation. Furthermore, frequncies must be considered before fusing two routes together. The 94 has 6bph between midnight and 1 am, in the same space of time the 159 has 5bph. Then for the next hour the 94 drops to 2bph whilst the 159 drops to 4bph. For the hour after that,the 94 remains at 2bph whilst the 159 drops to 3bph and so on. The point I'm making is that the frequencies of the two routes don't match With the (N)159 I was referring to what Vjaska had said about it being bad that there would be no night routes from Oxford Street south of Waterloo if the 159 gets cut to Oxo. Manintaing the night service to Marble Arch under the N159 number would atleast address that. With the Night tube, 148 and N207 I doubt it will be long before the the N94 is brought down to every 20 mins every night. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the 94N has been on 2bph nightly since September 2017. Even before the Night Tube cut, the 94 saw a 15 minute frequency on weekend nights.
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Post by enviroPB on Jul 1, 2019 18:52:27 GMT
I'd like to open a thread 're Night Buses. There ade a lot of places in and around London used to be served by night buses in 90s that aren't now e.g. Staines Dagenham Dartford Gravesend etc. Msybe its time for a discussion What is demand like for night services in these areas? Apart from Romford, night buses tend to be near empty by the time they reach the edge of London. Unless every bus between midnight and 3am is going to be N35 style packed, I imagine it will be hard for TfL and the local councils to justify the spend. Dagenham is served by the 145 on weekends. Dunno why Romford was the first place you thought of for bucking the trend, I'd have gone Kingston all day long! The sticks of Dagenham is notoriously linked with abject poverty, so the car is king argument doesn't wash round there. The fact that the 145N is the third busiest weekend 24-hour route says there's untapped demand. During the week, customers have no choice but to use the only night bus in Dagenham, the N15. To force passengers to walk from Wood Lane to Chequers Corner as an example is almost a 2 mile walk, absolutely tragic coverage of the night bus network on TfL's part there. These have been banded around by many people on here, but a night bus in the form of 24 hour operation on the 174 will yield good patronage results. Tesco warehouse workers will definitely make sure of that. The 145N could still do weekends as there are viable alternative links for the route north of BK, but for sure Dagenham (south of Heathway station) needs a night route of some sort traversing there every night.
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Post by enviroPB on May 29, 2019 22:22:10 GMT
Tbh Old Street is going to be a major improvement when completed. That's what they said about Aldgate and Stratford. Both are a complete mess. You have to look for the good within the bad. For example, I like how it's easier for buses heading to West Ham Lane from the main bus station can turn right in Stratford with much ease than previously. Before the Olympics the traffic light phasing from the contraflow bus lane was manageable with minimal disruption. After 2012 merging onto the Broadway from West Ham Lane was terribly slow, both for bus passengers and other motorists alike.
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Post by enviroPB on Apr 28, 2019 19:58:46 GMT
As soon as I heard information of the 135 having two EH transfers for the ULEZ, making its TVR 17 for a PVR of 16, I was extremely concerned when SI would only have a spare hybrid in the entire garage. Indeed I've noticed after the zone went live of RR assistance with a bus from EH131-161, but on April 17th in the afternoon peak; SI had EHV7 on the D7 and two EHs from RR on the 135!! Essentially what I want to ask is this: are there duties permanently allocated at RR for the 135 or are these 'emergency workings' that juat seem to happen almost daily? Cause ultimately it feels like a case of rob from the rich (route 5) to give to poor ol' 135 .
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Post by enviroPB on Apr 28, 2019 17:14:24 GMT
I don't see an issue of speculating about tenders but some just believe so much and it gets out of hand. There is a limit to what the forum staff can do, they can't sit and watch 24/7. In the past a lot of disrespectful behaviour went on which is unacceptable and just gives the forum a bad reputation. Sorry I disagree speculation and driver canteen gossip is bringing the reputation of the forum down. Maybe a temporary more hands moderation will steer the forum back on route. Read the forum charter, most of the posts that bother other members don't break the rules so moderators can't act on an irate comment. There is more than one sole factor causing this lack of appreciation for the site. Over the 11+ years I've been reading stuff on this forum, canteen gossip has existed so it's nothing new; yes it's increased but it's not suddenly just started. One thing I think is integral here is how a member is treated when presenting information. Be it from a cast iron source or otherwise, if you don't treat someone with respect when they're sharing something then there'll be a hesitation towards future divulges of information. I've certainly felt that and even though personal career progression is the reason I've taken a back seat, sometimes I've wanted to jump ship altogether with the bickering that most members descend to. Oh, and umpteen threads like 'Routes that do a loop-de-loop twice anticlockwise under the River Thames in Numerical Order' don't really help either. I want everyone to think back to the end of October last year when the forum was down for a week, to truly think of what you valued when it was gone. I missed Zubin434 with his next contract change thread. I missed not being to report turns and obs, I miss unwittingly saying something vague to then be corrected by forum elders (they know who they are ). I missed 15002 praying for hybrids on the 372 lool. I missed loads of things, some good some bad; but I missed the feeling of being part of a family cause we are, one big family. ๐ Now if you excuse me, there have been a couple ServerKing Chronicle articles that have come out this week & I haven't read them all yet!!
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