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Post by busman on Jan 9, 2024 13:59:48 GMT
Not quite bus related but it looks like Khan has found another £30m down the sofa to stave on the tube strikes. More money it seems coming from where? There’s always money. It all depends on where we choose to spend it. Often it goes to whoever shouts the loudest.
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Post by busman on Jan 9, 2024 10:59:53 GMT
Copied from the link:
Police Scotland said they were called at about 08:30 to a report of a crash involving a bus and confirmed that no-one was hurt. A spokesperson for Stagecoach East Scotland confirmed there were no passengers on the bus at the time.
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Post by busman on Jan 9, 2024 10:05:08 GMT
Must have been terrifying for the driver. Even more the passengers Thankfully, the report stated there were no passengers on board.
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Post by busman on Jan 8, 2024 19:28:42 GMT
Must have been terrifying for the driver.
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Post by busman on Jan 7, 2024 10:16:31 GMT
Bus Stops in Bromley now have notices for Routes SL3 & SL5. I’m impressed at this organised effort from TfL. Early communication, simple and clear information with a route diagram. Hopefully this appears in the next few weeks across all SL3 and SL5 stops.
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Post by busman on Jan 6, 2024 10:40:42 GMT
Bus Stops in Bromley now have notices for Routes SL3 & SL5. Wow, that’s early!
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Post by busman on Jan 4, 2024 22:15:12 GMT
As are numerous others. Are these new journeys a part of the Heathrow initiative to get more shift workers to use buses by supporting them at such hours? We now have a 459 from the otherwise almost unserved Richings Park area in the middle of the night and several longer-distance services comprising just one or two one-way trips to arrive at Heathrow by 04.00. Don't understand these one way journeys..... am I missing something or how are people supposed to get ack from their shift? I think the 459 is free for Heathrow staff. I agree, it’s odd that there are no return journeys, but during the later morning and day there is the option to take a train between West Drayton and Iver, 3 to connect with Heathrow buses at Uxbridge or Slough, or grab a lift with a colleague who is driving that way. The big problem will be getting to Heathrow for early shifts.
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Post by busman on Jan 4, 2024 0:14:21 GMT
As are numerous others. Are these new journeys a part of the Heathrow initiative to get more shift workers to use buses by supporting them at such hours? We now have a 459 from the otherwise almost unserved Richings Park area in the middle of the night and several longer-distance services comprising just one or two one-way trips to arrive at Heathrow by 04.00. Yes, these are primarily for workers getting to and from the airport and associated suppliers located in the airport area.
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Post by busman on Dec 17, 2023 19:19:16 GMT
There never would in your books, neither party could do no wrong. You confuse 'never' with being reasonable. I think busman essentially summed it up well in a post a few pages back. Being reasonable is out of fashion in the UK. You either have to love reds & hate blues OR you love blues & hate reds. The UK is becoming far too polarised, like the US Khan in my opinion has been a poor mayor. Livingstone and Johnson could both at least point to a positive aspect of their legacy. Khan? Absolutely nothing. Apart from Superloop. This may actually be the one thing he has implemented that I agree with. Everything else from his virtue signalling that marked the start of his reign through to his stupid 20mph everywhere rules and LTNs…disaster. His soft approach to policing leaves a lot to be desired too. But some of the blame for poor policing has to go to the higher-ups too… At a national level, the Tories have absolutely screwed this country. Thirteen years of power and what have we got to show for it? The country has regressed in every aspect. I’m actually leaving with my family next year. I’ve had enough of this place. I didn’t vote for any of these jokers. Politicians, their foreign country paymasters, and their spin doctors are laughing at us. We’re out of here…but not before riding the SL3 😉
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Post by busman on Dec 12, 2023 20:46:05 GMT
They do have a valid point of the relief point being mid-route, it's an express route, the contract price should've included the additional cost of the drivers travelling to/from North Finchley from the garage. That's a good point, I thought the 607 ran far more efficiently from UX than it does now from G with time consuming midroute changeovers. An extra stop was added to the 607 at Iron Bridge solely to facilitate driver changeovers. Absolute joke.
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Post by busman on Dec 12, 2023 20:24:06 GMT
I’ve only glanced at the timetable to see the frequency at Plumstead and Albany Park looks better than it did in 2022. But until the DfT reinstates Charing Cross services on the Greenwich line, SouthEastern trains are dead to me. They won’t reinstate Charing Cross services via Greenwich due to conflicting movements around North East Kent Junction area and the same with services via Lewisham, also the next SE timetable change in June 24 will evenly space services between SE & TL via Woolwich (more likely SE will run at different times as it’s more complicated for TL) and all day 4tph at Albany Park which will hopefully evenly spread services out via Sidcup The even spacing of services on the Woolwich line and restoration of 4th at Albany Park would be a good future improvement. I should have more accurately referred to restoration of Charing Cross services on the Woolwich line, as you alluded to in your reply. The occasional fast peak service used to run via Greenwich, but the regular half hourly service ran via Lewisham. I understand that the problem of running services into Charing Cross was a result of the solution for another problem (so typical of the UK!), but all it did was push Woolwich line passengers onto the DLR and Lizzie line.
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Post by busman on Dec 12, 2023 16:34:39 GMT
Southeastern introduce 100 additional trains per weekRail operator Southeastern has introduced 100 extra trains per week as part of new timetable changes.www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-67663923 I’ve only glanced at the timetable to see the frequency at Plumstead and Albany Park looks better than it did in 2022. But until the DfT reinstates Charing Cross services on the Greenwich line, SouthEastern trains are dead to me.
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Post by busman on Dec 11, 2023 17:35:03 GMT
As I mentioned above, SL3 will be using LTs and the service is due to commence from 24th February 2024. Thanks for the update. Do you know anything about alternative lines of route in the event of traffic? For example, in the morning peak it is faster to use Hurst Road and Station Road rather than Foots Cray Lane and Faraday Avenue to get to Sidcup Station. Would be great if drivers have flexibility to chop through that traffic by swapping between the 269 and 229 line of route.
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Post by busman on Dec 11, 2023 17:18:58 GMT
I'm one of the few New Routemaster fans on this forum, so I'm delighted that finally one of my local routes will be LT operated. Nevertheless, I still feel regret that it's not the 53, as that route would benefit much more from two staircase/three door buses. Anyway, I'm excited about the SL3 starting in February. Me too, I actually like LTs once they enabled windows to open on the original batch. The 2 stairwells and 2 exits will help speed up dwell times during peak hours. I can see Abbey Wood Station being a very popular stop. Really looking forward to riding this route 😎
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Post by busman on Dec 7, 2023 9:53:03 GMT
Seems like TfL can’t win here. After years of carnage and cuts thanks to the initial pain of Boris Johnson’s legacy, TfL are now in a position where once again they can spend money on bus improvements. Yet people here are criticising them for it. Perhaps we have been conditioned to look for ways to make cuts to bus services by what has happened in the last 7 years or so as that was TfLs modus operandi for a period of managed decline. Whilst we continue to imitate that way of thinking, TfL appears to have shifted their thinking in line with their financial position and so should we. Managed decline was never the preferred option and is never going to get more people onto public transport.
To attract passengers away from their cars, buses need to be frequent, fast and get to convenient destinations. The SL7 and other Superloop services does exactly that. In an era where people put a destination into their phone map which calculates the best journey times across different modes of transport, the difference between waiting 5 minutes for the next bus vs. 20 minutes is significant. Right now a journey between Bromley and Sutton is roughly 25 minutes faster by car. Once the SL5 starts, bus journey times will become more competitive with car times. But frequencies need to be high enough on both connecting routes to reduce waiting times when interchanging between SuperLoop routes to enable that type of journey.
As for the SL7, I’ve seen healthy loadings in and out of Heathrow at various times of the day, but admit I have not observed the route between Kingston and Croydon. TfL have all the data and they are not exactly slow to make frequency reductions if capacity is excessive. They need to allow time to observe how people change their travel habits with the new routes and improved frequency- especially with the ULEZ expansion. I’m sure TfL are looking at the data and if it justifies a frequency reduction they will do it.
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