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Post by elcesteem16 on May 3, 2021 19:41:45 GMT
I’m nor sure if the R3 would be a good example of a hard route? Then again I guess it averages in the middle of hard and easy. I only say that considering it’s indirectness from Orpington Station to PRU Hospital.
Another route that could be classed as hard I guess would be the 336. Not in the way of its directions but more or less along the H&R sections. Before the route had a diversion to its routing via Shroffold Road, you used to get 2 buses that would meet eachother as they throttle down churchdown road (a very very narrow residential street) and carefully squeeze past each other half on pavement. This looked a lot easier when the esteems operated the route as they were really narrow in build due to MBs requested specifications, but as soon as the the MMCs came you had no end of full pavement mounting and even after the reroute you still get this around the lines of Rangefield or even the H&R between Southend Lane and Canadian Avenue.
I assume this must be very challenging for the 336 drivers and at times quite annoying having to find a space to Mount.
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Post by elcesteem16 on Apr 27, 2021 16:52:04 GMT
As long as the drivers know that the speed cameras on Tower Bridge are set to 20 mph and tickets get issued automatically. Similar system in the Limehouse Link. Stagecoach do use the ferries for vehicle transfers. The buses will have ISA so shouldn't be an issue. Stagecoach use the ferry because Plumstead, Catford and Bromley all are in the South-East and would require a detour to actually make it to Tower Bridge, while at Q the buses will need to drive past Tower Bridge or London Bridge anyway. They wouldn’t ‘need’ to pass Tower Bridge or London Bridge, especially if you go through peckham into new cross then into Blackheath/Greenwich and then the Woolwich ferry which would be slightly quicker in driving time compared to going via central.
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Post by elcesteem16 on Apr 19, 2021 12:55:58 GMT
They do but they don't pick up passengers at the stands, they go around and pick up at the stops adjacent to the stands Where else do buses reverse while in service (Kingston excepted)? Think 81 does it in slough. Not sure if other places When the 246 has its summer sunday extensions to Chartwell, it reverses into the special parking space it has with passengers on and then lets you off. Here’s a pic I got some time ago. flic.kr/p/2iMUiau Could this also be unique in that the 246 is maybe the only route to terminate in a car park with no actual bus stop?
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Post by elcesteem16 on Apr 17, 2021 13:37:39 GMT
R9 can have at times but generally hit and miss in off peak times. The 181 could do with deckers but lower sydenham prevents this.
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Post by elcesteem16 on Apr 16, 2021 13:07:47 GMT
Yes a soul reason why I believe the 336 towards Bromley is timed to complete that section before the Catford bound service. Another terminus could be Bellingham, Green Park which is a massive roundabout with a park in the middle. I’m not sure if a bus of 10.8m could fit around there, but if they can could solve that small issue of timing! However, I still stand by my idea of the extension to Downham via Bellingham. On a fantasy basis another Idea be an additional route (maybe warranted as a school route if some think)? from Mottingham to Crystal Palace? So basically via the 126 to Grove Park / 284 to Hazelbank Road / Left off of Hazelbank Road onto Longhill Road / Right onto Whitefoot Lane / Follow the 181 to Lower Sydenham and then some beneficial route towards palace (default idea following the 202 but this just means duplication of many routes). This could possibly help the 336/181 on the heavy loadings it gathers between Downham/Southend Lane/Lower Sydenham but also help out with the 202 when Brownhill Road (South Circular) is put to the test! When I used to go to Sedgehill I had many of friends who lived around Crystal Palace and dreaded the long waits for the 202 on the way home if there was a car accident on Brownhill Road. I myself really think this could be really good route especially as a alternate SE - S direct route link. The suggested terminus in that document looks like a total non-starter. Buses would not only struggle to get around the loop but there's no room for a stand. I had assumed Bellingham Green would be the terminus. Problem with that is that the the natural place for a stand is right next to the under 5's play area! An offside stand by the dentists and church could work. The last thing I read in those council minutes, in response to a councillor's question, suggested an extension is a long way off and would require developers funding. Of course, if Stagecoach ever carried out my plan to expand and redevelop TL into the derelict site next door (which isn't planned, it's totally in my head!) you could have a small TfL stand for the 171, 225 and 660 accessed by the bridge over the Ravensbourne. The “derelict site” is still a car wash and car sales facility so wouldn’t see that working as a realistic idea. Maybe Beckenham Hill Station (on Blacklands Road could be a shout? Loop it around via Beckenham Hill Road into Blacklands and stand outside the flats? Mean’s it serves 2 stations (sort of) and gives residents an additional yet varied network as there is no current direct link from there to Hither Green (unless you like sitting on the 181 doing an S shape before getting there over 40 minutes time 😂😂😂
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Post by elcesteem16 on Apr 16, 2021 11:41:27 GMT
Excellent work! Just got in from work... I skimmed the first two pages of the document and option 2 seems more beneficial. This routing would serve Bellingham Road which has no bus service. I agree that the terminus at Bellingham seems almost impossible. As I have mentioned in a different thread, route 336 serves more pavement than road, therefore route 225 would have been doing the same and maybe edging into people's front garden to reach its proposed terminus Yes a soul reason why I believe the 336 towards Bromley is timed to complete that section before the Catford bound service. Another terminus could be Bellingham, Green Park which is a massive roundabout with a park in the middle. I’m not sure if a bus of 10.8m could fit around there, but if they can could solve that small issue of timing! However, I still stand by my idea of the extension to Downham via Bellingham. On a fantasy basis another Idea be an additional route (maybe warranted as a school route if some think)? from Mottingham to Crystal Palace? So basically via the 126 to Grove Park / 284 to Hazelbank Road / Left off of Hazelbank Road onto Longhill Road / Right onto Whitefoot Lane / Follow the 181 to Lower Sydenham and then some beneficial route towards palace (default idea following the 202 but this just means duplication of many routes). This could possibly help the 336/181 on the heavy loadings it gathers between Downham/Southend Lane/Lower Sydenham but also help out with the 202 when Brownhill Road (South Circular) is put to the test! When I used to go to Sedgehill I had many of friends who lived around Crystal Palace and dreaded the long waits for the 202 on the way home if there was a car accident on Brownhill Road. I myself really think this could be really good route especially as a alternate SE - S direct route link.
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Post by elcesteem16 on Apr 15, 2021 21:27:27 GMT
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Post by elcesteem16 on Apr 15, 2021 21:26:50 GMT
When I worked in the Catford area, I recall local councillors were campaigning for a bus to connect Hither Green with Bellingham. I think it was Route 225 that was proposed to extend to Bellingham Station via Route 191 and one or two unserved roads. I doubt this will happen based on TFL's circumstances, but I do believe it would be of benefit. The Sangley, Sandhurst and Torridon areas of Catford have a lot of housing and local schools. I remember seeing that in the News Shopper, doubt that will ever happen. Sandhurst Road already has 4 bus routes and doesn’t need 5. If such a change did a occur something would probably be cut in that area. There are frequent buses that run to Bromley Road that linking. No buses have a link from Hither Green / Verdant Lane / Bellingham. The route wouldn’t take sandhurst road it would go to the top of Hazelbank. It would save people having to get 2 buses and especially residents around Torridon who have to take a 30 minute walk to the town for shops like Selco / B&M etc
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Post by elcesteem16 on Apr 15, 2021 21:23:23 GMT
When I worked in the Catford area, I recall local councillors were campaigning for a bus to connect Hither Green with Bellingham. I think it was Route 225 that was proposed to extend to Bellingham Station via Route 191 and one or two unserved roads. I doubt this will happen based on TFL's circumstances, but I do believe it would be of benefit. The Sangley, Sandhurst and Torridon areas of Catford have a lot of housing and local schools. I posted this in the extensions channel of the forum so gathering you got the idea from there 😂😂😂 yes there was a proposal to do this and as a local I am all for it! The extension isn’t based on the needs of Sangley Road / Torridon Road, but is more for the needs of us residents along the Verdant Lane / Hazelbank Road / Bellingham Road. The terminus is thought to be around the Back of Bellingham Station on Knapmill Road in which I think may be a bit of an issue as fitting anything over 8.9m would be abit of a no no (especially sharing a tiny section of road with the 336). I would rather have it diverted to Downham where it can terminate outside McDonalds as even though it may give duplication for routes there, it gives a more direct and quicker link to a covenient shopping town for residents along Hazelbank / Bellingham Road who would find getting a 124 then 284 abit of a drag especially during rush hour / school run where traffic on Downham way can be mad as hell. This is coming from local knowledge however though 😂
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Post by elcesteem16 on Apr 15, 2021 16:48:00 GMT
An extension I've recently come into discussion about is the 225's plan to be extended to Bellingham back in 2017. It would be great if the plans came back into light and maybe an alteration for the route to be extended into Downham (terminating at the McDonalds). Here is a link to what was proposed. councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/documents/s52340/Downham%20Note.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3e8DzicmgnUmo0xlMamvXKF1ymy9uPfaeh6abOLktaWji1AE6ithxDKAUI personally think this could really benefit a lot of people. It would give people who live in Bellingham a direct link into Hither Green rather than getting a bus into Catford and changing onto a 181. It would also give the residential streets an additional route in addition to the 124. At the moment the 124 is the only route to serve Hazelbank Road. However, it only serves a short part section west of where it turns from Torridon Primary and there is no direct link from the top of the road there into the local shops right at the bottom of the hill (which may I add from spending my whole life living here takes about 20-30 mins to walk down and usually feels like the road is getting longer and longer each time you do it).
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Post by elcesteem16 on Apr 5, 2021 14:18:19 GMT
The R11 is the only route in Orpington that doesn't serve Orpington Station. There’s another one related to Orpington - the R7 is the only route to do the double run via the Walnuts Centre all day, every day. The 358, R5/R10 and R8 all miss it out in the mornings. Makes one wonder why the 7s are the only ones doing it! R9?
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Post by elcesteem16 on Apr 5, 2021 14:16:06 GMT
The R11 is the only route in Orpington that doesn't serve Orpington Station. Go Coach’s Route 3 and School routes also don’t serve the station.
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Post by elcesteem16 on Mar 23, 2021 22:03:27 GMT
Terminating at TL does create some good links as opposed to everything going past TL heading to Lewisham. However as someone who lives locally to the route, not a lot of them people use the section between Catford Town Centre and TL. From years of my observations and even my own doing, a lot of people will get off at the Broadway to cross over to the post office for a bus from there to finish the rest of their journey especially due to the fact the gyratory can be abit of mess. Also since the 171 has been cut to E&C, the 136 is a lot quicker to do the journey for those going from TL to NX and beyond (thameslink also pretty much covering some 171 parts through Crofton Park / Nunhead etc so no real big loss there if cut back to Catford Nridge providing an extended stand space can be made.
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Post by elcesteem16 on Mar 23, 2021 21:54:00 GMT
Or you could terminate the 171 at Catford Bridge, Thomas Lane? There will be a development soon changing the gyratory and the Milford towers so a road plan can be made to up the capacity of the stands. With what Stand Space... there is nowhere in the Catford Centre to stand buses. Thomas Lane has three routes and the stand is always full. Hence I said if and when the catford redevelopment is done this could be considered with TFLs and Lewisham’s plan to change/improve the road layout. The stands can also be stretched out more towards the bus stop to make that room, currently there’s parking spaces that are barely used that divide the main stop to the stands so don’t see why that can’t be altered to extend the stand spaces to fit the 171.
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Post by elcesteem16 on Mar 23, 2021 15:56:12 GMT
Based on other schemes like Finchley round id say Jamaica Road (47, 188, 381) and possibly Lewisham to TL (47, 54, 136, 199, 208 and 75, 171, 185, 320 part of stretch) with Shoreditch to LB (35, 47, 149, 388 also at risk. It survived last time but I'd say Piccadilly/Shaftsbury Avenue aswell (14, 19, 38) and maybe the Strand aswell. If adequate stand space could be made at Catford savings could be made as the 47, 171 & 199 could be cut back to The Catford Centre Or you could terminate the 171 at Catford Bridge, Thomas Lane? There will be a development soon changing the gyratory and the Milford towers so a road plan can be made to up the capacity of the stands.
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