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Post by wirewiper on Aug 18, 2023 12:19:49 GMT
Sorry but ULEZ is happening whether the people of London like it or not! Its far too late to stop it now, and that should have taken place months ago The area on the Kent and Surrey borders may have to be pushed back as Kent and Surrey have not allowed the installation of ULEZ warning signs, which I believe are legally required. My understanding is the the London-wide ULEZ will have the same boundary as the London-wide LEZ that has applied for heavier vehicles in 2008. So those roads on the edges of outer London that were exempted under LEZ to allow vehicles to divert or turn back, will also be exempted under ULEZ.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 18, 2023 9:56:18 GMT
There is still time for Mark Harper to use his powers under the GLA act to order Khan to desist. He won't though. Doing this would be as contentious, if not more so, and also has the potential for civil unrest*. Politically it makes more sense for Mark Harper to keep quiet and let Sadiq Khan take all the venom. * vandalising CCTV cameras counts as civil unrest in my view.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 18, 2023 9:46:25 GMT
What are the WDEs entering service at EW for? I thought the 142 and 204 had their respective allocations. What WDE's are you asking about as except for WDE2799 which according to allocations is supposed to be a PV bus yet has EW codes, EW had all its batch of WDEs for both the 204 and 142. WDE 2799 has a wrap as it is nominally TfL's 1,000th zero-emission bus to enter service. Presumably it has entered service at EW (at least initially) as the garage is already operating electrics. It was displayed there at a short ceremony before entering service. Here's a photo (not mine): flic.kr/p/2oUtzoj
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 18, 2023 7:54:30 GMT
I have to wait until 2030 for the 487 to get double deckers. Why can’t it double deckers now. It’s the peak and most buses are rammed. It's quite astonishing really. Back in the 1970s when the 487 was part of the 187, the section to South Harrow only operated half-hourly and carried fresh air. On Saturdays the 187 was half-hourly throughout from South Harrow to Hampstead Heath and only really carried decent loads between Harlesden and Queens Park. Sunday service? Don't be silly! It is one of the routes that demonstrates how bus use in outer London has exploded in the last thirty years. Curiously, from 13th June 1970 Stonebridge Park (SE) operated the Saturday service until the garage closed in August 1981 upon the opening of the new Westbourne Park (X). This compensated for the loss of Saturday duties on the 18 when it was cut back from Edgware to Sudbury and must have been quite a contrast for the crews! Meal reliefs and crew changeovers took place at the long-defunct staff canteen at Kensal Rise. Alperton (ON) and Middle Row (X) continued to operate the weekday service with RTs until February 1975, thence with RMs. The X (by then Westbourne Park) allocation was withdrawn when the route was converted to driver-only in the infamous 4th September 1982 cutbacks.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 17, 2023 15:51:16 GMT
The 84B is a welcome return to common sense. Buses which operate across political borders have too often become victom to one or other side (sometimes both) refusing to support a service which they might see as belonging the other side of the fence. Such was the case, I believe, when the 84 ceased south of Potters Bar; it ran into TfL's operating area but neither Herts nor TfL was willing to support the service each in effect blaming the other. It's a single-vehicle operation which might be risky given that even a slight delay can affect the rest of the day's service but let's see how it goes. Next stop Orpington - Sevenoaks? We can only hope. What's changed is that Hertsmere Borough Council has made an offer of funding. I believe it was in the Labour Party manifesto for the May 2023 local elections but I am sure I will be corrected if I am wrong. The Council went from Conservative to No Overall Control in the election and it looks like Labour, although not the largest party, are governing in coalition with the Lib Dems (and possibly the two Green councillors as well) as both the Mayor and the Leader are now Labour councillors. Hertfordshire County Council, as the Local Transport Authority (LTA), has commissioned and contracted the new service so it is all ready to go, but it still needs Hertsmere councillors to agree to the funding which is scheduled for discussion at a meeting on 23rd August.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 17, 2023 12:26:15 GMT
That number plate hasn’t been registered yet according to the gov, so will very likely get changed for a 73-reg (unless it’s gets registered in the next 14 days) So the registration it has now is temporary? I would have thought it would have kept that registration as it’s been driven on road. Also it has a not saying “Vehicle ready for delivery” so I’m assuming it’s going to either A or AL. Can’t figure out which one Sometimes vehicles have their registration plates applied in anticipation but are delivered on trade plates. This has happened in the past where vehicles have been observed on delivery with one registration but have entered service with another.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 17, 2023 12:02:55 GMT
Interesting article. As well as the current 20 vehicles for Fastway services which have been part-funded by Gatwick Airport, Surrey County Council is to contribute towards a further 34 vehicles which will enter service over the next 18 months. Go-Ahead also clearly has one eye on the future with its refueling facility, exploiting the potential for future hydrogen-powered coaches and airport ancillary vehicles. The 34 additional Wrightbus hydrogen buses, which will be procured by Surrey County Council, will consist of 23 Kite Hydroliner single-deckers and 11 StreetDeck Hydroliner double deckers. They are expected to be delivered next year and will be used on the following routes: 100 Redhill - Horley - Gatwick Airport - Crawley - Three Bridges - Maidenbower 420/820 Sutton - Banstead - Tadworth - Reigate - Redhill - Whitebushes 430/435 Merstham - Redhill <> Woodhatch <> Reigate 460 Epsom - Tadworth - Walton-on-the-Hill - Reigate - Redhill - Horley - Gatwick Airport - Crawley 480 Epsom - Preston
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 17, 2023 11:12:28 GMT
Network Rail made toilets on their managed stations free in 2019. It is unusual to find a toilet on the National Rail network now that charges.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 17, 2023 11:09:02 GMT
Today there was a broken down "freight train" as it was put out on press, causing problems at Customs House suspending the line between AbbeyWood and Paddington. I am sure freight trains do not use the Customs House section anymore. Going off topic here but loosely related. Back in the 90s I used to occasionally see freight trains heading towards North Woolwich but could never understand where they went? I assume they might have headed to the North Woolwich area to stand and then head back towards Stratford? No sure why they would have done this.
Going back to the disruption yesterday. Couldn't trains turn around at Canary Wharf? The sidings at North Woolwich had closed well before then. I think most likely engineering trains, and possibly connected with the construction of the Jubilee Line as it would have been a good way of getting construction materials in.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 17, 2023 9:19:57 GMT
The 170 didn't fail a route test though - the Streetlites could and did fit around the route without issue but the actual problem was they didn't comply with the height sign on the low bridge on Lombard Road in Battersea which mean't it was illegal for them to be running under that bridge even though not one bus actually had any issues with it. It will certainly be interesting to see what EV's end up on this route - maybe a custom design will be available by then that won't contravene any height restrictions. Instead of swapping a whole fleet of buses they could have just amended the height sign to a Warning rather than an Order but I’m sure someone wanted to prove a point, it was due to the air con pod that the vehicles were overheight With so many different bodies involved that would have been a bureaucratic nightmare. It was easier for Go-Ahead simply to swap the allocations over.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 17, 2023 8:59:18 GMT
For those who share my interest in such things, a closer look at the Superloop branding and livery - for routes SL6 and SL8 specifically - in these official TfL route diagrams: [ Images deleted to save space] Full size PDF versions are available via this Freedom of Information request on the TfL site.There really is very little that I like about this livery, but the right side of the bus perfectly encapsulates how weak the design is, in my opinion. A huge Superloop roundel with 'SUPERLOOP' text in its horizontal bar; then right next to it, even bigger 'SUPERLOOP' text; below that, a tiny "express bus service" footnote explaining what Superloop actually is, because the name is so stupid that it literally needs to be explained in plain English; and then in addition to the giant Superloop roundel, a further Buses roundel, because one just isn't enough. And why the hell does Superloop get its own roundel anyway? It's not a new, separate transport mode for London - it's a bus service in fancy dress, FFS. And why are the destinations on the route diagrams so ridiculously small? And who decided on the white and maroon colour scheme? And why is the pink SL6 route identifier so pitifully small, but the purple SL8 version so prominent? Bleugh.Not a huge fan, although at least it makes a Superloop bus stand out. It's perhaps better to have something restrained, rather than something that will date quickly. The white upper section sits better on the ADL Enviro400 MMC and City bodystyles than it does on the MCV eVoSeti. It emphasises the boxy-ness of the latter. At the end of the day though, it's just a livery. Maybe not one you or I would have designed, but it does the job. What really matters is that the services are frequent and reliable, and attract more custom. The X140 (to be SL9) is proof that the concept can work.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 17, 2023 8:40:55 GMT
Today there was a broken down "freight train" as it was put out on press, causing problems at Customs House suspending the line between AbbeyWood and Paddington. I am sure freight trains do not use the Customs House section anymore. It was most likely an engineering train, the reporter probably saw a locomotive with a load of wagons and assumed it was a freight train. We all know that the standard of reporting on transport matters in the media (with a few honourable exceptions) is dire.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 16, 2023 7:56:22 GMT
SEe 199 (LG23 FLB) has been designated as the 1,500th BYD/ADL bus to be handed over to an operator by the BYD UK and Alexander Dennis partnership. The vehicle was handed over officially to Go-Ahead London's management team at a small ceremony at Merton Garage, where SEe199 will be based for routes 163 and 164. www.focustransport.org/2023/08/byd-uk-and-alexander-dennis-officially.htmlGo-Ahead London is described as London's largest bus company and the most experienced operator of electric buses. Go-Ahead London has worked closely with the BYD/ADL partnership since the delivery of 51 BYD/ADL Enviro200EV in 2016 for former routes 507/521, which led to Waterloo becoming the first fully-electric bus depot in Europe.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 15, 2023 16:45:47 GMT
Go ahead’s EL1 is at NS, I assume it’s to route asses the 86 and starting the type training. Cables have been have be started to be installed Isn’t route testing a bus after the order for that vehicle has been placed a bit like putting the cart before the horse?😂 I mean the 86 is a straight line route so shouldn’t cause issues but we’ve seen it numerous times now where the order is made and then find the bus can’t go on the route! (Ahem 151, 487) The BCEs can go on the 151, except there is an issue at the terminus that just needs modifications to take place. Presumably this is being delayed by bureaucracy - in other words, deciding who is responsible for commissioning and paying for the work (and then finding the contractors to actually do it!). Decisions about vehicle orders have to be made fairly early on, given the lead times. At least with decent numbers of electric vehicles now available it will be possible to conduct route tests on more routes with the various different types now in service. Rather like TfL did with the LTs when trying to decide what to do with them.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 15, 2023 16:23:14 GMT
With just over two weeks to go before the new 73 registrations hit the road on 1st September, this thread will be to record buses and coaches entering service with the new registrations.
It is possible, as in previous age-identifier changeovers, that some vehicles provisionally allocated 23 registrations will have these voided in favour of 73 plates if registered on or after 1st September, although this isn't always a given.
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