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Post by busaholic on Apr 1, 2020 14:28:14 GMT
A little matter of the River Thames to cross at some stage, unless they were thinking of dead running from the Marylebone end. It might have made sense to accountants and even engineers to an extent, but operationally it'd have been an absolutely bonkers idea.  That's pretty much what I'd have said if someone proposed running the 1 from Dagenham or Hackney... and yet that really happened! To the detriment of the burghers of Bermondsey. |
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Post by greenboy on Apr 1, 2020 21:16:40 GMT
I cannot recall now where I read it but I understand that when the 453 was tendered, Stagecoach had a plan to run it from WH. That meant that bendies would be concentrated at a single base, and it was not much different to running dead to TL or PD. An interesting idea but probably not surprising it never happened. A little matter of the River Thames to cross at some stage, unless they were thinking of dead running from the Marylebone end. It might have made sense to accountants and even engineers to an extent, but operationally it'd have been an absolutely bonkers idea. Not necessarily, the DLR/JLE could be used for driver changeovers and the dead run to Deptford wouldn't be that much different to Ash Grove to Nunhead on the 78. That said PD or TL seem much better options. |
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Post by TB123 on Apr 1, 2020 21:21:24 GMT
I cannot recall now where I read it but I understand that when the 453 was tendered, Stagecoach had a plan to run it from WH. That meant that bendies would be concentrated at a single base, and it was not much different to running dead to TL or PD. An interesting idea but probably not surprising it never happened. A little matter of the River Thames to cross at some stage, unless they were thinking of dead running from the Marylebone end. It might have made sense to accountants and even engineers to an extent, but operationally it'd have been an absolutely bonkers idea. As I said in another post yesterday, dead mileage means very little in terms of service quality. Provided there was the right culture of delivery and slick procedures in place, whilst not ideal, I'm sure a quality service could have been achieved running it from West Ham. |
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Post by busaholic on Apr 2, 2020 13:07:18 GMT
A little matter of the River Thames to cross at some stage, unless they were thinking of dead running from the Marylebone end. It might have made sense to accountants and even engineers to an extent, but operationally it'd have been an absolutely bonkers idea. As I said in another post yesterday, dead mileage means very little in terms of service quality. Provided there was the right culture of delivery and slick procedures in place, whilst not ideal, I'm sure a quality service could have been achieved running it from West Ham. I beg to disagree. Stagecoach lost the contract after running it from PD. I can't see that running it from WH would have prevented that, and might well have exacerbated it. |
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Post by buspete on Nov 28, 2020 16:29:38 GMT
The B12 used to turn right off Pickford Lane and go down Bristow Road, Hudson Road, Sheldon Road and Belvedere Road and then pick up its normal routing.
This got discontinued when the B12 got extended to Joyden Wood, why did this get discontinued?
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Post by redexpress on Nov 28, 2020 20:08:35 GMT
The B12 used to turn right off Pickford Lane and go down Bristow Road, Hudson Road, Sheldon Road and Belvedere Road and then pick up its normal routing. This got discontinued when the B12 got extended to Joyden Wood, why did this get discontinued? The B12 was rerouted via Long Lane instead of Bristow Road etc. at contract renewal in Jan 1999, well before the extension to Joydens Wood. Not entirely sure of the reason but it might have been to facilitate the introduction of bigger buses (Dart SLFs instead of MetroRiders) which happened a few months later. |
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Post by buspete on Nov 30, 2020 21:04:00 GMT
Thanks for that.
I live very close to the area.
I got my information from the London Bus Routes website, which is an excellent resource. However makes total sense what you say as in 1999 they converted the B12 to low floor operation. I have driven down Bristow Road and Hudson Road it does look a bit tight for a low floor bus, with a lot of on-road parking, so makes total sense for the bus to go down Long Lane, as the road can cope with a low floor bus better.
However I understand when ‘Bexleybus’ was planned they wanted to get as many buses as possible from the shopping centre to the Bexleyheath Station then to where people live, hence why the 422, B11, B12 & B15 all ended up running between the shopping centre and the station.
However when they withdrew the B12 from going down Bristow Road and Hudson Road, they could’ve run the B12 down Herbert Road and Fairfield Road into Belvedere Road instead then up to Bedonwell Road to pick up the existing routing. These roads are wider with not as much on street parking, so more suitable for a low floor bus, also it will still maintain a link between shopping centre and station. This will alleviate an area that is not served currently by bus, there are older folk in the area who could benefit from public transport.
However if I had a choice of bus to stick down Herbert Road and Fairfield Road it would be the B11 as this gives a link to Abbey Wood for Crossrail. I know the route would be slower and it would have to double back down Long Lane to pick up existing routing, but it’s a slow bus anyway, as it goes round the circle at the other end of Long Lane and you now have the 301 for speed.
Folk in the Belvedere Road, Nursery Avenue and Fairfield Road would find a bus service useful.
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Post by redexpress on Dec 1, 2020 12:32:48 GMT
Thanks for that. I live very close to the area. I got my information from the London Bus Routes website, which is an excellent resource. However makes total sense what you say as in 1999 they converted the B12 to low floor operation. I have driven down Bristow Road and Hudson Road it does look a bit tight for a low floor bus, with a lot of on-road parking, so makes total sense for the bus to go down Long Lane, as the road can cope with a low floor bus better. However I understand when ‘Bexleybus’ was planned they wanted to get as many buses as possible from the shopping centre to the Bexleyheath Station then to where people live, hence why the 422, B11, B12 & B15 all ended up running between the shopping centre and the station. However when they withdrew the B12 from going down Bristow Road and Hudson Road, they could’ve run the B12 down Herbert Road and Fairfield Road into Belvedere Road instead then up to Bedonwell Road to pick up the existing routing. These roads are wider with not as much on street parking, so more suitable for a low floor bus, also it will still maintain a link between shopping centre and station. This will alleviate an area that is not served currently by bus, there are older folk in the area who could benefit from public transport. However if I had a choice of bus to stick down Herbert Road and Fairfield Road it would be the B11 as this gives a link to Abbey Wood for Crossrail. I know the route would be slower and it would have to double back down Long Lane to pick up existing routing, but it’s a slow bus anyway, as it goes round the circle at the other end of Long Lane and you now have the 301 for speed. Folk in the Belvedere Road, Nursery Avenue and Fairfield Road would find a bus service useful. No problem. Ian Armstrong's London Bus Routes site is indeed a fantastic resource, but it isn't always 100% accurate - sometimes a few minor changes get missed out. I checked an allocation book from 1999 (scans of these are available for sale on Ian Armstrong's site), which confirms the route change happened in Jan 1999.
I'm not at all local to the area so can't comment on your ideas for the B12!
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