Post by Green Kitten on Jul 17, 2021 9:00:05 GMT
I used to dislike buses, then was completely ambivalent towards them, until I was about 18. I was strictly tube and train only.
I loved the tube, from the days when the 1959 stock was still running, trains that creeped me out - I would always ask my mum if we could wait for a new train (at the time the 1995 stock fleet was being rolling out). I was intrigued with all the lines and wanted to ride them all. We did almost all of them over the years - I remember my first journey on each line vividly. When my dad offered a ride to Central London, I was disappointed, I'd much rather take the tube.
When I was about five, walking with my dad from school, a 263 at a bus stop made a loud sound (you know, the loud sound where there's a rush of air coming out of the vehicle) which startled me and got me crying.
We never really took the bus except on odd occasions. It was strictly Northern line, then National Rail when I moved to Potters Bar. When the Northern Line was closed for engineering works, the bus confirmed the disappointment. They were slow and a massive pain. I wanted to be on the tube.
Mind you, I remember the few bus journeys I took before I started taking buses regularly. Journeys on the 43/134 with my aunt to get to Muswell Hill. A journey on the 383 when it used to go to Potters Bar. Journeys on the 263, 313, 626, 692 and 699 when going to my friends' houses. A ride on the 84 with my friends to Barnet (when it had Olympians).
Around the age of 14 when I started going places by myself, the National Rail was too expensive so I took the 84 when it still accepted Oyster cards to get to the Northern Line. I remember numerous times, coming back from seeing my friends in London, having to wait almost up to an hour for one to turn up coming home! (My dad would never pick me up from a station!)
I moved onto the 298 when Oyster cards were no longer valid. The 298 seemed more reliable than the 84 did. The 298 was the way for me for the next few years. Even when starting work, instead of the train from Potters Bar, where I would have to pay; I would catch the 298, the Piccadilly Line, the Victoria Line, the Overground then the 308/W15 to LI. All for free.
Now, how did I get into buses? Many know this story, but essentially, one day in 2013, walking along Oxford Street, I wanted to get back to student halls. I couldn't be bothered to go via tube and change trains, I just wanted a nice direct journey to either South Kensington or the Royal Albert Hall (I would have walked the way back but I had bags and was getting a little tired). Thanks to the very intriguing maps at the bus stop, I noticed the 10 would be the way home. An OmniCity showed up, with the front seats unoccupied. As fate would have it, I very much enjoyed it. It was brilliant.
I started exclusively going places by bus. It was cheaper than the tube (and I had done pretty much all of the tube by that time, bar the Metropolitan Line west of Harrow-on-the-Hill). I started exploring the buses in the area, the 14, 74, 414, 9, C1, 70... the more intriguing 345 and 430 (where on earth is Roehampton? It's not on the tube map). I then started my bus explorations. I had a list of bus routes and would cross off each one when I took a ride of them. I wasn't really interested in bus types at the time, or bus companies (though OmniCitys were my favourite). Over time I started learning more about the companies, the kinds of buses, the tender system, the history, and more. I started attending bus garage open days.
It just seemed like a pointless hobby at the time. Just riding buses aimlessly. It turned out to be one of the most important things I have ever done. Riding all across London, I pretty much knew London like the back of my hand. From Harefield to Green Street Green. From Chessington to Havering-atte-Bower. Some bus rides were particularly memorable. The 34, 107 then 113 remains one of my absolute favourites.
University did not go so well. I missed out on a 2:1, and was very immature at the time. Whilst many of my friends had jobs lined up, going to open days to large finance and consulting organisations in order to try and obtain graduate schemes in those firms, I had nothing. I thought I would get a job related to my degree. A lab technician or researcher. By the time I got my degree classification, there was nothing planned after. I struggled with depression, only the buses could help. 2015 was not a great year.
I never thought I would ever work for TfL or the buses, which was odd, especially since I was always interested in it at a young age. Even when riding these buses, I never once thought working in that industry. I was fixated on chemistry.
But with nothing on the line, I turned to public transport. It was much too late to apply for the TfL graduate schemes. But I struck gold - Arriva London had a job opening for a scheduler. I could do that - I'd have a bloody good chance. This could be a job I would very much enjoy.
The application process was very, very slow. Within that time, there was an open day at X. I figured... why not try and see if I could get some work experience. When it came to the interview at Arriva (I had not been rejected yet, and no news is good news), I would be able to say 'I took the initiative and had some work experience in the London bus industry'. The manager at X was extremely kind and was willing to give me a week - a sampler of the bus industry. Controlling, engineering, and scheduling. Scheduling turned out to be my favourite part. The people in the schedules office were very kind and I enjoyed their crash course on scheduling.
At the end of the week - praise God - I was offered a job in the schedules office. I made it. My life was beginning! I was an adult now. Just the next week - Arriva had offered me an interview (the whole process was slower than molasses). But it was too late for them.
Playing a part in the tendering game and learning more about the industry, and having insider's knowledge was great.
It was sad to leave Tower Transit - but the opportunity to work on the tube was one I couldn't pass up. But buses will always be with me. I still have to timetable the rail replacement bus services as part of closures as they must connect with the first and last train services. Most people in my office hate buses and everyone but me hates having to do the rail replacement bus timetables. But I kind of like it. It's a nod to my previous job. I still get to do the odd bus survey as well. Did the bizarre PL-6 which was Hyde Park Corner to Paddington and back, the looooooooooong PL-1 which was Hammersmith to Heathrow, all stations, and the PL-2 and PL-3 which were coaches from Hammersmith to Heathrow (fast). The office is generally throwing anything RRBS to me. If a station is closed, 'what bus runs between Whitechapel and Aldgate East'? I get all the questions.
After all this, I have a tattoo of an OmniCity on the 10. Not because I like OmniCitys on the 10. Not because the 10 was withdrawn in the great bus massacre. But for all of what happened over the past few years. Without buses, just were would I be.
I loved the tube, from the days when the 1959 stock was still running, trains that creeped me out - I would always ask my mum if we could wait for a new train (at the time the 1995 stock fleet was being rolling out). I was intrigued with all the lines and wanted to ride them all. We did almost all of them over the years - I remember my first journey on each line vividly. When my dad offered a ride to Central London, I was disappointed, I'd much rather take the tube.
When I was about five, walking with my dad from school, a 263 at a bus stop made a loud sound (you know, the loud sound where there's a rush of air coming out of the vehicle) which startled me and got me crying.
We never really took the bus except on odd occasions. It was strictly Northern line, then National Rail when I moved to Potters Bar. When the Northern Line was closed for engineering works, the bus confirmed the disappointment. They were slow and a massive pain. I wanted to be on the tube.
Mind you, I remember the few bus journeys I took before I started taking buses regularly. Journeys on the 43/134 with my aunt to get to Muswell Hill. A journey on the 383 when it used to go to Potters Bar. Journeys on the 263, 313, 626, 692 and 699 when going to my friends' houses. A ride on the 84 with my friends to Barnet (when it had Olympians).
Around the age of 14 when I started going places by myself, the National Rail was too expensive so I took the 84 when it still accepted Oyster cards to get to the Northern Line. I remember numerous times, coming back from seeing my friends in London, having to wait almost up to an hour for one to turn up coming home! (My dad would never pick me up from a station!)
I moved onto the 298 when Oyster cards were no longer valid. The 298 seemed more reliable than the 84 did. The 298 was the way for me for the next few years. Even when starting work, instead of the train from Potters Bar, where I would have to pay; I would catch the 298, the Piccadilly Line, the Victoria Line, the Overground then the 308/W15 to LI. All for free.
Now, how did I get into buses? Many know this story, but essentially, one day in 2013, walking along Oxford Street, I wanted to get back to student halls. I couldn't be bothered to go via tube and change trains, I just wanted a nice direct journey to either South Kensington or the Royal Albert Hall (I would have walked the way back but I had bags and was getting a little tired). Thanks to the very intriguing maps at the bus stop, I noticed the 10 would be the way home. An OmniCity showed up, with the front seats unoccupied. As fate would have it, I very much enjoyed it. It was brilliant.
I started exclusively going places by bus. It was cheaper than the tube (and I had done pretty much all of the tube by that time, bar the Metropolitan Line west of Harrow-on-the-Hill). I started exploring the buses in the area, the 14, 74, 414, 9, C1, 70... the more intriguing 345 and 430 (where on earth is Roehampton? It's not on the tube map). I then started my bus explorations. I had a list of bus routes and would cross off each one when I took a ride of them. I wasn't really interested in bus types at the time, or bus companies (though OmniCitys were my favourite). Over time I started learning more about the companies, the kinds of buses, the tender system, the history, and more. I started attending bus garage open days.
It just seemed like a pointless hobby at the time. Just riding buses aimlessly. It turned out to be one of the most important things I have ever done. Riding all across London, I pretty much knew London like the back of my hand. From Harefield to Green Street Green. From Chessington to Havering-atte-Bower. Some bus rides were particularly memorable. The 34, 107 then 113 remains one of my absolute favourites.
University did not go so well. I missed out on a 2:1, and was very immature at the time. Whilst many of my friends had jobs lined up, going to open days to large finance and consulting organisations in order to try and obtain graduate schemes in those firms, I had nothing. I thought I would get a job related to my degree. A lab technician or researcher. By the time I got my degree classification, there was nothing planned after. I struggled with depression, only the buses could help. 2015 was not a great year.
I never thought I would ever work for TfL or the buses, which was odd, especially since I was always interested in it at a young age. Even when riding these buses, I never once thought working in that industry. I was fixated on chemistry.
But with nothing on the line, I turned to public transport. It was much too late to apply for the TfL graduate schemes. But I struck gold - Arriva London had a job opening for a scheduler. I could do that - I'd have a bloody good chance. This could be a job I would very much enjoy.
The application process was very, very slow. Within that time, there was an open day at X. I figured... why not try and see if I could get some work experience. When it came to the interview at Arriva (I had not been rejected yet, and no news is good news), I would be able to say 'I took the initiative and had some work experience in the London bus industry'. The manager at X was extremely kind and was willing to give me a week - a sampler of the bus industry. Controlling, engineering, and scheduling. Scheduling turned out to be my favourite part. The people in the schedules office were very kind and I enjoyed their crash course on scheduling.
At the end of the week - praise God - I was offered a job in the schedules office. I made it. My life was beginning! I was an adult now. Just the next week - Arriva had offered me an interview (the whole process was slower than molasses). But it was too late for them.
Playing a part in the tendering game and learning more about the industry, and having insider's knowledge was great.
It was sad to leave Tower Transit - but the opportunity to work on the tube was one I couldn't pass up. But buses will always be with me. I still have to timetable the rail replacement bus services as part of closures as they must connect with the first and last train services. Most people in my office hate buses and everyone but me hates having to do the rail replacement bus timetables. But I kind of like it. It's a nod to my previous job. I still get to do the odd bus survey as well. Did the bizarre PL-6 which was Hyde Park Corner to Paddington and back, the looooooooooong PL-1 which was Hammersmith to Heathrow, all stations, and the PL-2 and PL-3 which were coaches from Hammersmith to Heathrow (fast). The office is generally throwing anything RRBS to me. If a station is closed, 'what bus runs between Whitechapel and Aldgate East'? I get all the questions.
After all this, I have a tattoo of an OmniCity on the 10. Not because I like OmniCitys on the 10. Not because the 10 was withdrawn in the great bus massacre. But for all of what happened over the past few years. Without buses, just were would I be.
There should be no shame having strong interests.
