I drove the
Clapham Junction to Hampton Court South Western Railway replacement service a couple of weekends ago. I did a
short review a few years ago so this is a bit of an update.
The routeThe Hampton Court service is supposed to run every 30 minutes but seems to be particularly vulnerable to buses going missing, running wildly adrift to the timetable or simply not covering the duties, so I was determined to run on time.
Stops served are Clapham Junction, Earlsfield, Wimbledon, Raynes Park, New Malden, Surbiton, Thames Ditton and Hampton Court. People for Berrylands are expected to use the K2. Given the routing via Kingston was discontinued when First took over I'm sure Berrylands could be better served.
The route is unchanged - Clapham to Raynes Park was the same as the Twickenham route. From there, it was via Coombe Lane then Traps Lane to New Malden. Through the high street to the A3, then through Tolworth to drop down in to Surbiton station forecourt. Then via the A307 Portsmouth Road, turning off onto Giggs Hill Road, Watts Road and Station Road, then under the 11'9 bridge to serve Thames Ditton on Embercourt Road. After that, end of the road then onto the A309 where there was a
slightly iffy right turn into the station car park. I preferred to turn around at the Hampton Court roundabout then left into the car park.
New Malden is slightly weird. It's a bit of a lottery for people going towards Clapham Junction as buses from Surbiton/Hampton Court depart from one side and buses from Twickenham depart from the other. The general lack of destination displays doesn't help at all although some operators who take great pride in delivery make up their own. I noticed Cardinal Buses and Red Routemaster were displaying correct destinations. Was looking out for Bear Buses but didn't see any on the late shift!
Some of the operators SWR use have their own way of doing the routes. One which had tri-axles out decided they weren't picking up any passengers up at Wimbledon, running from Earlsfield to Raynes Park via South Wimbledon, thus bypassing the correct stop on Alexandra Road. A lot of people were waiting for replacement services going via Motspur Park. A mix of things like this and the mini coaches out resulted in longer waits for quite a few people.
LoadingsFairly light between Clapham Junction and Wimbledon. This section is shared by 2bph services to Chessington, Epsom, Surbiton and Twickenham.
Wimbledon was a problem. My bus was bursting on departure with people left behind bound for New Malden and Surbiton.
Moderate loads between Surbiton and Hampton Court. As I was on the late shift, not many going out but buses were picking 30+ people up who were heading into London.
Running timesFixed throughout the afternoon and evening. Just right for daytime traffic conditions, a lot of slack in the evening. I achieved my aim of running on time for the most part.
Vehicle ChoiceI took over on the road so had no choice. I had an 8.9m E200MMC with a Voith gearbox that could and did rev at anything up to 3000rpm before changing up. Didn't half shift on the A3! I wished I had a bigger bus to pick all waiting passengers at Wimbledon.
SummarySame conclusion as last time - the route was ok, nice mix of town roads, dual carriageway and village thoroughfares. I much favour the busy mainstream routes, but I wouldn't say no to doing it again! I almost wound up on Clapham Junction to Woking, which would have been an E200 fast to Surbiton then all stops. Nice adventure, maybe for next time.
As a side note I was very impressed with the operator I was out with - the rail replacement management know what they're doing and do the best with the resources they have. Even going as far as making up A3 laminated destination boards as First don't supply destination boards for rail replacement routes. Looking forward to doing more duties and covering some new routes.
Route difficulty rating - 2/3 (intermediate)
Enjoyability - 3/5 (moderate)
Next route review - Unknown. On Baker Street to Wembley Park tomorrow but recently reviewed that one!