|
Post by rif153 on Aug 14, 2019 22:26:41 GMT
Doing any route in the middle of the day is just unbearable. I’ve been lulled into a false sense of security thinking that during the day there’ll be little traffic so the route will be nice a quick, not. I did the 24 in the middle of the day, and it took 103 minutes, unbelievable Any zone 1 route really. Even an end to end on the 207 isn’t that bad during the day, it stops a lot obviously but it moves okay. I’ve done plenty of end to ends in the middle of the day with no issues at all: 41, 66, 85, 178, 210, 227, 329, 401, 472, 473, A10, C3, D8 and H17 just to name a few all without incident or hold ups at all. Central London routes like the 6, 9, 11, 14, 15, 24, 176 etc don’t even bother at any time during the day. The only realistic time one can bear doing those are at like the first journeys out at 5 in the morning. I have to say though, I did the 17 END TO END at 5:41pm last Wednesday afternoon from London Bridge up to Archway (one would probably immediately assume I’m absolutely bonkers even trying to attempt that) and I did it purely just to see how long I could stick it out for. But unbelievably it flowed remarkably well EVEN in the central core and the bus didn’t get held up once. City Thameslink and the Clerkenwell areas were remarkably empty and the bus zoomed through the lot of it, I absolutely couldn’t believe it😱 I got off the 17 at Archway at 18:31, with a journey time of just 50 minutes, I timed it. I can only assume it’s because Londoners now know how much of a war zone central London has become so they purposefully avoid it. So much so everyone’s doing the same and the traffic’s clearing out. I have definitely noticed significantly better levels of congestion (ie less of it) in Central London than what you would have had a couple of years ago with all the road works blocking everywhere up, I’m glad it slowly going in the right direction now. Doing the right route during the day can be quite nice as the bus will be pretty empty and you'll glide past most stops although of course that doesn't apply now because the schools are off. If only I didn't have a job to do during the day
|
|
|
Post by ronnie on Aug 14, 2019 22:47:47 GMT
Any zone 1 route really. Even an end to end on the 207 isn’t that bad during the day, it stops a lot obviously but it moves okay. I’ve done plenty of end to ends in the middle of the day with no issues at all: 41, 66, 85, 178, 210, 227, 329, 401, 472, 473, A10, C3, D8 and H17 just to name a few all without incident or hold ups at all. Central London routes like the 6, 9, 11, 14, 15, 24, 176 etc don’t even bother at any time during the day. The only realistic time one can bear doing those are at like the first journeys out at 5 in the morning. I have to say though, I did the 17 END TO END at 5:41pm last Wednesday afternoon from London Bridge up to Archway (one would probably immediately assume I’m absolutely bonkers even trying to attempt that) and I did it purely just to see how long I could stick it out for. But unbelievably it flowed remarkably well EVEN in the central core and the bus didn’t get held up once. City Thameslink and the Clerkenwell areas were remarkably empty and the bus zoomed through the lot of it, I absolutely couldn’t believe it😱 I got off the 17 at Archway at 18:31, with a journey time of just 50 minutes, I timed it. I can only assume it’s because Londoners now know how much of a war zone central London has become so they purposefully avoid it. So much so everyone’s doing the same and the traffic’s clearing out. I have definitely noticed significantly better levels of congestion (ie less of it) in Central London than what you would have had a couple of years ago with all the road works blocking everywhere up, I’m glad it slowly going in the right direction now. Doing the right route during the day can be quite nice as the bus will be pretty empty and you'll glide past most stops although of course that doesn't apply now because the schools are off. If only I didn't have a job to do during the day I actually have some time off over the next few weeks so was planning a few end to ends by doing full days out. Unfortunately ended up pulling a back muscle so now will be stuck at home ... just completed 100 routes end to end!
|
|
|
Post by rj131 on Aug 14, 2019 23:22:10 GMT
Any zone 1 route really. Even an end to end on the 207 isn’t that bad during the day, it stops a lot obviously but it moves okay. I’ve done plenty of end to ends in the middle of the day with no issues at all: 41, 66, 85, 178, 210, 227, 329, 401, 472, 473, A10, C3, D8 and H17 just to name a few all without incident or hold ups at all. Central London routes like the 6, 9, 11, 14, 15, 24, 176 etc don’t even bother at any time during the day. The only realistic time one can bear doing those are at like the first journeys out at 5 in the morning. I have to say though, I did the 17 END TO END at 5:41pm last Wednesday afternoon from London Bridge up to Archway (one would probably immediately assume I’m absolutely bonkers even trying to attempt that) and I did it purely just to see how long I could stick it out for. But unbelievably it flowed remarkably well EVEN in the central core and the bus didn’t get held up once. City Thameslink and the Clerkenwell areas were remarkably empty and the bus zoomed through the lot of it, I absolutely couldn’t believe it😱 I got off the 17 at Archway at 18:31, with a journey time of just 50 minutes, I timed it. I can only assume it’s because Londoners now know how much of a war zone central London has become so they purposefully avoid it. So much so everyone’s doing the same and the traffic’s clearing out. I have definitely noticed significantly better levels of congestion (ie less of it) in Central London than what you would have had a couple of years ago with all the road works blocking everywhere up, I’m glad it slowly going in the right direction now. I think the 9 is fine to do during the day it's quite a short route anyway obviously journey time has now increased since the rerouting. I agree with all the others especially the 11 which is just awful at any time. If only Tfl stuck to their guns and split the route up. That was one of the only good ideas to come out of the central london consultation. My opinion of course. I guess it depends on what’s going on that day. That Wednesday I did the 17 in the evening, I was at Trafalgar Square a couple of hours before at about 2:30/3 o’clock and all roads around Trafalgar Square were at a total standstill. The Police were standing in the middle of the Equestrian Statue of Charles I roundabout for some reason halting exits of the roundabout (presumably there’d been an incident so they were crowd controlling) and all approaching traffic to the roundabout was totally stationary. I walked down Cockspur Street on which there were three completely empty Williesden-bound 6’s and two Hammersmith-bound 9’s all at once which presumably hadn’t moved in a very long time. Nothing was moving at all and I could well imagine it took around an hour just to do Piccadilly and Cockspur Street as police weren’t letting traffic onto the roundabout from that exit for ages. Just total carnage and no wonder at all no one uses the buses in that area anymore. So I can believe before the 9’s rerouting it was okay but now it’s just carnage and not even worth attempting. After seeing all that carnage at Trafalgar Square that’s why I was so amazed my 17 just breezed through Central London in the evening rush hour!!
|
|
|
Post by LBOTG on Aug 14, 2019 23:56:51 GMT
Doing any route in the middle of the day is just unbearable. I’ve been lulled into a false sense of security thinking that during the day there’ll be little traffic so the route will be nice a quick, not. I did the 24 in the middle of the day, and it took 103 minutes, unbelievable Any zone 1 route really. Even an end to end on the 207 isn’t that bad during the day, it stops a lot obviously but it moves okay. I’ve done plenty of end to ends in the middle of the day with no issues at all: 41, 66, 85, 178, 210, 227, 329, 401, 472, 473, A10, C3, D8 and H17 just to name a few all without incident or hold ups at all. Central London routes like the 6, 9, 11, 14, 15, 24, 176 etc don’t even bother at any time during the day. The only realistic time one can bear doing those are at like the first journeys out at 5 in the morning. I have to say though, I did the 17 END TO END at 5:41pm last Wednesday afternoon from London Bridge up to Archway (one would probably immediately assume I’m absolutely bonkers even trying to attempt that) and I did it purely just to see how long I could stick it out for. But unbelievably it flowed remarkably well EVEN in the central core and the bus didn’t get held up once. City Thameslink and the Clerkenwell areas were remarkably empty and the bus zoomed through the lot of it, I absolutely couldn’t believe it😱 I got off the 17 at Archway at 18:31, with a journey time of just 50 minutes, I timed it. I can only assume it’s because Londoners now know how much of a war zone central London has become so they purposefully avoid it. So much so everyone’s doing the same and the traffic’s clearing out. I have definitely noticed significantly better levels of congestion (ie less of it) in Central London than what you would have had a couple of years ago with all the road works blocking everywhere up, I’m glad it slowly going in the right direction now. I had an equally bizarre experience when I (unintentionally) rode the 188 e2e on Monday, during the evening peak. I thought that the CS4 works would result in Jamaica Road being a standstill, but a fast driver and lack of traffic meant I did North Greenwich to Druid Street in 42 minutes! Even the rest wasn't that slow, also noticed some very heavily loaded buses heading South around Elephant, including on the rerouted 40. Evidently not all of the Central London commuter routes have been abandoned just yet
|
|
|
Post by ronnie on Aug 15, 2019 8:43:58 GMT
Any zone 1 route really. Even an end to end on the 207 isn’t that bad during the day, it stops a lot obviously but it moves okay. I’ve done plenty of end to ends in the middle of the day with no issues at all: 41, 66, 85, 178, 210, 227, 329, 401, 472, 473, A10, C3, D8 and H17 just to name a few all without incident or hold ups at all. Central London routes like the 6, 9, 11, 14, 15, 24, 176 etc don’t even bother at any time during the day. The only realistic time one can bear doing those are at like the first journeys out at 5 in the morning. I have to say though, I did the 17 END TO END at 5:41pm last Wednesday afternoon from London Bridge up to Archway (one would probably immediately assume I’m absolutely bonkers even trying to attempt that) and I did it purely just to see how long I could stick it out for. But unbelievably it flowed remarkably well EVEN in the central core and the bus didn’t get held up once. City Thameslink and the Clerkenwell areas were remarkably empty and the bus zoomed through the lot of it, I absolutely couldn’t believe it😱 I got off the 17 at Archway at 18:31, with a journey time of just 50 minutes, I timed it. I can only assume it’s because Londoners now know how much of a war zone central London has become so they purposefully avoid it. So much so everyone’s doing the same and the traffic’s clearing out. I have definitely noticed significantly better levels of congestion (ie less of it) in Central London than what you would have had a couple of years ago with all the road works blocking everywhere up, I’m glad it slowly going in the right direction now. I had an equally bizarre experience when I (unintentionally) rode the 188 e2e on Monday, during the evening peak. I thought that the CS4 works would result in Jamaica Road being a standstill, but a fast driver and lack of traffic meant I did North Greenwich to Druid Street in 42 minutes! Even the rest wasn't that slow, also noticed some very heavily loaded buses heading South around Elephant, including on the rerouted 40. Evidently not all of the Central London commuter routes have been abandoned just yet On that note, saw healthy loads on N15 on Tuesday night. Buses arriving at trafalgar square already had 30-40+ passengers
|
|
|
Post by 10121ddo on Aug 15, 2019 10:57:23 GMT
Agree. I did the 266 in the middle of the day and those 1.5 hours were so...boring. I struggled to stay awake .... not that the routes are very scenic! Nothing beats the 2 hours 20 min on a 25 from Oxford circus to Ilford though I agree did the 266 in the day and didn't find it enjoyable at all. It takes ages so I think that put me off. Went from Hammersmith to Willesden Green One thing does beat the 25.... the N25 on emptier roads back in the day of the BV10s! Did it Aldgate - Oxford Circus at the end of 2018, and boy do I miss non-ULEZ days already. As in my report not far above your, I did the N25 on an MV and it just wasn't the same as VN37852.
|
|
|
Post by ronnie on Aug 15, 2019 11:52:25 GMT
I agree did the 266 in the day and didn't find it enjoyable at all. It takes ages so I think that put me off. Went from Hammersmith to Willesden Green One thing does beat the 25.... the N25 on emptier roads back in the day of the BV10s! Did it Aldgate - Oxford Circus at the end of 2018, and boy do I miss non-ULEZ days already. As in my report not far above your, I did the N25 on an MV and it just wasn't the same as VN37852. I did the N25 the first week it was introduced .... and 25 one last time before the hack back. Purposely chose the evening peak eastbound which is why it took that long. Symptomatically it was Oxford circus - TCR which took close to 30 min. Despite a full (not stopping) 25 literally at the stop before us, our hua got rammed as well and we were also not stopping for a fair distance (chancery lane - Aldgate). And there was a pretty packed bus I could see behind us as well .... shame this will no longer hold true All that was needed was curtailment to TCR or Holborn station
|
|
|
Post by 10121ddo on Aug 15, 2019 13:56:33 GMT
One thing does beat the 25.... the N25 on emptier roads back in the day of the BV10s! Did it Aldgate - Oxford Circus at the end of 2018, and boy do I miss non-ULEZ days already. As in my report not far above your, I did the N25 on an MV and it just wasn't the same as VN37852. I did the N25 the first week it was introduced .... and 25 one last time before the hack back. Purposely chose the evening peak eastbound which is why it took that long. Symptomatically it was Oxford circus - TCR which took close to 30 min. Despite a full (not stopping) 25 literally at the stop before us, our hua got rammed as well and we were also not stopping for a fair distance (chancery lane - Aldgate). And there was a pretty packed bus I could see behind us as well .... shame this will no longer hold true All that was needed was curtailment to TCR or Holborn station Before the cutback, I protested the new Holborn Circus terminus. But during the peaks, as I've been doing, the 8 and 521 cover the Holborn - St Paul section really nicely I must say. The saviour of course being the 521, whose PVR is a God send... But as several others have pointed out, the loads from the 25's first stop are pretty decent. Side note - Oxford Circ to TCR took 30 mins?! Crikey. And I thought Tower Gateway station to the Tower Bridge taking 15 mins was bad on the RV1....!
|
|
|
Post by ronnie on Aug 15, 2019 15:24:31 GMT
I did the N25 the first week it was introduced .... and 25 one last time before the hack back. Purposely chose the evening peak eastbound which is why it took that long. Symptomatically it was Oxford circus - TCR which took close to 30 min. Despite a full (not stopping) 25 literally at the stop before us, our hua got rammed as well and we were also not stopping for a fair distance (chancery lane - Aldgate). And there was a pretty packed bus I could see behind us as well .... shame this will no longer hold true All that was needed was curtailment to TCR or Holborn station Before the cutback, I protested the new Holborn Circus terminus. But during the peaks, as I've been doing, the 8 and 521 cover the Holborn - St Paul section really nicely I must say. The saviour of course being the 521, whose PVR is a God send... But as several others have pointed out, the loads from the 25's first stop are pretty decent. Side note - Oxford Circ to TCR took 30 mins?! Crikey. And I thought Tower Gateway station to the Tower Bridge taking 15 mins was bad on the RV1....! Yes 30 minutes and it was even timetabled like that! Well May have been 27 min or 22 min but you get the drift ...
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2019 19:42:56 GMT
Had time today for a weekday mini bus trip.
115 Canning Town - Aldgate - Standard EH 343 Aldgate - London Bridge - The route is well used from Aldgate and picked up at all stops to London Bridge
43 London Bridge - Bank - First time on a BDE - Really nice buses, Metroline interiors is really nice and bright. Buses are not as quite as I expected probably similar to a Hybrid.
25 Bank - Aldgate
115 Aldgate - Canning Town
Also spotted a few LT's at Bank on the 8. Buses pulled all three doors open the whole time so no attempted to implement the new procedure. One passenger board on rear doors tapped his card several times on reader then gave up and went up stairs.
|
|
|
Post by rif153 on Aug 15, 2019 19:47:09 GMT
Any zone 1 route really. Even an end to end on the 207 isn’t that bad during the day, it stops a lot obviously but it moves okay. I’ve done plenty of end to ends in the middle of the day with no issues at all: 41, 66, 85, 178, 210, 227, 329, 401, 472, 473, A10, C3, D8 and H17 just to name a few all without incident or hold ups at all. Central London routes like the 6, 9, 11, 14, 15, 24, 176 etc don’t even bother at any time during the day. The only realistic time one can bear doing those are at like the first journeys out at 5 in the morning. I have to say though, I did the 17 END TO END at 5:41pm last Wednesday afternoon from London Bridge up to Archway (one would probably immediately assume I’m absolutely bonkers even trying to attempt that) and I did it purely just to see how long I could stick it out for. But unbelievably it flowed remarkably well EVEN in the central core and the bus didn’t get held up once. City Thameslink and the Clerkenwell areas were remarkably empty and the bus zoomed through the lot of it, I absolutely couldn’t believe it😱 I got off the 17 at Archway at 18:31, with a journey time of just 50 minutes, I timed it. I can only assume it’s because Londoners now know how much of a war zone central London has become so they purposefully avoid it. So much so everyone’s doing the same and the traffic’s clearing out. I have definitely noticed significantly better levels of congestion (ie less of it) in Central London than what you would have had a couple of years ago with all the road works blocking everywhere up, I’m glad it slowly going in the right direction now. I had an equally bizarre experience when I (unintentionally) rode the 188 e2e on Monday, during the evening peak. I thought that the CS4 works would result in Jamaica Road being a standstill, but a fast driver and lack of traffic meant I did North Greenwich to Druid Street in 42 minutes! Even the rest wasn't that slow, also noticed some very heavily loaded buses heading South around Elephant, including on the rerouted 40. Evidently not all of the Central London commuter routes have been abandoned just yet When doing the 415 end to end during rush hour (which was surprisingly quick) I saw 176s/453s were carrying crush loads, poor 453 now has to struggle without the 53 between Lower Marsh and Whitehall. Interesting to hear you got from North Greenwich-Druid Street in 42 minutes, despite loving the 188, I found last time I used the route it was painfully slow taking 75 minutes from North Greenwich to Elephant
|
|
|
Post by LBOTG on Aug 15, 2019 20:12:22 GMT
I had an equally bizarre experience when I (unintentionally) rode the 188 e2e on Monday, during the evening peak. I thought that the CS4 works would result in Jamaica Road being a standstill, but a fast driver and lack of traffic meant I did North Greenwich to Druid Street in 42 minutes! Even the rest wasn't that slow, also noticed some very heavily loaded buses heading South around Elephant, including on the rerouted 40. Evidently not all of the Central London commuter routes have been abandoned just yet When doing the 415 end to end during rush hour (which was surprisingly quick) I saw 176s/453s were carrying crush loads, poor 453 now has to struggle without the 53 between Lower Marsh and Whitehall. Interesting to hear you got from North Greenwich-Druid Street in 42 minutes, despite loving the 188, I found last time I used the route it was painfully slow taking 75 minutes from North Greenwich to Elephant Yes my trip was very much abnormal... I love the 188 too, but hardly use it nowadays
|
|
|
Post by ronnie on Aug 16, 2019 1:25:56 GMT
Another one done late in the day
262 (Stratford to east beckton sainsbury’s): for a bus leaving Stratford at 20:30, this gor rammed completely. We left Stratford with the upper deck full ans standing room only. Very heavily used subsequently as well
325 (east beckton sainsbury’s to prince regent): I had the bus to myself for pretty much the entir journey. Very quickly driven
Quick dlr trip to beckton
376 (beckton to east ham newham town hall): by this time I was thoroughly confused as to which route goes where .... all seemingly in opposite directions! Another very quick one
Just missed a 300 at east ham so decided to do the 58
58 (east ham central park to Walthamstow central): after the quick single deckers this was a crawl. Uneventful journey
N38 (Walthamstow central to Victoria): caught the first N38 of the night. Pretty empty bus although the ones from the opposite side were well used
Just missed one 390 which left as I got down from the N38 and the next 390 driver decided to leave 3 min early while I was checking my phone ....
Got a N11 to trafalgar square then N550 to limehouse Burdett road (fell asleep again....) and then N277 to Crossharbour. Think I will skip the night buses going forward apart from a few important ones like N15 / N9
|
|
|
Post by ronnie on Aug 17, 2019 2:01:16 GMT
Another long set done today
97 (Stratford to Chingford station): very slow journey; started just after 16:30. Seemed to dawdle at stops forever and got quite crowded. Even got overtaken by the bus behind. Was happpy to tick this one off
313 (chingford to potters bar station): this was so mich faster and scenic! Especially the portion post Enfield is so quick and picturesque most of the time
298 (potters bar to Arnos grove): the 2 buses prior had been DDs (missed one dur to toilet break) so was highly annoyed when the bus I was supposed to board was a single deck. Luckily it got subbed before we got up! So good views once again but this time from the upper deck. Another quick journey although had to endure a near 20 min wait
251 (Arnos grove to Edgware): another quick journey; driver didn’t hold back! Think we didn’t stop at all between Totteridge & whetstone and Mill hill Broadway
79 (edgware to Alperton sainsbury’s): pretty quick journey on this one as weel. By this time it was raining so couldn’t see much
245 (Alperton sainsbury’s to Golders green): quick dash across the road to get this one. The driver was quick and turned out to be another satisfying journey
83 (Golders green to Alperton): had to run to get this one but at least that ensured there was no time wasted! Quick journey but couldn’t see much outside thanks to the rain
297 (Alperton to Ealing Broadway): very quick driver but the bus was already 7 min late by the time I boarded (which resulted in a 17 min wait for the bus)
112 (Ealing Broadway to Brent cross shopping centre): unfortunately given the 297 was late, just missed a bus and had a near 20 minute wait. Managed to grab dinner in between. This was again a quick one and reached Brent cross shopping centre 3 min early. Unfortunately the 189 which I had planned for also left a minute early - so had to quickly think of alternatives
210 (Brent cross shopping centre to archway): this one cane after I had waited fir literally a minute. I already has done archway to finsbury square so did the rest. Quite picturesque!
390 (Archway to Victoria); ended up just missing one so had a near 30 minute wait.... the bus got regulated thrice so was pretty frustrating
Then Victoria plus jubilee line back to IOD
|
|
|
Post by ronnie on Aug 18, 2019 10:47:01 GMT
Ticked off 10 more routes starting just before 6pm - 29 routes done in 4 days!
436 (Lewisham to Battersea Park): uneventful but quick journey across town. Wasn’t too crowded as far as I could see. Sun kept peeping out so lovely weather in contrast to the day before
156 (battersea to Clapham junction): someone had very meticulously placed a number of egg shells on the floor next to the front left seat. Why....
337 (Clapham junction to Richmond): had 3 minutes to walk to the first stop round the corner and made it just in time. Was a good decision as there was a small crowd at the next stop. Another quick journey and it was sunny as well so an enjoyable one
Quick bus ride to manor circus for the next bus
371 (Richmond to Kingston): must say this one has some great views through Richmond park! Some roads are really narrow and thick foliage in both sides - quite a nice route bending in and out of the roads and by-lanes of Han / Richmond / Kingston
I was planning to get the 111 next. Didn’t realise how long / confusing the town centre is - just about made it! Else would have been another 15 min wait
111 (Kingston to heathrow central): what a route! Has everything on offer - nice river views, palace / park view, level crossing (got stuck for a few minutes), aeroplane sightings, narrow lanes: simply amazing!
A10 (heathrow central to Uxbridge): pulled up in a minute after I reached heathrow, very quick route to Uxbridge. A10 is also the only route to run along a motorway
U3 (Uxbridge to heathrow central): had 3 minutes to make the connection which I did. Another fairly quick one although not as quick as the A10
16 minute wait for the next bus so grabbed dinner
285 (heathrow central to Kingston): another fairly quick journey. Had done the X26 before so knew most of the route anyway
65 (Kingston to Ealing Broadway): another great and very quick trip through leafy roads. Richmond park at night and narrow lanes (at some places DDs cant even pass each other!)
Reached Ealing Broadway and was pretty sleepy. Has just missed both N11 and N7 so had a 25 minute wait. Annoying guy came up asking for money as “wife was cheating and he needed to get home”. I reached the bus stop and found the guy asking a lady asking for money as “girlfriend as cheating...” and then turned to me and asked the same thing! I asked him how the wife became the girlfriend and he said both are cheating on him..... in the end someone did give him money
Helped a couple of people with their buses and then thought of an alternative route.
297 (Ealing Broadway to Willesden bus garage): had domen this partially yesterday and dis it end to end today. Overall ok route and on its own for quite some distance. A group of 6 very drunk guys came on board near Perivale - think they made some sexual comments so the 2 ladies on the front left got off immediately. There were a few catcalls from this drunken lot and it was frankly embarrassing and i felt like reporting them to the police. It was a very noisy bunch who kept going up and down while the bus was moving and F*rted like crazy such that the upper deck was stinking like crazy. Thankfully these guys got off near Wembley but not exactly an enjoyable ride
6 (Willesden bus garage to aldwych): this was 2am and the max passengers on the bus was 2! I was the sole passenger till queens park when someone got up to go to marble arch. She got off and 1 guy came on board till trafalgar square
Then northern + jubilee home
|
|