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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Oct 30, 2020 12:49:07 GMT
Caught ADE40310 on the 85 to Putney Exchange Very nice bus, decently quick and with a smart interior. Wish this was the allocation over the VH's The ADEs in general seem to be a quite nice batch of E400s, they are really nice to ride on the 173 and are miles better than the old buses you'd find on the route. I don't mind the delay to the electrics while they are on the route for sure. Only gripe with them I have is I'm not sure who's idea it was to put 40 capped buses on the 173 which uses 50mph roads.
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Post by vjaska on Oct 30, 2020 12:52:15 GMT
Caught ADE40310 on the 85 to Putney Exchange Very nice bus, decently quick and with a smart interior. Wish this was the allocation over the VH's The ADEs in general seem to be a quite nice batch of E400s, they are really nice to ride on the 173 and are miles better than the old buses you'd find on the route. I don't mind the delay to the electrics while they are on the route for sure. Only gripe with them I have is I'm not sure who's idea it was to put 40 capped buses on the 173 which uses 50mph roads. The one I had on the first day wasn’t great - acceleration and hills left a lot to be desired particularly on the A13 slip roads which is a shame as previous experience of the ADE’s has been good
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Post by busoccultation on Oct 30, 2020 17:17:02 GMT
Caught ADE40310 on the 85 to Putney Exchange Very nice bus, decently quick and with a smart interior. Wish this was the allocation over the VH's The ADEs in general seem to be a quite nice batch of E400s, they are really nice to ride on the 173 and are miles better than the old buses you'd find on the route. I don't mind the delay to the electrics while they are on the route for sure. Only gripe with them I have is I'm not sure who's idea it was to put 40 capped buses on the 173 which uses 50mph roads. I'd agree about the ADE's used on the 173 as most of them have a really nice ZF sounds from the gearbox and they are my favourite Euro 5 ZF E400's that we currently have in East London. Had ADE40418 on the 173 earlier in the week and that did decently coped along the A13.
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Post by Dillon95 on Nov 3, 2020 19:23:02 GMT
269 - Sidcup to Bromley North 119 - Bromley North to East Croydon 109 - West Croydon to Brixton 196 - Brixton to Elephant & Castle Thameslink - Elephant & Castle to Orpington B14 - Orpington to home
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2020 13:08:34 GMT
Currently on a 388. The driver has expertly managed to get caught at every single red light just as it is turning red. Amazing.
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Post by vjaska on Nov 17, 2020 13:10:50 GMT
269 - Sidcup to Bromley North 119 - Bromley North to East Croydon 109 - West Croydon to Brixton 196 - Brixton to Elephant & Castle Thameslink - Elephant & Castle to Orpington B14 - Orpington to home How dare you not say hello when in Brixton lool
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Post by Dillon95 on Nov 17, 2020 13:24:22 GMT
269 - Sidcup to Bromley North 119 - Bromley North to East Croydon 109 - West Croydon to Brixton 196 - Brixton to Elephant & Castle Thameslink - Elephant & Castle to Orpington B14 - Orpington to home How dare you not say hello when in Brixton lool Haha next time 😆
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Post by galwhv69 on Apr 12, 2021 12:48:57 GMT
From Yesterday Walk to Putney Hill/Green Man 93 - WVL364 to Morden 293 - DXE30288 to Epsom (Was the first bus of the day, and was full at the first stop!) Walk to Roy Richmond Way K8 - MCL30089 to Kingston 65 - MCL30089 to Ealing Broadway (Mr Perrett departed on the K8 20L yet was at Richmond on the 65 20E! ) 65 - M161 to Richmond (planned to go to Kingston but it broke down in Richmond Bus Station due to a bad leak) 65 - RT2177 to Leatherhead 465 - TPL264 to Dorking 465 - TPL264 to Leatherhead 65 - MCL30089 (only a few stops as I realised a different vehicle was behind) 65 - RF600 to Kingston 65 - RM1005 to Leatherhead 465 - KP02PVF to Dorking 465 - VPL630 to Leatherhead 65 - RF600 to Kingston (wanted to wait for next bus but couldn't as I wanted to catch RT1 from Kingston, turns out it wasn't coming) 65 - TA324 to Chessington Zoo (a youth was on this and was exclaiming that this bus is "ancient" ; ironically one of the youngest buses during this event!) 65 - MCL30089 to Kingston (wanted to catch T961 but it went out of service there due to gearbox problems) K8 - MCL30089 to Epsom (EB) 418 - ADE40308 to Epsom 293 - DXE30288 to Morden 93 - WHV113 to Putney Hill/Green Man Walk home Whilst I unfortunately didn't manage to sample all the vehicles I had planned to, it was still a great and enjoyable day, even with the slight problems. Apart from the breakdowns, the only thing that stopped me was the lack of time!
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Post by planesandtrains on Apr 22, 2021 22:28:07 GMT
Haven't posted on here for a while but had a jolly around Buckinghamshire and a bit of Bedfordshire today on an Intalink Explorer Ticket....here goes:
X26- 59 plate Volvo B9TL Gemini 2 (WVL) from Teddington - Heathrow- arrived 9 late but made up about five mins despite a rather relaxed driving style
A10- 65 plate E20D/E200 from Heathrow to Uxbridge- a very heavy footed driver at the wheel made for an interesting ride
104- 65 plate Wright Streetlite DF from Uxbridge to High Wycombe- slightly overtimed, had to regulate a few times but the driver was fast and the route interesting (Carousel) 40 - 55 plate Mercedes Citaro from High Wycombe to Thame, made this connection as it was running 15 late, very fast driver but kickdown was disabled (Carousel)
280- 63 plate VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar from Thame to Aylesbury, another very fast-paced ride this time (Arriva)
150- 12 plate Mercedes Citaro Facelift from Aylesbury to Milton Keynes, again a fast driver but this route was overtimed, at one point we were running 7 mins early. Whole thing took about 1hr 25 mins (Arriva)
100- A very high spec E20D/Enviro 200 from Milton Keynes to Aylesbury, very fast driving and the route was completed in 52 mins. I imagine reliability isn't very good when traffic piles up approaching Aylesbury in more normal times. It will be interesting to see how long the war between Red Rose and Arriva holds out on this corridor.
10- Ex Metrobus East Lancs Omnitown (6620) on a town circular service. A rather bizzare ride, the driver was throwing the bus round the corners like a racing car driver and braking very harshly. Towards the end of the run the driver pulls up into a petrol station, fills up. As I alight back at the bus station he exclaims 'Where the hell have you come from'. (Red Rose)
14- A very very small 58 plate Optare Solo this time on another town circular service to Elmshurst. Driver exclaims that he's never seen an explorer before and tries to refuse travel despite myself showing an email from Redline themselves that the ticket is accepted on their services. Eventually he gives way telling me that 'I should pay properly next time'. That aside this route serves some very tight roads
55- An Ex First London Enviro 200 from Aylesbury to Amersham, a rather uneventful ride, however driver had earphones in and I'm pretty sure that I could hear talking through a phone from the cab (Red Rose)
1A- Another 12 plate Citaro from Amersham to High Wycombe, a very uneventful ride (Arriva)
39- 05 plate Volvo B7TL/Gemini (Ex Go Ahead London) on this lovely town circular route, some very tight corners, and hairpin bends along with steep hills (Carousel Buses)
30- 15 plate Wright Streetlite WF on another town circular service, again a very scenic route and the bus tackled the hills very well by Streetlite standards (Arriva)
800- 12 plate Citaro from the Bus Station to the Coachway- bog standard uneventful ride
LHR- 19 plate Mercedes Tourismo from High Wycombe Coachway to Heathrow Central. Very interestingly if you buy your intalink explorer on carousel you can use it on the Oxford Airline on the section stated above. It cannot be bought on the coach though. One of the strangest anmolies that this ticket has. First time on one of these and this was my highlight of the day, incredibly suspension, seats and so much power; I could easily do an overnight on this.
Last two rides were a 285 and a 490 which concluded the day! Much improved experience using the explorer ticket, as a tip when using ones issued by ticketers on other operators fold away the QR code as this won't scan, just show the driver. You might experience some hassle when using this ticket on the Redline, Red Eagle and Red Rose however I can confirm via an email I was sent from the company that this ticket is valid on all of their services in and outside of Hertfordshire.
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Post by towertransit70 on Apr 23, 2021 12:46:06 GMT
Haven't posted on here for a while but had a jolly around Buckinghamshire and a bit of Bedfordshire today on an Intalink Explorer Ticket....here goes: X26- 59 plate Volvo B9TL Gemini 2 (WVL) from Teddington - Heathrow- arrived 9 late but made up about five mins despite a rather relaxed driving style A10- 65 plate E20D/E200 from Heathrow to Uxbridge- a very heavy footed driver at the wheel made for an interesting ride 104- 65 plate Wright Streetlite DF from Uxbridge to High Wycombe- slightly overtimed, had to regulate a few times but the driver was fast and the route interesting (Carousel) 40 - 55 plate Mercedes Citaro from High Wycombe to Thame, made this connection as it was running 15 late, very fast driver but kickdown was disabled (Carousel) 280- 63 plate VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar from Thame to Aylesbury, another very fast-paced ride this time (Arriva) 150- 12 plate Mercedes Citaro Facelift from Aylesbury to Milton Keynes, again a fast driver but this route was overtimed, at one point we were running 7 mins early. Whole thing took about 1hr 25 mins (Arriva) 100- A very high spec E20D/Enviro 200 from Milton Keynes to Aylesbury, very fast driving and the route was completed in 52 mins. I imagine reliability isn't very good when traffic piles up approaching Aylesbury in more normal times. It will be interesting to see how long the war between Red Rose and Arriva holds out on this corridor. 10- Ex Metrobus East Lancs Omnitown (6620) on a town circular service. A rather bizzare ride, the driver was throwing the bus round the corners like a racing car driver and braking very harshly. Towards the end of the run the driver pulls up into a petrol station, fills up. As I alight back at the bus station he exclaims 'Where the hell have you come from'. (Red Rose) 14- A very very small 58 plate Optare Solo this time on another town circular service to Elmshurst. Driver exclaims that he's never seen an explorer before and tries to refuse travel despite myself showing an email from Redline themselves that the ticket is accepted on their services. Eventually he gives way telling me that 'I should pay properly next time'. That aside this route serves some very tight roads 55- An Ex First London Enviro 200 from Aylesbury to Amersham, a rather uneventful ride, however driver had earphones in and I'm pretty sure that I could hear talking through a phone from the cab (Red Rose) 1A- Another 12 plate Citaro from Amersham to High Wycombe, a very uneventful ride (Arriva) 39- 05 plate Volvo B7TL/Gemini (Ex Go Ahead London) on this lovely town circular route, some very tight corners, and hairpin bends along with steep hills (Carousel Buses) 30- 15 plate Wright Streetlite WF on another town circular service, again a very scenic route and the bus tackled the hills very well by Streetlite standards (Arriva) 800- 12 plate Citaro from the Bus Station to the Coachway- bog standard uneventful ride LHR- 19 plate Mercedes Tourismo from High Wycombe Coachway to Heathrow Central. Very interestingly if you buy your intalink explorer on carousel you can use it on the Oxford Airline on the section stated above. It cannot be bought on the coach though. One of the strangest anmolies that this ticket has. First time on one of these and this was my highlight of the day, incredibly suspension, seats and so much power; I could easily do an overnight on this. Last two rides were a 285 and a 490 which concluded the day! Much improved experience using the explorer ticket, as a tip when using ones issued by ticketers on other operators fold away the QR code as this won't scan, just show the driver. You might experience some hassle when using this ticket on the Redline, Red Eagle and Red Rose however I can confirm via an email I was sent from the company that this ticket is valid on all of their services in and outside of Hertfordshire. Last weekend. I had the pleasure of going on the 102 carousel buses. Its ridiculous how overtimed the section is. On the way I had a streelite and the driver only did 47 mph once. The other 50 sections only did 35mph. On the way back had a great scania driver who was about 10 mins late but again did up to 50mph once and was doing around 40 on the other 50 sections. I think he was still early when arrived at Uxbridge. The service is ridiculous. I mean i get why they do in London but why outer aswell. I always assumed that private operators wouldn't care about drivers being early and with regulating the routes🤔. I really think the route can be done in 45 mins instead of 55 + its scheduled to take. Regarding ur A10 experience its good that u had a fast driver. These days fast drivers are getting rarer and rarer to see. Looks like u had a great day out!!!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2021 15:59:43 GMT
So today I finally started to use buses again. I had only used one bus last October so this really was my first proper day on the buses in 13 months!
I managed to catch up on the 323 with its new E200EVs - These are very snazzy comfy buses. I used this Canning Town to Mile End then caught the 25 to City Thameslink this was my first ride under Stagecoach! Must say the service wasn't great today. I had a 10 to 12 min wait as a result the bus was pretty busy! I then used the 8 and 15 before heading back towards home. I tried to catch a 25 but gave up after about 15 mins wait at Aldgate! The weird thing was two buses passed me heading back to City Thameslink guessing they were running shorts at this end for some reason?
In the end I caught a 15 and 115 back towards Canning Town.
Was good to be back on transport I think it's pretty safe to say the current limits on passenger numbers has gone out of the window now things are back open.
I now plan to catch the new buses on the 69 next weekend. I am a bit disappointed I never managed a final ride of the DNs on the 69 before the route moves to GAL.
Edit looking at the timetable for the 25 that's about right guessing I'm out of touch and didn't realise just how much the service has been cut back its about every 10 mins on a Sunday.
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Apr 25, 2021 17:18:03 GMT
So today I finally started to use buses again. I had only used one bus last October so this really was my first proper day on the buses in 13 months! I managed to catch up on the 323 with its new E200EVs - These are very snazzy comfy buses. I used this Canning Town to Mile End then caught the 25 to City Thameslink this was my first ride under Stagecoach! Must say the service wasn't great today. I had a 10 to 12 min wait as a result the bus was pretty busy! I then used the 8 and 15 before heading back towards home. I tried to catch a 25 but gave up after about 15 mins wait at Aldgate! The weird thing was two buses passed me heading back to City Thameslink guessing they were running shorts at this end for some reason? In the end I caught a 15 and 115 back towards Canning Town. Was good to be back on transport I think it's pretty safe to say the current limits on passenger numbers has gone out of the window now things are back open. I now plan to catch the new buses on the 69 next weekend. I am a bit disappointed I never managed a final ride of the DNs on the 69 before the route moves to GAL. Edit looking at the timetable for the 25 that's about right guessing I'm out of touch and didn't realise just how much the service has been cut back its about every 10 mins on a Sunday. The 25 was also on diversion via the 205 from Aldgate, so it would have not been serving the main section, assuming that's where you were standing. Looks like that route is back to always being put on a new diversion everyday due to protests and incidents somewhere Heading back to Ilford the buses seem to be using the London Wall so I assume the police incident seems to have resulted in a major part of the city being closed off.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2021 19:05:49 GMT
So today I finally started to use buses again. I had only used one bus last October so this really was my first proper day on the buses in 13 months! I managed to catch up on the 323 with its new E200EVs - These are very snazzy comfy buses. I used this Canning Town to Mile End then caught the 25 to City Thameslink this was my first ride under Stagecoach! Must say the service wasn't great today. I had a 10 to 12 min wait as a result the bus was pretty busy! I then used the 8 and 15 before heading back towards home. I tried to catch a 25 but gave up after about 15 mins wait at Aldgate! The weird thing was two buses passed me heading back to City Thameslink guessing they were running shorts at this end for some reason? In the end I caught a 15 and 115 back towards Canning Town. Was good to be back on transport I think it's pretty safe to say the current limits on passenger numbers has gone out of the window now things are back open. I now plan to catch the new buses on the 69 next weekend. I am a bit disappointed I never managed a final ride of the DNs on the 69 before the route moves to GAL. Edit looking at the timetable for the 25 that's about right guessing I'm out of touch and didn't realise just how much the service has been cut back its about every 10 mins on a Sunday. The 25 was also on diversion via the 205 from Aldgate, so it would have not been serving the main section, assuming that's where you were standing. Looks like that route is back to always being put on a new diversion everyday due to protests and incidents somewhere Heading back to Ilford the buses seem to be using the London Wall so I assume the police incident seems to have resulted in a major part of the city being closed off. That explains it! I was outside Aldgate Station. Not sure what happened but all local roads seemed to be open including Fenchurch Street.
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Post by planesandtrains on Apr 26, 2021 9:09:12 GMT
Haven't posted on here for a while but had a jolly around Buckinghamshire and a bit of Bedfordshire today on an Intalink Explorer Ticket....here goes: X26- 59 plate Volvo B9TL Gemini 2 (WVL) from Teddington - Heathrow- arrived 9 late but made up about five mins despite a rather relaxed driving style A10- 65 plate E20D/E200 from Heathrow to Uxbridge- a very heavy footed driver at the wheel made for an interesting ride 104- 65 plate Wright Streetlite DF from Uxbridge to High Wycombe- slightly overtimed, had to regulate a few times but the driver was fast and the route interesting (Carousel) 40 - 55 plate Mercedes Citaro from High Wycombe to Thame, made this connection as it was running 15 late, very fast driver but kickdown was disabled (Carousel) 280- 63 plate VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar from Thame to Aylesbury, another very fast-paced ride this time (Arriva) 150- 12 plate Mercedes Citaro Facelift from Aylesbury to Milton Keynes, again a fast driver but this route was overtimed, at one point we were running 7 mins early. Whole thing took about 1hr 25 mins (Arriva) 100- A very high spec E20D/Enviro 200 from Milton Keynes to Aylesbury, very fast driving and the route was completed in 52 mins. I imagine reliability isn't very good when traffic piles up approaching Aylesbury in more normal times. It will be interesting to see how long the war between Red Rose and Arriva holds out on this corridor. 10- Ex Metrobus East Lancs Omnitown (6620) on a town circular service. A rather bizzare ride, the driver was throwing the bus round the corners like a racing car driver and braking very harshly. Towards the end of the run the driver pulls up into a petrol station, fills up. As I alight back at the bus station he exclaims 'Where the hell have you come from'. (Red Rose) 14- A very very small 58 plate Optare Solo this time on another town circular service to Elmshurst. Driver exclaims that he's never seen an explorer before and tries to refuse travel despite myself showing an email from Redline themselves that the ticket is accepted on their services. Eventually he gives way telling me that 'I should pay properly next time'. That aside this route serves some very tight roads 55- An Ex First London Enviro 200 from Aylesbury to Amersham, a rather uneventful ride, however driver had earphones in and I'm pretty sure that I could hear talking through a phone from the cab (Red Rose) 1A- Another 12 plate Citaro from Amersham to High Wycombe, a very uneventful ride (Arriva) 39- 05 plate Volvo B7TL/Gemini (Ex Go Ahead London) on this lovely town circular route, some very tight corners, and hairpin bends along with steep hills (Carousel Buses) 30- 15 plate Wright Streetlite WF on another town circular service, again a very scenic route and the bus tackled the hills very well by Streetlite standards (Arriva) 800- 12 plate Citaro from the Bus Station to the Coachway- bog standard uneventful ride LHR- 19 plate Mercedes Tourismo from High Wycombe Coachway to Heathrow Central. Very interestingly if you buy your intalink explorer on carousel you can use it on the Oxford Airline on the section stated above. It cannot be bought on the coach though. One of the strangest anmolies that this ticket has. First time on one of these and this was my highlight of the day, incredibly suspension, seats and so much power; I could easily do an overnight on this. Last two rides were a 285 and a 490 which concluded the day! Much improved experience using the explorer ticket, as a tip when using ones issued by ticketers on other operators fold away the QR code as this won't scan, just show the driver. You might experience some hassle when using this ticket on the Redline, Red Eagle and Red Rose however I can confirm via an email I was sent from the company that this ticket is valid on all of their services in and outside of Hertfordshire. Last weekend. I had the pleasure of going on the 102 carousel buses. Its ridiculous how overtimed the section is. On the way I had a streelite and the driver only did 47 mph once. The other 50 sections only did 35mph. On the way back had a great scania driver who was about 10 mins late but again did up to 50mph once and was doing around 40 on the other 50 sections. I think he was still early when arrived at Uxbridge. The service is ridiculous. I mean i get why they do in London but why outer aswell. I always assumed that private operators wouldn't care about drivers being early and with regulating the routes🤔. I really think the route can be done in 45 mins instead of 55 + its scheduled to take. Regarding ur A10 experience its good that u had a fast driver. These days fast drivers are getting rarer and rarer to see. Looks like u had a great day out!!! I've noted a trend in the home counties north of london with overpadded schedules. South of London routes tend to have much much tighter timetables (metrobus/stagecoach south and kent especially)
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Post by vjaska on Apr 28, 2021 1:50:55 GMT
From yesterday on way back to work: 452 from Vauxhall to Notting Hill Gate. Nice and Nippy driver. Got up to 34mph. But after missing 31 and 148 to shepherds vush, I got on the 94 and the driver thrashed it doing 42mph non stop until royal crescent. Very quick. Comparing to today 452 did only max 30 and 94 around 20mph. So big difference indeed. Bearing in mind its not the first time I had the 94 being thr quick although at other times got upto around 36-37mph. Its great what some drivers are capable of!!!! I don't think it's wise detailing how fast a driver went especially if it's over the limit and if your using one of those speed aps to calculate the speed, they're not always reliable.
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