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Post by vjaska on Jun 9, 2024 21:58:29 GMT
Brilliant day out and about today, my first proper bus day since competing every bus route, so spent today revisiting some routes and buses I haven’t done in years 73 - Euston to Stoke Newington, I completely underestimated how short this route is now. End to end in just over half an hour in clear traffic 276 - full end to end to Newham Hospital. First time I’ve been on this route this 2017, and even then was a small journey from Stratford to Plaistow. What a route this is, and the new Volvo’s really are outstanding, so smooth quiet and comfortable. Interestingly the electric motors sound just like BYDs. Then it dawned on me, aren’t BYD and Volvo owned by the same Chinese company? Maybe they share technology. It’s been said a few times that the 474 is the ‘classic old east London route’. Having done the 276 I’d actually say it was this one. Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham and does all the residential areas, if you want a tour of East London, this is the one I suggest. It was so good I’d go as far as to say this is now my favourite single decker route, bar the C10 obviously This route should be called the roof ripper. I counted seven low bridges and walkways on this route! Never seen anything like it. I counted four definite low bridges, another one which is probably also too low and then two walkways around West Ham Station which go above the road, which also look too low for deckers. 473 - my first journey on this under GAL. It had a whiff of the 131 about it, probably because of the WVNs. I do love these vehicles, but having been on them they are very tired and tatty now though, and certainly do deserve retirement soon. E3 - over to West London as I wanted to do one of the old SN60 hybrids, which used to be on the 94, haven’t been on these since the 94 got its electrics. All I can say is these buses really are knackered now, it was gutless and so noisy. No wonder these are unreliable, and I’m guessing these also haven’t been looked after too well. The route is also an utter mess, I got lucky with the bus turning up straight away, but it was at the end of the 27 minute gap, and if I missed that a further 21 minute gap where three E3’s were bunched together. How anyone can plan using this route is beyond me 28 - first time since 2017 on this route. The last time I took it was when TT had it on one of the old 62-reg G2s. Only Fulham Broadway to HSK on this route as a snail could literally travel quicker. Fulham is just an absolute mess, such ridiculous traffic. However the 62-reg G2’s Metroline have put on this are excellent. You’d never know they’re 12 year old vehicles, VW1393 was in fabulous condition. Nothing else worth mentioning other than the 1 and 26 I took, which were both absolutely rammed. Since their re-routings the 1 and 26’s loadings seem to have skyrocketed. Nearly every one of each I saw today was close to being fully seated or more. What is really good to see is that loads of routes especially in Central London seem to be absolutely packed at least at weekends now, can’t speak much for what goes on during the week. The 1, 9, 13, 25, 26, 30, 35, 40, 55, 91, 98, 133, 139, 149, 172, 176, 188, 205, 220, 243, 295, 388, 476 I’ve all seen get extremely heavy loads today Oh I'd say the P5 is the roof ripper - from what I've heard it has a total of 13 low bridges on its route. It should be the P5 with the most though it's not 13 - it has low bridges on Thessaly Road, Stewarts Road, Bedford Road, Coldharbour Lane (the one at the Atlantic Road junction) & Loughborough Road. DE20106 276 should only have low bridges on Wick Lane, Fairfield Road by BW & Manor Road (the one that carries the Greenway over it)
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Post by vjaska on Jun 9, 2024 23:44:43 GMT
Yesterday's journey to the 406 Running Day: Walked to Brixton Water Lane bus stop The 333 to Streatham, St Leonards Church (MHV70) - standard ride, nothing particularly special about it Walked to Streatham Station Had more than enough time before my train so decided to walk to Streatham Common Station for no real reason Southern service to East Croydon (Class 377) - it managed to arrive three minutes late at every stop but even with that, I was still on time for my change of connection at East Croydon Southern service to Horley (Class 377) - with Redhill shut due to engineering works, I was told to go to Horley by my train app so that's what I did. The platform announcers kept toying with what platform the Worthing bound train that I required was heading into - originally it was 3 (I had just come from 5), then it changed to 5 and then as the train pulled in, it was 3 again so up and down the stairs I was going. The train itself was late but again, I made my connection, this time far more tightly than I thought Southern Railway Replacement service to Redhill Station (2508) - driver left about 5 minutes earlier than scheduled and proceeded to drive like he was back in Lambeth on the 109 despite running along mainly 40mph roads. The bus was rather nosier than usual too. That said, I was just glad to make it in good time to Redhill The 406 to Tolworth Station ( 610 G610BPH) - this was the main bus I was after being rather unique on the preserved scene, an ex London & Country Volvo Citybus with an East Lancs S type body. The bus was very good, sounded awesome as most B10M's do and was a throughly enjoyable ride despite arriving at Tolworth a few minutes late. I was also pleased with how well it performed up the steep Reigate Hill with another passenger remarking it did a far better job up their than the 166's buses do on it's route ![(rofl)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/rofl.png) Oh and the seats were very comfortable too. The 406 to Redhill Bus Station ( 610 G610BPH) - I decided to grab it back hoping I could make a connection with M6 (timetable said I have a 10 minute gap between reaching their and M6 arriving). The ride was as enjoyable going back and managed to speak to one of the people looking after as we turned around at Tolworth - they told me they are halfway through sorting the roof out (water had got in between the panels) and the moquette is to be re-trimmed at a later date. As we approached Redhill Bus Station, M6 was departing so that plan was out of the window, however I wasn't chasing M6 out of necessity and so I had a back up plan The 406 to Epsom, Clock Tower (RM2) - this was my back up plan and as it turned out, not a very good one. As splendid as it looks, it's one of the worst performing RM's I've been on, dreadfully slow - so slow, it took an age just to make up Reigate Hill (it could go no higher than 2nd gear because as soon as it changed into 3rd, it would simply drop back into 2nd a few seconds later). Even on the flats, it wasn't particularly quick and this bus ended up being seriously late, unable to stick to timetable at all. I saw another Kingston bound bus at Epsom and bailed The 406 to Kingston, Eden Street (TA40247) - other than all the kids swarming upstairs around the front, no such issues with this. We overtook RM2 by Epsom Tesco and that was the last I saw of it for the rest of the day. The London portion was fairly busy all the way into Kingston but not as busy as the outside London sections. I arrived into Kingston with my 1h+ gap reduced to half an hour tops so food was out of the question Went to Costa for a hot chocolate Walked to Cromwell Road to wait for my last 406 The 406 to Redhill Bus Station ( LDP20) - this driver wasn't hanging around and it was an absolutely brilliant ride as a result. We were pretty quiet all the way until Tolworth Station where those kids on TA40247 boarded this all the way to Redhill Bus Station. The Dart wasn't as powerful as the B10M uphill obviously but it held it's own and on the 40mph roads, the driver went for it. We reached Redhill Bus Station 10-15 minutes early as a result Went to McDonalds for food Southern Railway Replacement service to Purley Irizar I6 Coach YT19KUK) - this driver absolutely caned it to Purley, not much more I can say than that. The coach was very comfortable, really impressed by the interior Southern service to East Croydon (377) Southern service to Streatham (377) The 133 to Brixton Hill, Blenheim Gardens (3058) - nothing to report here Walked home
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Post by ThinLizzy on Jun 11, 2024 15:00:22 GMT
Just a short one from me after an early shift:
HA44 SL2 Ilford to Walthamstow Central Absolutely love the SL2 route, and it's good to see more people using the route. Driver didn't dawdle around either and we made it to Walthamstow in really good time
67022 W11 Walthamstow Central to Crooked Billet After a quite Pret stop, jumped on a new Metrocity on the W11. The new buses are really smart inside, but the Switch product it's quite strange- quite a lot of glass panels inside so the interior doesnt feel that "open" and they sound like a sooped up mobility scooter. Have to say, I won't be in a rush to get the W11 again
37720 385 Crooked Billet to Chingford Station Been wanting to do this route for a while, and really wasn't sure how it got from Chingford Mount to the station. There was one part coming of Waltham Way where the bus turns right where I thought "surely it's not going to turn down there." Vehicle was really clean inside, smelled like it had recently been retrimmed.
10104 179 back to Ilford
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Post by Busboy105 on Jun 15, 2024 22:56:56 GMT
Done the Heathrow Express today. This is probably the only "metro" National Rail route that I don't see TFL taking mainly because of other services to Heathrow Airport. For an "express" service I don't know if the 387s really scream premium service but hey.. if it gets you from A to B that's OK.
Piccadilly line- Wood Green to Piccadilly Circus Bakerloo line- Piccadilly Circus to Paddington Heathrow Express- Paddington to Heathrow Terminal 2&3 (already done T2&3 to 5 so just left me with two stops. Didn't know it was partly owned by GWR. Could've maybe combine it with the West Ealing- Greenford shuttle) Walked to Heathrow Central bus Station 3013 (111)- Heathrow Central bus Station to Hounslow Bus Station (what's funny was I was actually going to take the 111 when the Electroliners came out only for it to be dispersed to the U5 which I did when I did the U routes over a year ago. So it's kind of like poetic justice) DLE30047 (110)- School Road to Manor Circus Just missed the train at North sheen nearby so just took the bus instead DE20098 (419)- Manor Circus to Lonsdale Road Walked over Hammersmith Bridge DE20166 (72)- Hammersmith Bridge Road to Shepherds Bush Green DLE30037 (272)- Shepherds Bush Green to Cavendish Road Walked to Chiswick Station SWR- Chiswick to Vauxhall Victoria line- Vauxhall to Finsbury Park Piccadilly line- Finsbury Park to Turnpike Lane
Had to go Internet cafe then SEe136 on the 184 to Wood Green then took HV224 on the 221 to Bounds Green Stopped at mums then went home
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Post by astock5000 on Jun 17, 2024 20:44:03 GMT
142 from Watford to Edgware - BDE2758 384 to New Barnet - VMSS2834 307 to Enfield - ES7 317 to Waltham Cross - OME2679
And the same routes back, though not changing buses at exactly the same locations in Enfield and Barnet, the buses being WDE2862, ES1, VMSS2841 and BDE2758 again (which took on BDE2763's passengers at Edgware, both having arrived in service).
First journey I've made wholly on electric buses, and as a couple of quick comparisons all were smooth as you'd expect, while the BZLs and StreetDeck Electroliners - especially so in their case, being double deck - had noticeably good acceleration. The WDE on the 317 was a particularly fast trip, not just along the A10, and I felt pushed back into my seat on a number of occasions (wish I'd chosen a different seat to the lower deck rear row, which lacks headrests!). Meanwhile the BDE appears to have developed a few rattles, which was still not an issue with the now four-year-old OME.
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Post by LK65EBO on Jun 24, 2024 16:21:53 GMT
The aim of this mini bus day out was to ride a Wright GBKite Electroliner.
90: VMH2450 (LK18AHA) - 90 to Northolt - These LK18 VMHs are significantly nicer than the LA68/LF68/LF19 VMHs. EW definitely took care of them under the 113. It's always nice sightseeing near Heathrow and seeing the vast variety of planes on show. E6: 1716 (LV24EXC) - E6 to Greenford Broadway - First ride on a Wrightbus electric single decker. Ride quality was decent and had a very quick acceleration. I'm not a huge fan of the seating layout which would be one of the reasons as to why I slightly prefer the BYD E200EV. The actual journey went quick but there was another E6 4 minutes behind which I don't think is timetabled. 140: VWH2213 (LK16HZE) - 140 to Hayes & Harlington Station - Don't often use this route much as I tend to go for the SL9. However, since the SL9 was 2 minutes behind I didn't think it could overtake us before Hayes and Harlington. The bus was absolutely rammed at the bottom but multiple seats at the top deck. SL9: BCE47100 (LG71DXL) - SL9 to Heathrow Central - My plan was to try and ride some of the YX12 ADEs that I haven't done on the H98. However, an SL14 ADE was due and I have done those multiple times. I instead opted for that very same SL9 which was 2 minutes behind the 140. Nothing much to report about this journey apart from the bus being squeak and rattle central. 222: VWH2348 (LK67CXE) - 222 to Hounslow, Bus Station - Nothing much to report 222: TE1745 (SN09CGE) - 222 to Uxbridge - I was originally meant to get the 482 on the way home, but I then happened to notice this ex First TE on the route which was due in 5 minutes. I haven't done an ex First TE since the Metroline 482 days, so I had to make a slight detour! This was by far the best Enviro 400 I've been on. Plenty of downshifts and the driver was very speedy.
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Post by DE20106 on Jun 27, 2024 19:17:33 GMT
Now I’ve finished all of my London bus routes, I’ve now turned my attention elsewhere … Manchester!! Did an absolute marathon all around Greater Manchester today and will be for the next few days. One thing I’ve already observed, end to ends are much less time consuming up here than in London!! One thing London enthusiasts would LOVE about the Manchester bee network is the organised route numbers. Where route renumberings have taken place, the 4xx routes are in Rochdale, 5xx routes are in Bolton and 6xx routes are in Wigan. Very satisfying, and something I’m sure many enthusiasts would love to see in London V1 - Manchester City Centre to LeighGo-Ahead North West, 3027 BL65YZF - Volvo B5LH / Wright Gemini 3 Picture here - not mineAn end to end on Manchester’s guided busway, well worth a ride if you’re up here. About an hour’s trip, less than half of the journey is actually on the busway though but it’s incredibly fast when on it. Incredibly frequent too, combined with the V2 it gives an every 8 minute service, better than most London routes nowadays. The buses are starting to look very shabby now, will a full leather interior any bits of wear do show up quickly not to mention food crushed into the seats. 608 - Leigh to WiganGo-Ahead North West, 3488 MX70APZ - Wrightbus StreetDeck Picture here - not mineThis route used to be numbered 8, renumbered 608 to avoid the duplicating the other route 8 between Manchester and Bolton. An hour long end to end on an absolutely god awful StreetDeck. Inherited from Diamond, Go North West have a huge number of these heaps of excrement. The driver was ragging this bus within an inch of its life, and yes they are just as jerky, slow and gutless as the 44’s, 97’s and ex-340s buses. Nice route and really interesting to go through Tamar, Hindley and Hindley Wood on the way to Wigan, completely new areas for me. Just a shame it had to be all the way on one of those rot boxes. 635 - Wigan circular via Appley BridgeGo-Ahead North West, 4029 YX61FZW - ADL E20D / ADL Enviro 200 (ex GAL SEN37!!) Picture here - not mineAn ex London bus!!!! When the bus rolled in I knew it was ex-First London and ex-GAL, and then I saw the SEN37 fleet number stickers still present in the cab. I thought the reg looked familiar - I’d been on this bus when it was in London on the 163. This route uncovered a challenge I’m gonna face a lot up here, the route is an entirely lone wolf serving local communities, meaning I had to double back on myself back to Wigan. I get the feeling there will be tons of routes like this in Manchester, something which only the 403 does in London. Meaning I think I’ll be spending a lot of time retracing my steps rather than continuous route hopping in London 607 - Wigan to BoltonGo-Ahead North West, 3486 MX70APV - Wrightbus StreetDeck Picture here - not mineThis route is Manchester’s answer to London’s (now ex-route) 607, except it’s not an express route and uses yet more awful StreetDecks Yet another hour long end to end on an absolutely wretched, miserable StreetDeck. This one hadn’t even been painted yellow yet. This bus was even worse than the first one, pulling away from every stop was a huge effort for the bus and we missed so many traffic lights just because the driver could get the bus to go fast enough to get to the lights in time. Not to mention the rattling, jerking, shuddering and vibrating, honestly there’s a place reserved in hell for this batch of buses 471 - Bolton to RochdaleGo-Ahead North West, 2035 LG73FXF - BYD DD9 / ADL Enviroo400 City EV Picture here - not mineThis route really is North Greater Manchester’s answer to London’s 53. A hugely long and busy trunk route connecting Bolton and Rochdale, two very large towns, via two more very large towns called Bury and Heywood. This bus was GNW’s answer to the Ee. This was my first proper Bee-Network designed and bred bus, all the other ones up until were old fleet just repainted yellow. Another hour long end-to-end route, this bus had full LCD screens with announcements, plus an extra rear facing screen for wheelchair users. A really nice bright vehicle with the super comfy ADL smart seats, such an improvement on the StreetDecks I’d had so far. My longest e2e of the day at 1 hour and 15 minutes 17 - Rochdale to Manchester City Centre
Stagecoach Manchester, 11262 SN69ZFX - ADL E40D / ADL Enviro400 MMC Picture here - not mineThis journey back to Manchester was yet another hour long end to end, another hugely busy trunk route between Manchester and Rochdale. All the way back my bus and two others were playing leapfrog, all in convoy the whole way. After our convoy was a 30 minute wait for the next route 17 bus, I can think of several instances of London routes that run like that! (Ahem 235 and 125!)
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Post by Busboy105 on Jun 29, 2024 22:38:32 GMT
Did the 211 rerouting to Battersea Power Station today.
Piccadilly line- Wood Green to Leicester Square Northern line- Leicester Square to Battersea Power Station (looks like the station has become a very popular destination for obvious reasons; definitely much busier than the last time I was here) LT159 (211)- Battersea Power Station to Hammersmith Bus Station (the 211 was much quieter than I expected it to be. I guess removing it from Waterloo and Victoria would take a hit. Time will tell if the new routing takes shape) 3042 (306)- Hammersmith Bus Station to Acton Vale/Bromyard Avenue Walked to Acton Central Station Overground- Acton Central to Willesden Junction Bakerloo line- Willesden Junction to Wembley Central WDE2781 (204)- Wembley Central Station to Edgware Station HV222 (221)- Edgware Station to Cline Road Stopped at my mums then went home
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Post by COBO on Jul 5, 2024 3:08:41 GMT
395: why don’t TfL know what’s going on with their routes. On the TfL website their is no mention of the 395 being on diversion but it is and has been since last year. According to TFL and the ibus it’s still going around on its normal route but it’s not. 487 - I finally got on the allusive VMS2816 it’s always heading the opposite direction and not my direction when I’m waiting for 487. But time it was heading my direction.. I only got it for a short direction. It’s not a bad bus shame there ain’t bus bell on all the poles. Shame it’s not the double deck version which the 487 could use.
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Post by Busboy105 on Jul 6, 2024 22:49:11 GMT
Did the 281 extension today
HV61 (221)- cline Road to Bounds Green Station Piccadilly line- Bounds Green to Finsbury Park Victoria line- Finsbury Park to Vauxhall SWR- Vauxhall to New Malden SDE20297 (K1)- new Malden Station to Kin g Charles Road BCE47072 (281)- King Charles Road to Tolworth Station (no stand on Toby Way. Only the toilet. Maybe added in the future?) DLE30329 (K2)- Tolworth Station to The Berrylands/Berrylands Station Walked to Berrylands Station SWR- Berrylands to Clapham Junction 2536 (344)- Clapham Junction Station to Liverpool Street Station SEe66 (153)- Liverpool Street Station to Finsbury Park Station (only have 5 more North London day routes left to do end to end after I've done the 153. 4, 259, 383, 389 and 399) Piccadilly line- Finsbury Park to Bounds Green Walked to the store then headed home
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Post by COBO on Jul 9, 2024 21:24:55 GMT
487 to South Harrow SL9 to Harrow Went to McDonald’s and sat at front to watch the buses run past while I tucked into 2 Mc Chicken Sandwiches, Mc Nuggets, Fries and a coke 😂 SL9 to Northolt Park the bus had to stop a little at West Street Whitmore Road a stop it doesn’t serve so that the bus can re start the bus driver had to switch everything on the bus and restart itself again. I thought it was going to break down but it didn’t. 487 to home
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Post by someone on Jul 13, 2024 15:57:50 GMT
Not from today, but Wednesday. I took a train from London-Charing Cross along the Dartford Loop route, and having just bought a copy of the Greater London Bus Map, I decided to take it to somewhere. I initially thought of Crayford or Dartford for the 492, a weird route (even by Bluewater standards) that I have never been on, but timings were annoying, so I got off at Bexley in hope of going on the 269 from end to end. So I took the 132 up to Geddes Place and hopped on the 269, only to discover it had no working announcements. So I got off at Latham Road, walked up to the library stop, and decided to take the B13 from end to end instead.
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Post by Busboy105 on Jul 13, 2024 21:10:31 GMT
With Sadiq Khan practically confirming that TFL will be looking at taking over the National Rail services in London, I went to SW London to go on SWR's metro routes. Done the Hampton Court service already so that left me with the Hounslow and Kingston loops and the Chessington North branch.
HV226 (221)- Cline Road to Bounds Green Station Piccadilly line- Bounds Green to Finsbury Park Victoria line- Finsbury Park to Stockwell Northern line- Stockwell to Morden SDE20286 (K5)- Morden Station to Motspur Park Station SWR- Motspur Park to Chessington North (noticed when stopping at Tolworth the new stand for the 281 has been placed. Wasnt there when i went last week) VH45302 (71)- Chessington North Station to Eden Street Walked to Kingston Station SWR- Kingston to North Sheen Short walk towards Manor Circus 8847 (R70)- Manor Road Sainsbury's to Richmond Bus Station E159 (337)- Richmond Bus Station to Bolingbroke Grove EH310 (77)- Bolingbroke Grove to Earlsfield Station SWR- Earlsfield to Vauxhall Victoria line- Vauxhall to Finsbury Park Piccadilly line- Finsbury Park to Bounds Green Walked home
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Post by Busboy105 on Jul 21, 2024 22:13:37 GMT
Did the Hounslow loop of the SWR today. Funnily enough it doesn't even do the loop today, it becomes a Vauxhall- Kingston route but I didn't need to do the full loop because I did the Kingston one
HV262 (221)- Cline Road to Wood Green Station Stopped at Morrisons then headed for the Tube Piccadilly line- Wood Green to Finsbury Park Victoria line- Finsbury Park to Victoria District line- Victoria to Putney Bridge SE297 (378)- Putney Bridge Station/Gonville Street to Barnes Bridge Station Walked to Barnes Bridge station SWR- Barnes Bridge to Twickenham LT988 (267)- Twickenham Station to Hammersmith Bus Station LT625 (27)- Hammersmith Bus Station to High street Kensington Station Circle line- High Street Kensington to Paddington EH262 (36)- Paddington Station to Marble Arch Station/Edgware Road Walked to Marble arch station Central line- Marble Arch to Oxford Circus Victoria line- Oxford Circus to Finsbury Park Piccadilly line- Finsbury Park to Bounds Green Walked home
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va59
Conductor
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Posts: 102
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Post by va59 on Jul 23, 2024 9:48:31 GMT
Haven't done something like this for years.
Liverpool Street to London Bridge (149) London Bridge to Waterloo East (South Eastern) Waterloo to Richmond (South Western Railway) Richmond to Gunnersbury (London Overground) ROUTEMASTER 70 Gunnersbury to Richmond (London Overground) Richmond to Waterloo (South Western Railway) Waterloo to Holborn (68) Holborn to Walthamstow Central (55) Walthamstow Central to Leyton (58) Leyton to Stratford (69) Stratford to Farringdon (Elizabeth Line) Farringdon to London Bridge (Thameslink) London Bridge to Caterham (Southern) Caterham to Caterham on the Hill (400 Metrobus)
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