London Buses Discussion

[Farningham]

The Bus Routes In London Wiki has suggested that these buses are going to enter service in November 2024. For a bus, introduction into service seems to be very slow.

That November date is for another batch of 28 buses for the Fastrack routes in the Dartford area to operate from Bexleyheath (BX) garage.

 

[H&I]

SL1 is operated by Arriva's Palmers Green garage like the 34 & 102 as such the driver changeovers take place at the stop by the junction to Green Lanes.

Also, interchange with the 444 is possible at Silver Street, and anyone who needs to go to the trading estate or retail park can use the 34. I only mentioned the stop being served on SL1 because boardings are light at that stop for an express route meant to focus on significant trip generators.

That November date is for another batch of 28 buses for the Fastrack routes in the Dartford area to operate from Bexleyheath (BX) garage.

Thank you. Does anyone know if a precise date for the introduction of the buses on route 358 has been announced?

 

[MasterSpenny]

Another electric bus has caught fire, this time on a 23 plate single decker…

Go-Ahead London | The Bus Forum

507/521 when is the date next month, contracts renewend.

tangytango.proboards.com

Not my photo - just been sent this. One of the new 23 plate SEes at Putney garage. Reportedly 2 of them involved, but only a photo of one so far....

 

[Goldfish62]

Thank you. Does anyone know if a precise date for the introduction of the buses on route 358 has been announced?

Not a precise date, but I believe within the next couple of months.

The main holdup I understand has been due to issues with the Orpington charger being on Network Rail land.

 

[H&I]

Not a precise date, but I believe within the next couple of months.

The main holdup I understand has been due to issues with the Orpington charger being on Network Rail land.

Thank you. I will keep an eye out for the introduction and hopefully be able to catch the inaugural service for that.

 

[RacsoMoquette]

Wednesday 24th January 2023, marks the first day that the full fleet of Arriva Londons four EMN Metrocities operated route 377 from 06:30 to 19:00 without the backup of one or two Enviro200s and MMCs. I hope the range is improving and teething troubles are being ironed out.

On a more unfortunate note, London Generals ADL Enviro200 BYD EV (LB73 PHU, SEe222) looks to have caught fire while stationary at Putney garage. I also was reliably informed that another unidentified 73 registration SEe was also destroyed in the vicinity of the former. I sincerely hope that the will not be a recall of the type across the country, as many London operators specifically Go Ahead and RATP Dev operate vast quantities of the type, so a withdrawal would hinder services immensely. The fire occurd on the 13/01/23 however the cause is unidentified.

 

[PeterC]

Years back, London Transport had an old STL with its roof removed, to keep tree branches suitably trimmed so that they would not be hit by buses. The bus has been preserved, perhaps it might be returned to service...

I had a vague 60 year old memory of seeing that in my Ian Allen guide. I was wondering if it was accurate when I saw your post.

 

[Busaholic]

The frequency uplift on the X26/SL7 was just shy of 100% - it’s now every 15 minutes for most of the day vice half hourly beforehand.

It was every 20 minutes in the immediate period before the rebranding, so 3bph to 4 bph = 33.33% increase. The 41% uptake in ridership is in relation to that.

Can someone please provide a link to Leon Daniels's comments on the SL5 in 'The Londoner' referred to earlier, as I'm not finding it and am keen to read them?

 

[H&I]

Transport for London are proposing a new night bus service, the N518 between Trafalgar Square and Ruislip station, which would follow the N18 from central London until Barham Park Roundabout in Sudbury before branching off to serve Northolt Park, Rayners Lane, Eastcote and Ruislip. This new route would be a branch of the N18 and improve the frequency of service on the common section shared between the N18 and N518 between Trafalgar Square and Barham Park Roundabout to every 7.5 minutes on weekends.

Route N518 – creation of a new night bus service between Central London and Ruislip

Update 04 March 2024 This consultation has now closed. Thank you to everyone who responded. We are analysing your feedback and will report back shortly. -update ends- We would like to hear your views about the proposed creation of a new night bus route N518 to run

haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk

We would like to hear your views about the proposed creation of a new night bus route N518 to run between Trafalgar Square and Ruislip Station via Wembley, Sudbury Hill and Rayners Lane, covering areas in the London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow and Hillingdon. The new route follows the alignment of the existing route N18 between Trafalgar Square and Barham Park Roundabout travelling through the City of Westminster and the London borough of Brent.

Whilst London’s Tube service is not 24/7 like New York’s is, London makes up for this with the night bus service, which is surprisingly better than the night bus service of many other large cities, such as Hong Kong. Having said that, Hong Kong does have an informal night network of red minibuses, which London does not have.

 

[Busaholic]

Transport for London are proposing a new night bus service, the N518 between Trafalgar Square and Ruislip station, which would follow the N18 from central London until Barham Park Roundabout in Sudbury before branching off to serve Northolt Park, Rayners Lane, Eastcote and Ruislip. This new route would be a branch of the N18 and improve the frequency of service on the common section shared between the N18 and N518 between Trafalgar Square and Barham Park Roundabout to every 7.5 minutes on weekends.

Route N518 – creation of a new night bus service between Central London and Ruislip

Update 04 March 2024 This consultation has now closed. Thank you to everyone who responded. We are analysing your feedback and will report back shortly. -update ends- We would like to hear your views about the proposed creation of a new night bus route N518 to run

haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk

Someone with a knowledge of London bus history might have put those numbers in a different order i.e. N158.

 

[talldave]

Wednesday 24th January 2023, marks the first day that the full fleet of Arriva Londons four EMN Metrocities operated route 377 from 06:30 to 19:00 without the backup of one or two Enviro200s and MMCs. I hope the range is improving and teething troubles are being ironed out.

How would range improve? It is what it is.

 

[Man of Kent]

How would range improve? It is what it is.

Range is affected by driving style, so as drivers get used to the correct techniques of driving an electric bus, it should improve.

 

[Busaholic]

Range is affected by driving style, so as drivers get used to the correct techniques of driving an electric bus, it should improve.

It's not easy being a bus driver now, is it? Not saying it ever was, but many garages now have a mixture of diesel, hybrid and electric buses, and some have drivers who alternate between all three (e.g. Catford).

 

[Goldfish62]

Range is affected by driving style, so as drivers get used to the correct techniques of driving an electric bus, it should improve.

Isn't there also a power supply issue at Enfield which is affecting the ability to fully charge buses, hence why they're also having issues with their Electroliners?

It's not easy being a bus driver now, is it? Not saying it ever was, but many garages now have a mixture of diesel, hybrid and electric buses, and some have drivers who alternate between all three (e.g. Catford).

Yes. Driving style very different between all three. Also in the mix is some buses with camera mirrors, others with normal mirrors.

But in my driving days I loved the variety of different vehicles to drive!

 

[Busaholic]

Isn't there also a power supply issue at Enfield which is affecting the ability to fully charge buses, hence why they're also having issues with their Electroliners?


Yes. Driving style very different between all three. Also in the mix is some buses with camera mirrors, others with normal mirrors.

But in my driving days I loved the variety of different vehicles to drive!

I gather RMs and RTs were very different from each other to drive, not that I've had the experience myself, to my regret!

 

[Goldfish62]

I gather RMs and RTs were very different from each other to drive, not that I've had the experience myself, to my regret!

Yes, they could not be more different.

In my driving days it was often 1st half Metrobus, 2nd half DMS, or 1st half Leyland National, 2nd half Metrobus, or combinations thereof. All very different!

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Another electric bus has caught fire, this time on a 23 plate single decker…

Go-Ahead London | The Bus Forum

507/521 when is the date next month, contracts renewend.

tangytango.proboards.com

Can this (and other electric bus fires) be claimed back through insurance?

 

[MotCO]

Can this (and other electric bus fires) be claimed back through insurance?

Video footage on the Telegraph online https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/25/electric-bus-flames-fire-putney-go-ahead-london-garage/

An electric bus has burst into flames in London, just weeks after another from the same fleet was engulfed, sparking panic among commuters.
Footage posted on social media shows a vehicle on fire inside a bus garage in Putney on Wednesday.
One wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Another London bus on fire, this time inside a bus garage … What the hell is going on with our buses.”
Staff were reportedly evacuated as fire crews attempted to get the fire under control.
The bus was operated by Go Ahead London, which has begun an investigation into the incident.
It said a safety check of its 380-strong London bus fleet would be carried out as a precaution.
The fire comes after an electric double-decker bus caught fire in south-west London on Jan 11 during rush hour.

Flames engulfing back of bus​

Police said emergency services were called at around 7am to reports of flames engulfing the back of the bus, which was on its usual route from Mitcham to Raynes Park. The back windows on the upper deck were completely destroyed.
No injuries were reported, but people were told to avoid the area.
The 200 bus is one of Go Ahead London’s fully electric bus routes, and was introduced in 2021.
At the time, Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said the buses would “make a real difference cleaning up the air in busy parts of central London and are another step along the way to making all London’s buses zero emission by 2037”.
A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: “Firefighters tackled a fire involving an electric bus at a bus garage on Chelverton Road in Putney yesterday. Part of the bus was damaged by fire.
“Around 20 people left the building before firefighters arrived and there were no reports of any injuries. The Brigade’s 999 Control Officers received nine calls about the fire.
Advertisement

“The Brigade was called at 0821 and the fire was extinguished by 0913. Two fire engines from Fulham and Tooting Fire Stations attended the scene.
“The cause of the fire is under investigation.”

 

[Snow1964]

Can this (and other electric bus fires) be claimed back through insurance?

Depends what their policy excess is.

I suspect an organisation as big as GoAhead group probably has an excess of £5-10m per claim.

They save on Insurance premiums, but got to cover incidents below excess themselves. Effectively self insuring except for major incidents and third party liabilities.

 

[Dr_Paul]

Also in the mix is some buses with camera mirrors, others with normal mirrors.

I recently noticed that the 65 bus on which I was travelling had cameras instead of mirrors, and also noticed that the images on the driver's monitors were reversed so that they appeared as though they were seen in a mirror.

 

[MPW]

One of the ieTrams (IE4, LJ23 FHV) was testing the Crystal Palace pantograph last week. Photo courtesy of a Tangytango poster.

IE4 (LJ23FHV)

Explore vjaska's 2315 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

I did a big eye roll about how disingenuous it is to call this a tram, and would be disappointing.

But now I see the picture... it does look very nice and shiny! Maybe I'll be swayed by the gimmick after all

 

[Edvid]

Yeah, as model names go ieTram (or ie tram as the name is officially styled) is pretty naff. That said I suspect most passengers won't care; better a ridiculously-named product that works than a sensibly (or ridiculously)-named product that doesn't.

 

[Goldfish62]

Yeah, as model names go ieTram (or ie tram as the name is officially styled) is pretty naff. That said I suspect most passengers won't care; better a ridiculously-named product that works than a sensibly (or ridiculously)-named product that doesn't.

Yes, it's just a name! Just as the Dennis Dart isn't an actual dart, or the Leyland Leopard isn't an actual leopard!

 

[py_megapixel]

What is the point of that row of small trapezoidal windows below the wheel-arches? I've never seen a tram with those!

 

[Busaholic]

I did a big eye roll about how disingenuous it is to call this a tram, and would be disappointing.

But now I see the picture... it does look very nice and shiny! Maybe I'll be swayed by the gimmick after all

Much the same hype came with the introduction by First Group of the articulated Wright Streetcars in Leeds and other places from 2006. The concept was called ftr and it was supposed to herald ''the future of transport''. The only real feature adopted from the tram was the inaccessability of the driver to the passengers, with tickets bought from street machines in the case of Leeds and on-bus conductors in York. The cynical might suggest it was a poor substitute for the proposed tram routes that Leeds had been promised and they didn't survive beyond a few years.

 

[H&I]

What is the point of that row of small trapezoidal windows below the wheel-arches? I've never seen a tram with those!

It lets more light in and and looks nice, this might be the next new design trend after glass staircases and wrap around front windows, although TfL specification buses tend to lack these features.

 

[MCR247]

What is the point of that row of small trapezoidal windows below the wheel-arches? I've never seen a tram with those!

It lets more light in and and looks nice, this might be the next new design trend after glass staircases and wrap around front windows, although TfL specification buses tend to lack these features.

They do look rather odd, and it somewhat goes against the convention of bus windows covering any sections where you could see below someone’s waist with that black paint.

 

[Statto]

Transport for London are proposing a new night bus service, the N518 between Trafalgar Square and Ruislip station, which would follow the N18 from central London until Barham Park Roundabout in Sudbury before branching off to serve Northolt Park, Rayners Lane, Eastcote and Ruislip. This new route would be a branch of the N18 and improve the frequency of service on the common section shared between the N18 and N518 between Trafalgar Square and Barham Park Roundabout to every 7.5 minutes on weekends.

Route N518 – creation of a new night bus service between Central London and Ruislip

Update 04 March 2024 This consultation has now closed. Thank you to everyone who responded. We are analysing your feedback and will report back shortly. -update ends- We would like to hear your views about the proposed creation of a new night bus route N518 to run

haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk

Whilst London’s Tube service is not 24/7 like New York’s is, London makes up for this with the night bus service, which is surprisingly better than the night bus service of many other large cities, such as Hong Kong. Having said that, Hong Kong does have an informal night network of red minibuses, which London does not have.

Interesting proposal, that part of North West London (including Pinner & Northwood) which is quite a large area, currently have no night buses, although day buses operate 4am to 1am

 

[H&I]

Interesting proposal, that part of North West London (including Pinner & Northwood) which is quite a large area, currently have no night buses, although day buses operate 4am to 1am

I wonder why they have not resumed the night bus operation on the 114 on Saturday and Sunday mornings, even with the return of the Night Tube.

 

[Silent]

They do look rather odd, and it somewhat goes against the convention of bus windows covering any sections where you could see below someone’s waist with that black paint.

Plaxton pointers come to my mind