Absurd Rail Replacement arrangemts

[Timmyd]

Huge numbers of rail replacement buses carrying fresh air around South London today. I’m curious about some of the weird routings for these buses.

Today the line from Shortlands to Victoria was closed leaving a number of suburban stations with no service. Buses were serving all stations from Beckenham Junction to Herne Hill, from where they continued to Denmark Hill. Where the only option was a replacement bus to nowhere on the same line , no trains at all but an overground replacement bus to nowhere near Victoria.

If the bus carried on to the next station the train would normally serve which is Brixton, there would be an easy change to the Victoria Line into Victoria. Brixton is no further than Herne Hill than Denmark Hill and while a busy place, there would be space for a half hourly RRB to use the stand behind the Academy and then pick up outside the tube.

South eastern’s absurd advice for passengers travelling to Victoria was to travel out to Beckenham Junction, Southern to Crystal Palace then another Southern to Victoria. In total almost an hour and a half as opposed to a 12 minute train journey or 30 mins if the bus ran to Brixton then tube.

As a result of course, the RRBs were totally empty and serving no purpose whatsoever whereas the regular TFL buses to Brixton (where an extra fare would be charged) were packed. My question is whether passengers are taken into account when routing RRBs or if it’s simply done to tick a box to say some alternative is available?

 

[Mattplans]

Doesn’t surprise me. I think Southeastern does have something against serving Brixton on RRBs, probably due to little demand.

RRBs usually run to DMK where there are services to Victoria running so passengers from Kent House can complete their journey.

They’ve set the same service up again (they will usually run these on weekends when the line via Kent House is closed) even though the services from Denmark Hill are also affected. I wonder if this is an oversight or there is a high cost assosciated with retraining rrb drivers from their usual route.

It’s a good idea to have them go to Brixton though. I wonder why this isn’t usually done, even if the routes via Denmark Hill are open, it’s faster and more convenient for passengers.

 

[Teds]

There is very little effort put into route learning for any RRB drivers.

TfL and some other operators put up signs at junctions. National Express used to provide route guides and Go-Ahead produced some videos. There will also be maps for known road closures.

Otherwise, they rely on the vehicle operators to provide route training.

It is possible that Brixton is avoided as a destination for RRBs because of congestion and lack of layover space. It is why c2c RRBs do not ever go to Barking and serve Rainham from Upminster.

 

[williamn]

Southeastern never seem to manage RRB’s very well.

There was a week long blockade of the Hastings line recently, and you’d have thought they’d have some decent arrangements in place but it was the usual total lack of of signage and announcements at Tunbridge Wells, twenty five minute gaps between trains arriving and buses leaving and weird bus routings (Tunbridge wells to Wadhurst via Mark Cross, rather than the much quicker route that scheduled buses take).

 

[RJ]

I'm a full time rail replacement bus driver. A week typically consists of a 2-3 hour driving shift on Monday to Thursday evenings and 16 hours on a Sunday. Different routes over a vast operating area. I employ drivers in to cover shifts I can't do - a prerequisite is for them to possess the skills to read maps, or a willingness to commit to learning how to do so.

There is very little effort put into route learning for any RRB drivers.

TfL and some other operators put up signs at junctions. National Express used to provide route guides and Go-Ahead produced some videos. There will also be maps for known road closures.

Otherwise, they rely on the vehicle operators to provide route training.

Route learning has inherent challenges which are never going to go away. People tend to base their lives on some sort of routine. Rail replacement is a function of a routine breaking / chaos situation (closure of the railway).

A route that runs for one or two days every few weeks/months isn't one that drivers can just jump on and learn as a passenger. There are aids - videos and signposts as you say, plus maps, sav-navs, double crewing with route navigators, running route learning buses etc. Each has its own pitfalls and cons which I've seen extensively over the last 13 years I've spent on the frontline of rail replacement. The key is to employ a mix of methods, tailored to the preferred learning method and knowledge of each individual driver.

The routes themselves can also be inconsistent. With Southeastern the routes followed and designated bus stops for each station almost never change, which is a good thing. On some other parts of the rail network, the routes and designated bus stops are forever changing. This then means that pre-existing route knowledge can be a hindrance rather than a help. Diversions pose an ongoing challenge.

Drivers with the appropriate skill set to do rail replacement need consistent weekly hours like everyone else, so you'll find many of them work for multiple employers or an agency with a lot of clients to keep their working hours up. You can spend money training drivers on routes, but if they're not available when the route runs again in 8 weeks time, you have to train someone else (with the aforementioned challenges to face). So only a percentage of the rail replacement workforce is regular faces. The numbers therefore have to be made up by drivers who are not used to the challenges of rail replacement, which is why there are neverending problems with bridge strikes, accidents and pickup stops with waiting passengers being bypassed.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Dec 2025 ==

Huge numbers of rail replacement buses carrying fresh air around South London today. I’m curious about some of the weird routings for these buses.

Today the line from Shortlands to Victoria was closed leaving a number of suburban stations with no service. Buses were serving all stations from Beckenham Junction to Herne Hill, from where they continued to Denmark Hill. Where the only option was a replacement bus to nowhere on the same line , no trains at all but an overground replacement bus to nowhere near Victoria.

If the bus carried on to the next station the train would normally serve which is Brixton, there would be an easy change to the Victoria Line into Victoria. Brixton is no further than Herne Hill than Denmark Hill and while a busy place, there would be space for a half hourly RRB to use the stand behind the Academy and then pick up outside the tube.

South eastern’s absurd advice for passengers travelling to Victoria was to travel out to Beckenham Junction, Southern to Crystal Palace then another Southern to Victoria. In total almost an hour and a half as opposed to a 12 minute train journey or 30 mins if the bus ran to Brixton then tube.

As a result of course, the RRBs were totally empty and serving no purpose whatsoever whereas the regular TFL buses to Brixton (where an extra fare would be charged) were packed. My question is whether passengers are taken into account when routing RRBs or if it’s simply done to tick a box to say some alternative is available?

I think Brixton isn't used as there isn't ticket acceptance on the Underground. Normally when the Beckenham Junction line is shut buses go to Herne Hill then Denmark Hill where there are trains to Victoria. And if the Catford Loop is shut, buses go to Denmark Hill then Herne Hill, where passengers can pick Thameslink up to Elephant, Blackfriars and beyond.

Unusually this time, both lines are shut. There is a strategy in place to get passengers to Central London. Both the Beckenham Junction and Catford Loop replacement services are running to Denmark Hill as normal. The Catford Loop buses are extended to London Bridge this time which they don't normally do.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Dec 2025 ==

They’ve set the same service up again (they will usually run these on weekends when the line via Kent House is closed) even though the services from Denmark Hill are also affected. I wonder if this is an oversight or there is a high cost assosciated with retraining rrb drivers from their usual route.

Southeastern replacement services are organised by Go-Ahead, and Thameslink replacement services are organised by Transport UK. Go-Ahead usually use their own buses, while Transport UK will use an array of bus operators, so it will be different drivers on these routes. However drivers who are used to winding around the backstreets of South East London shouldn't have too much trouble switching from one to the other. I can show up on either of those routes at any time

 

[Timmyd]

Really interesting thanks. Sounds like there’s a lot more planning than you’d think. The weird thing was when I asked SE about alternative routes they gave me this long list of London Terminals there was LU ticket acceptance between, plus places like the Elephant, but not Brixton which would be the most obviously convenient for passengers from HNH and WDU, say.

I also wonder about the economics of this which must be mind blowing. Saw a Thameslink RRB belonging to a company on the Isle of Sheppey passing through Peckham today with two on board, and a completely empty Arriva LT for LO RR. Not wishing to downplay all the hard work @RJ described but I do wonder if this all suggests the arrangements aren’t all that satisfactory?

 

[Ian Hardy]

Really interesting thanks. Sounds like there’s a lot more planning than you’d think. The weird thing was when I asked SE about alternative routes they gave me this long list of London Terminals there was LU ticket acceptance between, plus places like the Elephant, but not Brixton which would be the most obviously convenient for passengers from HNH and WDU, say.

I also wonder about the economics of this which must be mind blowing. Saw a Thameslink RRB belonging to a company on the Isle of Sheppey passing through Peckham today with two on board, and a completely empty Arriva LT for LO RR. Not wishing to downplay all the hard work @RJ described but I do wonder if this all suggests the arrangements aren’t all that satisfactory?

The problem is that most passengers are in their own little dream world and don't read the notices displayed and don't listen to announcements, that is probably because:
(a) they have earplugs in to block out the the rest of the world
or
(b) because of all the "See it, Say it, Sorted" and other "useful" announcements we have to suffer far too frequently, so the important announcements are ignored.
Therefore, most people will be completely unaware that there is a replacement bus service running.

I remember once getting off an eastbound North London Line service at Willesden Junction (pt 4) which terminated there as the line through Gospel Oak was closed. As an alternative, there was a half hourly train service running from Willesden Junction platform 2 to Stratford via Primrose Hill (which was why I was there) with a bus running from outside the station to Camden Road via Gospel Oak. London Overground had put posters up which you couldn't miss and also had a member of staff standing in the passageway directing people to where the trains / buses were running from.
There was someone who ignored the advice from the LO person and thought that they knew best and went towards platform 4 to catch an eastbound service as they normally do. I just managed to get on the service via Primrose Hill, so the person who ignored the advice and the notices would probably have missed that train and more than likely the bus as well.

Which is probably why the RRB buses are empty.

 

[Horizon22]

Suburban / Outer London RRBs are generally not very popular as people often just reroute via London buses as the alternative is slow and meandering. Or just don't travel at all.

 

[RJ]

Really interesting thanks. Sounds like there’s a lot more planning than you’d think. The weird thing was when I asked SE about alternative routes they gave me this long list of London Terminals there was LU ticket acceptance between, plus places like the Elephant, but not Brixton which would be the most obviously convenient for passengers from HNH and WDU, say.

I also wonder about the economics of this which must be mind blowing. Saw a Thameslink RRB belonging to a company on the Isle of Sheppey passing through Peckham today with two on board, and a completely empty Arriva LT for LO RR. Not wishing to downplay all the hard work @RJ described but I do wonder if this all suggests the arrangements aren’t all that satisfactory?

Operators will travel from afar for Transport UK GTR's multiple day block work, indicative that it's worth their while!

As for loadings, back to the point about people being creatures of habit, a lot of people won't touch rail replacement buses. Asides from the general negative perceptions regarding time penalties and getting lost, they might drop them to a different line or place that they're not familiar with. Although recalculating journeys is like second nature to some people, it is actually a technical skill. Some people would rather abandon the journey and do it another time when the line is open again. Others might get a lift to a different line to get to where they're going, or use Uber.

I drove Clapham Junction to Canada Water for years. That route is one of the worst for buses getting lost, especially around Peckham where there are one way systems and banned right turns to contend with. It does take forever to get from end to end but some people would rather do that than go via Waterloo as that route involves a change and having to pay something. Some people doing local journeys might just use the 37/345 or the P12 or other local routes which are a lot quicker. I used to review loading data on routes like this when the line was shut and there was definitely an uptick in usage.

 

[stadler]

Yet another absurd rail replacement arrangement happened on Southern yesterday. Southern had a bunch of rail replacement buses running from Haywards Heath to Brighton in the early hours of Sunday 28th December yesterday to replace the last few trains. This was despite all trains running as normal with nothing cancelled. Apparently their had originally been some engineering work booked but it later got cancelled but yet nobody bothered to cancel the rail replacement buses. So a bunch of empty buses running for zero purpose.

 

[galwhv69]

Southeastern never seem to manage RRB’s very well.

There was a week long blockade of the Hastings line recently, and you’d have thought they’d have some decent arrangements in place but it was the usual total lack of of signage and announcements at Tunbridge Wells, twenty five minute gaps between trains arriving and buses leaving and weird bus routings (Tunbridge wells to Wadhurst via Mark Cross, rather than the much quicker route that scheduled buses take).

The routing via Mark's Cross is due to the low bridge on the bend (passable in a decker if using middle of the road) and various low trees which buses have hit

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Dec 2025 ==

Yet another absurd rail replacement arrangement happened on Southern yesterday. Southern had a bunch of rail replacement buses running from Haywards Heath to Brighton in the early hours of Sunday 28th December yesterday to replace the last few trains. This was despite all trains running as normal with nothing cancelled. Apparently their had originally been some engineering work booked but it later got cancelled but yet nobody bothered to cancel the rail replacement buses. So a bunch of empty buses running for zero purpose.

This was indeed down to a planning issue, and was only spotted a few hours beforehand

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Dec 2025 ==

Huge numbers of rail replacement buses carrying fresh air around South London today. I’m curious about some of the weird routings for these buses.

Today the line from Shortlands to Victoria was closed leaving a number of suburban stations with no service. Buses were serving all stations from Beckenham Junction to Herne Hill, from where they continued to Denmark Hill. Where the only option was a replacement bus to nowhere on the same line , no trains at all but an overground replacement bus to nowhere near Victoria.

If the bus carried on to the next station the train would normally serve which is Brixton, there would be an easy change to the Victoria Line into Victoria. Brixton is no further than Herne Hill than Denmark Hill and while a busy place, there would be space for a half hourly RRB to use the stand behind the Academy and then pick up outside the tube.

South eastern’s absurd advice for passengers travelling to Victoria was to travel out to Beckenham Junction, Southern to Crystal Palace then another Southern to Victoria. In total almost an hour and a half as opposed to a 12 minute train journey or 30 mins if the bus ran to Brixton then tube.

As a result of course, the RRBs were totally empty and serving no purpose whatsoever whereas the regular TFL buses to Brixton (where an extra fare would be charged) were packed. My question is whether passengers are taken into account when routing RRBs or if it’s simply done to tick a box to say some alternative is available?

I drove the LBG - BMS service yesterday with mixed loadings. Only a few passengers going to/from London Bridge with the majority only going as far as Denmark Hill. Decent numbers south of there, including between Bellingham and Bromley South which duplicated the train service, which was a bit surprising

 

[Timmyd]

The problem is that most passengers are in their own little dream world and don't read the notices displayed and don't listen to announcements, that is probably because:
(a) they have earplugs in to block out the the rest of the world
or
(b) because of all the "See it, Say it, Sorted" and other "useful" announcements we have to suffer far too frequently, so the important announcements are ignored.
Therefore, most people will be completely unaware that there is a replacement bus service running.

I remember once getting off an eastbound North London Line service at Willesden Junction (pt 4) which terminated there as the line through Gospel Oak was closed. As an alternative, there was a half hourly train service running from Willesden Junction platform 2 to Stratford via Primrose Hill (which was why I was there) with a bus running from outside the station to Camden Road via Gospel Oak. London Overground had put posters up which you couldn't miss and also had a member of staff standing in the passageway directing people to where the trains / buses were running from.
There was someone who ignored the advice from the LO person and thought that they knew best and went towards platform 4 to catch an eastbound service as they normally do. I just managed to get on the service via Primrose Hill, so the person who ignored the advice and the notices would probably have missed that train and more than likely the bus as well.

Which is probably why the RRB buses are empty.

I think the situation is a bit different here. The posters produced by all operators south of the Thames (other than London Overground) is usually generic lists of all engineering work across their network in very small type and doesn’t shout ‘This station will be closed for a week and you’ll need to take two rail replacement buses to get to central London’ which for stations normally served by four trains an hour on weekdays (which today and the next two days are) and are 15 minutes from Victoria normally is pretty poor form. I consider myself a well informed passenger and I think South Eastern have dropped the ball here by doing the bare minimum rather than thinking about where passengers would actually want to go and helping them get there, which is what RRBs to Brixton (or even better Victoria itself) would have achieved.

 

[MrJeeves]

Yet another absurd rail replacement arrangement happened on Southern yesterday. Southern had a bunch of rail replacement buses running from Haywards Heath to Brighton in the early hours of Sunday 28th December yesterday to replace the last few trains. This was despite all trains running as normal with nothing cancelled. Apparently their had originally been some engineering work booked but it later got cancelled but yet nobody bothered to cancel the rail replacement buses. So a bunch of empty buses running for zero purpose.

During a weekend blockade a few weeks ago, they were also running buses...

• Brighton - Three Bridges (direct)
• Brighton - Three Bridges (calls Preston Park, Hassocks, Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Balcombe)
• Burgess Hill - Haywards Heath (calls Wivelsfield)
• Plumpton - Haywards Heath (direct)
• Lewes - Three Bridges (calls Cooksbridge, Haywards Heath)
• Three Bridges - Gatwick (direct)

(and the same in reverse)

It seemed like a very strange set of operations, until I found out that Junction Road in Burgess Hill was closed, preventing the normal Brighton - Three Bridges buses from serving Wivelsfield in any convenient way. I still don't understand why there were separate buses from Three Bridges to Gatwick, but I assume that part of the closure may have been more last-minute than the main blockade, hence needing to contract in buses for that separately.

 

[Hophead]

It seemed like a very strange set of operations, until I found out that Junction Road in Burgess Hill was closed, preventing the normal Brighton - Three Bridges buses from serving Wivelsfield in any convenient way. I still don't understand why there were separate buses from Three Bridges to Gatwick, but I assume that part of the closure may have been more last-minute than the main blockade, hence needing to contract in buses for that separately.

It's a lot easier to marshal the crowds onto the correct bus at Three Bridges, where the car park can be commandeered. Not only that, but the Three Bridges operation is so well rehearsed by now that there's a real disincentive to change it.

 

[Ian Hardy]

It's a lot easier to marshal the crowds onto the correct bus at Three Bridges, where the car park can be commandeered. Not only that, but the Three Bridges operation is so well rehearsed by now that there's a real disincentive to change it.

Also there isn't the space at Gatwick Airport to do what you can do at Three Bridges and if you did, Gatwick Airport Ltd would probably charge for doing it. Whereas at Three Bridges the railway owns the car park so the railway can do what it likes.

 

[Edvid]

Operators will travel from afar for Transport UK GTR's multiple day block work, indicative that it's worth their while!

Just as well considering three consecutive all-line Purley-Gatwick closures are on the horizon and Metrobus Crawley are (nominally) currently down 40+ buses!

 

[Roger1973]

I presume there's some franchise requirement to operate some sort of rail replacement bus when a line's closed - even if it's not the full length of normal route.

I have encountered Great Northern rail replacements serving stations as far south as Alexandra Palace then feeding in to the Underground at Turnpike Lane rather than going all the way to Kings Cross (although they continued to do this until well after the Underground closed for the night on a Sunday...)

In a lot of London, unless someone has a point to point railway season ticket (which must be a rarity now) then they are more likely to walk / bus / drive to an alternative railway or underground station that's not affected by the closure than to use rail replacement buses from their local station.

Yes, feeding in to another rail replacement bus at Denmark Hill sounds faintly ludicrous in the circumstances. My first thought was to wonder if whoever organised the replacement for the Bromley South - Brixton - Victoria service didn't know about the closure on the line through Denmark Hill, but with it being (at least in part) the same operator, that shouldn't have happened.

 

[Watershed]

although they continued to do this until well after the Underground closed for the night on a Sunday

There are night buses from Turnpike Lane to various places in London so it's not a completely silly thing to do.

 

[Roger1973]

There are night buses from Turnpike Lane to various places in London so it's not a completely silly thing to do.

Yes, I suppose passengers were not completely stranded, but I suspect nobody had thought about it, and I'd be surprised if ticket acceptance had been arranged like it had been at the Underground stations involved. (I didn't try it personally.)

 

[norbitonflyer]

It is possible that Brixton is avoided as a destination for RRBs because of congestion and lack of layover space. It is why c2c RRBs do not ever go to Barking and serve Rainham from Upminster.

Also lack of ticket acceptance on LU, and the iniquitious higher contactless fares charged if changing between NR and LU rather than sticking to NR throughout

 

[Edsmith]

Huge numbers of rail replacement buses carrying fresh air around South London today. I’m curious about some of the weird routings for these buses.

Today the line from Shortlands to Victoria was closed leaving a number of suburban stations with no service. Buses were serving all stations from Beckenham Junction to Herne Hill, from where they continued to Denmark Hill. Where the only option was a replacement bus to nowhere on the same line , no trains at all but an overground replacement bus to nowhere near Victoria.

If the bus carried on to the next station the train would normally serve which is Brixton, there would be an easy change to the Victoria Line into Victoria. Brixton is no further than Herne Hill than Denmark Hill and while a busy place, there would be space for a half hourly RRB to use the stand behind the Academy and then pick up outside the tube.

South eastern’s absurd advice for passengers travelling to Victoria was to travel out to Beckenham Junction, Southern to Crystal Palace then another Southern to Victoria. In total almost an hour and a half as opposed to a 12 minute train journey or 30 mins if the bus ran to Brixton then tube.

As a result of course, the RRBs were totally empty and serving no purpose whatsoever whereas the regular TFL buses to Brixton (where an extra fare would be charged) were packed. My question is whether passengers are taken into account when routing RRBs or if it’s simply done to tick a box to say some alternative is available?

It would be much better going to Brixton if there was ticket acceptance on LU to Victoria. But I think RRB's, certainly in this case, are little more than a box ticking exercise and I think most people try and avoid them and find their own alternative routes either from another station or using TfL buses.

 

[Tester]

It would be much better going to Brixton if there was ticket acceptance on LU to Victoria. But I think RRB's, certainly in this case, are little more than a box ticking exercise and I think most people try and avoid them and find their own alternative routes either from another station or using TfL buses.

.....or rescheduling optional travel, which I think is a large proportion.

 

[williamn]

The routing via Mark's Cross is due to the low bridge on the bend (passable in a decker if using middle of the road) and various low trees which buses have hit

I’d assumed this but there are scheduled double deckers on this route that seem to manage ok. I guess there’s added risk with drivers less familiar with the route.

 

[Dr Hoo]

It would be much better going to Brixton if there was ticket acceptance on LU to Victoria. But I think RRB's, certainly in this case, are little more than a box ticking exercise and I think most people try and avoid them and find their own alternative routes either from another station or using TfL buses.

Which does perhaps beg the question of whether GBR might take a more ‘pragmatic’ approach in future and ‘just not bother’ with RRBs in areas such as London where there are plenty of stage carriage buses/ underground/ DLR/ tram/ alternative heavy rail routes ( or whatever) nearby.

 

[Taunton]

I have encountered Great Northern rail replacements serving stations as far south as Alexandra Palace then feeding in to the Underground at Turnpike Lane rather than going all the way to Kings Cross (although they continued to do this until well after the Underground closed for the night on a Sunday...)

In a lot of London, unless someone has a point to point railway season ticket (which must be a rarity now) then they are more likely to walk / bus / drive to an alternative railway or underground station that's not affected by the closure than to use rail replacement buses from their local station.

London rail replacements to Underground stations are quite common and sensible. The GEML replacement sometimes goes to Newbury Park on the Central Line.

For absurdity, there was a ludicrous situation years ago in the days when the Bakerloo Line ran through to Watford Junction. Weekend works were to close the joint Bakerloo/DC Line between Willesden and Harrow, with a replacement bus between rail services either side. Shortly before the day the works were cancelled. BR reinstated through trains, but the Underground said it was too late to rearrange staff rosters, so their services ran to the replacement timetable, reversing at both points and of course getting in the way of the through BR operation. The replacement bus ran, empty all day because it was far better to get on the through BR train waiting behind the terminating Underground ...

 

[jumble]

I've posted this before bit worth repeating
It was probably around 2017
There was engineering work and a line closure scheduled for Rayners lane to Uxbridge one weekend
The Line Closure was cancelled at short notice and the underground ran normally
Sullivans ran their RRB service all weekend as well
This presumably had the effect of abstracting revenue as no ticket is needed on the bus.
Why it did not occur to LUL did not cancel the contract and pay Sullivan's out of pocket expenses and profit seems to be extraordinary
( Unless no one was empowered to make that decision)

On the other hand we once wanted to travel from Heathrow
In this days the RRBs went from Acton Town
We jumped on a nice comfortable coach and belted down the M4 getting to Heathrow far faster than the Picc would have done

 

[30907]

It would be much better going to Brixton if there was ticket acceptance on LU to Victoria. But I think RRB's, certainly in this case, are little more than a box ticking exercise and I think most people try and avoid them and find their own alternative routes either from another station or using TfL buses.

Yes and no.
Even with DMK having trains, for travel to and from Central London, Penge/Kent House (and Beckenham Jn) passengers would most likely use alternative rail routes while Sydenham Hill inwards would get the service bus.
Passengers between each of those two groups of stations, however, would have to take two buses and change somewhere on Crystal Palace Parade, so there is a need for a RRB to cover that much smaller flow.
I can't see that switching to Brixton would bring much advantage in practice.

 

[Definiteness]

A reminder as well that Denmark Hill is a big entry/exit point for the staff and patients of the two major hospitals next door - and this is the first time for some years that the two main routes in from the south (Denmark Hill and Loughborough Junction - as well as Herne Hill for some too) are both shut at the same time. So the bus terminating there has more practical use than it might initially seem.

(Edited to add patients - very remiss of me)

 

[Edsmith]

Yes and no.
Even with DMK having trains, for travel to and from Central London, Penge/Kent House (and Beckenham Jn) passengers would most likely use alternative rail routes while Sydenham Hill inwards would get the service bus.
Passengers between each of those two groups of stations, however, would have to take two buses and change somewhere on Crystal Palace Parade, so there is a need for a RRB to cover that much smaller flow.
I can't see that switching to Brixton would bring much advantage in practice.

Surely today's Beckenham Junction to Denmark Hill RRB would be better going to Brixton and Victoria as the train would?

 

[ShadowKnight]

I have a relative who is a TFL bus driver, they say that often when they are put on RRB services it is with little notice and little directions. So often on the first day many drivers get lost or don't know the optimal route they are going as it is often leaving the territory they normally drive. I'd imagine it's similar outside of London