Buses U-turning

[Whisky Papa]

In West Yorkshire, the TLC 596 does a sort of U turn - by means of a turning (semi-) circle on the A646, King Street, in Mytholm, Hebden Bridge. This is to provide access to/from the very steep and acute-angled turning into/out of Heptonstall Road en route to/from Blackshaw Head.

If we are including turns into acute-angled roads, then the one back off the A6033 into Akroyd Lane at Pecket Well north of Hebden Bridge was far trickier. I'm not sure whether the current network makes this turn, but the Halifax - Old Town 593 used to do it hourly with double-deckers, and occasionally with longer single-deckers on the few journeys operated by Halifax rather than Todmorden.

 

[D6130]

If we are including turns into acute-angled roads, then the one back off the A6033 into Akroyd Lane at Pecket Well north of Hebden Bridge was far trickier. I'm not sure whether the current network makes this turn, but the Halifax - Old Town 593 used to do it hourly with double-deckers, and occasionally with longer single-deckers on the few journeys operated by Halifax rather than Todmorden.

Not any more. The TLC 594/595 routes go up to Crimsworth turning circle and then back to Pecket Well.

 

[Roger1973]

Historically I often wondered if the 124A did a U turn at the Bexley Hospital terminus, or if it continued up to the roundabout above the A2 to turn round. I was very young then and as it only operated Sunday Afternoons , never saw it to find found !

I also remember the route existing but never travelled on it. Old OS maps suggest there was enough room to do a U-turn (from the west for the 124A and from the east for country bus routes) in front of the gate house. 1983 photo on Flickr (not my photo / account) here

Historically, there was a u-turn on Bishopsgate for buses terminating at Liverpool Street Station from the north (following trolleybus practice) - think this was still happening in to the 1980s (regularly on route 149 and possibly as a short working on other routes.)

The 277 / 279 terminus at Smithfield (St John Street) was a fairly tight turn, but not quite sure if it qualifies as a U-turn, it was round a 'gents' on an island in the middle of the road (the island is still there, the 'gents' isn't.)

I have also seen a photograph of the 'inter station' night bus doing a U-turn leaving the eastbound Euston Road / Kings Cross Station stop to go towards Euston - this must have been before there was a central barrier, and probably wasn't the official working.

The North Woolwich terminus for route 101 and trolleybus / trolleybus replacement routes probably also counted as a U-turn until the roadway / bus stand north of the pedestrian tunnel entrance was opened. 1970 photo (also on Flickr, not mine or my account) here.

I also have an idea that in the early years of the south London tram replacement routes, the Victoria (Vauxhall Bridge Road) terminus was initially a u-turn, northbound to southbound, before the loop via Wilton Road started.

 

[davart]

Sheffield:
First 76A/76E - u-turns on Sandstone Road by going round a loop in the road

Barnsley:
Globe 94/Stagecoach 94A go around a turning circle area at Higham, The Hermit to return along the same road

Used to get that bus at Higham in the early 80s when it was Yorkshire Traction 312.

I wondered if the turning layby was still there as there's a new roundabout up there now.

 

[Sussexwatch]

In Birmingham City Centre routes 35 & 50 (and possibly others) do a U turn outside Moor Street Station

 

[riceuten]

I saw a 390 Centrebus bus in Stevenage do a complex 3 point U turn on Ripon Road to avoid having to serve 3 stops on the north part of the route, and catch up time, though I guess that wasn't timetabled or indeed intended by the operator!

 

[DaveHarries]

I remember once ending up on a TWM Scania single-decker which was being used for a rail replacement journey between Birmingham New Street and Redditch. The driver took a wrong turn off a roundabout and ended up in a cul-de-sac with the resulting about turn taking a good few minutes. Fortunately some of the residents on the street came out and helped the driver with the about turn.

Dave

 

[Amos]

I don’t think it happens in normal service, but I went to the football in Charlton at the weekend where the 486 did a U turn outside the station after the game.

 

[Chutters 73]

Bee Network route 74 (A tricky route of many, many horrible 90° turns) has a nasty U-turn in Failsworth. I think I had a 40% success rate of going around the mini roundabout ‘in-one’. Usually I’d talk myself into messing it up, requiring a risky reverse.

SIDE TOPIC - I have to confess to a few ‘wish I didn’t’ U turns in service. During heavy rain and flash floods, I elected to U-turn an E400 on a residential road in Stretford. There was a queue of about 5 or 6 buses formed up behind me, and (foolishly) I became annoyed by whinging passengers and flipped the silly switch in my head. (Tut. Why can’t he just drive through 2 feet of water? I’m going to miss Pointless on TV. This bus service is terrible… etc.)

I immediately regretted starting the manoeuvre. Picture police cars blocking the road ahead. 5 buses behind you. The radio giving instructions which changed by the minute. My U turn was going to be at least a 5, possibly a 7 point turn. Pouring rain. Steamed up windows. Silly little mirrors. Obvious joy of 5 other drivers thinking ’idiot’. Policemen poised to issue some sort of stupidity endorsement.

One of the Gods assisted with the extreme steering wheel twirling required and somehow my bus, and a smug looking me, set off with a mission to go out of service at Stretford shopping centre and make it home to catch the end of Beat the Chaser. Where the contestants try to look happy when they lose every time.

 

[padbus]

The South West Falcon does an extremely tight U-turn around a small roundabout at The Weary Traveller in Cullompton using 15m coaches.

 

[frodshamfella]

I also remember the route existing but never travelled on it. Old OS maps suggest there was enough room to do a U-turn (from the west for the 124A and from the east for country bus routes) in front of the gate house. 1983 photo on Flickr (not my photo / account) here

Historically, there was a u-turn on Bishopsgate for buses terminating at Liverpool Street Station from the north (following trolleybus practice) - think this was still happening in to the 1980s (regularly on route 149 and possibly as a short working on other routes.)

The 277 / 279 terminus at Smithfield (St John Street) was a fairly tight turn, but not quite sure if it qualifies as a U-turn, it was round a 'gents' on an island in the middle of the road (the island is still there, the 'gents' isn't.)

I have also seen a photograph of the 'inter station' night bus doing a U-turn leaving the eastbound Euston Road / Kings Cross Station stop to go towards Euston - this must have been before there was a central barrier, and probably wasn't the official working.

The North Woolwich terminus for route 101 and trolleybus / trolleybus replacement routes probably also counted as a U-turn until the roadway / bus stand north of the pedestrian tunnel entrance was opened. 1970 photo (also on Flickr, not mine or my account) here.

I also have an idea that in the early years of the south London tram replacement routes, the Victoria (Vauxhall Bridge Road) terminus was initially a u-turn, northbound to southbound, before the loop via Wilton Road started.

Thanks for the 124A photo brought back memories for me of this service.

 

[Mark L]

I don’t think it happens in normal service, but I went to the football in Charlton at the weekend where the 486 did a U turn outside the station after the game.

In the same vein I saw a bus on the 9 that had been curtailed at the Albert Hall do a U-turn in Kensington Gore. I suspect he was probably supposed to turn via Prince Consort Road!

 

[Nammer]

Journeys from Highbury, on Cosham local route 22 in Portsmouth do a U-turn on Northern Road roundabout. It serves bus stops on both sides of Wayte Street before continuing to Farlington.

 

[ox_chap]

The 10 in Oxford does a U-turn at Temple Cowley. It's quite impressive. It pulls in to a bus stop on one side, and is then perfectly lined up to pull into a bus stop on the other side of the road.

 

[DunsBus]

A new addition to the ranks, as the service started today. Lothian's 28 (Bellevue to Gilmerton) U-turns at the Bellevue end, using a traffic island to turn round.

 

[BuhSnarf]

Stagecoach's 76 from Stratford to Banbury does a rather impressive U turn in Middle Tysoe. It eventually backs in to a small side road. Interesting to be on a bus in service reversing round a corner.

 

[duncombec]

A local example is the stop at Blue Bell Hill Village (Keefe Close). The majority of buses now approach as part of a longer one-way loop working, so only serve the stop on the other side of the road, but anything terminating, or needing to travel broadly south (where the road has been closed off to avoid rat-running, serves the shelter, then, shortly after the road swings around to the left (the road parallel to the bus stop is for access to the houses only), the bus swings hard right around the island (convenient gap for the road junction) to return the way it came. In my limited experience when there was a service that did the move regularly, shorter vehicles and those where the driver used the full width of the road, possibly including the junction mouth, usually managed it in one, those who'd been less on point with their lining up usually had to do a small reverse.

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk