London Buses Discussion

[lxfe_mxtterz]

The 463 has hail and ride sections from near Woodmansterne station to The Mount, and Grove Lane to Woodmansterne Road. The service is about every 20 minutes

Thanks for confirming.

 

[LUYMun]

The 211 rerouting will be going ahead from 29 June, going from Battersea Power Station instead of Waterloo.

Bus route 211 to no longer serve Waterloo

Transport for London has confirmed that bus route 211 will be rerouted from Saturday 29 June and will no longer serve the current route between Waterloo Station and Sloane Square via Westminster Bridge.

www.se1.news

The change was proposed as part of a bigger review of central London buses in 2022 but is only now being implemented.

Campaigners had urged a rethink of the changes to the 211, sometimes dubbed the 'hospital bus' because it links St Thomas', the Royal Brompton, the Royal Marsden, Chelsea & Westminster and Charing Cross hospitals.

TfL said this week:

From Saturday 29 June route 211 will be changed to run from Hammersmith Upper Bus Station to Battersea Power Station via Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Broadway, King's Road, Sloane Square and Chelsea Bridge. Route 77 will now start and finish on the Upper Taxi Road at Waterloo Station.

Route 211 will now run from Hammersmith Upper Bus Station via its current route to Sloane Square where it will be rerouted via Lower Sloane Street, Chelsea Bridge Road, Chelsea Bridge, Queenstown Road, Queen's Circus, Prince Of Wales Drive and Battersea Park Road to terminate at Battersea Power Station. The current section of route between Sloane Square and Waterloo will no longer be served by route 211 however passengers can still use route 11 which will cover the withdrawn section of route 211. Passengers can interchange between the 11 and 211 in both directions at the Sloane Square bus stops located on Lower Sloane Street.

Route 211 will continue to run every 8-9 minutes during the daytime on Monday to Fridays, every 10 minutes during the daytime on Saturdays and every 15 minutes during the evening and all day on Sundays.

TfL added:

Route 77 will have its routeing and stops amended at Waterloo Station. Towards Waterloo route 77 will no longer serve bus stop F at County Hall or the current last stop on Concert Hall Approach. Instead, buses will be rerouted via Station Approach Road to Cab Road setting down by entrance / exit number 3 at Waterloo mainline station.

On departure to Tooting route 77 buses will pick up from bus stop B on Cab Road before re-joining the current routeing on York Road. Route 77 buses will no longer pick up from bus stop T on Concert Hall Approach.

There will be a minor timetable change on route 77 to reflect the new routeing however no change to the departure times of first and last buses on any day of the week. The route will continue to run every 10 minutes during the daytime on Monday to Saturdays and every 12 minutes during the evening and all day on Sundays.

 

[Goldfish62]

The 211 rerouting will be going ahead from 29 June, going from Battersea Power Station instead of Waterloo.

Bus route 211 to no longer serve Waterloo

Transport for London has confirmed that bus route 211 will be rerouted from Saturday 29 June and will no longer serve the current route between Waterloo Station and Sloane Square via Westminster Bridge.

www.se1.news

Makes perfect sense. Sloane Square - Waterloo is currently over-bussed. Also moving the 77 to the taxi road is a good idea.

The contention from campaigners that a route is kept as it is just because it serves multiple hospitals is bonkers.

 

[Whiggism]

Does anybody know where the 211 will terminate in Battersea Power Station?

 

[Snow1964]

Does anybody know where the 211 will terminate in Battersea Power Station?

The map of the new route doesn't show it exactly, but seems to be about where the junction with new road called Loverose Way is. This seems to have a spur into Pump House Lane is which would allow buses to turn right (at the enlarged junction) back onto Battersea Park Road.

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/route-211-map.pdf

 

[joieman]

The map of the new route doesn't show it exactly, but seems to be about where the junction with new road called Loverose Way is. This seems to have a spur into Pump House Lane is which would allow buses to turn right (at the enlarged junction) back onto Battersea Park Road.

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/route-211-map.pdf

I think the name Loverose Way is just being used by some people as a placeholder name for as-yet nameless roads.

 

[PGAT]

An upcoming consultation will be released for the following:

• Extend Route SL5 from Croydon Town Centre to Sutton Station via current Route SL7
• Add a new stop at Beddington Plough Lane
• Withdraw Route SL7 between Sutton Town Centre & West Croydon
• Add new stops on Route SL7 at Harlington Corner & Feltham (locations TBC)

 

[MotCO]

An upcoming consultation will be released for the following:

• Extend Route SL5 from Croydon Town Centre to Sutton Station via current Route SL7
• Add a new stop at Beddington Plough Lane
• Withdraw Route SL7 between Sutton Town Centre & West Croydon
• Add new stops on Route SL7 at Harlington Corner & Feltham (locations TBC)

So the old 726 is being cut back from Dartford to Heathrow, to Sutton to Heathrow!

Is the issue congestion causing delays on the SL7? In which case, are you just transferring the delays to a single-decked SL5? It can't be capacity issues on the Croydon to Sutton section since they are replacing a double deck bus with a single decker.

 

[busesrusuk]

Perhaps the SL5 will get deckers. Maybe the shortened SL7 may tip the balance and enable electric buses to be specified in the upcoming tender...

 

[PGAT]

Perhaps the SL5 will get deckers. Maybe the shortened SL7 may tip the balance and enable electric buses to be specified in the upcoming tender...

I think the newest buses on the market have a long enough range where this shouldn't be an issue with the current routeing

 

[Edvid]

Perhaps the SL5 will get deckers. Maybe the shortened SL7 may tip the balance and enable electric buses to be specified in the upcoming tender...

Indeed. Both routes are on short-term contracts set to expire 11 April 2025, though they may be extended a bit as the new contract specs will be determined by what TfL decides after the consultation (and when - not this year, I'll bet).

Double deckers on the SL5 would be contingent on Bromley dealing with the South Eden Park Road trees, of course.

 

[PGAT]

Unfortunately the result of extending the SL5 is dependent on the results of the consultation and independent of Bromley Council trimming the trees (I'd suspect there would be many resident/NIMBY objections to that anyway)

 

[JonathanH]

Is the issue congestion causing delays on the SL7? In which case, are you just transferring the delays to a single-decked SL5?

The SL5 already suffers from congestion delays and tight timetabling but changing the balance of the length of the SL5 and SL7 makes some sense.

I'd guess that changing the balance of the SL5 and SL7 could also be revenue generative, in that it is currently possible to do bus hopper onto the SL7 in Croydon from a wide range of other routes, that would no longer be the case.

 

[Goldfish62]

Is the issue congestion causing delays on the SL7? In which case, are you just transferring the delays to a single-decked SL5?

Not really. The SL5 will still be a much shorter route that the SL7.

An upcoming consultation will be released for the following:

• Extend Route SL5 from Croydon Town Centre to Sutton Station via current Route SL7
• Add a new stop at Beddington Plough Lane
• Withdraw Route SL7 between Sutton Town Centre & West Croydon
• Add new stops on Route SL7 at Harlington Corner & Feltham (locations TBC)

The new stops on the SL7 make perfect sense. Harlington Corner allows interchange with the SL9 without having to go into Heathrow. And while Feltham also has quick, frequent connections the SL7 would provide much improved links to Kingston, which is currently a tortuous journey on the 285.

 

[JonathanH]

And while Feltham also has quick, frequent connections the SL7 would provide much improved links to Kingston, which is currently a tortuous journey on the 285.

I think the 726 went to Feltham Station between 2000 and 2005, when it also ran through to Bromley. Was running via Feltham a source of delays?

 

[MotCO]

Not really. The SL5 will still be a much shorter route that the SL7.

I meant if the Croydon to Sutton section was the cause of frequent delays, then the SL5 would have these delays rather than the SL7. The alternative woud be to timetable some SL7s to termnate at Sutton, but TfL would never allow that.

I'd guess that changing the balance of the SL5 and SL7 could also be revenue generative, in that it is currently possible to do bus hopper onto the SL7 in Croydon from a wide range of other routes, that would no longer be the case.

You cynic , but you could be right.

 

[MasterSpenny]

I’m lost for words at what has happened here. Arriva’s next batch of Wrightbus StreetDeck Electroliners have started production, but this is what struck me. ES53 has literally been involved in a crash already, which is just not a good look for a brand new bus…

Wrightbus electroliner involved in collision in Ballymena

A double-decker bus built by Wrightbus in Galgorm for Arriva London, was involved in a collision on Friday afternoon in Ballymena.

www.loveballymena.online

A double-decker bus, the 'StreetDeck Electroliner' built by Wrightbus in Galgorm for Arriva London, was involved in a collision on Friday afternoon in Ballymena.



The bus, which was reportedly being tested at the time, left the road on the A26 Crankill Road and smashed through a fence and wall of a property by the roadside.

 

[Goldfish62]

ES53 has literally been involved in a crash already, which is just not a good look for a brand new bus…

An even worse look for the driver.

 

[JD2168]

Unfortunately the result of extending the SL5 is dependent on the results of the consultation and independent of Bromley Council trimming the trees (I'd suspect there would be many resident/NIMBY objections to that anyway)

Could they reroute the SL5 to avoid the low trees to enable double deckers or would the deviation be too long causing other problems?

 

[Goldfish62]

I meant if the Croydon to Sutton section was the cause of frequent delays, then the SL5 would have these delays rather than the SL7. The alternative woud be to timetable some SL7s to termnate at Sutton, but TfL would never allow that.

The longer the route the greater the chance of it being delayed. It's really as simple as that. So yes, there will be an increased chance of the SL5 incurring delays, but even with the extension to Sutton it's still a significantly shorter route than the SL7.

I really don't think terminating every other SL7 at Sutton instead would be a good idea as this would reduce the Sutton - Croydon section to 2bph. Not a good look for an orbital network of frequent, limited stop bus services.

 

[Edsmith]

Could they reroute the SL5 to avoid the low trees to enable double deckers or would the deviation be too long causing other problems?

Rerouting the SL5 is probably the only realistic option for it to be double decked, the roadside trees aren't going away.

 

[PGAT]

Rerouting the SL5 is probably the only realistic option for it to be double decked, the roadside trees aren't going away.

Rerouting the SL5 is out of the question.

 

[joieman]

Rerouting the SL5 is out of the question.

Because?

 

[PGAT]

Because?

The current route has been carefully consulted on and strikes a balance for journey times and length of route. Ignoring the fact that removing the links for Bethlehem Royal Hospital, Chinese Garage etc would be unfairly severed, the alternative of running via Wickham High Street would be unviable because it would wreck reliability and parallel the 119 too much.

 

[Edsmith]

Rerouting the SL5 is out of the question.

It's certainly not out of the question.

 

[londonbridge]

• Add a new stop at Beddington Plough Lane

You mean reinstate the old stop there which was withdrawn from the route some years ago……

When is the consultation due to open as I can’t find it listed on the tfl website.

 

[Busaholic]

You mean reinstate the old stop there which was withdrawn from the route sone years ago……

When is the consultation due to open as I can’t find it listed on the tfl website.

One thing it might achieve is for the SL7 to join all the other true Superloop routes operating at the standard frequency and with no scheduled shortworking journeys.

 

[Goldfish62]

You mean reinstate the old stop there which was withdrawn from the route some years ago……

When is the consultation due to open as I can’t find it listed on the tfl website.

Not opening until after the election.

 

[Busaholic]

Not opening until after the election.

The stop or the consultation?

 

[Goldfish62]

The stop or the consultation?

Ha!