Variable-route bus diagrams

[Busaholic]

The best ones (from an interested-member-of-the-public point of view) are the companies which display the vehicle duty publically on the bus.

'London Transport' (i.e. the contracted red bus routes in London) and formerly London Country, did this by design as they had a slot on the bus exterior carrying a small metal board for the vehicle duty. Maybe they still do this in London.

Some companies in London do, many don't. Some carry running numbers displayed in the driver's cab instead.

 

[nw1]

That's quite unusual for an Aldershot bus to promptly run the 83, shouldn't the Collingwood services be operated by Peasmarsh garage?

But yes, Stagecoach's Aldershot garage is known for this sort of practice for long as it has taken over Alder Valley.

A bit more digging on this on bustimes.org (I have figured out how to easily see the same diagram/working on each day) suggests that this working (starting with the 470 Hammer Hill-Midhurst school service) was unusual. The most common diagram is as below:

19081 - MX56 FTY

ADL Enviro400

bustimes.org

Nonetheless on these school services there does seem to be some variability day-to-day. The diagram involving the afternoon Midhurst to Hammer Hill has very little consistency when viewed over a three-week period, though one or two diagrams seem to come up more often than most. And the afternoon service seems to be relatively frequently cancelled, though not sure if the school has got unusual hours on some days at the moment.

(Incidentally, that 9 Alton town service, part of the diagram above, is an odd one. Two buses within 20 mins of each other around 10:00, three more at 20-min frequency between 12:00 and 13:00, and nothing else. I guess for those two periods, but at no other point in the day, they can provide an Alton town service without needing an extra vehicle or driver).

 

[LUYMun]

It should also be worth noting that, despite being operated solely by Aldershot garage now, a few journeys are run by Peasmarsh on the KITE route. I believe they are the 07:05 Guildford - Aldershot and 08:05 Aldershot - Guildford trips, although there may be another one or two but I can't remember. These then run empty back to Peasmarsh garage before heading back on the Guildford circulars - I believe I saw 15982 this morning on one of the KITE runs.

 

[Statto]

Another one is Stagecoach Birkenhead where any bus can appear on any route

 

[rick_suffolk]

Back in late 70s/early 80s I was fascinated how all this was managed by Eastern Counties. You could for example go to Ipswich Old Cattle Market and observe departures and vehicle types on a Saturday and then again in following weeks and it all seemed so random! By then crew duties seemed always to be crew though it could be Lodekka FS or FLF or VR or even coach MW or other delights. With the one-man-operated (OMO) workings it was as if driver appeared and picked any vehicle at random! The midday ish Saturday 250 to Levington could be VR, RELL, RELH, MW, LH, VR randomly each week.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

If I've understood correctly...

Buses on the Falcon Buses route 28 interwork with the route 73 - buses leave Guildford for Woking on the 28, switch to the 73 at Woking for the short hop up to Chobham (and back) before, again, switching to the 28 back to Guildford.

 

[Flange Squeal]

It should also be worth noting that, despite being operated solely by Aldershot garage now, a few journeys are run by Peasmarsh on the KITE route. I believe they are the 07:05 Guildford - Aldershot and 08:05 Aldershot - Guildford trips, although there may be another one or two but I can't remember. These then run empty back to Peasmarsh garage before heading back on the Guildford circulars - I believe I saw 15982 this morning on one of the KITE runs.

You’re correct with those two trips, but they also do the 0610 Guildford to Aldershot KITE aswell. Upon arrival in Aldershot, the vehicle then works the 0650 Aldershot to Guildford route 46, before then moving onto the 17 to Fairlands.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I'm a little confused as to the question here (if indeed there is one). Is this about standard interworking of routes (e.g. a 23 then becomes a 37 round trip, before coming back as a 23)? Or is it about the odd journey tacked onto the start of a vehicle duty (e.g. the bus on the 23 board does the 0615 37 each morning)? Or is it about more complex or indeed seemingly arbitrary movement between routes?

Growing up in the North, it was always more apparent that you'd have major routes where, by definition, there was more than enough going on to bother about swapping vehicles etc. However, in more rural areas, you would see a lot more complex interworking of vehicles, none more so than at United's Ripon depot. Aside from the single bus working on the 36 to Leeds, vehicles would flit from route to route so some elderly LH would do a Harrogate Express, then arrive back to do a couple of city services, before then heading out to York or somewhere.

I guess the other major issue is the challenge of congestion so that when the dreaded temporary traffic lights appear, it becomes expedient to have buses swapping between routes if only to maintain some sort of reliability.

 

[nw1]

I'm a little confused as to the question here (if indeed there is one). Is this about standard interworking of routes (e.g. a 23 then becomes a 37 round trip, before coming back as a 23)? Or is it about the odd journey tacked onto the start of a vehicle duty (e.g. the bus on the 23 board does the 0615 37 each morning)? Or is it about more complex or indeed seemingly arbitrary movement between routes?

The question was specifically about planned, "diagrammed" interworking in a manner that cannot be predicted merely by examining the timetables; this was common in the 80s and early-mid 90s certainly, but as I hadn't observed it recently I was wondering if it was still widespread.

So a given vehicle first running say the 1, then during the day the 11 and 24, then returning to the 1 for three trips, then say the 42, then the 11 again, etc.

That question has already been answered in that it does still seem to be common at certain depots, such as Stagecoach (Guildford and Aldershot) hence this coming up on the discussion quite a bit.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jun 2021 ==

You’re correct with those two trips, but they also do the 0610 Guildford to Aldershot KITE aswell. Upon arrival in Aldershot, the vehicle then works the 0650 Aldershot to Guildford route 46, before then moving onto the 17 to Fairlands.

As an aside, is the 17 the only bus to Wood Street these days? I remember back in the 80s and early 90s there was a half hourly "Wood Street Circular" (232/242, then G10/11, then 12/13, then 16/17).

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

As an aside, is the 17 the only bus to Wood Street these days? I remember back in the 80s and early 90s there was a half hourly "Wood Street Circular" (232/242, then G10/11, then 12/13, then 16/17).

Yes, just the 17 now, and, at present, a mere two return trips per day - not very useful!

 

[miklcct]

Buses of morebus are swapped between routes at Poole bus station which I can't find a pattern, especially on Sundays.

The routes involved are 3/4, 5/6, 8/9, 14, 15, and 16/17, probably because the round-trip time of the routes aren't a multiple of their headway. Buses swap between any of these routes.

 

[adrock1976]

In the West Midlands back in 1993 when both the West Midlands Travel garages at Dudley and Hartshill closed, the 226 that was revised to run Bilston - Merry Hill Centre would then change to the 138 that ran Merry Hill Centre - Birmingham. Both of these routes were previously operated by Dudley garage, but had transferred to Wolverhampton (Cleveland Road).

At some point in late 1993/first half of 1994, something happened with the 226 of which I cannot remember. However, the 138 was incorporated with the 258 that ran Wolverhampton - Merry Hill Centre via Wombourne and Kingswinford, still operated by Wolverhampton garage. Due to the lengthy route and the 2 hour journey time each way, the 258 was eventually transferred to Hockley garage.

The 140 that ran Dudley - Birmingham via Blackheath and the 241 that ran Dudley - Halesowen via Blackheath would interwork with each other. I recall that this was still the case when Dudley closed with both those routes transferred to Quinton.