The Anonymous Widower

More Mushroom Management On TfL Buses

After my experience in Mushroom Management On TfL Buses, I’ve changed my weekend breakfast routine at weekends, to one where on Saturdays and Sundays, I eat breakfast in London’s poshest Leon at Hanover Square, which I wrote about in A Quality Takeaway With A Station And A Large Garden.

It is a large restaurant.

It has comfortable seating.

It is within my not very long walking distance of the Bakerloo, Central, Elizabeth, Jubilee and Victoria Lines, and Oxford Street with all its buses.

There is a garden with seating in the square.

This picture shows the frontage of the building.

It’s certainly not your average takeaway or fast food outlet.

Normally, Hanover Square is a very easy location for me to travel to.

• I walk round the corner to the stop for the 38 bus.
• The 38 buses are usually every 3-4 minutes and I travel to Tottenham Court Road station.
• I go one stop on the Elizabeth Line, travelling in the rear of the train to Bond Street station.
• I’m then at the right end of the station to exit directly into Hanover Square, after riding up from the depths on a long escalator.

Leon is just a fifty metre walk away.

Today, there were no problems, although I did cut it a bit tight.

But all was fine in the end and I had a good full-English breakfast.

A Difficult Journey Home!

When, I set off from home, I wasn’t sure which way, I would come home.

In the end, I decided to come home the simple way of taking the Elizabeth Line to Moorgate station and then getting the 141 bus from there, as it stops close to my home.

But this route has the Elizabeth Line end-changing problem, in that the Hanover Square entrance at Bond Street station is at the Eastern end of the train and the Moorgate entrance at Liverpool Street station is at the Western end of the train.

So at some point in the journey, I would have to take a two-hundred metre walk, either on the platform or inside the train. The latter is not easy on a train to and from Heathrow, as it is often stuffed full with cases in the aisle. Why do people want to take all the contents of their house on holiday?

So I decided to go via a reverse at Whitechapel, where I positioned myself at the Western end of the train for exit at Moorgate.

It really was necessary to install travellators at Liverpool Street station on the Elizabeth Line, as between the two entrances is a long walk, as this graphic shows.

Note.

1. Moorgate is to the left
2. Liverpool Street is to the right.

But then Transport for London wanted a spectacular line with spectacular stations, that would win awards. Which it has!

I alighted from the train at the Moorgate end of the station, which meant that after two escalator rides and a short walk, I was at the 141 bus stop on the surface.

But there were no buses of any numbers calling at the stop.

This was because of the Lord Mayor’s Show, which meant there were no buses through the City.

But.

• There were no posters at stations saying that the show was taking place and buses would be diverted.
• Displays on bus stops were not saying anything about the show.
• The BBC hadn’t mentioned the Lord Mayor’s Show on the TV this morning.
• The BBC doesn’t have a local news at weekends, which would surely have mentioned the show and its effects on public transport.
• The display on the bus stop at Moorgate was still broken, as it has been for six months.
• There was a small information poster on the bus stop, but it was positioned too high for me to see.
• Taxis seemed to be avoiding the City.

There were a few stewards about and one suggested, that I walked to Old Street, which would not be easy on my legs.

In the end, I decoded that a retreat via Whitechapel and Dalston Junction was probably the best way to get home, as the Overground would be unlikely to be effected.

But I made the mistake of getting on a Circle Line train at Moorgate, so I didn’t get to Whitechapel.

Instead, I walked to the 141 and 21 bus stop at Monument station and caught a 21 bus North. I hoped that I would be able to connect to the 141 bus, that I needed to get home.

I did get safely home, but only after two long waits at bus stops, where I changed bus routes twice.

Conclusion

Transport for London need to devise bus plans for all major events and publicise them well in advance.

In London’s New 733 Bus Route, I described how Transport for London put in a temporary bus route between Finsbury Square and Oval stations to replace the Northern Line during the upgrade of Bank station.

As the Lord Mayor’s Show happens every year, surely the same plan can be rolled out each year, with any appropriate changes.

I’d be interested to know whether other large cities have plans for big celebrations in city centres.

November 9, 2024 - Posted by AnonW | Food | Bakerloo Line, Bank Station Upgrade, BBC, Bond Street Station, Central Line, Elizabeth Line, Hanover Square, Jubilee Line, Leon Restaurants, Liverpool Street Station, London Bus 141, London Bus 21, London Bus 38, London Bus 733, Moorgate Station, Mushroom Management, Oxford Street, Transport for London, Victoria Line