Riding The 112 Bus Between Brent Cross And North Finchley Bus Station
To continue on the route of the Superloop, I needed to get to North Finchley bus station, so I took a 112 bus from Brent Cross to North Finchley. I took these pictures.
Note.
- The bus was only a single-decker.
- The route was along the North Circular Road and then North on the A1000.
- The North Circular Road was grade separated but quite congested.
- The North Circular Road has a 40 mph speed limit.
- Strangely, we didn’t pass a train, Underground or Overground station.
- Both Brent Cross and North Finchley bus interchanges have reasonable amounts of space.
The journey took about 20 minutes.
I have one thought.
Creating A Route Between Harrow And North Finchley Bus Stations
This would not appear to be difficult.
- Between Harrow bus station and Brent Cross, the route would be a simplified version of the 182 route, that I wrote about in Riding The 182 Bus Between Harrow Bus Station And Brent Cross. A more direct route would be taken between Wembley stadium and Brent Cross.
- The bus would just pop in to the large bus interchange at Brent Cross and then go straight back onto the North Circular Road.
- The North Circular Road is two lanes both way.
- The A1000 from the North Circular Road to North Finchley didn’t seem too crowded.
I suspect little work will need to be done to allow Superloop to run successfully between Harrow And North Finchley bus stations.
Riding The 182 Bus Between Harrow Bus Station And Brent Cross
I did this journey, which could be part of the Superloop, in good weather, and was able to take these pictures.
Note.
- The roads were not bad and were partly two lanes each way, with large roundabouts at junctions.
- I suspect the bus was going at between 30 and 40 mph most of the way.
- There was still quite a lot of traffic.
- It is a distance of about 7 miles.
- The timetable says that buses run every 10-13 minutes.
- Harrow-On-The-Hill station is next to Harrow Bus station.
- Harrow-On-The-Hill connects to the Metropolitan Line and Chiltern
- Northwick Park Hospital is on the route.
- Sudbury and Harrow Road station connects to Chiltern.
- South Harrow station connects to the Piccadilly Line.
- Wembley Central station connects to the Bakerloo and Watford DC Lines and National Rail.
- Wembley Stadium station connects to Chiltern.
- Wembley Park station connects to the Metropolitan and Jubilee Lines.
The journey took about 70 minutes, mainly because of the traffic at the road works.
I have a few thoughts.
The Route Of The Bus 182 Could Be Part Of The Superloop
I feel my journey today, proved that this would be part of a feasible Superloop leg between Harrow and North Finchley bus stations.
A Chiltern Metro
Wikipedia says this about a proposed metro service between Marylebone and West Ruislip stations.
- The Metro would have a frequency of four tph.
- It would call at Wembley Stadium, Sudbury & Harrow Road, Sudbury Hill Harrow, Northolt Park and South Ruislip.
- The service would require a reversing facility at West Ruislip.
- There would need to be passing loops at Sudbury Hill Harrow, and Wembley Stadium.
Given that the Chiltern Metro was first proposed over a decade ago, perhaps the concept could be increased in scope.
- Housing and other developments along the route may suggest that a station further out like High Wycombe might be a better terminal.
- ERTMS in-cab digital signalling is likely to be installed at some time, which would decrease headways between trains and allow more services.
- Electrification is likely in some form before 2040 and this will improve train performance.
- If Neasden station were to be rebuilt, as a comprehensive transport and residential development, I believe that this Metro service should also call at Neasden, as it would complement the West London Orbital Railway.
I believe that a review of the Chiltern Metro may mean, that an improved version is worth creating.
The Anonymous Widower 