Are All London’s Central Bus Routes Going Hybrid?
I was talking to a bus driver today and he said that all routes through the city would be using hybrid buses. Did he mean the actual City or Central London?
It’s all good progress either way, as they are quieter, emit less pollution, are better to ride on and create less carbon-dioxide emissions. At present we have 225 hybrid buses in London, with new ones on routes 43 and 149 having been introduced recently. There’s more about London’s hybrid buses here.
In some ways though to put the new buses in the central parts of London is a good idea, as that is where the pollution is worst. It also may have a secondary effect, in that it impresses visitors, either through clean air or though curiosity about the technology. It certainly wouldn’t hurt this country, if we became world leaders in the technology.
London Bridge Bus Station Is Now Open
They said it would open on Monday. And it obviously did, as these pictures show!
The main bus routes are now on the station forecourt. The bus spider map for the station is here.
Because of space limitations, there are only four stands in front of the station, but they are all connected by a single zebra crossing.
- A – Handles both 48 and 149
- B – Handles the fast 521 to Waterloo
- C – Handles both 43 and 141
- D – Handles the 17 to Archway
Note that stands A and C handle more than one route, but go off in the same direction.
For some routes, you’ll need to go to London Bridge to stand M.
Hail the Granny Bus!
The term may be a bit over the top and sexist, as why should it just be grannies and not granpas as well.
But it does seem the elderly like travelling on the New Bus for London. This picture of an elderly couple getting on at traffic lights, sums up the elderly’s attitude to the bus and is one of many I could have taken in a similar vein.
Hopping On a New Bus for London
I also encountered two ladies on the bus, who had deliberately waited for a ride on a New Bus for London. They were impressed.
I think it must bring back memories of years ago, when you could get on and off when you wanted and got service from a friendly conductor.
The Bus Games People Play
The behaviour of most people on London’s buses is generally immaculate, but it is sometimes treated like a serious game.
Obviously, kids like to travel in the front seats on the top. But so do adults and people generally move about to get the best seats as they become available. Perhaps, we all never grow up. Unless of course, we’re someone like Gordon Brown or Angela Merkel.
And then there’s how you choose, who you sit next to! It’s not just men, who like to sit next to nice-looking ladies and I can’t deny it doesn’t happen. But today, an elderly lady deliberately moved over so that I sat next to her, so she could have a chat. Most of the other passengers at the time were in their twenties at their eldest. In some ways, it’s only being friendly and no-one bothers.
And then there’s the game of judging what is the best time to descend from the top deck, just before you get off, as obviously walking down into an empty lobby is easiest. This game will get even more fun on a New Bus for London, as you have two staircases.
The New Bus for London also allows you to get on and off at convenient places, so this is yet another game, which at some time will come under the realm of the Health and Safety Police. But until then, let’s enjoy it.
A Plague of 38 Buses
Perhaps plague is the wrong word, but they were swarming round the Angel, when I came home. I was part of a convoy of six, led by a New Bus for London. Does the fact that it was in front, show that they are faster at both loading and unloading and between the stops? I also saw all three of the new buses today, so they are getting more common, with a fourth example expected for next week.
Are Young Girls More Difficult Than Young Boys?
This has never occurred to me before, as C and myself, just had the three boys. But on the bus back from the Angel a few minutes ago, there was a girl of about six really pushing the limits with her mother, who had another in a buggy. Thinking about ir, when I see bad behaviour on these buses, it possibly is more often that it’s girls being a bit raucous and naughty. I’ve also been on buses with a load of twelve year old boys and this can be a nightmare too.
So when they are young, are girls worse than boys? Or do they play advantage of what they are expected to be like?
The Cambridge Guided Duckway
I found this report about the Cambridge Busway.
A New Bus for Hong Kong?
I was chatting with the conductor on a New Bus for London and he said that he’d seen officials from bus companies in Hong Kong on the bus.
This is not unexpected as Hong Kong has quite a few Wright buses, as this article indicates.
So is the New Bus for London going to be the New Bus for Hong Kong? I would suspect that the new London design, has the ability to be stretched to a double rear axle design, like that used in Hong Kong.
Update on May 25th, 2012 – In his talk last night, David Barnett indicated that the current New Bus for London is a stretch of the original design, so a stretched bus with an extra axle, is probably not the most difficult pieces of engineering, especially given the computing employed to transfer designs to a real bus. The power-train layout would still allow a totally flat floor, which the New Buses for London have and is one of the best passenger features.
Congratulations Your Majesty
I’ve only seem it on one bus on route 21, so it might be unique.
Congratulations Your Majesty
Although, I have seen it several times, before I got this picture at Newington Green. In some ways to photograph it there is appropriate, as that is the area of London, where the non-comformists based themselves in the seventeenth century. It has a long connection with Mary Wollstonecraft. It is a place well worth a visit, as it has a nice garden and some buildings worth a look.
I Finally Get to Loughborough Junction Station
Today all of the trains were running and I was able to get to Loughborough Junction station.
The pictures don’t really do, one of the worst stations I’ve visited in recent years, justice. It had the usual long difficult staircases to the trains, narrow platforms, difficult access for the elderly, the disabled and buggy pushers and no visible staff. It did though have what looked to be a reasonable cafe, but as I was running late, I didn’t have have time for a coffee.
But as it is on a major cross-London route, you’d hope it would be a station on the list of stations to be improved. I’ve searched the Internet and Lounghborough Junction station is not slated for any improvement in the next few years. I did find this blog post, moaning about lack of improvements in the area.
In the pictures, you’ll see the line, that will take the London Overground on its way to Clapham Junction station. This is to the right in the pictures, with the line to the left leading to Denmark Hill station. Putting platforms on the London Overground on this line here, has been dismissed on the grounds of cost, just as they have been at Brixton.
This may be right, but it just shows what a mess has been left by Victorian railway engineers in this area.
However, linking the London Overground to an improved Thameslink at this point, may offer a very much better financial case, than to link with the Underground at Brixton, which is linked because of the Victoria line to larege numbers of important places in the capital anyway, but of course to nothing towards the south, like Gatwick Airport and Brighton.
It is one of these problems that needs imagination. A good architect might be able to produce an elegant connection between the two lines and then link it to the ground on the other side of Coldharbour Lane to the current station entrance. Looking at the local bus map, shows that the area is well served by bus routes, so perhaps we could make Loughborough Junction a true interchange in the east of Brixton.
I just think that London can be improved by providing proper bus/rail interchanges and Loughborough Junction could be another, to join Stratford, Canning Town and West Hampstead, that have been created in recent years.
Whether Loughborough Junction could be one is debatable though, especially as I was told at London Bridge by a ticket inspector, that First Capital Connect, don’t want the connection built. That surprised me, as the link would not be built, if it wasn’t going to be used. And users would mean money for the company.
The Anonymous Widower 