Everybody Was Happy In London Yesterday!
From the guys on the barriers at stations, and the guardian of the First Class Lounge at Paddington, to the waitresses in Carluccio’s, London was happy yesterday.
I put it down to the sun.
The New Bus for London Was On Time
This morning, I consulted my timetable and walked round the corner, so I got to the stop at 10:34.
And what happened?
A New Bus for London sailed into view and several pleased passengers got on to go to the Angel and in some cases, like me, to pastures further on.
You can’t complain about that!
Do Oxford And Regent Streets Need New Buses for London Now?
After breakfast, I walked down Regent Street and didn’t make too much progress, as the pavements were crowded. I eventually got on a bus, but progress was even slower due to an accident in Trafalgar Square.
This double congestion often seems to happen.
Would New Buses for London, with their hop-on and hop-off capability be an asset in getting pedestrians along these streets faster?
I think they would! Remember too, that London’s fare system means that say doing six or seven small journeys on a bus is the same price as one, so you wouldn’t be costing yourself anything.
After shopping, I actually caught a New Bus for London back towards home. Progress was slow due to the same problems as earlier and people seemed to be hopping on and off the bus all over the place.
When these buses were mooted, the dismal Jimmies predicted all sorts of accidents and consequent lawsuits. But I’ve never seen any reports of even any minor incidents.
Perhaps, those that jump off and on are on the whole sensible people? Or as I believe, most people actually know their limitations well. And that includes the ninety-year-old with a Zimmer frame!
Could London have reinvented the people mover? Only when most of the buses on somewhere like Oxford Street are New Buses for London, will we know!
A Bad Case Of Oops On Regent Street
You occasionally see post boxes knocked over by an accident.
A Bad Case Of Oops On Regent Street
But this is the first time, I can remember seeing a double one on the skew.
The New Buses for London Are Arriving
Transport Engineer, which I would assume is a serious web site has just published this article about New Bus for London production.
The article doesn’t say directly, but it does seem to indicate that production is on schedule for the start-up of services on route 24 on June 22nd.
However, it does say this about emissions from the buses.
Emission testing on an early vehicle that has been in service for eight months and covered more than 15,000 miles show levels at 2.048g/km of NOx – around four times less than the fleet average for existing hybrid buses.
CO2 has been measured at 690.23g/km, which is marginally better than the fleet average for hybrids (864g/km) and almost half the fleet average for diesel buses (1,295g/km). As for diesel particulates, the figure is 0.012g/km, one quarter of the fleet average for hybrid and diesel buses together.
As to the local pre-production examples on route 38, they seem to be quietly trundling between Victoria and Hackney Central. The only negative reaction you hear, is when you joke that we’ll be losing the Hackney Eight to the toffs in Hampstead.
London Is My Gymnasium
The weather is better today, so I did a trip round the various construction and other sites that I keep a watch on.
The pictures are in order and show how I went to the Excel to see the CrossRail progress, then over the cable-car to Greenwich. I then took the Jubilee line to Stratford and the DLR to Pudding Mill Lane station, again to look at CrossRail. I also had a coffee and some delicious gluten-free cake at the ViewTube, before coming back to Highbury and Islington station, where I did a bit of shopping.
I tend to use these trips as long walks with the occasional climb up and down stairs to get fit. I found that on the cruise stair-climbing with a rail on the left, was good for that side of my body.
I’ve Never Understood The Lure Of Waxworks
Madame Tussauds are no advertising on the DLR.
I’ve Never Understood The Lure Of Waxworks
I’ve never been that I can remember and these adverts won’t dissuade me in my view that waxworks are a waste of space and time.
It used to be spelt properly as Madame Tussaud’s, but apparently, they have dropped the apostrophe.
I think it would be very scientifically incorrect to go to a museum, that deliberately misspelt its name.
The New Bridge Over The Thames
In my lifetime, I can remember five bridges being built and opened across the Thames; London Bridge in 1973, the bridge at the Dartford Crossing in 1991, and the Golden Jubilee footbridges and the Millennium Bridge in 2002.
So today, when the BBC said that a new Walton Bridge was nearing completion, I just had to go, despite the weather.
I went to Waterloo station and got the train to Walton on Thames station.
Walton On Thames Station
From the station, after a fifteen minute wait, I got a 478 bus to the bridge. The bus actually, went over the old bridge next to the new one.
The New Walton Bridge
The weather was now the worst it had been all day, so I retreated on the first bus that arrived; a 555 for Heathrow Central.
It was possibly a mistake, as it went all round South West London, before arriving at the airport an hour or so later,
So in the end I got off at Hatton Cross station and took the Piccadilly line back to Green Park station, from where I got a 38 bus home.
Although, I achieved my objective of seeing the new bridge, the cold, snowy weather, the slow bus and the very crowded Underground coming home, put rather a damper on the day.
April Snows In Piccadilly Circus
I was going to Waterloo and the way I often go is to take the 38 bus to Piccadilly Circus and then get the Bakerloo line direct to the station.
But you don’t normally get snow showers in April!
The Anonymous Widower 