Hi again. It's me.
Not a full return of any sort, but irregular uploads whenever I feel like it.
We know the 53 and 363 currently use Bricklayers Arms flyover, after the consultation circa 2016 was a success with the majority supporting the proposal.
Afterwards, the attempt was tried with the 25 with Bow Flyover. Bear in mind the 25 was every 3-4, served Oxford Circus, Elizabeth Line was estimated 2 years away from completion, the 425 did not serve east of Stratford (therefore, 425 didn't go Ilford).
That consultation had a lot of negative feedback, roughly 70%, many people having concerns over their direct link into central London and other destinations, being forced to change buses.
Afterwards, the attempt was tried with the 25 with Bow Flyover. Bear in mind the 25 was every 3-4, served Oxford Circus, Elizabeth Line was estimated 2 years away from completion, the 425 did not serve east of Stratford (therefore, 425 didn't go Ilford).
That consultation had a lot of negative feedback, roughly 70%, many people having concerns over their direct link into central London and other destinations, being forced to change buses.
The Hopper fare was in it's infancy if it was introduced by that point, if it wasn't - a valid concern not to pay two bus fares for a journey done in one. In the same time period the 27 was cut back from Chiswick to Hammersmith Grove with 72% negative feedback yet TfL have pushed through.
This pretty much confirmed in the bus enthusiast space that consultations are a legal requirement to permanently change routes, though your feedback may be worthless, as is the opinion of many.
Strictly speaking not everything requires a consultation.
The 310 is a trial before it's consultation goes live.
The 383 and N20's hospital extensions went live in Covid before consultations and have since gone permanent.
In the negative direction, routes 3 and 15 were cut back during Haymarket roadworks and have since been permanent. Route 3 from Oxford Circus to Regent Street. Route 15 from Regent Street to Trafalgar Square. Night routes N3 and N15 unaffected. The 3 received further silent cuts until Trafalgar Square, where it was meant to be extended to Russell Square, yet it was cut back to Whitehall 'temporarily' seemingly... until it became permanent again.
The Superloop routes have brought this flyover usage back in some capacity by the very nature of being express services with limited stops served in comparison to their all-stop counterparts.
Look no further than the SL1, utilising a large section of the North Circular Road, also known as the A406, a large multiple lane road with high speeds - dual carriageway. I hope I don't need to list the places SL1 uses flyovers whilst it's on this road.
Soon another North Circular Road Superloop bus will join, running in parallel to the 112. Perhaps joining the routes that use flyovers.
Also soon will be SL4, remember the A102? Yeah, that. The 132 has to turn off and use the roundabout to head down Millennium Village. SL4 has no reason to turn off there and has a flyover it can use right there.
It is hopeful to entertain the idea of H91's parallel Superloop route to use more of the A4 unserved by H91, to bypass Chiswick High Road, but we will know whether it does or not.
Now for my input.
Route 425 and Bow Flyover.
In an ideal sense, just redo the 25 again. Though, TfL does often avoid repeating already publicised route change consultations (except the cost-saving measure of 13 withdrawal, keeping 82. Finchley Road overbussing) and they certainly much prefer to avoid returning a route to it's exact routeing if it changed within the past few decades. The 23 returning to Aldwych but via Green Park instead of Oxford Circus is close enough for recent history. Before that I would nominate the EL2's extension to Becontree Heath (a decade after 5 was extended from Becontree Heath to Romford resulting in 87 Barking-Romford being withdrawn).
That said, 425 is fine enough as a big route. It would do very well with it's Clapton terminus swapped with route 276 so the 276 terminates at Clapton and the 425 at Stoke Newington, making the 425 justify it's frequency north of Mile End more whilst relieving the 276, reducing unreliability as a side effect.
Either one of 25 or 425 I'd have them use the flyover to shave 3 minutes of passenger time and I'm certain the 425 won't have as much negative feedback as the 25 has.
Route 113 and Brent Cross flyover
That stop by Brent Cross Shopping Centre is quite a trek to walk to the shopping centre. Every route has stops that have low utilisation, it seemed to me this was one such example. It's been many years since I've used the 113, when it last used Enviro400 hybrid TEHs.
It would be amiss to directly remove 113 from a pair of stops only the 113 serves, the backlash would be justified moreso here than the attempted removal of 25 from a pair of stops.
So, I suggest splitting the 186. A typical route has different passenger flows, perhaps cleanly split. The 186's passenger flows evenly split at Edgware with very few traversing across Edgware.
The 186 as Northwick Park Hospital - Edgware - Broadfields.
The 288 as Queensbury to Swiss Cottage, at Edgware via 186 to Brent Cross, then rejoins via 113 to provide common stops as far as Finchley Road (in the vicinity of the O2 Centre).
The positive about the 288 in this case is providing stops along Edgware Way (A41) south of the flyover with a direct link to the shopping centre nearby, whilst also making it easy to change buses at any number of stops where 113 and 288 will parallel.
Furthermore, the 113's peak frequency can be reduced again. The 288 itself changed from every 10 single decker buses into an every 12 double decker bus service.
I would send 303 to Broadfields Estate instead but I've kept this as a simpler three bus route change instead of four which isn't unreasonable.
New route SL24 Leytonstone - Eltham
I will admit, I am another one of those bus enthusiasts that have suggestions for express bus services. (Goodness, type 'Expressa' into the search bar)
This time I am in the process of creating a fictionalised Superloop map.
I already have existing maps of the current network so far here.
The route would stop at Leyton Station, (Here East?,) St Mary of Eton Church, Bow Church, Bromley-by-Bow Station, Blackwall Tunnel/East India Dock Road, North Greenwich Station, Eltham High Street/Passey Place.
I noticed a gap on the east arc, exactly capable of a bus route using the A12 and Blackwall Tunnel.
Obviously it will have to be single deck due to the northbound tunnel being older and thus has a height limit for our double decker buses to not access, and any other tall vehicle.
A west arc is covered by the Superloop parallel of 65 and Superloop parallel of 112, so why not a Superloop parallel of 108-W15?
In fact, if combined with another new Superloop route from Stratford via Bow Church, Hackney Central, Tottenham to Edmonton Green or even Ponders End to meet with the Superloop parallel of 307-313... you could create a new bridge of transport that links several destinations across the river never done before, allowing easier access from North London to South East London. Eltham to Hackney? Tottenham to North Greenwich? You got it!
New route SL27 Canary Wharf - Lakeside
I was incapable of chosing Canary Wharf or Canning Town, I was flip flopping between the two and settled on the other business centre district in London which also has access to the Elizabeth Line, Jubilee Line and Docklands Light Railway.
It would stop at the same stops as SL4 between Canary Wharf and Leamouth Road then; Woolwich Manor Way/Newham Way, Movers Lane and River Road, Chequers Lane/Merrielands Retail Park, Rainham Station.
My reasoning for serving Lakeside is a bit like park-and-ride, and in this case because of the shopping centre, this route can be Park-and-Ride!
Initially I simply wanted a connection from outside London into this route, giving it an extra layer of potential usage. Directly linked to Canary Wharf?! Must attract some people for one reason or another.
This route will also function as an Elizabeth Line feeder.
In my earlier iterations, I flirted with rerouting 173 to Canning Town at Beckton Retail Park. Extending 473 via Beckton to somewhere east, with a cutback from Stratford and an increase in 262's frequency.
This could be my best iteration of an express route along the A13.
The A12 road gets a Superloop, I demand the A13 also receives one! (Not really, but I will politely also include many other A-roads with extensive bus stop coverage to also receive parallel faster limited stop routes.)
It's not all for flyovers but these are realistic enough solutions.
That's all from me for now, stay safe, thanks for reading.
New Year 2025! Enjoy!
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