Yay! 100th uploaded post!
The 261 getting an additional route in the form of X239 which runs parallel from Grove Park to Lee, then via 202 to Blackheath and runs fast to Canary Wharf connecting with the DLR Jubilee and Elizabeth lines.
It didn't take me long to think about how X239 is truly a tube feeder, which also doubles as extra capacity for 261 which will be very great for it.
The style of express works well, long-past the tried-and-true method on X53 X68 and X72 of which only one remains (since a tube line didn't kill it), born from 68's overcrowding itself. All three serving areas with no rail (Thamesmead or Upper Norwood or Thamesmead).
I've already done an Expressa and Expressa 2 before so this is a defacto Expressa 3.
In short: Replicating X239 with other tube lines, where possible adding capacity to routes that need it.
-------------------------------------------------------
Victoria Line
X198: Brixton <non-stop> Norbury - Shrublands
64: Thornton Heath High Street - New Addington Vulcan Way
An express version of 109, non-stop from Brixton to Norbury Station.
If I were to fantasise, I'd have this as a new route entirely.
X109: Brixton <non-stop> Norbury - all stops to Croydon <non-stop> Purley.
Food for thought.
Though I'm a man of realism so I will remind ourselves TfL had a cost crisis for a while before we had government policy issues making our currency worse.
 |
| Light is non-stop Dark is stop section |
So for this case, it's 198 being rebranded.
The 64 would be extended from Thornton Heath Pond to Thornton Heath High Street to keep 198's capacity and East Croydon link along Brigstock Road. As a bonus, 64's night service fused with N250 to combine one night route from Brixton to New Addington, with the goal being reducing overlap (any excess capacity) whilst retaining all links of both routes.
TfL have recognised that London Road (specifically between Norbury and Thornton Heath) has a lack of capacity with only 109 serving it at 10 buses an hour, compared to it's days of going Trafalgar Square as an entirely different monster.
A side effect is Shirley and Shrublands are directly connected to a bus that feeds to the tube, as well as Brixton having more links east-west in general.
Another is London Road having an East Croydon link. Neat.
PVR changes:
64: +2
198: +2
Round journey time (both ways total):
64: +19 minutes
198: +20 minutes
-------------------------------------------------------
Northern Line
420: Morden non-stop Sutton - Redhill - Whitebushes
S1: cutback from Banstead to Belmont
 |
| Light is non-stop Dark is stop section |
I'm at the stage of writing this as final ideas clutching for straws.
No doubt I could have made a better idea. Something involving 80/93 which TfL also are aware of capacity issues which have technically been solved by 80 being converted to double deckers, as well as effectively doubled in frequency the past 15 years.
Involving the corridor on 154/164 is a risky move if I were to remain grounded in reality.
That tram project (when it happens, if I'm alive) will involve going Sutton to Colliers Wood, linking the Northern Line there.
Not forgetting 420 already takes 70 mins end-to-end, and I knowingly and shamelessly still comprehend it's fine. My virtual house is burning down, it's still fine.
I guess in short: Maybe unsuitable to X239-ise without data.
Or without proper locale knowledge.
Unless the caveat is converting 293 into an express route non-stop from North Cheam to Morden, with something covering 293's normal route from North Cheam to Morden.
Addendum: Not touching S1, but making 420 non-stop from Belmont straight to Morden could work.
PVR changes:
420: +2
S1: -1
Round journey time (both ways total):
420: +20 minutes
S1: -15 minutes
-------------------------------------------------------
Central, District, Elizabeth, Overground lines
65X: Ealing Broadway - Brentford - Kew - Petersham - Ham - Kingston
Limited-stop (Ealing-Brentford) (Ham-Kingston)
All stops between Brentford and Ham
For this to work,
- 235 would be cut to Hounslow.
- 116 extended via Brentford and 65 to Ealing Broadway
- 71 extended to Ham
It is known that 65 has traffic issues, particularly in Kew.
Many in the community have brought forth the idea of an X65. Many have insisted not only Kew is a bottleneck, but the narrower streets in Ham and Petersham would make overtaking normal buses an arduous task.
So then, how about we use that to our benefit?
 |
| Light is non-stop Dark is stops section |
Recall how 607 is a limited-stop route. At first it was a clear-cut express route more or less, yes still limited stop, pretty few amount of stops nonetheless. Over time, more and more stops were added to the route, the latest addition being by Greenford (G) bus depot which drivers changeover at, all things considered, a desolate place
All this culminated in massive flocks of people waiting religiously for 607, whilst your average 207 and 427 regularly leave a 607 for dust in many instances.
In short: Limited stop 65X.
Hear me out, it is a crazy idea. Though, frankly I am clutching at straws for a nice idea linking to the District Line and not parallel something that already does it's job well.
For it to work, changes on 71 116 and 235 as outlined above. 235 cut because superfluous with 116, and swapping stands really.
Then, removing many stops on 65. Keeping two in a row when 65 meets 116, then one or two before 71's last stop shared with 65. Bearing in mind I've only done 65 once in my life so how I'd go about it is extremely armchair as I also have no data.
Non-stop from University of West London to Great West Road.
Non-stop from Tiffin Girls School to Kingston Station.
This will break direct links of people who go from South Ealing to Kew-Richmond-Kingston and vice-versa, but there is Hopper fare which TfL have been happy to use for cutting or withdrawing routes.
A by-product is speeding up buses between Ealing-Brentford and Ham-Kingston, where roads aren't as unforgivingly narrow (Petersham), whilst having almost friendly traffic levels (unlike Kew).
All in all, keeping a bulk of local journeys separated on 71 and 116. Keeping the long-distance journeys on 65X whilst speeding it up.
An inverse of express checkouts at supermarkets, where most people are longer distance so will still crowd 65X. The people needing short hops have it quicker on 71 and 116.
Learning from 207/427 and 607's dynamics and exploiting it on 65X. Simples.
PVR changes:
65: -2
71: +3
116: +5
235: -5
Round journey time (both ways total):
65: -11 mins (optimistic)
71: +26 mins
116: +63 mins
235: -42 mins
-------------------------------------------------------
Bakerloo, Elizabeth, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Overground, Northern lines
X140: Edgware - Harrow Weald non-stop Harrow - limited stop - Heathrow
340: Withdrawn
 |
| Light is non-stop Dark is stops section |
Manor Lane [to Harrow] | Manse Close [to Heathrow]
Willow Tree Lane [to Harrow] | Dilston Close [to Heathrow]
Tangmere Gardens [to Harrow] | Shakespear Avenue [to Heathrow]
Yeading / White Hart Roundabout
Then diverting it via the A312 between Hayes and Northolt.
Realistically for this quadrant, the X140 already exists and gave extra capacity to 140 that passengers of Harrow and more have begged TfL for, until TfL finally gave it to them in a slightly backhanded way by cutting 140 from Heathrow to Hayes as the price. Also Crossrail exists.
So all I've done is effectively apply the fix of "it has too many stops" whilst adding a nostalgia I never had, the 140 from Edgware to Heathrow.
Unironically using 186's route instead of 340 would be quicker by 10 mins in one direction, between Harrow and Edgware that is. Oh well.
PVR changes:
340: -9
X140: +8
Round journey time (both ways total):
340: withdrawn
X140: +69 minutes
-------------------------------------------------------
Piccadilly and Victoria lines
X134: Whetstone - Muswell Hill non-stop Finsbury Park
 |
| Light is non-stop Dark is stops section |
My logic to make up for lack of locale, is to spiritually extend W7 upwards without touching W7 itself. It will reinvent the express variant of W7 (when it was 212) that died as all express variants of normal routes did post-war.
PVR changes:
43: -2
134: -2
X134: +5 (every 15 freq)
Round journey time (both ways total):
43: no change
134: no change
X134: +65 minutes
-------------------------------------------------------
Central Line
X369: Ilford - Redbridge non-stop Angel Corner - Edmonton Green
Whilst not a bad idea linking Edmonton with East London directly on one transport mode, I have forced myself into a corner trying to involve the Central Line.
Unlike my 65X and X198 ideas, there is no way going around this without having a new route without unnecessary destruction. New route it is.
 |
| Light is non-stop Dark is stops section |
It is slightly rehashed from one of my earlier Expressa and Expressa 2 posts so, yeah. Nothing new here.
-------------------------------------------------------
DLR, Jubilee Line and Elizabeth Line
173: Canning Town non-stop Beckton Alps - Goodmayes
473: Custom House - North Woolwich - Beckton - Dagenham - Rainham
Reroute 173 to Canning Town
The second stop eastbound being "Masefield Gardens"
The second-to-last stop westbound being "Woolwich Manor Way"
Cut 473 from Stratford to Custom House. Extend from North Woolwich via Beckton and the A13, to somewhere as a destination of use, so Rainham since it has not much links westward except Barking, which is fine as a tube-feeder to the District/H&C too.
 |
| Self-explanatory |
The goal is to retain some of (most if possible) of 173's existing Beckton link it had ever since it went Stratford, hence the 473 number. Whilst keeping into the current not-secret mantra of feeding into the tube where the real money-making lies.
Beckton does indeed have the DLR, but Canning Town has both DLR and Jubilee, on top of more bus links to central and even North.
Beckton will have 129 going South via Silvertown Tunnel. As will Canning Town.
PVR changes:
173: -1 (freq down to every 12)
473: +1 (freq down to every 12)
Round journey time (both ways total):
173: +15 minutes
473: +21 minutes (+66 mins extension, -45 mins cut)
-------------------------------------------------------
Whilst on the topic of 261, there have been many an idea restructuring the family of 61/161/261, mainly the goal of adding links or cutting to reduce waste. Why I bring it up? Since we're on 261, might as well relish in it.
The 61.
Rerouting it to Ramsden Estate, allowing a nice and niche direct link from Bromley to the estate, which no doubt people do go to, changing onto 208 (if not 358).
The 161.
Extending from Chislehurst to Orpington, allowing for cross-Chislehurst links to be re-established, not gaining them new but returning what was once lost to history mostly.
Cutting it to Woolwich won't make anyone mad, as most people blindly opt for 472 even now that we have 180 rerouted there.
X239, send it to Bromley.
Combine the above with extending X239 further from Grove Park to Bromley, then you can do a 2-bus journey from Orpington all the way to Canary Wharf, even Ramsden Estate with the above tweak to 61 which would be wild.
To end this wacky post, it was a fever dream idea I executed. Not poorly I'd say but I set my standards lower for this one, so I'm okay with the results.
Fever dream I say, but this is me throwing ideas at the wall and not caring which one sticks, as one is bound to with enough glue.
I hope you enjoyed it either way, hope you have a good day, until the next one, stay safe!
X239 could be tweaked around Canary Wharf and Grove Park, There is no suggestion to create new route '239' from Greenford to Ruislip part of TFL. In 2008 These are simply outrageous lowest numbers for this being is that there is no 239 since last merge on Clapham Junction then gives 170 an extension further north.
ReplyDeleteHow about 239
ReplyDelete