How to express on narrow route

For the foreseeable future, new posts remain text-only.

I believe I mentioned this in passing in another post to do with express buses or Superloop but I will make it the focus of this post.

To get you to understand quickly, here is the example:

- 65 leaves Kingston towards Ealing at 12:55

- SL** leaves Kingston towards Ealing at 13:03

- 65 leaves Kingston towards Ealing at 13:05

- SL** leaves Kingston towards Ealing at 13:13

- so on so forth

Note: In reality SL** will most likely be every 12. 65 most likely reduced to every 10.

See where I am going with this?

This is the same method some rail systems use, one of Tokyo's monorail in particular. It is almost fully 2-track throughout. Therefore, an express train has to be smartly deployed.

The express train leaves a few minutes before the local train, then the express train speeds ahead

We run in to this same problem with the 65 and arguably 158. SL2 as well but has two parallel routes of different operators making this more challenging.

Roads are narrow and 2-lane which makes overtaking difficult

A problem in this is the likelihood the Superloop route and the local route are with different operators.

To get around this, there is two options.

- Superloop route visible on monitor that controls the local route

- Joint-operation or Third party takes control of both routes. 

On the latter, I was just shy of saying 'TfL take control' but then they wouldn't need an operator to run it, so it defeats the purpose (and they lose a revenue stream from fining operators).

New regulating technique...

Another thing to solidify is a policy whereby local 65s and 158s deliberately allow an express behind to overtake them if it is beneficial. This is seen with kind and understanding drivers, on the first days of SL3 this was great.

For example, at Richmond towards Kingston. A Superloop a minute or two bebind the 65. Regulate the 65 or have the 65 driven slowly until the Superloop can overtake and gain distance.

This is far better than the hands-off approach which will frequently make a Superloop stuck behind the 65 for a large portion of the narrow sections.

The same can be done with SL2 before it enters either end of Ilford Lane at Barking or Ilford.

- Controllers can see SL2 approaching their 169 or EL1 on their monitor and notify their bus

- Drivers hold until SL2 overtakes

In theory this should work. Reality is a different ball game altogether. Certainly worth trialling since SL2 easily get stuck behind an EL1 - the EL1 is double the SL2's frequency.

I do not see the Superloop variant of 65 as useless. It does add capacity in a way that is more cost-effective for TfL. As TfL have made it clear they dislike Peak Vehicle Requirements larger than 30. The 65 already has a PVR of 27.

The other benefit is splitting the long-distance traffic and the local traffic; passengers piling onto the Superloop route for long distance journeys which allows the local 65s to have more breathing room.

I would like to see my SL15 and of course, routes with narrow roads such as 65's Superloop do well. This requires better implementation than what is seen on other routes which have bus lanes and/or four lanes for large sections of the routeing.

Short post. Thanks for reading, stay safe and take care!