Route Test fleet (Single Decks upgradeable v2)

I say this thinking about how routes 42 170 and 201 all had MECs tested by Go-Ahead as Red Arrow routes 507 and 521 were converting to electric Enviro200 EVs.
The 42 passed. The 170 passed. The 201 failed (due to Roupell Road), 646/648 failed for somewhere.

Stagecoach tried with 314 using Citaros freed from 227, the test failed by Elmstead Woods as the roads curve narrowly. Instead the Citaros got sold to Cyprus where a rival operator arsoned them. Bad end to great machines.

(Stagecoach should've tried with P4 too)

Another failed attempt includes Metroline with double deck TAs and route 251. Failed due to Totteridge area.

Since the previous 70-capacity 201 test failure, Lambeth council installed Low Traffic Neighbourhood, and didn't remove it like some other boroughs wisely did, in spite of increased traffic on main roads which hasn't dissipated to thin air as some would've liked. This made me think, following 201's tender announcement keeping it's YY64-reg Enviro200s I adore.

The 201 can realistically use 12m buses now.

Why?

Only buses are allowed to turn into Roupell Road [from A205]

I am under the belief a sizeable amount of single deck routes that use 10.8m vehicles can use 12m sized vehicles. The 108 has proved it, the 360 has proved it, the 444 has proved it. The 203 and H37 were 10.8m single deck routes until 2011-12.

The purpose of this is manyfold

- Reduce the amount of times TfL and operators need to verify a route test, making this one-party

- Insure the highest size vehicle can be used on buses, ensuring maximum capacity achieved

- Eliminate discrepancies

Just recently, new routes SL1 and SL2 were tested using an LT.

Just recently, the 289 was awarded as a double deck route (currently single deck), just like happened to 80 - making Sutton (A) almost fully electric, Thornton Heath (TH) will also be fully electric.

Realising it deeper as I publish this post
Electric range is more important but can't quantify it myself
Speadsheet: Single Decks upgradable (updated for 2023!)

M25 median railway

Why would one build a railway in the middle of a motorway? It's cheaper!

Why would you avoid grade-separating railways, either through tunnelling ground or having them elevated? In short: cost (acquiring land and compensating owners, etc)

Where the Elizabeth Line's construction costs surpassed $25 billion tunnelling through central London, there is only lane widening to consider for motorways (unless already had a convenient median).

A little while ago in Canada Montreal's newest metro on the block: REM automated light rail system along the freeway.

I increased my budget with my own animated GIF

It's not uncommon in America too, usually in cases the freeway came after the railway. 

Or see Roosevelt Boulevard, it already a median built into it in preparation for a subway that is 20-years in bickering over finances.

   If it's not obvious, America had the most railway track in any country in the 19th-20th centuries, well, I didn't try as it's not the main topic but alas, some things confined to the past.

So you have Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia but to name a few that have this... quirk of the transport world.

My budget ran out
Yes that is a bus station you see above the Joondalup line station

In Berlin the autobahn (highway in English) was built 50 years after the Ringbahn (S-bahn/U-bahn trains that form a ring in the city).

Osaka in Japan also has some section of this description, albeit 4-lane for cars rather than the monstrosities you see in America.

Perth also has a 10-lane freeway with a bus lane on the outsides, and a railway in the middle. They're gonna extend the line, costing only $441 million AUD projected as of writing.

There's an entire Wikipedia sub-page for this.

The consensus is highway median railways like these are bad, after all in those stations on the motorway - you're blasted with the sound of tyre friction that surpass 90 dB (think of being in a concert level of loudness), whilst every waking second feels longer than it actually is, as your perception is slightly warped by how uncomfortable it is to be there, even with some level of sound proofing.

Then, catchment.

Where are you placing stations to appeal to people that won't drive their car? A decent amount of catchment area is taken by the motorway itself. Therefore the areas the stations are in should be a destination despite these shortcomings, to be considered usable.

So I had a thought, is this doable with our M25?

Highway median railways, what could possibly go wrong!

Streatham High Road (and Norwood Road): 1912 to 2022

pre-Victoria Line
PDF link

A post in the making since 2021, sat on the project a few times. Took a total of many weeks of completely researching and putting into a cohesive script to then make the good eye-catchy maps of artwork. Enjoy, stay safe and well.

ULEZ done better

A Conservative initiative during the time Boris was Mayor, though since then Labour's Khan has been the face of it's execution on three occasions (in central 2019; inside North/South Circular Roads 2021; now London-wide 2023).

Now that the court ruling has meant Khan can push through with ULEZ, (and as of publishing this post, ULEZ a few days from enacting), let's review the gist of the process.


Minimum Euro4 petrol cars are allowed in ULEZ, 

Euro3 for motorbikes and the like.

Diesels however: Euro6.

So, not many would have to replace their personal vehicles as much as people have blown it out of proportion (clickbaits, misconceptions, God forbid any nefarious reasons), unless they're unfortunate to have gotten diesel. My condolences to van/minibus drivers minding their business.

Some would say only we would do this type of slap-on-the-wrist on road users, Congestion Charge and now Ultra Low Emission Zone.

What others do however would be more drastic. Roads banned to cars inside cities anyone? Bans on cars on certain days of the week based on your registration number?

What about Carbon Tax? Canada & Trudeau to London & Khan. Both upset people and hit middle-income people. 

All in all if you fail you have to pay £12.50 a day, contrast that with Congestion Charge which is currently a £15 daily fee... which itself was also a sticking point in the early mayoral career of Ken Livingstone at the turn of the century.

Though back when Congestion Charge was being brought in, three benefits were brought in directly visible by road users of all types.

Of course, we know it's not really to tackle pollution, but to have an extra income stream. Not really tackling traffic either. No extra transport links being done by the date of 29 August (even if some bus consultations were touting their addressing of ULEZ, likewise Superloop).

Now we not only have a £110 million scrappage scheme for Londoners, but some boroughs adding a £1000 grant per vehicle to those without good public transport.

For those without good public transport.

There's the issue.

Bus lanes 

Speeding up buses by a decent margin, with around 9% growth attributed to it

New bus routes 

(148 205 360 388, as well as splits like 363[63], 390[10], 430[74], 432[2], 436[36], 453[53] 460?[260] etcetera)

Tramlink 

though a few years in the making, it did reduce congestion in Croydon dramatically, allowing not just a reduction of car traffic but also an efficient upgrade from powerhouse bus route 130 - into trams. Also utilising a half-hourly railway between Wimbledon and Croydon into a frequent service.

You can support me by donating to me, buying from my store, or perhaps order from my Fiverr!

Super(not)Loops & the new Superloops

As you may have heard, or even seen the TV ad/YouTube video, the 607 (White City to Uxbridge), a number used for the past 30 years (as well as between 1939 and 1961 for Trolleybus 607) has ceased to exist.

It is now SL8, with no changes at all currently (besides stop renamings). Come 29 August it will have earlier and later journeys added. Why they couldn't have done both simultaneously and score a little more brownie points is beyond my armchair comprehension.

The X26 will join also in August with a frequency increase from every 30 to every 15, christened the number SL7.

   Buses start and finish at West Croydon Bus Station instead of Delta Point.

   East Croydon, Wallington Green and Teddington (northbound) stops to have new shelters.

   New Malden The Fountain stop renamed New Malden Fountain Roundabout.

   An extra last bus out of Heathrow.

   1 journey starts at Wallington Green to Heathrow

   (4 weekday, 2 Saturday, 1 Sunday) journeys starting from New Malden to Heathrow

The X68 will change earlier, next week 29 July. No changes at all (Disappointed as a local).

  Addendum edit: It's buses (EH213/214/215-224) to receive USB charging.

   Branding a little tacky with the advert frame still in situ, which can't be used as a revenue stream.

   ^ in addition to above, buses can't be used on other routes - another revenue stream gone (e.g Rail Replacement).

Best of all: 

- no route number (when it was 607, maybe will receive it as SL8)

- it's branding omits Acton and Southall, larger towns than Hayes is.

- Don't mention it's frequency (yet Hayes and Barkingside brandings did).

- Superloop mentioned in large twice (in text and the roundel)

- "express bus service" capitalised but relatively small underneath the large Superloop text

- Why have an asterisk "at the tailpipe" as if combustion vehicles spout emissions elsewhere

The idea of orbital bus routes isn't new, if you read the Superloop wikipedia article, but in short, the last time they flirted with the idea, the X26 went from hourly to half-hourly and Boris Johnson halted plans for new routes as apparently he was told there was no need. We know the kind of man he is, who also stopped plans of a new crossing from Thamesmead to Beckton on the grounds of cost.

Map link.

Now we have new routes, the X123, X269 and X119 respectively.

SL2 consultation, SL3 consultation, SL5 consultation.

Every 12 M-Sat, every 15 Sunday/evenings
for all three routes (and SL1/X34, SL10/X183, SL9/X140)

You can support me by donating to me, buying from my store, or perhaps order from my Fiverr!

Walthamstow12, Wanstead13, Woodford14

In short the 549 is to be withdrawn... or is it? Cue the V-sauce music.

I'll lay my opinion first before delving on to stuff, it is a mixed bag, as many in the enthusiast space have also said to varying degrees. Some users of the current W12 benefit whilst some users of W12 get the back hand treatment. In the end, the current 549 userbase also gets a benefit by going back to a frequency they once had.

The only no-strings-attached improvement is W13's weekend and evening frequency enhancements.

You can support me by donating to me, buying from my store, or perhaps order from my Fiverr!

Red Arrow replacements

Red Arrow: April 1966 - April 2023.

As you'd have known, the last two died on 29 April 2023; routes 507 and 521.

Red Arrow, an experiment; flat fare limited stop feeder services; that started in the 1960s with only route 500 (Victoria - Marble Arch - Oxford Circus [off-peak]).

With it's success, more services sprawled from 1968. Routes had frequencies of every 2-3 minutes during the peaks, though were mostly quiet during the off-peak, effectively wasted resources. 

Attempts tried in the 1980s to address this problem, by giving routes weekend services and the like, to some success one could optimistically say (looking at 507).

   Which partly explains how most died off before the end of the 20th century, with only three surviving in the 21st.

As the British economy changed, some workplaces moving elsewhere, we found ourselves in the mid 90s with only the 501 505 507 521.

The 507 and 521 were still very strong, right until 2020.

Covid.

More now than ever, a complete change of balance with working. Work from home is commonplace, though not an end-all-be-all. It has heavily impacted many. For our relevance, this resulted in heavy drops in frequency on our remaining 507 and 521.

All in all:

Routes 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 513 521 existed.

Now: none.

Their sections live on under daily routes.

Who killed them...?

You can support me by donating to me, buying from my store, or perhaps order from my Fiverr!

Unormtrepeneur

Firstly, Eid Mubarak, to Muslims brothers and sisters.

On to my main point, 

You may have noticed slight changes on the blog.

Additions of a link to donate and a link to a shop. 

Fiverr gig link too!

I have refrained from doing these out of pride, though as I've gotten sick a few times of the past few years, in addition with the Cost of Living Crisis those of us in Great Britain are going through, I've dropped my pride.

Even knowing that yes, with Cost of Living Crisis means there is less income to spend on non-necessities, I've still decided that if you could support me financially to reduce my burdens, it would be genuinely appreciated.

You don't have to donate, you don't have to buy from my shop.

I will continue to write sporadically, even reading them is support. Until the next one, peace upon you, stay safe!