please empty your brain below
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You have all the fun.
"security-tagged packet of dishwasher salt" - eh? I've noted dishwasher salt has doubled in price in the last year, but it's still no more than £2 a pack, so the tag probably costs more.
Blue Witch | 14.06.23 - 7:30 a.m. | #
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Glad you’ve slit this up. By the time we got to Croydon I was knackered. See you tomorrow.
Mike Jones | 14.06.23 - 8:46 a.m. | #
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I never knew this bus existed! It does feel a bit of an anomaly route and I’m surprised it has lasted post-covid. Also, I imagine thameslink must have taken some of the demand on this route.
David | 14.06.23 - 8:59 a.m. | #
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I wonder if the driver has had a stairs related incident, could explain the somewhat officious behaviour.
You’d only need to see one bad fall and you’d become more focused than average.
TomH | 14.06.23 - 9:03 a.m. | #
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"the temporary traffic lights by Strathmore Road turn amber and trap us for at least the fifth time. If I'd been the driver I'd have accelerated through, I think..."
*Really*? Surely you travel too much on buses for that! I think I can recall every one of the very few times a bus driver has shown any initiative with lights, and I'm sure they're all related to it being their last drive of the shift. Usually (yes, usually), they slow down slightly in anticipation of a possible amber/red, leading to more stops than are necessary. Most frustrating if, as you were, one is approaching an anticipated connection at a bus or rail station.
But they don't give a damn.
David B | 14.06.23 - 9:25 a.m. | #
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Here's a paragraph I didn't include in today's post because I thought it was already too long.
There are temporary traffic lights at Bowyer Road, and they're just changing to amber as we approach. I always think you can tell a lot about a bus driver by what they do in this situation, do they dutifully stop or do they marginally accelerate to get through and avoid another two minutes of waiting. The Driver marginally accelerates and we're through, suggesting he's the latter type (but later he'll do the former suggesting he's a bit more nuanced than that).
Never risk a surely.
diamond geezer | Homepage | 14.06.23 - 9:33 a.m. | #
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You don't get the 'enthusiastic' driving as much as you did in the past, I think the roll out of iBus from around 2007 increased monitoring of drivers behaviour, plus the 'padded' schedules started to roll out from around 2009, I think this was a defensive strategy by TfL and bus companies as driver's couldn't blame tight timings for fast driving.
Still Anon | 14.06.23 - 9:51 a.m. | #
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If the dishwasher salt still had a security tag attached, that suggests to me it was stolen.
Kev | 14.06.23 - 10:21 a.m. | #
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It seems an expensive service to run if buses do the return journey out of service.
Mikey C | 14.06.23 - 10:35 a.m. | #
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The Driver seems to have taken the published route akin to the 468, so why mention not going via Brixton?
Ian | 14.06.23 - 10:56 a.m. | #
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'Ey up, DCI Kev is on the case
Wild Edric | 14.06.23 - 12:58 p.m. | #
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'What I did was pack a rucksack with provisions..'
Provisions illustrates beautifully that you can take the boy out of the Home Counties, but not the Home Counties out of the man!
Frank F | 14.06.23 - 1:02 p.m. | #
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The stair thing may be the recent (overly)prudent guideline of only starting your descent to the lower deck when the bus has fully stopped... which leads to long dwell times.
matthieu1221 | 14.06.23 - 1:35 p.m. | #
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Given the large number of government jobs moving to the offices near East Croydon station, the case could be made for operating the service in the “wrong” direction every morning/evening… at least on the buses which are running otherwise empty back to the current start of the service.
Adrian | 14.06.23 - 1:46 p.m. | #
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Blimey, this was quite the trip! Can't wait to read what happens on the next leg!
Cornish Cockney | 14.06.23 - 1:57 p.m. | #
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Looks like my 19.27 is going to be well wide of the mark, then.
Trevor S | 14.06.23 - 2:46 p.m. | #
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Arguably it's the X68 being rush hour only that makes this a challenge, because the other two provide all-day service so can be taken any time.
Patrickov | 14.06.23 - 3:45 p.m. | #
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Do the X68s really run back empty, or in service as a 68 or 468?
Timbo | 14.06.23 - 5:37 p.m. | #
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There is some dead running (Out of service) as the three routes are operated by three different companies: 68 by|Abellio,468 by Arriva and X68 by Go-Ahead London. Go Ahead buses also work on the 188 so they can swop routes at Russell Square.
AlanJS | 14.06.23 - 6:39 p.m. | #
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A cursory look at the Mon-Thur schedules suggests in the morning they run empty from Q (Camberwell green garage) to west Croydon, do 1 X68 journey to Russell Square then take up service on the 188 from there.
In the afternoons, the first two run empty from Q to Russell Square, x68 to w Croydon, empty to Russell Square, x68 to w Croydon and then empty to Q. All the rest in the afternoon (forming the 3rd to 3rd from last) come off the 188, do one x68 to w Croydon then back empty to Q. Those 188’s that change to x68’s are replaced by buses that ran empty from Q to Russell Square, so, there is a lot of empty running involved, but what would be a short duty 1/2 of just one trip on the x68 is made a more reasonable length duty 1/2 by before or after including trips on the 188.
There are Friday and school holiday and school term time variations of these schedules, so the above may not occur every day.
Mackay | 14.06.23 - 6:41 p.m. | #
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Dave- one reason why X68 continues may be the bargain fare- £1.75, the same as any other bus route. Cheaper than Thameslink I would guess.
Jeremy Buck | 14.06.23 - 7:09 p.m. | #
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about 15 years ago I was on the x68 to what I thought was Camberwell. When I asked the driver to open the doors he rightly pointed out it was an express bus, but hinted to where I could open the doors if I wanted to. So I pressed the red button above the door and hey presto it opened for me I got out.
SJM | 15.06.23 - 8:32 a.m. | #
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Looking at the working timetable for the X68, most duties are linked with the 188 which also terminates at Russell Square, so out of all the morning and evening departures, only the 15:40 and 16:00 run back empty over the full route for another trip.
The gaps on the 188 in the evening are covered by new duties running empty from Camberwell.
Still Anon | 16.06.23 - 2:49 p.m. | #
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I agree with your comments about pausing on the stairs. I do it myself to stop falling down them. As a child I had no problem with them but now I'm not sure why they seem so hazardous. Is it
a) buses are more wobbly than before?
b) buses accelerate and decelerate quicker?
c) are the stairs smaller (i.e. I'm not sure I can get the entire length of my foot on a step anymore)?
d) middle age?
e) something else?
Anyway, I'm sure that driver would be shouting at me too.
David H | 17.06.23 - 8:34 p.m. | #
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