please empty your brain below
It's a shame they couldn't find a compromise for the W12 through Walthamstow Village - TfL are very keen to run electric buses on the route, and Waltham Forest don't want bigger buses on that section, but it's the less mobile people who live in the immediate area who are losing out.

Martin | 05.09.24 - 7:17 a.m. | #

How can the bus stop just be called Sainsbury’s? All the local authorities were meant to change their bus stop names to be either Main Street/Cross Street or otherwise very unambiguous about 10-15 years ago under a Travelwise initiative.

Clearly some LAs listened harder than others. (And obviously London is, as always, its own little world)

Kirk | 05.09.24 - 7:19 a.m. | #

Back in the 1950s and 60s two bus routes did "cute little turns" through Buckhurst Hill Station forecourt (where there was a greasy spoon cafe frequented by boys, incl me, from BH County High) the 167 en route from Loughton to Chigwell/Ilford and the 254 which hugged a route "below the line" from Loughton to Woodford.

Rob Gullen | 05.09.24 - 7:24 a.m. | #

...the 167 still does, and the 254 eventually turned into the 549 - see here.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 05.09.24 - 7:30 a.m. | #

Is anyone keeping track of how many London bus routes are electrified now? They are starting to feel like they will soon be in the majority. I expect there must be a website out there keeping count.

Dan | 05.09.24 - 7:44 a.m. | #

I think if TfL had not included the Hail & Ride info on that poster (or showed in a different way like a yellow box to highlight the sections) then the map would have half a chance of being understood. As it is, I hope it gets used as a "how not to do a map" example for years to come.

Al | 05.09.24 - 7:55 a.m. | #

I trust this means the new laptop is working well.

Ian | 05.09.24 - 8:13 a.m. | #

The aberrant Buckhurst Hill Indian restaurant was an attempt in the 30s by the LNER to maximise income from “under-used” station forecourts - there were examples at eg Chingford, Highams Park, Loughton .it’s been a nuisance ever since, even when Rob was at BHCHS.

Crispy | 05.09.24 - 8:42 a.m. | #

I remember when the 549 was the 249 "Out of Town Bus". It wasn't used much then either (immediately post-deregulation), and while the wholly obscure Cullinan's Coaches ran it (briefly) during the week, with stone gloriously roaring old Bristol REs, the route had the indignity of having the dreadful Sampson's run the 250 in its place on Sundays. It hardly had any custom then, too.

Dominic h | 05.09.24 - 8:43 a.m. | #

I assume if the w12 is no longer going through Walthamstow Village this means no more buses along Orford Road. Walthamstow Village was arguably the first modern LTN and the bus passing through Orford Road was quite iconic in sustainable transport circles.

David | 05.09.24 - 8:58 a.m. | #

Am I the first to notice the tine of posting is 5.49? ✉️

dg writes: no

Lucy Garden | 05.09.24 - 9:17 a.m. | #

Blimey, if you hadn't mentioned getting - and having to adapt to - a new laptop, yesterday, you seem to have been pretty quick at making the change look seamless!

dg writes: you weren’t here three hours ago.

RogerW | 05.09.24 - 10:11 a.m. | #

Over the decades, TfL, LRT & London Transport all succeeded in converting two very busy, revenue intensive, former trunk services 10, 38A (& 35) into round the houses circuit routes that go everywhere and nowhere. A nightmare.

That said, I quite like the new W14 connection from Loughton, which actually provides some new direct connections and a reason to actually use the route, which had previously only paralleled the Underground. This is the latest in a long line of routes tried, all of which were unsuccessful. 254, 255, 250, 249, 549.

For Dominic H, a photo of The Out of Town Bus 249. I also have photos of earlier routes in this area on my homepage.

Long ago, I was a Woodford Green resident and I also had the luck to drive the first generation opo bus routes in this area, which by co-incidence had also begun on a 7th September. That day in 1968 when the largest bus changes ever were implemented, the root of the mess of services we now see today.

Steve | Homepage | 05.09.24 - 12:29 p.m. | #

Wonderful name of the first figure "changes7sept2014.gif". And not only because I haven't seen a .gif since well before 2014.

Thorum | 05.09.24 - 1:07 p.m. | #

'what people really want to know is "where are the buses going now?", not "where don't they go any more?"'

Absolutely. Reminds me of people who give directions to a place I don't know along the lines of "turn right where the pub used to be"

Jon W | 05.09.24 - 2:14 p.m. | #

You used to get on the W14 at Snaresbrook on the south side of the road and get off at Orchard Estate on the north side of the road... you can still do the journey, but you now get on on the north side of the road and get off on the south side of the road! I wonder if such a change is unprecedented.

Basil Jet | 06.09.24 - 5:32 p.m. | #

The last journey on route 549, as captured on YouTube, was an exuberant demonstration that Men Who Like Buses are now vastly outnumbered by Youth Who Like Buses.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 06.09.24 - 11:37 p.m. | #

W14 should be lengthened to Leytonstone to give cover for Central Line over the core Epping Branch. Once more, Wanstead comes out fine with the N55 as well while Leytonstone (being the bigger and mycler of the two) is left out. TfL / London Transport being lousy as ever.

Glen Eagles | 10.09.24 - 10:06 a.m. | #











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