please empty your brain below
Gosh. Now I can walk to the bottom of my road here in Greenwich, jump on a 108 and within (admittedly quite a few) minutes I can be at Bus Stop M.

This has to be done.

Chris | 01.10.16 - 1:20 a.m. | #

Could this be the most talked about bus stop in London?

Grumpy Anon | 01.10.16 - 4:04 a.m. | #

Prior to 1946, was bus stop M tram stop M?

Dan | 01.10.16 - 6:52 a.m. | #

Posted at 01:08 of course .. we notice, and expect nothing less!

Frank F | 01.10.16 - 7:46 a.m. | #

I have travelled on the route D8 on four occasions during the past week and boarded at four different bus stops ( not including the famous Bus Stop M) and have seen a large A4 size poster at all the four stops detailing the changes so it appears that the alterations have been advertised quite well as far as I could see.

Fishislandskin | 01.10.16 - 7:52 a.m. | #

I think updating before the change is preferable to after the change, especially as the 108 is a 24 hour service, so starts using the revised routeing from around midnight.

Of course you'll now have to keep an eye on traffic updates for the Blackwall Tunnel to check it the 108 is actually running - although at least the DLR is an alternative for many journeys.

| 01.10.16 - 8:01 a.m. | #

That switchover on the signage at stop M sounds almost efficient. Here on the Isle of Dogs, three routes (135, 277 and D3) swapped around a couple of weekends ago. The signage was changed five days ahead. The spider maps however are still the old ones, so completely wrong. Ibus was not updated until a few days later, so it failed to show buses on the "new" part of their route.
Even more fun, on the day of the switch, I caught a 277 and the driver obviously hadn't been properly briefed as we took the wrong route. Hours of fun....

IslandDweller | 01.10.16 - 8:18 a.m. | #

BUSES. EAST LONDON. FOREVER.

FOREVER.

IT WILL NEVER END.

Bert | 01.10.16 - 8:24 a.m. | #

The maps on the tfl site show the old routings, for the D8 at least. This is so sloppy. It doesn't require anyone to drive round in a van with a bucket of paste. It could/should have all been programmed to update on the web at midnight.
But tfl seem totally uninterested in keeping the bus section of their site updated.

IslandDweller | 01.10.16 - 8:25 a.m. | #

In 1959 Trolleybus routes 661 and 663 were still runing up until August. From then, as part of the replacement routes, and during 1960, new route 32 - Wanstead to Victoria stopped there which was eventually withdrawn in November 1964.

dg writes: Added, thanks.

Agent Z | 01.10.16 - 9:30 a.m. | #

I suppose I am bitching about the changes to the 108 bus - tell me how the other east London bus routes can help me. I have used the 108 for three main things
1. to get to a my (ex) job in Whitechapel - 108 to Bromley by Bow change to District Line, Not possible now??
2. to visit Homerton Hospital. 108 to Bromley by Bow station change to 488. (not possible now - and even worse coming back where the interchange was at Tesco)
3. to get back to Greenwich from Stratford Station. Very unclear where to get the bus now.
This is a bit sort of - help!

maryorelse | 01.10.16 - 10:31 a.m. | #

@ Island Dweller - TfL's own bus departure info on its website still does not recognise the changes to the 83/483 from 10 September. The changes to the 135/277/D3 are stilt not shown correctly. The stop publicity for the changes in Lewisham is still not correct in Lewisham itself. We can now add in the changes to the 42, 108 and D8. This is just a load of failure for no good reason.

None of the Spider Maps for any of the route changes are accurate either. Worse if you try to look the Bow Church map the url is wrong and just loops you back to the map search page for Newham. Lewisham's town centre map shows the revised stops but is now wrong for the 108 as it now goes to Stratford International.

There is no point in saying you offer comprehensive information and then cannot be bothered to ensure all the updates happen on the day they are required. This just lets down the travelling public.

PC | 01.10.16 - 10:54 a.m. | #

@ Maryorelse.

To get to Whitechapel from Greenwich take the DLR to Canary Wharf, catch the D3 bus. Alternatively take the 108 to Bow Church DLR stn and walk the short distance to Bow Road underground station. Not ideal I'll grant you but if you can walk OK no great issue really.

To get to Homerton Hospital just change from the 108 to / from the 488 at Bow Church. You will need to cross the road as the buses run in opposite directions here.

You catch the 108 at Stratford City - use the big footbridge over the railway, go down to street level and go to stop X which is opposite the bus station NOT in the bus station. Alternatively take any bus (25, 276, D8, 425) from Stratford to Bow Church and change to the 108 there.

PC | 01.10.16 - 11:05 a.m. | #

Looking at the 1934 Mike Harris map, before the Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach Road, the 108 used St. Leonards Street and terminated nearby at Seven Stars.

Routes serving Bow Church then were the 10, 10A, 25, 25A, 25B, 25C, 96, 208 and night route 298, Trams 61 and 63, Eastern National operated a 10 between Bow (Hillman Coach Station) and Chelmford, as well as Green Line routes V (Bishops Stortford - Liverpool Street), Y (Brentwood - Aldgate) and AY (Upminster - Aldgate).

| 01.10.16 - 11:32 a.m. | #

Oh Christ, not again. It's like someone telling you about their recurrent piles.

No more Bow bus stops! | 01.10.16 - 11:40 a.m. | #

Coming back from Stratford on Wednesday by car I actually saw bus stop M.
Had all sorts of trouble explaining its notoriety to my companions after I Exclaimed there it is!

Ray | 01.10.16 - 11:51 a.m. | #

Please just ignore the naysayers and carry on blogging about whatever you want. We'll all read it.

Andrew | 01.10.16 - 4:34 p.m. | #

Didn't RTs run under Campbell Road bridge on the 86? Are the current double-deckers higher or is there less headroom under the bridge now (or both)?

Stephen Bird | 01.10.16 - 4:52 p.m. | #

@Stephen

I'm not aware of problems on Campbell Road, but special 'low' double deckers were once used on bus routes under the Carpenters Road bridge.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgeezer/708060664

diamond geezer | Homepage | 01.10.16 - 6:16 p.m. | #

It isn't the bridge in Campbell Road that is too low, it's the the one in Carpenters Road, the 108 is restricted to single deckers anyway because of the Blackwall Tunnel, so it may as well replace the D8 via Carpenters Road.

Before the D8 was rerouted via Carpenters Road back in 2014, double deck buses were used, it was temporarily converted to double deck operation during the Olympics for example - it was also rerouted back to Stratford as the Olympic Park was a closed area - but no issues with the bridge in Campbell Road.

| 01.10.16 - 6:28 p.m. | #

@ Ray "Coming back from Stratford" you would have been on the westbound carriageway and not seen stop M through the church grounds.

DG: In 1980's Route 86 went from High St to St Leonards Road, so missed stop M eastbound and only served the westbound stop at Bow church. That was superseded by route 278 at weekends mid eighties, then when the route was pulled the number reemerged around Bromley.
Route 8 was there by 1985 (not late as 1988) with me as a Conductor hanging off the back! Old Ford canteen had been closed shortly before then as the previous 8 terminus

dg writes: Updated, thanks.

How complicated is stop M?

scrumpy | 01.10.16 - 6:54 p.m. | #

Special dd buses were only ever used through Rotherhithe tunnel. Carpenters Rd is 13ft 6" and tall enough for the green enthusiasts special,

D8 was indeed DD during the Olympics, but did not transit Carpenters Rd (which was closed 01 July 2007) and served Stratford bus station as a DD for the Olympic period, Originally the route was an evening service to replace the shambles that was the original DLR resignnalling project.

scrumpy | 01.10.16 - 7:15 p.m. | #

Erm.....

Just remembered that the N8 did serve Bow Church from August 1988 through to October 1996.

http://www.londonbuses.co.uk/_routes/night/n008.html

| 01.10.16 - 8:30 p.m. | #

Rotherhithe Tunnel - RTL/RTs were used on the 82, the only modification was the use of reinforced tyres to deal with the constant rubbing against the kerbs on the tunnel section - these were also used on the 108 before the conversion to single deck.

| 01.10.16 - 8:37 p.m. | #

If you have a name, or even a nickname, do please use it, otherwise we have no idea who's funnelling us this useful stuff.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 01.10.16 - 8:52 p.m. | #

Tunnel double deck buses http://www.countrybus.org/STL/STL11.htm#tunnel

scrumpy | 01.10.16 - 9:29 p.m. | #

Love Bus Stop M. Want one for Christmas.

Herbof | 01.10.16 - 9:39 p.m. | #

It's interesting that people feel more comfortable communicating with someone who has a 'false' identity, rather than someone who has none.

It's like those news reports where person x is described as Henry (not his real name), or Carol (not her real name) you sit and think, 'what was the point of that, why give them an identity, then immediately tell us its false?'.

Athol Street | 01.10.16 - 10:09 p.m. | #

The issue with "no identity" is that when ten responses are nameless, we have no way of knowing whether that's ten anonymous people commenting once, or one anonymous person commenting ten times.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 01.10.16 - 10:24 p.m. | #

Discovered there is more than one bus stop named "M"

splashy99 | 02.10.16 - 12:13 a.m. | #

Also, Bus Stop M's page on the TfL website is out of date, still showing the D8 (which has no buses) and not yet showing the 108 (whose buses now turn up announced).
https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/stop/490004215M/bow-church

diamond geezer | Homepage | 02.10.16 - 9:24 a.m. | #

@ DG - you will be waiting weeks for those details to change. Over 3 weeks since changes in West London. Still not reflected on the TfL website. However your magical powers of influence may mean Bow's stop info is corrected earlier than all the rest.

PC | 02.10.16 - 10:06 a.m. | #

I suspect Chris will have a change of mind following Sunday's post.
Will they ever leave Bus stop M alone. I cannot think of a single change to my local bus stop in the last 10 years, except the addition of the blue light.

Louise | 05.10.16 - 7:20 p.m. | #

I made a formal complaint to tfl about their failure to update bus service information on their website. My complaint was about the D3/135/277 changes, but the generic issue also applies to the issues you highlighted here.

Here's the reply I received.

"Dear Mr IslandDweller
Thanks for your further email of 10 October about the generic issue of the accuracy of information we provide about our services online. I’m very sorry that you’ve been inconvenienced by the provision of outdated information.

I fully understand the points you make - the latest update of reference data (all the bus and timetable information) took place after a gap of two months. This was as a result of some infrastructure issues we’ve been tackling. Now these have been addressed, I’m pleased to inform you, our aim is to update the reference data more frequently.

We also have plans to implement a solution that means there won’t be any need to wait for the release of reference data. The solution will help us update the bus information almost instantly. This should be up and running by the end of the year.

I trust this information will be of assistance to you. Thanks for taking the time to contact us. Please contact me again if you need any further assistance, or if you would prefer to talk to us about this matter, please call us on 0343 222 1234 and we'll be happy to help.
Kind regards
Shona Laing
Customer Service Adviser "

IslandDweller | 09.11.16 - 5:11 p.m. | #











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