please empty your brain below
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I guess that is the nearest we are going to get to a kitten post ... pls to post photos of cat in push chair.
Debster | Homepage | 24.06.11 - 1:42 a.m. | #
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No publicity re. the change on buses or stops it seems?
Surely something to the effect that "free buses on the 25 end on Sat" or similar?
dg writes: Publicity? Some, apparently.
See link at bottom of post. As seen here.
Kim | 24.06.11 - 2:09 a.m. | #
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It completely sums up the difference between Ken and Boris, doesn't it?
Ken's solution: an unpleasant experience that gets everyone where they need to go.
Boris's solution: a much more pleasant experience for the lucky few, while the rest are left waiting at the bus stop for hours watching full buses go past without stopping.
john b | Homepage | 24.06.11 - 5:36 a.m. | #
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Bendy buses are great, on certain routes they would work very well, the Number 25 was never going to be one of those routes.
Fishislandskin | 24.06.11 - 8:41 a.m. | #
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Does anyone know the plans for the redundant bendies?
Blue Witch | Homepage | 24.06.11 - 9:09 a.m. | #
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what, what, what .. ? they're ALL being replaced?
out here in the Wild West, the 207's work really well as bendy's - ironically mainly because the Uxbridge road is long and straight without too many bends in it at all, and they're so busy & popular, that the three door system does work really well.
horses for courses - & the bendys are obviously good on some routes, and less so on others. the 207 won't be the same for me iv it's not an EV anymore. ho hum, change & progress 'n all that ...
geofftech | Homepage | 24.06.11 - 9:16 a.m. | #
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As a short-hopper North from Vauxhall, the 436 will be missed. Plenty of room for masses to swarm on and swarm off. Horses for courses: a far too simple and yet too sophisticated policy for any politician...
David | 24.06.11 - 9:37 a.m. | #
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When precisely is the last bendy bus planned to disappear from London's streets?
Andrewh | Homepage | 24.06.11 - 10:18 a.m. | #
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I've travelled on the 25 bendy - it was a most unpleasant experience and that was with a seat.
Richard | Homepage | 24.06.11 - 10:31 a.m. | #
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The difference in approaches between Ken and Boris I would rather frame thusly:
Ken - does lots of stuff, some of which is well (even obsessively) thought-through, and works well. Alongside his massive successives and achievements (which really have benefitted London - and some of which will stand for decades - some already have - Travelcards came in on his watch at the GLC. The Overground will surely be another. The regeneration of a large area of East London as a result of the Olympic and post-Olympic developments another) are also fairly substantial flaws and failings and errors of judgement and outlook (and he has loads of dodgy cronies. Lee Jasper et all). On topic Bendy buses were a good idea on certain routes, but they were put in other places too. 521/18 good, 29/73 bad
Boris - does little, makes amusing speech about wiff-waff, commits adultery, grows hair, takes credit for Ken's achievements (that he has inherited), promotes Wonga.com and Barclays (I suppose his equivalent to Ken's blind spot about Qaradawi et al), oh yes there's that gimmicky Borismaster bus thing that is overpriced, impractical and will not catch on - it's a gimmick, and generally doesn't have ideas or plans befitting the mayor of London. He is jolly funny, genuinely, however.
No contest which of the two has done more for London, really.
Dominic | 24.06.11 - 11:30 a.m. | #
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This could be a Kitten post.
Maybe the cat in the buggy was a kitten, seven years ago when the bendy bus service started?
Michael | 24.06.11 - 11:51 a.m. | #
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Andrewh - the schedule is driven by contract renewal dates, and according to Wikipedia it is
507 - July 2009
521 - September 2009.
38 - 6 November 2009.
149 - 16 October 2010
18 - 13 November 2010
25 - 25 June 2011
73 - 3 September 2011
12 - 15 November 2011
436, 453 - 19 November 2011
29, 207 - 31 December 2011
Note that the first (and most suitable) two routes to get them - immediately after the Golden Jubilee Bank Holiday in 2002 - were therefore also the first to lose them.
Although the bendies are often accused of having replaced the Routemaster, they only did so directly on two routes (12 and 38) and part of a third (36)
Timbo | 24.06.11 - 12:09 p.m. | #
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Timbo - and the 73 and 12, no? Unless my memory is mistaken.
Dominic | 24.06.11 - 12:20 p.m. | #
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Seven years since the 25 went bendy? How time flies.
Veronica | 24.06.11 - 3:33 p.m. | #
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Dominic - oops, you're right! Routes 12, 38, and 73 (and 36/436) all went from RM to Bendy overnight. I misread my source material, which showed an opo double decker on the 73. This must have been a Sunday service - like most remaining RM routes, it had gone driver-only on Sundays in 1987.
Timbo | 24.06.11 - 5:01 p.m. | #
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Did TfL really produce a poster explaining the proper use of a standard double-decker bus to London bus travellers who use them all the time, even if their most regular route is bendy? That's... too stupid for words.
So, that's two posts about the number 25 in a row, then, and tomorrow is the 25th of June. A pattern?
Reading your post about the introduction of bendies, you certainly seem to have changed your opinions about them since then. Or is it just that I don't think I've ever seen you write about the end of something using the phrase "good riddance" or words to that effect? The pattern seems to be: obsolete stuff, good; new stuff, bad.
swirlythingy | Homepage | 24.06.11 - 5:06 p.m. | #
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I valued the 25s greatly, watching the non-bendy 8's 'go express' between oxford circus and liverpool street from rain soaked bus stops in central was never fun. The site of a 25, which stops whatever it's load, was a joy.
Glad I don't have to use them now (as I've moved) but sad for those who don't know what they are about to realise they are missing.
jamesup | 24.06.11 - 5:43 p.m. | #
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And, oh, look, it's happening in Malta too...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/9520210.stm
Blue Witch | Homepage | 24.06.11 - 7:41 p.m. | #
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I'm certainly happy to see the bendies go. To be fair to Boris politicians are always accused of lying. Removing bendies was a key election commitment which he's carried out.
Incidentally, has Ken said anything about what he'd do, bus wise, after the election?
Mikey C | 24.06.11 - 8:49 p.m. | #
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Sigh. As a regular user of the 25, my only concern is that there is now less capacity. The 25 is incredibly overcrowded anyway, and so it was decided that decreasing capacity would be a good idea? Jesus wept.
I don't care about standing or sitting. I'd rather stand uncomfortably on a bendy than wait and wait and wait for a double-decker to come along with free space for me.
Note to self: set alarm extra-early on Monday morning.
Beth | 25.06.11 - 12:37 a.m. | #
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Good riddance. horrible things.
Brad | 25.06.11 - 1:13 a.m. | #
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hear hear, Brad, pickpocket magnets.
Harriet | Homepage | 25.06.11 - 11:42 a.m. | #
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This route brings back sweet memories. Imagine 11 pm journey from Bow Church to Stepney Green on a cold winter working day. Having hopped on at Bow Church through the door closer to the rear end of the bus I sniffed a strong acrid grassy smell. Trying to detect the source I spotted a rather dishevelled looking colourful rasta man, who grinned disarmingly at me so I couldn't help smiling back. Under his palm he masked a pipe-looking object that produced little smoke if any. Strangely enough, noone protested even though there were few empty seats. Guess, such a prank will be close to impossible to pull through on the new double-decker. Still, I have a secret hope that some corrupt officials in my country will lease out London bendy buses to be used on the recently created bus-only lanes.
Alex | 25.06.11 - 1:28 p.m. | #
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Why didn't somebody think about combining the advantages of articulated and double deck and construct a city version of something like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Neojumba.jpg
:-)
Or, if double deck is good, triple deck is even better:
http://mlti.worthonethousand.com/entries/557647/triple-decker-bus
:-))
Martin | 25.06.11 - 3:23 p.m. | #
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Yup, 25, 26 and 30 all taken over from Stagecoach by First today. first loses the 105 next week to Metroline.
Timbo | 25.06.11 - 5:41 p.m. | #
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Having the pleasure of being able to watch 25's go by as I write this (and I'm not outside a shop on wi-fi or anything like that), I can confirm that they are not passing here jam-packed as their predessors were. They are comfortably full, as would be expected mid-route at 16:30 on a Sat. I do not see vehicles dangerously crush-loaded and people travelling in cattle-truck conditions as was the case yesterday. No doubt patronage has fallen, once certain 'regulars' found out, to their surprise, that the 'free bus' facility from Ilford to central London had been withdrawn. I bet there will be more such surprised people on Monday morning, and indeed in the west end tonight after the clubs close. Good riddance to the freeloaders too! Residents here will no longer have to delays whilst almost every bus changes driver either - another bonus. Finally, there also seems to be evidence of route control under the new operator with a number of buses showing short-working destinations. Not ideal, but overall helping to keep a regular service.
Kim | 25.06.11 - 5:44 p.m. | #
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I was in Mexico City the other day for a quick business trip. Not only do they have an efficient, extensive, cheap French built Metro system, they also have trolley buses (tyred, electric, using overhead wires) and bendy-buses that have dedicated lanes and stops in the centre of the widest boulevards -even triple-bendies during rush hour.
They also have horrendous rush hour traffic (on an excellent intra-city highway system) and godawful pollution...
Eddie Willers | 01.07.11 - 2:45 p.m. | #
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BlueWitch - they'll be sold off to whoever wants them. And there are plenty of bendy bus operators in other cities who will probably want them in the future. Due to the current economic climate they may just go into storage for a bit - something the tiny but loud anti-vocal bendy brigade just love.
But here's a thought. What actually happens to ANY bus after it leaves London? I was wondering this recently. You don't see many two door buses outside London. What happens to them all? Where do they go? I guess they get converted to single door but who knows.
As for the Borisbus, what's going to happen to them when they're replaced? Who is going to want a second hand three door double decker with an open platform? They'll be even less popular on the second hand market than the bendy!
BTW anyone want to buy an ex-London bus?
http://www.usedcoachsales.co.uk/coach.ihtml?coach=860
Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 03.07.11 - 10:12 a.m. | #
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Surely, you mean a pneumatic hiss?
Dubidub | 07.07.11 - 6:41 p.m. | #
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