please empty your brain below
Well the West London Tram died for a good reason. It was not just a little inconvenience for a few car drivers either.

There were a couple of spots were the road was quite narrow for trams and cars. So narrow in fact that TFL proposed closing Uxbridge road to vehicles. Private vehicles would have diverted into what at the moment are quiet residential streets. Also people who currently can park at properties on the main road were faced with not being even allowed to stop and unload anything, never mind park.

If they had stopped the line at Ealing Broadway with a short tunnel from Ealing Hospital to the Broadway, they could have avoided most of the protests.

They abandoned the scheme when all but one Labour councilor was voted out in local elections in Ealing borough.

It was that election that killed any London tram project, the subject was that toxic politically.

And so new tram schemes died in London.

The might be about to revive again as long as the have them going down old rail routes, on green verges or along wide roads. If they have trams along any narrow stretches they will just have to get stuck in traffic. London does not have the wide boulevards or streets of European cities

It seems the Mayors Long term tranport plan is looking at expanding Tramlink again with extensions to Bromley, Crystal Palace, Tooting and Sutton being looked at.

Rational Plan | 09.12.11 - 12:50 a.m. | #

Don't forget to tell me when you're riding the last 207 dg! I'll put the kettle on, and, Oh ...

Geofftech | Homepage | 09.12.11 - 5:11 a.m. | #

As a bus user who didn't drive, I shall miss the bendies for their raid ingres/egress and capacity. The replacement 436 is just another overcrwded, difficult to enter double-deck. I generally prefer Boris to Ken, but this was a boneheaded, populist decision.

David | 09.12.11 - 5:56 a.m. | #

Completely disagree with David about the 436. I used to actively avoid them and took the 36 or 185 whenever I could. They were full of fare-dodgers (as was proved when they went double-deck and loads of people wouldn't get on and continued to stand forlornly waiting for the free bus) and got ridiculously overcrowded because every time anyone wanted to get off, the driver had to open all the doors and millions of people would pile on. I got sick of almost literally having to fight my way off at my stop. I can't stand Boris, but this is about the only sensible thing he's done.

Baldassaro | 09.12.11 - 8:34 a.m. | #

I used the 607 last week and was surprised by exactly how un-expressy it was. Lots of idling at stops to keep to time, and overtaken by a conventional 207 that whizzed off ahead into the West Ealing night. Besides being too slack, the timetable seems to imagine that the route will be gridlicked between the Maccy D's end of Southall Broadway and Acton, because the bus pegged it either side of those points!

Nico | 09.12.11 - 8:35 a.m. | #

For the record, as everyone is saying how cyclists hate bendy buses, I didn't. I didn't find them any much more difficult than any other piece of unwieldy traffic on London roads; on the contrary their drivers appeared better trained and I rarely if ever had any negative interactions with them. My commuting route is the entirety of the 25 route, and some (last year all) of the 207. I do notice the increased numbers of 25s on the route now, and the ducking and diving they have to do around each other is frequently (IMO) a lot more hazardous. Typically at Mile End of an evening, there is a log jam of three or more that often creates some potentially dangerous movements of people, buses, cars and bikes.

It may be counter intuitive, but for all the whingeing I suspect without any evidence that the higher number of accidents caused by bendy buses to cyclists relates to people that have put themselves in harm's way. That isn't to blame the victim, but to say there was an alternative option of a place to be where you might not have been hurt. The larger number of buses may well cause fewer total accidents, but they will be harder to avoid.


Ham | Homepage | 09.12.11 - 8:59 a.m. | #

I understand that the 207 terminates at Hayes By-Pass because its route had to be shortened when the bendy buses came in due to their unsuitability further along the route. Terminating at Hayes By-Pass (or short of it) is a classic case of operator as opposed to customer convenience. Now that it is no longer bendy, will we see the route revert to terminate somewhere more suitable ?

Pedantic of Purley | 09.12.11 - 9:32 a.m. | #

Well here we have it. As is said, the perfect bus route for a bendy and taken away because of ill-informed dogma.

Every bit of the bendy bus myths put about by certain Tories did not apply to this route (similarly to the 507 and 521)

One day I'm sure a future mayor will re-introduce bendies and I'm sure they'll return for the 207.

And I say that because I'm sure of one thing - one day we'll get a mayor who is more interested in getting the best service for the passenger.

I'm not pro nor anti bendy bus. What I am is pro the right bus for the right bus. Unfortunately Boris would rather cut his nose off to spite the passengers face.

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 09.12.11 - 9:32 a.m. | #

@David.
RAID? Redundant Array of Inexpensive Doors?

I'm glad to see the back of them in central London, but surely there are long, straight routes where they could have run sensibly, e.g. up the A5 or something.

Audrey | 09.12.11 - 9:37 a.m. | #

Hoorah. I hated them - both as a passenger and as a road user.

B | 09.12.11 - 10:09 a.m. | #

The 207 route used to be almost two routes - a lot of them terminated at Hayes ByPass, but some went all the way to Uxbridge. Then they properly split the route, so that the 207 went from SBG to Hayes, and some other number (I forget which) went from Uxbridge to somewhere like Acton - so there was a crossover in the middle, and the 607 "express" going the whole length of the old route.

I always felt that there were less seats on a bendy. I don't know if that's true, but that's how it felt.

On the issue of cyclist/bus interfaces, I was wandering round the Transport Museum the other weekend, and saw a "Tram Pinch" sign, designed to alert cyclists to the fact that upcoming was a bit of road where trams could easily collide with them due to the way the tracks ran (or somesuch). Couldn't something similar be introduced for buses? A sort of "Bus Pinch" to alert to the fact of bus lanes ending/roads narrowing/bendies or other buses turning the corner here?

Anne | 09.12.11 - 10:47 a.m. | #

I must say that one welcome aspect of bendies' abolition will be the end of the free-riding stinking vagrants going North from Vauxhall.

David | 09.12.11 - 11:17 a.m. | #

"Then they properly split the route, so that the 207 went from SBG to Hayes, and some other number (I forget which) went from Uxbridge to somewhere like Acton."

427, and yes it is Acton

The Shepherds Bush to Uxbridge route route has operated continuously for 110 years, as the No7 tram, the 607 trolleybus, and now as the 207/427/607 motorbus.

Timbo | 09.12.11 - 2:29 p.m. | #

Nice one Boris - fulfilled a promise and put an end to the Auschwitz boxcars. Shame it's not proper RMLs making a comeback, but can't have everything.

Crna Legija | 09.12.11 - 3:20 p.m. | #

Credit to a politican for delivering an election pledge. Like it or not, Boris said up front that elect him and he'd get rid of these bendy buses - and he's followed through on an election pledge.

If more politicans actaully did what was on their manifesto, contempt for them would decrease ... a little.

Jordan D | 09.12.11 - 3:30 p.m. | #

A lot of European cities seem keen to buy our old bendy buses, despite Boris' horror of them.

They also had a lot more room for disabled people than the new Routemaster, which is not disabled-friendly.

Read about the experience of one disabled person who tested the new Routemaster:

http://flashsays.com/2010/12/21/the-new-routemaster-%E2%80%93-if-this-is-the-future-i%E2%80%99m-not-on-board

Richard | Homepage | 09.12.11 - 5:38 p.m. | #

I liked bendy buses. They were easy to get on to with child in pushchair, and had plenty of space for pushchairs.

Veronica 1 | 09.12.11 - 6:11 p.m. | #

If the 207 is very straight, why not use Hong Kong style tri axle double deckers?

Bendies were very good for pushchair users as they have lots of standing space, the downside being that they have a very small number of seats, 40 odd in a very long vehicle. A lot of the seats were backwards facing too.

I find it funny how the left criticise Boris for
a) getting rid of German bendybuses (after all the flak caused by the Thameslink Siemens contract, this is ironic) and replacing them with mainly British double deckers
b) increasing frequency - more jobs for drivers
c) introducing open platform buses, thus creating jobs for inspectors/conductors

What has Ken said he'd do after the election?

Mikey C | 09.12.11 - 8:42 p.m. | #

Agree with what Ham says about the bendy buses not necessarily being a danger to cyclists.

Agree with what others say about this being about the fulfilling of an election promise. Unfortunately that promise didn't seem to be based on any rational thinking or research.

Whilst the buses themselves will have been bought by the individual operators surely the significant cost of altering stops (including the whole of Victoria bus station) will have been met by TfL, and therefore constitutes a waste of public funds.

Overall I am in favour of bendy buses, because of the ease of access/ egress, reduced boarding times (probably most importantly) and the space for pushchairs and so on. Whilst they may not be ideal for every route, several routes spring to mind where they would be eminently suitable (the 436, 521, 507, 149,and of course the 207 spring to mind).


Lorenzo | 09.12.11 - 9:04 p.m. | #

I say "good riddance" to Red Ken's chariots of fire myself: http://dasteepsspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/12/bendy-chariots-youre-fired.html

Matthew Steeples | Homepage | 09.12.11 - 9:22 p.m. | #

@richard - there aren't many European cities that could use them, without extensive rebuilding: Nicosia, Valetta, Dublin and Cork, and that's about it.
There are actually quite a lot that have gone to Malta.

Timbo | 09.12.11 - 10:49 p.m. | #

I wouldn't get too nostalgic about that hydraulic hiss and swish-slam if I were you... ruptures of those same pipes carrying air to the pneumatic doors were blamed for causing at least four bendies to go up in flames!

swirlythingy | Homepage | 09.12.11 - 11:08 p.m. | #

An interesting article in today's Guardian regarding a short film of homeless people using bendy buses at night

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/patrick-butler-cuts-blog/2011/dec/09/homeless-end-of-line-for-bendy-bus-rough-sleepers

Martin | 10.12.11 - 12:16 p.m. | #

The political fanatacism of replacing articulated buses has denied many people a suitable 21st century means of passenger transport. These buses are ideal for shifting large numbers of people along long straight roads, as in routes 25 and 207. If there was a fares / dodging issue, that's not the buses' fault; they work elsewhere without the alleged level of fraud (which can only be estimated), and can navigate small streets well - see Brussels route 65. However, premature replacement of the artics has cost Londoners over £40 million pounds - most artic routes have retained the seat (not standing) capacity, so for example route 38 went from 48 artics to 72 deckers on the road... New deckers don't come cheap, and operators had to be compensated for their losses on the contracts; each new bus on the road in daytime is two extra drivers on the books (so Boris is really creating jobs), more work and spares stocks in garages and... Drivers now collect/check fares so boarding times rise, and round trip running times rise, so it takes longer to travel your route. That's more buses on the roads, more noise, more pollution (even quiet buses make noise and have emissions) and more accident potential. Drivers also have to pay in fares so that's time off the road but not being paid to drive. It's provably over £40m forked out, up to four years early, so it's good to know TfL is sitting on a 'secret' stash of almost £1billion in unbudgeted surplus to pay for the whim of the blond geezer wot does mayor impressions (badly).

Joel Kosminsky | Homepage | 10.12.11 - 2:53 p.m. | #

"b) increasing frequency - more jobs for drivers"

More costs as more drivers have to be paid. The taxpayers are paying that one.

More pollution as there's more buses.

More buses to be involved in accidents, and more buses on the streets generally to cause congestion.


Unfortunately, the only transport promise Boris has delivered on is this collosal watse of money.

What happened to th new orbital express bus routes that were going to be introduced, for example....

Bob Smith | 10.12.11 - 3:17 p.m. | #

There was an Orbital Routes trial.

It didn't work.

Other Boris election pledges on transport:

* the Oxford Street tram
* reinstating the tidal flow in the Blackwall tunnel
* "promote greater use of the river"
* halting tube ticket office closures, and "ensuring there is always a manned ticket office at every station"
* no strike agreement on the tube
* "call an emergency summit with train operating companies to demand longer trains, manned stations at night, more frequent services and lower fares" (IIRC this emergency summit was so urgent and important that it took him two years to host it)

And then there was his wonderfully vague "I want to see the tube open one hour later on Friday and Saturday nights" which sounds like a promise for later tubes but is cunningly worded not to be so.

You can find the manifesto on the Guardian website because, obviously, Boris's team removed their website almost as soon as the election was over.

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 10.12.11 - 3:34 p.m. | #

@ Andrew Bowden - Hmm you need to be careful about the orbital routes trial. TfL didn't launch a new route so they simply doubled the frequency of the X26. Interestingly the X26 does very well in terms of patronage - it's been full and standing on the few occasions I've used it. Despite the increased patronage TfL have had to increase subsidy on the route and consider insufficient social benefit has arisen. Therefore the scheme was deemed to be a failure under the TfL evaluation methodology. The Outer London Commission also concluded existing orbital routes were "sufficient".

What is more bizarre is that the other big suburban express service - the 607 - has been retained and has had later journeys added and a Sunday service added when it was retendered. My recent experience of that route shows it is immensely popular - too popular given the overcrowding levels. I still think there is a decent market for orbital express routes if you put them in the right place. Given enough time almost any bus route in London will attract patronage - look at the 148 or even the 360 which can carry standing loads.

I agree the rest of the pledges you list have not been followed through. What is more damning is the lack of any forward planning for major investment in a second mayoral term. There is no real legacy. I will give Boris a thumbs up for getting Crossrail funded, ELLX phase 2 under construction and also Countdown info on PCs and phones.

PC | 10.12.11 - 10:32 p.m. | #

"More costs as more drivers have to be paid. The taxpayers are paying that one."
A very Thatcherite answer, quite right, we need fewer drivers driving larger cattle trucks :-)

Mikey C | 11.12.11 - 12:50 a.m. | #

There may be more jobs on some of the routes but the former bendy bus drivers are probably earning less. Many operators paid a premium rate for driving the bendies. Drivers on the double deckers have more to do (issue tickets, look after cash) and are paid a lower rate.

A route 207 driver told me he'd be about £100 a week worse off once the bendies had gone. It's therefore open to some debate as to how much the wage bill has actually increased post conversion. This may, in part, explain why some of the route tender costs have reduced for the use of double decks compared to bendies.

PC | 11.12.11 - 9:18 a.m. | #

Monday morning and I can report that the route seems to be flooded with double deckers. I counted about ten as I rode from Shepherds Bush to Acton. They were coming out of every corner getting in each other's way; I assume this is a PR exercise on the first morning, as it looks unsustainable.

Certainly, if this morning is anything to go by, the increased numbers of double deck buses are far more cycle unfriendly than the bendies, on this route anyway.

Ham | Homepage | 12.12.11 - 8:50 a.m. | #











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