Paul Corfield wrote:

The Uxbridge Road corridor is not dissimilar to the A11 corridor in East
London - there you have Great Eastern trains, the Central Line and an
intensive service on route 25 with supplementary services on the 205 and
86 and yet all modes are very busy. Really the 25 bus could quite easily
be replaced by a tram service as that sort of capacity is really needed.

Have you seen how narrow the Romford Road is in places? Why would a tram be
any more workable here than in Ealing?

People travel long distances on the 25 even though logic would dictate
travel by rail would be more effective.

A bit but part of it is where the stations are located and the desirability
of a direct service. Generally I only use the 25 late at night (and the
service is atrocious) but for route combinations such as Whitechapel to
Forest Gate the 25 is at least direct rather than the interchange scrum at
Mile End and Stratford.

(Also let's not beat about the bush - the 25 is heavily prone to free
riding.)