In article ,
(Paul Corfield) wrote:

I've not been in London on Christmas Day for many years - I usually
end up far away where bus services run entirely as normal but then
Christmas is not a major public holiday in Asia. Apart from tourists
staying in the centre who might wish to get about is there any
discernible demand from Londoners to travel across the City on
Christmas Day? I've no idea but has anyone done any research or
polling in recent years? Are the roads clogged solid with people
trying to get about by taxi and car?

Certainly not that! I had to drive down from Cambridge to Putney late on
Christmas Eve last year to help my mother get away on Christmas morning
9hire car to Heathrow Airport). Both that drive and my return to Cambridge
were the fastest trips I've ever done (sticking to speed limits of course!).
The roads were empty. :-)

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Dec 10, 2:48*pm, Paul Corfield wrote:

On Sat, 10 Dec 2011 06:21:51 -0800 (PST), Paul
wrote:

I do think a similar level of service could be provided in London. *I
have a copy of the leaflet "Buses Running in London on December 25th
2001", which was the last year there was any significant level of
service on Christmas Day.

It included service 729 from Wood Green to Streatham via day routes 29
and 159, service 712 from Peckham to Hammersmith via day route 12, and
service 755 from Central London to Wimbledon and Morden.

Sounds like a Go Ahead London type operation given their commercial
routes are numbered in the 7xx series.

Akin to London General (Go-Ahead) service on Christmas Day between
Heathrow and Gatwick - route number 847 (according to the TfL leaflet
though no number is mention on LG's website), so not in the 7xx series
but whatever - which I think is a new occurance this year.

Eight services each way during the day - seems a little pricey, though
it's cheaper the more passengers you have (one adult GBP40, two are
GBP70, three GBP90 and four GBP100). It seems that National Express
don't serve this route at all on Xmas day (has that always been so?),
but I do wonder just how much more expensive a (mini)cab might be,
even on the 25th?

http://www.londongeneral.co.uk/bus-services/page_296.html


All routes ran every 30 minutes from about 9am to 8pm. No travelcards
were accepted, and there was a premium fare of £3.

I do think there is a case for doing something similar now.

Was it not the case that these routes were not supported by LRT / TfL
and therefore were all commercial ventures? * TfL would have had to
have agreed to the London Service Permit request but the biggest issue
is having a unique network for one day only that would not be shown on
any of the standardised publicity / stop plates / stop panels. *It
also probably wouldn't show on the I-Bus system either.

My recollection is that in more recent times they've all been
commercial ventures.


I'm not saying these issues are insurmountable but the lack of
information or awareness would most likely be a reason for poor usage.
The alternative is to run a variant of the night bus network but even
that's not terribly clear given 24 hour routes and "N" prefix
services. *What would actually operate?

I've not been in London on Christmas Day for many years - I usually
end up far away where bus services run entirely as normal but then
Christmas is not a major public holiday in Asia. * Apart from tourists
staying in the centre who might wish to get about is there any
discernible demand from Londoners to travel across the City on
Christmas Day? * I've no idea but has anyone done any research or
polling in recent years? *Are the roads clogged solid with people
trying to get about by taxi and car?

Can't recall any research - interesting question - but I think one
could say there'd be some demand if people were asked, it's just a
question of whether that would be 'discernible demand', i.e. demand
that one could discern into a reasonably sensible handful of routes.
There normally seems to a fair amount of people moving around the
place - nothing like 'clogged solid' though!

In message
,
Mizter T writes

it's cheaper the more passengers you have (one adult GBP40, two are
GBP70, three GBP90 and four GBP100). It seems that National Express
don't serve this route at all on Xmas day (has that always been so?),
but I do wonder just how much more expensive a (mini)cab might be,
even on the 25th?

Even reputable mini-cabs charge double on Christmas Day, so expect to
pay around GBP 140 for Heathrow to Gatwick. I think I'd opt for the 847,
unless timing was absolutely critical.
--
Paul Terry

In message , Paul Terry
writes
In message
,
Mizter T writes

it's cheaper the more passengers you have (one adult GBP40, two are
GBP70, three GBP90 and four GBP100). It seems that National Express
don't serve this route at all on Xmas day (has that always been so?),
but I do wonder just how much more expensive a (mini)cab might be,
even on the 25th?

Even reputable mini-cabs charge double on Christmas Day, so expect to
pay around GBP 140 for Heathrow to Gatwick. I think I'd opt for the
847, unless timing was absolutely critical.

Licensed taxi (black cabs) only charge £4 more than the normal fare on
Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

There are a number of new Apps for black taxis including HailO and
GetTaxi.

If anyone wants to go to or from the Heathrow or Gatwick and London or
the south coast late evening or early morning I may be able to help as I
intend to work right through the night over the holiday periods.

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England
Interested in American trains real and model?
Look here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikehughes2011/