At the end of the first week of operation of the route 73 benders,
here's a few notes I have made on the level of service:

Seven Sisters Station, South bound, this morning (Friday), 0814;
waited until 0836 . No 73s. According to the timetable there should
have been five buses, at 0816,0822,0827,0833 and 0836 (after which we
have the normal 73 black-hole until 0940 at this end of the route).

Stoke Newington High St, Northbound, Wednesday, 1653; waited until
1729 (37 minutes). No 73s beyond Stoke Newington; according to the
timetable there should be one every 2 to 10 minutes up to Seven
Sisters. [Yes I know I could have got a swathe of other routes to
Seven Sisters, but I was dedicated to carrying on with my comparison].

Angel Islington, Northbound, Tuesday, 2155. Waited until 2212 (17
minutes), no 73s. According to the (www.tfl.gov.uk) timetable the
frequency should be 3-7 mins up to 2200 then 7-8 minutes until 0100.
Gave up and took a 341 instead, noticed on leaving Angel that a 73 had
at last arrived. However it terminated at Newington Green!

Conclusion: These are all trips I could have completed easily on a 73
two weeks ago; compared to the service on RouteMasters, the
bender-operated 73 route is appaling if your want to get to/from Seven
Sisters.

Tim

In article ,
(Tim) wrote:

At the end of the first week of operation of the route 73 benders,
here's a few notes I have made on the level of service:

[Details of tale of woe snipped]

Conclusion: These are all trips I could have completed easily on a 73
two weeks ago; compared to the service on RouteMasters, the
bender-operated 73 route is appaling if your want to get to/from Seven
Sisters.

My observations at King's Cross almost bear this out. Before I almost
always saw one or more Routemaster 73s on my way (on a bike) from Platform
11 to Judd Street. This morning I saw one in the distance on Euston Rd and
caught up with a small convoy of two in Bloomsbury St about to turn into
New Oxford St.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

"Colin Rosenstiel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Tim) wrote:

At the end of the first week of operation of the route 73 benders,
here's a few notes I have made on the level of service:

[Details of tale of woe snipped]

Conclusion: These are all trips I could have completed easily on a 73
two weeks ago; compared to the service on RouteMasters, the
bender-operated 73 route is appaling if your want to get to/from Seven
Sisters.

My observations at King's Cross almost bear this out. Before I almost
always saw one or more Routemaster 73s on my way (on a bike) from Platform
11 to Judd Street. This morning I saw one in the distance on Euston Rd and
caught up with a small convoy of two in Bloomsbury St about to turn into
New Oxford St.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

That reminds me, I saw a convoy of THREE bendy 73s on Essex road yesterday -
it looked like a train!!

With reduced service levels and fancy technology (these buses must have
gps?), surely they can prevent this bunching happening!!? Just indicate to
the driver to wait an extra minute at a few stops to let the bus in front
get ahead.

It must be more complex than that I know, but it drives me mad when 3 come
at once.

Jim

Forget the bendy train, it's funny to watch three bendys fighting for road
space at Victoria Bus Station, with the 507 trying to get to Neathouse
Place, the 73 going towards Grosvenor Place and a 436 cutting them both up
as it crosses in front of them to get to Vauxhall Bridge Road!

Then again, I once saw three bendy buses SIDE BY SIDE at the traffic lights
about to leave the bus station, one from each of the afforementioned routes!
It looked like a bendy bus showroom!

Nestor.
--
Please remove the spam-deflecting X's to reply directly to me - or simply
reply to the group!
--


"Jim" wrote in message
...

"Colin Rosenstiel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Tim) wrote:

At the end of the first week of operation of the route 73 benders,
here's a few notes I have made on the level of service:

[Details of tale of woe snipped]

Conclusion: These are all trips I could have completed easily on a 73
two weeks ago; compared to the service on RouteMasters, the
bender-operated 73 route is appaling if your want to get to/from Seven
Sisters.

My observations at King's Cross almost bear this out. Before I almost
always saw one or more Routemaster 73s on my way (on a bike) from
Platform
11 to Judd Street. This morning I saw one in the distance on Euston Rd
and
caught up with a small convoy of two in Bloomsbury St about to turn into
New Oxford St.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

That reminds me, I saw a convoy of THREE bendy 73s on Essex road
yesterday -
it looked like a train!!

With reduced service levels and fancy technology (these buses must have
gps?), surely they can prevent this bunching happening!!? Just indicate to
the driver to wait an extra minute at a few stops to let the bus in front
get ahead.

It must be more complex than that I know, but it drives me mad when 3 come
at once.

Jim

On 10 Sep 2004 02:36:12 -0700, (Tim) wrote:

At the end of the first week of operation of the route 73 benders,
here's a few notes I have made on the level of service:

[snip details of waits]

Conclusion: These are all trips I could have completed easily on a 73
two weeks ago; compared to the service on RouteMasters, the
bender-operated 73 route is appaling if your want to get to/from Seven
Sisters.

I've only travelled on it once and that was a trial go on the way in to
work earlier this week. It was much earlier than the time you travelled
/ observed but buses toddled round every 3-4 mins. Not as frequent as
the old depot run out but pretty frequent nonetheless. The trip into
town was OK although we did end up in convoy mode with another 73 and a
476. The bus was 4 mins down when I got off at TCR.

The driver on my bus said a lot of the late running on the first work
day was down to people being very unfamiliar with the cashless concept
of pre-purchase and board via any door.

If you look at the typical experience of these sorts of conversions it
is always bad in the first 2-3 weeks. This has been true of the 149 that
Arriva run but it seems to have calmed down. If Arriva have not got
things running properly on the 73 within 4-6 weeks then there is
something seriously wrong with either the route specification or the
actual route control / execution down on the ground. I'm not sure what
will then happen because you can't pick bendy buses off a tree if they
decide they need more of them. Ditto for drivers.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

"Tim" wrote in message
om...

Stoke Newington High St, Northbound,
Wednesday, 1653; waited until 1729 (37 minutes).
[Yes I know I could have got a swathe of other
routes to Seven Sisters, but I was dedicated
to carrying on with my comparison].

You didn't have to wait for the 73 - the 149s are free as well ;-)

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

In article , (Jim) wrote:

That reminds me, I saw a convoy of THREE bendy 73s on Essex road
yesterday - it looked like a train!!

It is a rule dating back to the early days of the London Passenger
Transport Board that 73s have to travel in threes. I thought everyone
knew that.

--
Peter Beale

Having observed the 73 this week, I have noticed how harldy any bendi
bus is packed out, indeed on nearly all 73's seats seem to have been
available. I have noticed however that loadings are up on the
476(before the 73 conversion they used to be half empty). Buses are
still bunching despite the tight frequency and it does block up the
road on the double turn after Kings Cross Thameslink station. Many
buses are still terminating short of Victoria, to be honest with the
congestion between Stoke Newington and Seven Sisters maybe it might
improve the service if it was withdrawn(many alteratives exist) as the
congestion beteen Seven Sisters and Stoke Newington can be chronic
with some buses taking up to twenty minutes between both spots.

Martin


Paul Corfield wrote in message . ..
On 10 Sep 2004 02:36:12 -0700, (Tim) wrote:

At the end of the first week of operation of the route 73 benders,
here's a few notes I have made on the level of service:

[snip details of waits]

Conclusion: These are all trips I could have completed easily on a 73
two weeks ago; compared to the service on RouteMasters, the
bender-operated 73 route is appaling if your want to get to/from Seven
Sisters.

I've only travelled on it once and that was a trial go on the way in to
work earlier this week. It was much earlier than the time you travelled
/ observed but buses toddled round every 3-4 mins. Not as frequent as
the old depot run out but pretty frequent nonetheless. The trip into
town was OK although we did end up in convoy mode with another 73 and a
476. The bus was 4 mins down when I got off at TCR.

The driver on my bus said a lot of the late running on the first work
day was down to people being very unfamiliar with the cashless concept
of pre-purchase and board via any door.

If you look at the typical experience of these sorts of conversions it
is always bad in the first 2-3 weeks. This has been true of the 149 that
Arriva run but it seems to have calmed down. If Arriva have not got
things running properly on the 73 within 4-6 weeks then there is
something seriously wrong with either the route specification or the
actual route control / execution down on the ground. I'm not sure what
will then happen because you can't pick bendy buses off a tree if they
decide they need more of them. Ditto for drivers.

In article ,
(Colin Rosenstiel) wrote:

Conclusion: These are all trips I could have completed easily on a 73
two weeks ago; compared to the service on RouteMasters, the
bender-operated 73 route is appaling if your want to get to/from Seven
Sisters.

My observations at King's Cross almost bear this out. Before I almost
always saw one or more Routemaster 73s on my way (on a bike) from
Platform 11 to Judd Street. This morning I saw one in the distance on
Euston Rd and caught up with a small convoy of two in Bloomsbury St
about to turn into New Oxford St.

Even worse on Saturday morning. I waited for several minutes before a 63
came. No sign of any 73s in either direction. In the end I saw a couple in
the distance descending Pentonville Road towards the Cross as my 63 turned
off for Mount Pleasant.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 10 Sep 2004 02:36:12 -0700, (Tim) wrote:

At the end of the first week of operation of the route 73 benders,
here's a few notes I have made on the level of service:

Hopefully my observations might be of interest too:

I travel from Essex Road (N1) railway station to King's Cross
Thameslink railway station and back during each weekday peak, normally
on a 73 - but am now often chosing other (multiple) buses due to a
poorer service.

Journey times heading both south and north have increased
significantly. This short stretch used to take around ten minutes, but
over the last week journey times have stretched to around 20 minutes
in some instances.

Travelling northbound, it is now very rare that I get a seat.
Previously, either due to the higher frequency of the service, or the
design of RMs I almost always got a seat.

The northbound Islington area from the A501 into the A1 via White Lion
Street is far harder for the bus to negotiate now. During one evening
journey last week cars overtook on the left as we attempted to pull
into the stop outside the Jury's Inn hotel. Due to the length of the
bus and the turning space required getting into the bus lane along
White Lion Street becomes far more difficult with only a marginal
increase when traffic queues. Turning left from White Lion Street into
Upper Street is a mess too given the increased 'merging' space the
buses need.

The southbound section of the Angel tube/Upper Street bus stop area
seems to present difficulty too. Most drivers seem to have greater
difficulty than in a RM when getting from the bus lane, across two
lanes of traffic in order to turn right into Pentonville Road. Perhaps
a greater level of confidence will come in time, but at the moment the
drivers are driving like my grandmother!

In summary: a less frequent, slower, more crowded service where I now
rarely get a seat. Thanks Ken - what an improvement!
(And I can't even take advatange of the 'free' fares, needing a
Travelcard for other parts of my journey!)


Cheers,

Jason.