....so says the posters that have just gone up - accompanied by a
leaflet which contains a brief precis of what the ELLX project is, and
then gives details of the replacement bus services that will operate.
The leaflet claims it went to print in August, but I've only just come
across it.

See a PDF of the leaflet he
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...-line-closure-
leaflet.pdf

There aren't any surprises here - there will be three new bus
replacement routes in addition to the existing ELS route:

- Route ELC
New Cross Gate - New Cross - Surrey Quays - Canada Water
Every 8-10 minutes daily.
Every 5 minutes Mondays to Fridays during peak times.

- Route ELP
Canada Water - Rotherhithe
Every 15 minutes daily.

- Route ELW
Every 10 minutes daily.

- Route ELS (already running)
Monday to Friday between 0700-1030 and 1530-2030 only - every 20
minutes.
Saturday - no service.
Sunday between 0700-1530 only - every 10 minutes.

Obviously what's missing here is any cross-river connection, and to
anyone who knows the Rotherhithe Tunnel it's pretty obvious why - it's
a tiny tunnel, unsuitable for anything more than minibuses.

John Biggs, the London Assembly Member for City & East London is
nonetheless somewhat sceptical about all this:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/23bosq
He also speaks of the 395, a cross-river route withdrawn last year
which he tried to save. This was in fact operated by a minibus (I went
on it once and it seemed to be patronised by little - and not so
little - old ladies). Dare I suggest that one reason this was
withdrawn is that the ELL closure might have seriously overburdened
it.

Cross-river passengers, the leaflet explains, should utilise the
Jubilee line the DLR. Whilst the leaflet is clear on the need for any
passengers travelling in Zone 1 to have an appropriate ticket, it
nonetheless doesn't mention the mainline trains from NX and NXG to
London Bridge - perhaps to avoid confusion in particular regarding
ticketing, perhaps also to avoid shunting all the ELL passengers onto
already overcrowded rush hour trains (besides many pax will work the
London Bridge connection out for themselves).


A few observations...

---
(1) Why oh why isn't this information easily found on the TfL website?
It's not on the main TfL homepage, nor the Tube modal homepage, nor
under the 'Planned works' heading on the East London Line's entry on
the Live Travel news section (what used to be called 'realtime travel
news'). Sure, the ELL closure appears in the six-month look-ahead PDF
linked to in that section, but that's no good.

To find a PDF of the leaflet you have to go to the Rail modal
homepage, then click on 'East London Railway' to take you to a further
section entitled 'East London Line', then look under the 'Line
closure' subheading before you finally find a link to the PDF of the
leaflet - i.e. you already need to have some idea of what the grand
plan is before you find this information.

This is shabby - and I hope information regarding the ELL's closure
for 2+ years is added to the 'Planned works' entry ASAP. It also
reinforces my somewhat lukewarm feelings regarding the new TfL website
design.

---
(2) Why call the replacement buses ELC, ELP, ELW and ELS - it's
confusing! I guess the alphabetical routes are used as opposed to
numerical ones so as to avoid confusion with normal buses routes, but
I think EL1 - EL4 would have been a better choice. Perhaps the London
Buses division is very proprietorial when it comes to their precious
numbers!

---
(3) Why isn't the short distance from New Cross to Deptford Bridge DLR
mentioned in the text? This is demonstrated on the map showing where
the replacement bus stops are in New Cross, but perhaps it should have
been explicitly highlighted. The walk from New Cross station really
isn't far, from New Cross Gate it's a bit further - in addition the
53, 453 and 171 buses link all these stations in a fairly straight
line.

---
(4) I quite like the graphic used on the front - which shows a London
Overground train rising up from the existing ELL to continue further
afield. This is a stylised illustration of what literally is going to
happen to the line north-east of Whitechapel, where the ELLX will rise
up on a ramp on a fairly sharp incline taking it from the level of a
cutting to that of being on a viaduct on the site of the old
Bishopsgate Goodsyard. There will also be a flyover north of New Cross
Gate which will take northbound ELLX trains across the main line to
join the existing course of the ELL.

---
(5) A final somewhat long-winded point regarding ticketing and
Oyster...
The leaflet is very precise on the need for pax to hold a valid ticket
for their journey, and also clearly states that Bus Passes won't be
accepted on the ELL replacement buses (fair enough).

However I wonder if the solution for Oyster is going to be the same as
that used for the existing ELS replacement bus, which currently
charges pax using Oyster PAYG a grand total of £0.00. I'm guessing
that implementing proper Underground PAYG fare pricing for such
replacement buses could be difficult, plus it is fair to say that it's
likely a majority of the pax will be using the replacement bus as part
of a longer Underground journey.

Nonetheless given that the replacement buses will inherently provide a
journey within zone 2 only, touching-in *and* touching-out would not
be required to work out the fare. Therefore charging the proper PAYG
fare might theoretically be possible.

Nonetheless I'd guess that nothing like that will in fact happen, and
the £0.00 'fare' will also be 'charged' on the new ELL replacement
buses. Hypothetically this could become an issue if many people
wishing to travel between New Cross and the Rotherhithe area (i.e.
Surrey Quays/ Canada Water) discover they can get a free bus ride -
but in reality I suspect this won't be a problem, or at least not one
that'll be considered to be of any magnitude.