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Boris’s Bendy Bus Conundrum
I was looking around the Boris watch site the other day and came across this below.
Causes bit of a conundrum for Boris. If you click the link you end up with a site that tells you every bus timetable in London Isn’t that anorak !
I’ve dug up the contract expiry dates for the various bendy bus routes - these *should* be the first opportunity for a phased withdrawal to start:
• Route - Start - Duration - End
• 12 - 31/07/2004 - 5 years - 31/07/2009
• 18 - 23/08/2003 - 5+2 years - 23/08/2010
• 25 - 26/06/2004 - 5 years - 26/06/2009
• 29 - 14/01/2006 - 5 years - 14/01/2011
• 38 - 20/07/2002 - 7 years - 20/07/2009
• 73 - 01/05/2004 - 5 years - 01/05/2009
• 149 - 18/10/2003 - 5+2 years - 18/10/2010
• 207 - 09/04/2005 - 5 years - 09/04/2010
• 436 - 09/02/2008 - 5 years - 09/02/2013
• 453 - 16/02/2008 - 5 years - 16/02/2013
• 507 - 01/06/2002 - 5+2 years - 01/06/2009
• 521 - 01/06/2002 - 5+2 years - 01/06/2009
You can see from that that we have the first two coming up for retendering within a few months, new contracts starting in June next year. Ironically they’re the original two bendy bus routes; short, frequent, high-capacity Red Arrow services for which only really a bendy bus is suitable, and which have been single decker since the 1960s. No scope for your new Routemaster on those, conventional double deckers aren’t suitable, so what’s it to be?
As for the other ten, four are up in 2009, 3 in 2010, one in 2011. The other two are scheduled to be bendy throughout Boris’s term in office, so it’ll be interesting to watch those. What’s noticeable is how badly the contract timings align with possible Routemaster stuff, by the time the thing’s off the drawing board most of the decisions on the equipment to use on bendy routes will have to have been taken.
Causes bit of a conundrum for Boris. If you click the link you end up with a site that tells you every bus timetable in London Isn’t that anorak !
I’ve dug up the contract expiry dates for the various bendy bus routes - these *should* be the first opportunity for a phased withdrawal to start:
• Route - Start - Duration - End
• 12 - 31/07/2004 - 5 years - 31/07/2009
• 18 - 23/08/2003 - 5+2 years - 23/08/2010
• 25 - 26/06/2004 - 5 years - 26/06/2009
• 29 - 14/01/2006 - 5 years - 14/01/2011
• 38 - 20/07/2002 - 7 years - 20/07/2009
• 73 - 01/05/2004 - 5 years - 01/05/2009
• 149 - 18/10/2003 - 5+2 years - 18/10/2010
• 207 - 09/04/2005 - 5 years - 09/04/2010
• 436 - 09/02/2008 - 5 years - 09/02/2013
• 453 - 16/02/2008 - 5 years - 16/02/2013
• 507 - 01/06/2002 - 5+2 years - 01/06/2009
• 521 - 01/06/2002 - 5+2 years - 01/06/2009
You can see from that that we have the first two coming up for retendering within a few months, new contracts starting in June next year. Ironically they’re the original two bendy bus routes; short, frequent, high-capacity Red Arrow services for which only really a bendy bus is suitable, and which have been single decker since the 1960s. No scope for your new Routemaster on those, conventional double deckers aren’t suitable, so what’s it to be?
As for the other ten, four are up in 2009, 3 in 2010, one in 2011. The other two are scheduled to be bendy throughout Boris’s term in office, so it’ll be interesting to watch those. What’s noticeable is how badly the contract timings align with possible Routemaster stuff, by the time the thing’s off the drawing board most of the decisions on the equipment to use on bendy routes will have to have been taken.
Comments
London once had trams, as a lad I travelled on them quite a bit. That must have been in the late forties. The tram tunnel running under High Holborn, by Holborn underground station is used today by normal traffic (I think). The trams were double deckers and could be driven from either end. As everyone wanted to face the front when travelling the wooden seats had backs that could be simply moved over for the new direction. What I remember is that they were noisy and swayed a lot!!
I have lived in Zurich for the past 35 years and Zurich has a super tram system - among other super things. The advantage is that tramways are always free of traffic so that timetables can be kept to. They are also real people-movers, quick and efficient.
Only to be recommended. (just like the old Ally-Pally-push and pull).
I have to laugh when I read of the problems there are today getting to Finsbury Park Underground. God almighty, these problems were there in the 60s when we lived in Crouch End, at that time only 5 could stand in the bus! so we spent most of our time in the queue. We always assumed that things would get better...
After all more than 40 years have passed!