London Buses.

[Stuharris 6360]

Tower Transit losing another 20 buses

There were three bids for the 31/N31 which was awarded to Metroline West in a joint bid with route 95.

[winston]

Abellio seem to be slowly recovering from their recent losing streak, re-gaining the 196 from Go Ahead

[Stuharris 6360]

Abellio seem to be slowly recovering from their recent losing streak, re-gaining the 196 from Go Ahead

Abellio seem to have been lucky on that route, the lowest bid was withdrawn due to a lack of garage space, sadly it doesn't say what operator hadn't got the garage space?

[winston]

Abellio seem to have been lucky on that route, the lowest bid was withdrawn due to a lack of garage space, sadly it doesn't say what operator hadn't got the garage space?

I assume it will help to re-fill Beddington Cross (BC) back up.

Brings the 196 back to the former Travel London op.

[Tony]

Abellio seem to have been lucky on that route, the lowest bid was withdrawn due to a lack of garage space, sadly it doesn't say what operator hadn't got the garage space?

Certainly wouldn't have been Tower Transit then!

[Stuharris 6360]

I assume it will help to re-fill Beddington Cross (BC) back up.

Brings the 196 back to the former Travel London op.

@Winston 196 to be operated from Walworth garage.

[Ian Hardy]

LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:

Route   Current Operator                     New Operator                         PVR      Vehicles         
31/N31  Tower Transit                          Metroline West                        20         Double deck (details TBC)
95         Metroline West                        Metroline West                        14         2011 Euro V diesel single deck
169       Stagecoach East London          Stagecoach East London          14        New Euro VI hybrid double deck
196       London General                       Abellio London                        16        New Euro VI hybrid double deck
241       Stagecoach East London          Stagecoach East London           9         New Euro VI hybrid double deck
247       Stagecoach East London          Stagecoach East London          11        2011 Euro V diesel double deck
287       Stagecoach East London          Stagecoach East London           7         2011 Euro V diesel double deck
330       Stagecoach East London          Stagecoach East London          10        New Euro VI hybrid double deck
474*      Blue Triangle                           Stagecoach East London         14        New Euro VI hybrid double deck

* 24 hour route.

The above contracts will commence on the following dates:

24th March 2018: Routes 169, 247 & 287.
28th April 2018: Routes 31/N31 & 95.
5th May 2018: Routes 196, 241, 330 & 474.

These awards were announced back in August 2017 ????

[Stuharris 6360]

These awards were announced back in August 2017 ????

My apologies, random email popped up in my inbox and forgot to check the date.

[Ian Hardy]

https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/uploads/forms/2019-2020-lbsl-tendering-programme.pdf

Tendering Programme Update
12th January 2018
Route E1/NE1 has had a two-year extension agreed under the terms of the Quality Incentive Contract and thus will no longer form part of the Tendering Programme for 2019/20. The Tendering Programme is therefore revised as follows:
Tranche   Routes
638   207/N207,607
639   240,C2
640   54,75,689
641   272,440
642   E3,E10,E11
643   124,136,227
644   7/N7
645   211
646   71,281/N281,406,418,681
647   8/N8,205/N205,375
648   208,286
649   81,490
650   112,232,611
651   395,640,H13
652   49
653   197,663
654   661,669,672
655   271/N271
656   332
657   128/N128,364
658   201,407,627,S4
659   34/N34,102/N102,192,606
660   24/N24,27/N27
661   266/N266,267
662   414
663   25/N25
664   52/N52< /tr>
665   323
666   29/N29
667   109/N109,415
668   125,234
669   55/N55,56
670   212,444,488,657
671   126
672   282,482,U5
673   RV1
Please note that a further structural review of routes 94/N4 (Tranche 621) and 228 (Tranche 630) from the 2018/19 Tendering Programme is currently taking place. Tenderers will be advised of the outcome in due course.

Ian Hardy

[winston]

It could get interesting for Abellio again in the above tranches, especially if the awards go against them:

Beddington Cross has 56 buses worth of work to be re-tendered i.e. 109/N109, 201, 407, 415 & S4 (60% of BC's Total Pvr which currently stands @ 90)

Battersea has approx. 77 buses worth of work up for re-tender is the shape of 49, 211, 414 & C2 (38% of QB's Total Pvr which currently stands @ 203)

[JoNi]

New announcements on iBus from last week exhorting passengers to "hold on as the bus is about to move", modern day version of ding, ding and hold tight!

[Kevin]

New announcements on iBus from last week exhorting passengers to "hold on as the bus is about to move", modern day version of ding, ding and hold tight!

Except by some accounts it says it when the bus is already moving...

[Ian Hardy]

Except by some accounts it says it when the bus is already moving...

Usually the announcements are about 10 - 20 seconds after the bus has moved off, but the best one this morning was when my 235 was stopping in Feltham and there were about 15 people in the queue waiting to get on, the driver had just closed the centre doors (to stop the school kids getting on) and the "Please hold on, the bus is about to move" message was played, but the bus did move for another 2 minutes :-)

Someone did not think this through, this is the reply that I got from TfL customer services when I complained about them:

Date: 16/01/2018

Dear Mr Hardy
Thanks for your web form of 15 January about the 'please hold on' announcement. I'm sorry that you find this to be annoying. I understand how the repetitive nature of such announcements perhaps isn't to everyone's liking.

Safety is our number one priority. The PA announcement is a trial to improve customer safety on the bus network. The aim of this announcement is to reduce the amount of accidents occurring on our buses.

A number of cases have been brought to our attention, where customers have fallen and sustained injuries when they've been unaware that the bus was ready to move from the bus stop. We've acted as a response to the many requests we've received from customers to raise awareness of this.

The health and safety of all our customers is paramount. However, we're also aware that a comfortable on-board environment is essential. We always strive to achieve this balance on all of our modes of transport.

Customer feedback and suggestions provide us with a good overall insight and help to influence our decisions. This means your feedback will help us improve our services. We appreciate your comments; please rest assured that we'll take them on board.

We are aware the timing is currently off, and we are looking to get this issue resolved.
Thanks again for contacting us. If there is anything else we can help you with, please reply to this email/letter. Alternatively, you can call us on 0343 222 1234 and we'll be happy to help you.
Kind regards

Rocas Okochi
Customer Service Adviser
Transport for London Customer Services


i.e. PC Health & Safety tosh

[Tony]

When Midland Metro put the same announcement on the trams the number of claims for falling dropped to zero

[Tony]

To all those who think London's bus system is better than the rest of the country I wonder what will happen when the money runs out.

TfL is currently losing £1,800,000 a day!

http://www.route-one.net/articles/Finance/London_bus_deficit_to_hit__1_8m_a_day