Yes. This is a genuine TfL graphic.
From the 3rd of September the 73 will no longer be served by bendy buses, with double deckers taking over the route. According to London Bus Routes, Arriva will be running 51 new double deckers from the Stamford Hill garage, with a mixture of Gemini 2DL and B5L/Eclipse hybrids (although there's no indication of the split between hybrid and non-hybrid yet).
As the route frequency will be increasing to every 3-4 minutes, the inclusion of hybrids will no doubt be seen in part as a way of reducing any increase in emissions. The route is also being curtailed, and will now end at Stoke Newington Common rather than continuing through to Seven Sisters. The N73, however, will continue to run through to Walthamstow Central.
An updated route diagram is below.
Thanks to BB for the spot
Any idea what the coat of these new busses is? And howmuch is anything they will get for the old bendy ones?
ReplyDelete/ if they are going to be redeployed?
And i presume the DLR did not open :)
Why the curtailment? Is there an alternative route?
ReplyDeleteOff the top of my head, the 149, 243 both go that way don't they?
ReplyDeleteI've not checked yet, but I'd assumed there must be at least one more as well for them to think they could justify curtailing it.
And yes - DLR seems to be tomorrow now! What's that Steve Jobs quote about "Real Art Ships"?
And the 76, and 476.
ReplyDeleteThe 67, 76, 149, 243 and 476 cover parts of the withdrawn route.
ReplyDeleteHowever Stamford Hill residents have now lost two North-South routes (the 349 and the 73) in the last few years, which seems a little unfair.
Will there be any increase in frequency on the remaining routes to compensate? And what happened to the proposed additional route(s) running down to Dalston Junction?
At present, the 73 only runs to Seven Sisters off-peak anyway - so this withdrawl may not impact such a large number of people. Don't recall any consultation on this though?
ReplyDeleteThe Seven Sisters journeys are only runs to or from the garage as required - as the route is moving to Stamford Hill garage obviously they won't do so in service any more.
ReplyDeleteSF has received a batch of 16 hybrids (HV27-42), so that leaves about 40 conventional vehicles.
how long until bendies are gone completely? and how long until ken brings them back (after boris screws up the olympics so badly despite the best intentions)?
ReplyDeleteRoutes 76, 149, 243, 476 provide more than enough capacity on this section. Route 476 was actually created to provide additional capacity over route 73 between euston and tottenham swan when the congestion charge was implemented. 476 also took over the northern leg of route 76 to Northumberland park. If anything more people turn to the 73 rather than 476 which usually has quite a lot of spare capacity running every 7-8 minutes so it makes sense to withdraw the 73 and push more passengers towards the 476. Routes 67, 349, 318 also provide some cover over a portion of the the lost 73 section.
ReplyDeleteAs a Stamford Hill resident it means a change to get to Angel which is a pain. The bit from Stokey to Seven Sisters is not the issue really.
ReplyDeleteStill I suppose no-one died!
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeletehow long until bendies are gone completely? and how long until ken brings them back (after boris screws up the olympics so badly despite the best intentions)?
The next Mayoral election is before the Olympics
as a tottenham resident the loss of da 73 route is not a big loss but days like today when part of the victoria line was suspended and the rest of the line had severe delays the route could come in very handy to get to stations like warren street,oxford circus and victoria where the 476 or 259 routes do not go and as for the 349route i find it absouloutely rediculous,pointless and a waste of tax-payers money the route now only runs between stamford hill and ponders end the 279 pretty much runs on da whole of the route and is more frequent
ReplyDeleteAs the route went straight from RML to artics, its never had 'conventional' double deckers on it before (except Sundays in the 80's & 90's) you can see a possible reason for the TfL poster, still very patronising though.
ReplyDeleteFrom limited observations yesterday the 73 picks up a fair load of people on the section that is to be withdrawn. Buses were arriving at Stoke Newington about half full (seated) which isn't too bad off peak. While the 476 does have spare capacity off peak it loads more heavily in the peak and I suspect current users of the 73 on the section to be withdrawn will get a fright after next weekend. God help us if the Vic Line service collapses once the 73 has gone from Tottenham - a lot of people use that to get into town even if it is a longish slog.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally in the peak it is not unknow for 476s to leave Euston fully loaded as people switch from 73s, 10s and 390s. This may reduce somewhat when the 73 is double decked but it will be interesting to see quite what happens to the 476 once it is the sole route linking across Stoke Newington.
JamesC: TfL don't own the buses, so putting a precise handle on exactly how much they're going to cost is hard.
ReplyDeleteTfL gives the tender figure from November 2003 as £10.5m per annum.
The figure from the December 2010 tender is given as £11.8m per annum.
Allowing for inflation, it's not much of an increase. Even with the shorter route, the figures given are £6.78/mile (2003) and £7.26/mile (2010) - TfL figures. Although that's £6.78 per mile of bendy bus, and £7.26 per mile of (smaller) double decker.
I understand the "End of the Bend" schedule is:
ReplyDelete73: 3 September
453: 24 September
12: 15 November,
436: 19 November
29: 26 November
207: 31 December
@ Timbo. The 12 can't change over on 15/11 as it is not a Saturday. I believe it is 12/11 when it goes double deck.
ReplyDeleteI think the 207 is now scheduled for 10/12/11 rather than 31/12/11.
Whilst I won't lament the loss of the bendies on this route (unlike their disappearance from the 149, which was a travesty) the curtailment is a mistake IMHO. Whilst the Stoke Newington - Seven Sisters route is well served by the 67, 76, 149, 243 and 476, the number of people who use the off-peak Seven Sisters extension is not inconsiderable - I counted 40 on Saturday afternoon from Church Street, 20 or so of whom went all the way to Seven Sisters. Removing the extension means that people travelling from King's X/Angel to North of Stoke Newington will either have to wait for a 476 from their start point or change at the 'Stoke Newington High Street/Garnham Street' bus stop, where there is frequently pedestrian congestion on the pavement as it is.
ReplyDeleteShorter routes are good for business, especially when the passenger is PAYG. A doubling of fare for those that now need to change, and all without regulatory approval.
ReplyDeletefrom kings cross there is also the 259 which goes to seven sisters and tottenham via holloway, finsbury park and seven sisters road
ReplyDeleteand from angel there is also the 341 which goes on a completely indentical route as the 476 which it meets up with at tottenham
ReplyDeleteThe 341 goes along Essex Rd, Newington Green then up Green Lanes to Seven Sisters and Tottenham, nothing like the 476 route.
ReplyDeletesorry i should of been more specific i meant after the routes meet back up in tottenham they both go up the high road and down lansdowne road to northumberland park and dosent the 476 also go up essex road and to newington green
ReplyDeleteRegarding Stamford Hill NR
ReplyDeleteThose times apply to trains heading north I am assuming the same is occurring in the other direction (if not then they must be proposing some strange work hours for drivers). I also assume this is not because trains are no longer stopping at Stamford hill.
I which case the service to Chesunt north of Edmonton Green seems to have been cut (less than 1 an Hour and at irregular times).
I would say that was the bigger story; Namely that Southbury, Turkey Street and Theobalds Grove are about to get a rail service inferior to the Braintree branch line which includes two stations which are little more than halts. No-one is going to use it with that service pattern and the service on the old Cambridge line is also irregular due to the need to accommodate fast trains.
In addition it's interesting to see practically all trains are now 8 car a nice accounting trick to show the that you are improving the service at least in terms of seats. whereas in reality your degrading it because you're massively increasing waiting times.
Scrub last comment they appear to be sending more trains through which do not stop at Stamford Hill so its just a nuisance of changing trains at Sever Sisters.
ReplyDeleteShould do more reading before commenting.
@Kit Green: Shorter routes are good for business, especially when the passenger is PAYG. A doubling of fare for those that now need to change, and all without regulatory approval.
ReplyDeletewell for a return journey it isn't really doubling. and a lot of people who take the bus don't pay the fare anyway (not just evasion)
Are there not maps in the tfl website that tell you where all the bus routes go? :)
ReplyDeleteWith 700 bus routes it can prove to be a VERY crowded map!
ReplyDelete@JamesC: Of course, all the routes would need blue or white blobs on them to show step-free access from the street to the bus stop, and from the bus stop to the bus....
ReplyDeleteWell I did find the bendy buses really convenient when carry loads of shopping. Pick any door and find a place to stand if it's busy. With a double decker and crowded it's a whole new hassle as you then need to fight your way through the bus to exit through the correct door and there's overall less places to stand.
ReplyDeleteThanks Boris for accelerating the demise of these useful buses, aren't most of these buses still early in their projected lifecycle?
Good riddance to the bendy buses IMO; all they did was catch fire, cause accidents and, most infuriatingly of all, lose revenue because people could get away without touching in 99% of the time.
ReplyDelete@ anonymous 1451 - it would be nice to have some stats to back up your assertions. Plenty of double deckers burst into flames with engine fires - they just don't make headline news. The issue about accident rates was disproved a long time ago. I would point out that no bus route is fraud free - yes the bendies had a higher rate but it was not intolerable when set against other benefits that these buses provide.
ReplyDeleteIt would be much better if people simply stated that
a) they had an irrational hatred of bendy buses or
b) for political reasons they support their removal or retention; or
c) provided some rational argument that sought to balance the benefits and disbenefits.
The lack of proper debate on such an important aspect of the bus network policy is a great shame given the vast amounts of money being expended on new buses, more drivers and the waste of perfectly serviceable buses with at least 10-15 more years of service life.
I hope Boris, and all TfL managers concerned, will have an opportunity to take a PRAM on a crowded 207 before and after it converts.
ReplyDeleteGetting a pram onto a busy 607 (the double deck express 207) is tough at the best of times, bendies are great for prams.
I for one will be very sorry to see them go.
@Allan Kelly: take the bairn OUT of the pram, fold the pram, board the bus, stow the pram, sit down with bairn on knee. Sorted. Having had three kids and travelled on London buses with them over the past 17 years it drives me mental to see current pram pilots struggle to remove their little treasures from their 800 quid chariots and then assume that everyone has to get out of THEIR way while they park their juvenile Range Rovers where 6 folk could stand. How do you think folk coped for the past 100 years? Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteThe fact of the matter is, the bendy buses are always smellier and more horrible than the double deckers because they are so much easier to board without paying. Therefore you have the situation of homeless people riding the entire route without paying just to have a warm place to be/sleep, especially in the winter. London should provide more shelters/walk-in centres/health care places for the homeless, but no they shouldn't be riding the bus all day and making it unbearable for other riders. If that makes me heartless, so be it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, people who use the bendy buses so they don't have to pay the fare tend to be unrulier/more trouble-causing than the average fare-paying rider. So on the 29 at night there is regularly a slightly dangerous feeling, especially for women alone.