Belfast Rapid Transit and some London Bus News

Just a missing piece of the puzzle; I found out in Northern Ireland that Belfast is having its own rapid transit scheme using bendy buses.

Recently, we have seen Van Hool being awarded the contract to build buses for the Belfast Rapid Transit scheme.

From Department of Regional Development (Northern Ireland)

Transport Minister Michelle McIlveen has announced the award of a £19 million contract to supply a fleet of 30 vehicles for the new Belfast Rapid Transit (BRT) system.

Belgian-based company Van Hool won the contract and will be supported locally by Road Trucks Limited of Larne.

Proposed changes for East London Transit routes and 436 & 452

Recently, TFL proposed changes for the East London Transit routes. They wish to add more services on both routes and the EL2 will be re-routed from Barking to Becontree Heath Bus station which runs parallel with Route 5.

From the TFL Consultation

“We have looked at bus services in the Barking and Dagenham area and identified issues including crowding on the approach into Barking, in particular from Ripple Road, and Longbridge Road which is also served by route 5. We also anticipate that demand will continue to grow for buses to and from Barking Riverside Development.

New Crossrail trains design officially unveiled

TFL have recently unveiled their new Crossrail train design:

Crossrail took another major step forward today as the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) revealed the innovative design of the new, fully accessible trains that are due to enter service from May 2017.

When fully open in 2019, Crossrail will add 10 per cent to London's rail capacity, helping TfL to keep pace with London's growing population, which is set to rise from 8.6 million today to around 10 million by 2030. Carrying 200 million customers a year, Crossrail will mean more frequent and reliable journeys and support more homes and jobs across London and the South East.

New 2016 London Transport fares

Poster from 1981.

I have good news and bad news for you regarding the new TFL fares for 2016 which will be implemented on 2^nd January 2016.

TFL say's that fares are to rise by one per cent putting them in line with the July Retail Price Index, although some fares will be frozen.

From TFL's press release

"From 2 January, fares on TfL services are set to rise by one per cent, in line with the July Retail Price Index (RPI), however a number of fares, including single bus fares and all but two pay as you go single Tube fares, will be frozen. Travelcard season tickets will increase by slightly less than one per cent.

10 Years of route 15H and also the "Enviro400H" City launch

Having returned from my trip now, I will update you on the latest bus news including the Route 15H anniversary. The following events are happening on 14^th November 2015.

10 years of Heritage route 15

The contract of routes 15H and 9H started on 12^th November 2005, but the official operation began on 14^th November 2005.

The 'Heritage Routes' buses are AEC Routemaster buses which had been refurbished with new engines and lighting by Marshall back in 2001. This is why they sound like Dennis Darts, because of the refurbishment.

The main Route 15 had full operation of AEC Routemasters which started on the 1st April 1964 and ended on 30th August 2003. They were replaced by ALX400 Dennis Tridents as part of TFL’s policy to make 100% of bus services low floor and accessible. Before the mainstream withdrawal of AEC Routemasters the route also had preserved Routemaster buses such as the green RMC1461 (461CLT) which featured a rear door instead of an open platform.

Latest News and Updates

Yes driverless trains strike too!

Firstly, sorry about the lack of posts recently but I have been busy preparing for a short holiday and as I'm leaving tomorrow I thought I'd better give you an update on the London Transport services before I go.

First off, we have the latest London Buses tender awards:

Consultation response on Route 15H

Recently I received an email from TFL Consultations regarding Route 15H frequency change.

The purpose of the consultation is to change the frequency of the service from 15 to 20 minutes to maintain the services reliability. 85 stakeholders (including me) took part on the consultation.

Taken from ‘Response to the main issues raised’:

TfL's response to  main issues raised

There was opposition to the proposal to reduce the frequency of the Heritage Routemaster 15.

This included the following:

October 2015 Bus News update

I haven’t written any articles over the past week as I've been busy filming London Transport services for my Dailymotion channel.

Here is the news from LOTS (London Omnibus Traction Society)

·         The New Addington service changes duly began as planned on Saturday 24th as described in TLB613 page 12, with frequency increases on the 64, 130 and 359, route extensions on 64, 353 and 359, withdrawal of T31/T32 and renumbering of T33 to 433.

Route 26 to have buses with ‘New Routemaster Features’

I wrote in my previous article that CT Plus has won the Route 26 contract and the good news is that I've found out from London Bus Routes ‘Service changes’ page that route 26 will be getting buses with ‘NRM features.’

Fastrack: Kent Thameside’s bus rapid transit

Fastrack is a bus rapid transit scheme in the Thames Gateway area of Kent which consists of two routes. It was first founded on 26th March 2006.

Their routes are as follows:

·         Route A serves Bluewater, Greenhithe, Temple Hill and Dartford

·         Route B serves Gravesend, Ebbsfleet International Railway station, Swanscombe, Ingress Park, Greenhithe, Bluewater, Dartford and Temple Hill

Both of these services are operated by Arriva Kent Thameside on behalf of Kent County Council.