21 July (Part 1) - Super Loopy
Later
today - it is 6 a.m. and the the by-election results have not yet been revealed
in 20 minutes of listening to my news radio station - TfL will announce
a six
week consultation on their proposed Bromley to Thamesmead bus service to be
numbered SL3 and branded SuperLoop. (The map omitted Thamesmead before the
Bexley Council intervention.)
Old timers might say that is to restore the 229 of the 1980s which
used to run through to Bromley North railway station.
The 229 was divided into two routes because road congestion and Bexley’s ever
narrowing roads made operating to a reliable timetable impossible.
However this time it is different, SL3 will be a limited stop service and the
slide briefly put on screen at last night’s Transport Users’ Committee in the
Council offices suggests it will serve Bexleyheath Market Place (the Clock
Tower), Lion Road, Bexleyheath Station, Abbey Wood station and Thamesmead.
With a 12 minute frequency most of the time that is another ten diesel buses an
hour on New Road. Electric power has been ruled out for the foreseeable future.
The overall Bromley to Thamesmead journey time is expected to be an hour and a
quarter. Getting around the Knee Hill roundabout and over the flyover might in
practice take ten minutes of that.
It is now 6:24 and I still don’t know the by-election results except that there
is a suggestion that Sadiq Khan has given Labour a kick in the teeth in
Uxbridge. It looks like being a good day.
P.S. In other bus news, TfL plans to terminate the 229 and
269 services at stops 300 yards apart, effectively halving the service frequency
for passengers heading towards Sidcup. Cabinet Member Richard Diment who graced
last night’s meeting with his presence has protested on behalf of residents and
TfL has acknowledged the downgrade. I do not recall the former Cabinet Member
for Places being sufficiently interested in residents’ well being to attend the
Transport Committee meeting.
TfL acknowledged the problem but two or three years ago they did the same in
Woolwich with the QE Hospital services. They prefer people to run around three
stops but unlike in Bexley, all three are visible from one vantage point. Amateur
sprinters can usually manage.