25 February - Buses stop being useful
At the Transport User’s Committee meeting in January it was said that TfL’s
proposals for new bus routes to serve Crossrail stations would become public
very soon and maybe that has in part already happened.
The
from the Murky Depths blog has given a few details taken from a document issued
by Greenwich Council. If Mr. Murky is correct it doesn’t make for good reading.
Ideally you should read his blog but as Google Analytics tells me that most
BiB readers are too lazy to click on links, here's a couple of highlights.
The 472 route from North Greenwich to Thamesmead will be diverted to take in
Crossrail in Abbey Wood but the frequency will drop from twelve an hour to eight.
Given the state of Harrow Manorway right now maybe that is not such a bad thing. It has
been jammed solid for the past week and pedestrians take their life in their
hands when trying to cross it. Drivers have become so frustrated by the
horrendous delays that they ignore red lights. Six vehicles jumped the lights while I was
trying to cross this morning; but I digress.
The 180 which offers the only direct route from Abbey Wood (South) to Woolwich from which it
currently carries on to Lewisham is not going to go to Lewisham any more. Given
the
proposal to cease running the Abbey Wood to Lewisham train service (Bexley
Council formally objected) this is clearly the height of folly. One can only
hope that that there is more detail to come.
In the 30 years i have lived in Bexley, bus routes have become progressively less
useful although in some cases the frequency has improved. From the bus stops I
can see from my back window I used to be able to go directly to Bromley or
take the shortest road route to Woolwich. The Bromley service has long since
gone with no replacement and in the other direction the service is now less
frequent and takes an extremely circuitous route. Allow yourself 45 minutes or
do it in five (at twice the price) on the train.