The other 2010 bendy contract award has been revealed by LOTS (back on 22/1/2010, actually). The 18 will be going to conventional diesel double deckers from 13/11/2010 with a PVR upgrade from 32 to 48. Let’s check back to our Bendy Replacement Timetable:
18 23-Aug-2003 23-Aug-2008 23-Aug-2010 32 49 23-Aug-2010
Unlike the 149, therefore, this is coming in bang on the money for our sizing prediction based on the 38. I’m wondering if the 149 was a typo somewhere, since londonbusroutes suggests the revised PVR is now 35. Let’s do another table (the 507/521/38 we had no data to predict from, the subsequent ones are based on the capacity figures from the 38 debendification consultation document).
- Route Original Prediction Real
- 507 9 - 15
- 521 19 - 32
- 38 47 - 72
- 149 27 41 35
- 18 32 49 48
So the 149 is definitely seeing a capacity drop compared with the 38 and 18. I wonder why.
Tags: 2 Comments
2 responses so far ↓
The 149 operates alongside the East London Line extension in part – from Dalston Junction to Shoreditch High Street. These buses were always packed to the rafters when I lived in Dalston, but when the extension opens on 4 April I imagine a great many people heading from Dalston to the Shoreditch area will switch to the Overground.
I used to take the 18 to work everyday, the service was terrible. Frequently buses would be come 4 at a time then none for a while.
It was ALWAYS rammed with people. Generally I am not a fan of bendys but in this case the route is almost straight down a main road, with very few awkward bits. I think this is the wrong thing to do.
I can’t see how buses with a smaller capacity will improve the service.