London Bus Travel

Justin Bieber takes double-decker bus ride in London

15/11/2011 By Louise Williams Leave a Comment

Teen pop idol, Justin Bieber, is the latest in a line of celebrity faces ditching the chauffeur driven car and giving London’s famous buses a try after he was spotted catching a lift from his hotel to the ITV studios on a big red double-decker over the weekend.

Only a few weeks ago R&B singer Rihanna was spotted catching the London tube to her concert at the O2 Arena, while Made in Chelsea star and daughter of Sir Phillip Green the Topshop the tycoon, Chloe Green, was snapped catching the night bus home with a friend.

Now Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber is the latest celebrity to endorse public transport, although his bus trip may not have been 100% authentic as there seemed to be a whole camera crew in tow, and also a few minders to keep over-eager fans at bay.

The 17-year-old star is currently over in the UK to promote his Christmas album release, Under the Mistletoe, and is reported to be starring in his own ITV special to advertise the release of the festive record. In fact, at the time he was spotted on his hired London bus, the singer was being transported from his West London hotel to the ITV studios, possibly to record material for the upcoming show.

The teen pop star evidently enjoyed his ride on the open top London bus as he tweeted a picture of himself looking relaxed and enjoying the view from the top deck with the caption, “London Town.”

Billionaire’s daughter, Chloe Green, catches London night bus home

21/10/2011 By Tracy Wilcox Leave a Comment

The daughter of billionaire businessman, Sir Philip Green, stunned fellow night bus passengers in the London this week when she hopped onboard the service to make her way home after a night out in the city centre.

20-year-old Chloe green, who is currently starring in the second series of the reality series, Made in Chelsea, attended the Firetrap by Sunday Girl event and partied with rival reality stars of ITV2’s The Only Way is Essex at the glitzy showbiz bash. The event was held to celebrate the launch of an exclusive clothing line, designed by singer Sunday Girl, who also performed at the party.

However it seems even heiresses and celebs have trouble getting a cab sometimes as Chloe Green and her group tried and failed to catch a taxi for their ride home, and so headed for the closest night bus as the fastest and easiest transport option.

Far from being put off with the idea of mingling with the other night bus users, the 20-year-old, whose parents are estimated to be worth £4.1 billion, Chloe was seen chatting and laughing with other passengers and her friend and showbiz blogger, Vas Morgan, who was travelling with her and later tweeted about his bus ride home with the Made in Chelsea star.

It’s been a good month for TFL and celebrity endorsements with pop star Rihanna taking the tube to a recent gig at the O2 Arena and now Chloe Green catching the night bus – who will be next to jump on the public transport band wagon?!

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London bus fares to rise by 7% from 2012

15/09/2011 By Louise Williams Leave a Comment

Bus, tube and rail fares in London are set to rise above the rate of inflation to 7% from next year as revealed by plans set out by the mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

The price hike for London commuters travelling on the city’s buses and tubes will come into play from January 2012. The increase in the cost of bus and tube travel will be 2% above the rate of inflation, which has prompted criticism from some corners.

However the mayor, Boris Johnson, has defended his decision to raise the cost of transport in London saying that the increase is necessary in order to guarantee that the transport systems continues to run effectively for the millions of people who use the network daily.

Mr Johnson also highlighted the fact that he has secured investment of £12 billion in London’s transport network in his four years in office helping to sustain a healthy and well oiled transport system for the capital. However the system relies heavily on the income from fares to sustain the efficient running of the bus and tube network.

Those who oppose the fare rises, such as Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, say hike in travel costs for those living in the capital will hit the most vulnerable such as those on low incomes.

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Fine for dodging fares on London buses could be about to rise

26/08/2011 By Louise Williams Leave a Comment

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and Transport for London are considering increasing the fine for being caught fare dodging on public transport in the capital after the amount of money lost from fare evasion rose last year.

Figures revealed that the amount of money lost as a result of passengers on both the bus and tube network avoiding paying their fare rose to £63 million during 2010, the highest figure recorded in the last three years. The economic downturn and also an increase in the number of people using London’s transport system has been cited as possible reasons for the spate of fare dodging cases recorded last year.

The statistics showed that the case of fare evasion was worse on London’s buses than its tube system in 2010. The estimated cost to TFL for non payment of fares on buses was found to have risen by £7 million to £39.5 million, while this figure dropped for tube passengers from £22.3 million in 2009 to £19.6 million in 2010.

In an attempt to deter passengers from avoiding paying their fare, the mayor is looking at increases the penalty for being caught fare dodging from £50 to £80. The fine increase will come into force from January 2^nd if plans to introduce the heavier penalty are approved.

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Stagecoach gets back into the London bus market

21/10/2010 By Andrew Morgan Leave a Comment

Stagecoach is preparing to get back into the London bus market after the company bought back the firm they sold 4 years ago.

The East London Bus Group is the third largest bus travel provider in the capital and was sold by Stagecoach in 2006 to an Australian financial company for £264 million. 4 years on and the transport provider has succeeded in buying back its former company at a fraction of the price, paying just £59.5 million.

The East London Bus Group operates 1,400 buses from 10 different depots around the city. After it was taken over by its new owner in 2006, it saw a sharp decline in revenue as the economic crisis hit, before eventually going into administration.

Stagecoach say they are pleased to be re-entering the London bus market once again, and believe they will be able to turn the fortunes of the failing company with a series of changes including office cut backs. However the bosses at Stagecoach do expect this to be a challenge, but with their past experience in running a successful bus operation in the capital, they are hopeful they can pull it off.

The East London Bus Company was sold by Stagecoach during the boom, however the company’s value took a nose dive as a result of the downturn. The bus operator boasts a 15% of bus operations in the capital.

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Bus stops in Kingston judged the most disabled friendly in London

13/07/2010 By Louise Williams Leave a Comment

Kingston has come out on top after a report was carried out into the accessibility of bus stops for disabled bus passengers in London. The district was found to offer the most bus stops in the whole of London with easy access for bus passengers in wheelchairs.

The report was conducted by a traffic watchdog which investigated 17,000 bus stops across the capital to assess the accessibility of these drop off and collection points for use by wheelchair users. Amongst its findings it stated that 85% of bus stops in Kingston offered ideal facilities to enable passengers to get on and off bus services easily.

Boroughs which didn’t fare as well in the report included Havering and Barnet where only 30% of their bus stops were found to offer adequate facilities for disabled bus users, although it was pointed out that these districts had more bus stops than Kingston.

Criteria for bus stops to be judged disabled-friendly include clear access to enable the bus to pull in directly alongside the kerb so as to allow disabled passengers to get on and off the vehicle using a ramp. Parking restrictions around bus stops also contribute to making it accessible for wheelchair users so as to prevent other vehicles from obstructing the bus stop which would in turn cause difficulties for a disabled passenger attempting to embark or disembark a bus.

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London’s new green buses to be shipped thousands of miles for engine installation

26/03/2010 By Louise Williams Leave a Comment

Transport For London have come under fire this week after it was revealed that the much celebrated hydrogen-powered buses will be shipped three-quarters of the way around the world to have their engines fitted.

The environmentally friendly fleet of London buses, which are part of a £15 million scheme, are being made in Northern Ireland. However they will then be shipped to California where they will have their specialist engines installed.

The 5 buses will be ready to join London’s bus network by November this year after their trip back from the States.

There has been much hype about the hydrogen buses as they don’t produce any pollution or carbon dioxide.

Despite their green credentials, many have questioned whether the long trip to California and back, and the massive carbon footprint this will incur, is worth it. It’s been specified that a single container ship emits more pollution than 2,000 diesel trucks, however shipping the buses is more environmentally friendly when compared to flying.

TFL have defended their decision to ship the hydrogen-powered buses saying that in the long term they will reduce their carbon footprint considerably. They say it is necessary to transport the new buses so far as they are high tech vehicles and only a handful of places in the world have the expertise to work on these buses.

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11 people injured in London bus crash

25/02/2010 By Louise Williams 1 Comment

A number of passengers travelling on the number 141 bus yesterday were taken to hospital after the vehicle crashed into Monument tube station at approximately 10am.

All in all 11 people attended hospital, a mixture of passengers and pedestrians, following the crash. Luckily they were only treated for minor injuries after the driver of the bus lost control of the vehicle. The double-decker was reported to have left the road and smashed through metal pedestrian railings, finally coming to a halt after hitting a set of traffic lights. The double-decker was left balancing precariously over the steps leading down to Monument tube station.

The emergency services were quick to respond with the whole crash site being cordoned off, and two ambulances arriving to take the injured passengers to hospital to receive medical attention.

It has been reported that several passengers were trapped under debris and the female bus driver was said to be bleeding. A pedestrian who missed being hit by the double-decker by inches, collapsed in the street in hysterics.

All of the passengers who emerged from the crashed bus were said to be very shaken by the incident. Witnesses described hearing a massive bang, and feeling as those the pavement was moving as a result of the impact of the crash.

The accident caused chaos as traffic around the incident was forced to come to a complete standstill whilst the emergency services dealt with the situation.

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3 men from Middlesex admit staging phoney bus crash

20/02/2010 By Tracy Wilcox Leave a Comment

3 men from Harrow in Middlesex have admitted setting up a phoney bus crash in order to rake in thousands of pounds in compensation money.

The driver of the double-decker bus, 28-year-old Luqmahn Danial ensured there were no paying passengers on his bus when he staged the fake crash as he failed to stop at a number of bus stops along his route. 6 accomplices were onboard however when Danial deliberately drove the bus into the back of his friend’s car in Brent Cross, North West London.

The driver and the passenger in the car, which was used in the phoney accident, both filed a compensation claim for whiplash. Each were hoping to scoop a pay-out of between £3,000 to £5,000 for their injuries.

The police were alerted to the scam after a tip off from an unidentified source. They investigated the case further and the full extent of the fraud was uncovered. Had they have got away with their swindle, the group would have been in line to win thousands of pounds in compensation.

The driver of the car Imran Hussain and the passenger Mohamad Tabibi, plus the bus driver Danial, all admitted fraud prior to the commencement of the court proceedings. They were each handed a 6 month suspended jail sentence by Harrow Crown Court.

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London’s bendy buses heading to Malta?

22/01/2010 By Andrew Morgan 2 Comments

If transport operator Arriva are successful in securing a contract to provide bus services in Malta, then 60 out of its 160 bendy buses currently in operation on London roads, could me making their way out to the holiday island.

It comes after mayor of London Boris Johnson announced a 12 year plan whereby he wants to see all current London buses replaced by environmentally friendly, open-platform Routemasters. Which means the bendy buses and other articulated buses will need to find a new home.

Bendy buses first hit the streets of London back in 2000 when they replaced the Routemaster. However the elongated bus has not been to everyone’s liking, with passengers and officials alike voicing their dislike for the bendy bus. Now it seems a revamped version of the classic open-platform Routemaster will make a welcome return to the city, ousting its predecessor, the controversial bendy bus.

It has been reported that Arriva is planning to ship a large quantity out to the Mediterranean should it be successful in its bid to win the transport contract. The remainder of the bendy buses are reportedly due to be re-deployed to others cities across the UK where Arriva are in operation.

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