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London bus workers demanding extra money for working the Olympics

20/12/2011 By Andrew Morgan Leave a Comment

London bus workers are demanding an extra £500 each for working over the Olympic Games this summer. The union, Unite have written a letter on behalf of the 28,000 workers who say they should be paid £500 extra because their buses will be extremely busy during the three weeks while the Olympics Games is in the capital.

The bus workers are arguing that the extra £500 payment would put their pay in line with what other London transport workers will receive during the Games in 2012. However, paying each London bus worker an extra £500 just for turning up for work during the Olympics will stretch Transport for London’s budget further, costing the taxpayer and passengers an extra £14 million over the duration of the sporting event.

London Mayor, Boris Johnson, does not support the bus worker’s appeal for more money during the Olympics and has described both the tube and bus staff of attempting to take advantage of their position to lever more money out of TFL.

An extra 800,000 passengers are expected to use London buses during the Olympic Games this summer, and the London Bus staff believe that they should be duly rewarded as their services will be especially busy as a result. The union has not ruled out industrial action if a resolution is not found.

London bendy buses undertake their final journey in the capital

09/12/2011 By Louise Williams Leave a Comment

From this weekend, the bendy bus will become a thing of the past on London’s transport network as the final journey of the number 207 bendy bus will conclude in the early hours of this Saturday morning, signalling an end of the elongated bus’s life on the capital’s roads.

The bendy bus was hit with controversy since its introduction by TFL back in 2002 as the single-decker buses offered a free-for-all for fare dodgers who were easily able to avoid paying for their journey as the vehicles had several entrances which meant the driver was unable to check that every passenger was swiping their Oyster Card.

TFL started sending inspectors onto bus routes to try to clamp down the this type of fare dodging, however they were unable to monitor every service so it was still possible for some passengers to slip through the net. It’s been estimated that the scrapping of the bendy buses will save TFL £7.4 million annually as fewer fare dodgers will be able to take advantage of the system.

As well as enabling some passengers to get away without paying for their travel, the bendy buses were regarded as too large for the streets of London with many believing the posed a danger to the public and passengers.

Whether you were for or against the London bendy bus, from this weekend they won’t be seen on the city’s roads. The 350 bendy buses are being replaced with another 500 vehicles, 50 of which are hybrid double-decker buses. In addition, from early next year the very first modernised, eco-friendly, open platform Routemaster buses will grace London’s transport system once again.

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Contactless payment card system to be rolled out on London buses

18/11/2011 By Andrew Morgan Leave a Comment

Contactless payment via personal bank cards will be introduced on London buses from the start of the 2012. The new “wave and pay” system will allow passengers who don’t have an Oyster Card to benefit from low cost travel and to pay for their bus fare with the minimum amount of hassle.

However the new technology is not without its doubters, with the London Assembly’s Transport Committee making a number of recommendations before the scheme is rolled out throughout the London bus network.

The committee wants reassurances that those without personal debit or credit cards will still have access to the best travel fares, and also protection against electronic pick pockets who could attempt to intercept the new contactless payment system to gain access to personal bank accounts.

The payment for the fare will be taken directly from the passenger’s personal bank account via the new wave and pay system, however a version of the smart card Oyster card service, whereby payment is taken via the card which is pre-loaded with credit, will remain in some form, it has been revealed.

The scheme will cost TFL £75 million, with the system being included on London buses from next spring, with the intention of rolling it out on tubes, over ground and DLR services towards the end of the year.

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First of the new London Routemaster buses driven off the production line

04/11/2011 By Louise Williams Leave a Comment

The first of the new style London Routemaster buses was driven off the production line today by the man who’s spearheaded their return.

Boris Johnson vowed to scrap the bendy buses and reintroduce a new version of the classic open platform London buses as part of his election pledge during his bid to become mayor of London in 2008, and today he delivered on that promise when he got behind the wheel to drive the first of the vehicles off the production line at the Wrightbus factory in Northern Ireland.

The first batch of finished hybrid Routemasters will be operated by Arriva and introduced to busy central London bus routes from early next year. Their return will signal the first time the Routemasters have been seen on the London transport systems since they were phased out in 2005.

Eight of the new style double-deckers will be launched into the city to begin with, all of which feature three entrances/ exits, and two staircases. However the rear exit of the bus will only be open at peak times as a second member of staff is required to ride on the bus to supervise when the back platform is opened.

The London mayor predicts that the new Routemasters will ensure London is seen as a “world leader” in terms of its public transport system, and is confident the environmentally friendly buses will be well received by the public as the double-decker have been designed with the city and its passengers in mind.

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Work due to start on improving London Bridge Bus Station

22/11/2010 By Louise Williams Leave a Comment

Transport for London has confirmed that preparatory work to improve facilities at London Bridge Bus Station is scheduled to start at the end of the month.

The work to upgrade transport facilities at the busy London Bridge Station will be done to two stages to ease disruption to passengers, with the first phrase starting at the end of the month, and running until April 2011. The final stage will run from September 2011 until May 2012 which is when the station is due to be finished, just in time for the London 2012 Olympics.

The majority of improvement works during the first phase of the development will take place at weekends and over night in order to minimise disruption to passengers. During this time, a number of temporary bus stops will be set-up to allows bus services to run as normal.

The aim of the development work at London Bridge Bus Station is to improve facilities at the station for both passengers and transport workers by creating more space for taxis and buses to manoeuvre and to improve the road layout to ease congestion and enhance efficiency of services departing and arriving at the station.

The official word from the Mayor of London’s office is that the development work will create a “landmark station” with a better design which will result in a more efficient transport service from the new London Bridge Station.

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New Routemaster London bus prototype unveiled

11/11/2010 By Andrew Morgan Leave a Comment

A full scale prototype of the new generation of the London Routemaster bus has been unveiled this week for the very first time.

Dubbed the “Boris Bus” because of the London mayor Boris Johnson’s involvement in reviving the iconic bus, the replica complete was revealed at the London Transport Museum by the mayor himself.

It was thought the days of the open-platform London buses were gone forever after former mayor Ken Livingstone, removed the last surviving Routemasters from the city’s transport system back in 2005.

However the new and improved Routemaster is now in the pipeline with the first new double-decker bus due hit the streets of London in 2012, just in time for the London Olympics.

The prototype, which comes complete with an engine, will be trialled on London bus routes next year. TFL bosses, stakeholders, and passenger organisations will have the chance to give the prototype the once over, and give feedback on any elements which they feel need changing or improving before the design is finalised.

The new double-decker buses will emit 40% less emissions than the current London bus. Plus steps have been made to make the new design more accessible with three entry and exit points, and also two staircases onboard.

The first of the new design of Routemasters will be introduced in 2012.

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Londons bus and tube passengers will be provided with the Metro newspaper for the next 7 years

10/03/2010 By Andrew Morgan Leave a Comment

The free morning newspaper the Metro has signed a deal which will see it provide London’s bus and tube stations with papers up until 2017.

The 11 year contract signed back in 1999 is due to come to an end this April. However the new deal will see the newspaper, which has become part of the furniture for London commuters, continue for the next 7 years.

It’s understood that the Metro was largely unchallenged in its bid to continue providing morning newspapers for Transport For London (TFL). The publishers behind The London Paper, which folded last year, were reported to have not been interested in securing the deal. All in all it’s believed there were 3 other interested parties, however it’s not known how many of these submitted tenders.

TFL say they have positive feedback from their commuters in regard to the free daily paper with many bus and tube passengers saying it improves their daily journey to work.

There are plans in place to provide more recycling bins at key tube and bus stations in an attempt to reduce the amount of waste produced from the daily newspaper.

The Metro currently has a daily circulation of 1.3 million across the UK, 726,000 of which is in London alone.

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