Random Transport Chatter

[supermop]

Trams certainly bunch up here -

[Redirect Left]

Ah yes, buses. Doesn't matter the tolerable, they always manage to come two at once!

Drivers here don't seem too fussed to unbunch them again, neither.

[Dave]

It's not the drivers' job to "unbunch".

There's also a very simple reason why they do bunch up...

Say three buses leave the first stop (A) five minutes apart.

First bus reaches Stop B, and spends 2 minutes loading 60 passengers.

Second bus reaches Stop B three minutes later, and spends 1 minute loading 30 passengers.

Third bus passes Stop B without stopping.

As the third bus passes Stop B, first bus is only 8 minutes ahead of it, and only four minutes ahead of the second bus.

Assume that happens at five stops and all three buses are essentially one after the other.

Obviously that's a very unrealistic example but the concept is there.

[Redirect Left]

It's not the drivers' job to "unbunch"..

I've always been told (and once by a driver themselves) that in case of bunching, they're meant to set a distance between themselve, to whichever works best to timetable., one stops at a bus stop (or other safe stop-zone) and allows the other to get a certain distance ahead.

[Kevo00]

Trams certainly bunch up here -

Content post fail?

York is quite bad for bus bunching as there are a number of 'pinch points' for traffic. Drivers can't do much to space if they are already late, technically, and there is a persistent jam somewhere, say at Holgate junction or at Bootham bar...and some routes have to pass both.

[JamieLei]

I'm not very clued up with bus operations, but as far as I can figure, drivers alone would be relatively unable to unbunch themselves. TfL have a very comprehensive unbunching procedure in place (which results frequently in the worst terrors of passengers, 'The destination of this bus has changed' and 'This bus will now terminate here'.) What is a driver meant to do without strategic coordination from a central controller? - sure they could wait at a stop for 2 minutes which is about the limits before the passengers start a revolution, but without something else going on at the other end, all that will happen is that the bus behind will bunch up even further. Essentially, you also need some way for the 'late' buses to get on time, as well as the 'early' ones.

It is tough being a driver in London. I once stood next to the driver and watched his iBus display. It flashed up how many seconds he was early or late. Pretty impressive stuff, but difficult to keep to when you have to stop for passengers AND you're 2 minutes down!

[Pilot]

2 minutes which is about the limits before the passengers start a revolution

You guys down in London need to chill, we have to wait up to 10mins sometimes for 'unbunching'

[Redirect Left]

2 minutes which is about the limits before the passengers start a revolution

You guys down in London need to chill, we have to wait up to 10mins sometimes for 'unbunching'

Yeah, I've been in a bus that has waited at Honley Bridge (Which doesn't actually have a bridge, does have a train station though!) for a good ten minutes for timetable sync.
Us northerners go through so much torment!

[Geo Ghost]

Apparently East Coast have a special livery out on one of their trains from today.
As the number is 91111... I'll let you guess the nature of the livery

It's due into London at 1720 this afternoon if anyone in that area wants to go take a peak.
I am certainly going to!

Edit:
Or was going to. Wasn't worth going out in the rain for today when I'll probably see it at work this week...

[Dave]

Think I might be booked on her on Thursday...

[JamieLei]

Delay information at Stratford International is pretty poor. Twice over the last few weeks there have been severe delays in HS1, and arrived at the station to see everything delayed with no expected time of arrival. What you really need to know in a time like that is when the next train is; in both circumstances I was waiting more than 10 minutes longer, albeit to get on a train that was running 40-50 minutes late. On the contrary, South West Trains have a good delay procedure for Waterloo, and I'm not just saying that!

[Pilot]

Are you using HS1 on a daily basis now? I wonder how many people only use it between Stratford and St. Pancras.

[Kevo00]

Has anyone noticed that East Coast seem to have ballsed up a good site, to hide the journey planner?

[JamieLei]

Are you using HS1 on a daily basis now? I wonder how many people only use it between Stratford and St. Pancras.

Pretty much. And there's always a handful each morning - about a dozen getting on each train.

[doxlulzem]

A bit random but oh well
Airbus vs. Boeing?

[Pilot]

Pretty much. And there's always a handful each morning - about a dozen getting on each train.

I'm guessing there's a more expensive fare when compared to similar routes?

Airbus vs. Boeing?

Big Stuff: Boeing
Small Stuff: Airbus

[JamieLei]

Love my commute

[Nawdic]

Pretty much. And there's always a handful each morning - about a dozen getting on each train.

I'm guessing there's a more expensive fare when compared to similar routes?

Last time I checked it was about £3.80 single. Could be wrong.

St Pancras to Margate and back was £11.80 when I used it last, so its quite reasonable.

[Pilot]

Could anyone explain to me why American trains have Bells? I really don't understand the need for them

[doxlulzem]

I believe it is for yardwork, to notify workers whom may pose a potential hazard by carelessly straying onto the tracks

In other words, I think it's to let yard workers know a train is moving around

EDIT: I also remember reading somewhere that it is much quieter than the horn, so as to not deafen the yard workers, rather than using a big loud horn