Stockwell Bus Garage

Stockwell Bus Garage - A Public Transport Cathedral


I have always had a soft spot for Will Self ever since he was caught powdering his nose with Colombian snuff on the then Prime Minister’s John Major’s campaign plane in 1997. Now the writer and loyal Stockwellian has proposed Stockwell Bus Garage (designed by Adie, Button and Partners, with the engineer A. E. Beer) as his choice for London's Most Important Building. He was speaking as part of a series of Royal Academy lectures on 14th March 2011 at the Geological Society, Piccadilly. Self's appreciation of the garage as grown from passing it every day. It is, he says, "a working building, integrally connected to London’s public transport".


Will Self himself

It is certainly a good choice for this is a Titan amongst bus garages with the buses housed in cathedral like surroundings. Stockwell Garage is a large bus garage in Stockwell, London. It was designed by Adie, Button and Partners, with the engineer A E Beer, and was opened in 1952. Stockwell garage was built to replace Norwood tram depot.



It is typical of much of the concrete architecture built in the post war reconstruction period in London around the Festival of Britain. There was a steel shortage, so concrete was used to support the roof. However, the opportunity was taken to create a bravura piece of reinforced concrete design. The 393 ft long roof structure is supported by ten very shallow "two-hinged" arched ribs. Each rib is 7 ft deep at the centre of the arches, 10 ft 6 in at the end, and spans 194 ft. Cantilevered barrel vaults between, topped by large skylights, span the 42 ft between each pair of ribs. The vaults are crossed by smaller ribs to prevent torsion. Seen from the outside, the main arches are visible as outward-leaning buttresses, with a segmental curve to each bay forming a flowing roof line. The garage provides 73,350 sq ft of unobstructed parking space and could originally house 200 buses. At the time of construction it was the largest unsupported area under one roof in Europe. Since 1988 the garage has been a Grade II* listed building reflecting its importance in post-war architectural and engineering history.




So top marks to Will Self for publicising this wonderful example of inventive post-war utilitarianism. Many wonderful bus garages have bitten the dust for as part of privatisation of London’s Bus services those so clever people at HM Treasury decreed that bus garages should be sold off in another short term asset stripping drive. Clever Wallahs at the Treasury, not only have their policies messed up Britain at large and put us in hock to scores of ludicrously expensive PFI’s but their diktat on selling off garages has meant it is practically impossible to retender bus routes. As Treasury Wallahs don’t use buses they didn’t realise that they need to go asleep near to their customers at night. And bus garages are a bit like buses, BIG!

Many have already been sold off, Battersea is a spectacular apartment complex along the Thames, Victoria is a supermarket with yuppie flats over. Stockwell is a wonderful space which could be adapted to many uses in the right hands if it ceases to be a bus garage. Let us hope that Will Self’s eloquent advocacy and the Grade II* listing ensures that this magnificent space is utilised and loved for years to come.

Bozza’s Bus for London

It has always been my ambition to become the name of a common place object like Benedict Arnold became “Eggs Benedict” or Earl Grey became a tea. So I must resent the current Mayor for London, Boris Johnson, (Note; Up for re-election in May 2012) for his effortless accomplishment in this area. He promised Londoner’s “at no cost” a bicycle hire scheme and so (at a cost of £35 M+) we get the “Boris Bikes.” He promised to get rid of “Bendy Buses” and now we have the “Bozza Bus” – well 5 of them due for delivery in 2012, just around the time I predict Boris will be leaving office. A full-scale model of London's new Routemaster bus has been unveiled.


Boris Johnson in front of the original Routemaster launching the design competition for a "New Bus for London - NB4L"

London mayor Boris Johnson said the buses, which will come into service 2012, were a combination of "nostalgia" and the "latest technology". The fuel-efficient bus will be quieter than its diesel-run predecessor and have a platform offering passengers the traditional hop-on hop-off service. Wrightbus is making the vehicle at Ballymena in Northern Ireland and the full size model has gone on show at Acton Transport Depot in west London where London’s Transport Museum keeps its “Big stuff”.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/londons-transport-museum.html

The vehicle was designed by Thomas Heatherwick of Foster Design, with its interior inspired by the old Routemaster. The new bus will return to the driver-and-conductor model - a key feature of the original version. The old Routemaster was withdrawn from regular service in 2005 and now runs just on two heritage routes in London.

Lord Foster said: “I am delighted that we have won joint first prize with the Aston Martin/Foster + Partners design. This project has really captured my imagination. London’s buses are so much a part of the essence of this city – functionally, symbolically and geographically. They help us draw a mental map – their destinations are London’s historic places, often green: Shepherds Bush, Islington Green, Hampstead Heath, Green Park. Our design seeks to combine contemporary innovation with timelessness. Like the original Routemaster – which was ahead of its time and consequently endured – a new bus for London should establish a whole new travel experience that espouses 21st century aspirations, while celebrating the memory and the experience of the original.”



Mr Johnson said: "Standing on the rear platform of this delectable bus brings back a sense of nostalgia but conversely also demonstrates the quintessence of the latest technology and design, making this bus fit for the 21st Century. It is wonderful to see those two-dimensional designs we unveiled in May have been forged into this amazing bus and I cannot wait to be launching the buses when they first enter public service in 2012." Mark Nodder, managing director of the manufacturer's parent company Wright Group, said seeing the design come to life was "a real thrill".

Jo deBank, of pressure group London TravelWatch, said while innovations in design were welcome, her organisation had concerns about passenger safety on the open platform at the rear of the vehicle. "We also question the cost of two-man operated buses at a time when Transport for London's budget is under real pressure, and we already have concerns about a reduction in services," she said. A prototype will be delivered by next year and the first five new buses will be seen on the roads by early 2012.

But here is a not untypical comment from the London Evening Standard;

"Bendy buses are atrocious. I don't travel on them but they look so dangerous and it's like cattle class with nowhere to stand."

That tells you great deal about the Bendy 'debate' – much of the debate has been informed by people who don't use the buses but now believe they can't sit down on them, can't stand up on them and that they might veer off the road and murder their children at the drop of a hat. As for the Routemaster debate let’s agree that the Routemaster (and the RT) were revolutionary 40 years ago with their narrow, compact design, light weight due to the use of aluminium (and a fibreglass bonnet) responsive engine and automatic gearbox. But they were a product of their time (and a massive centralised organisation which military style rebuilt them every 7 years) and the lack of access and running costs of having a conductor (who with Oyster would NOT take fares) cannot be justified today. More seriously what are the public safety implications of an open platform, who NOW designs a transport solution with a known fatal risk factor? It would be interesting to have a crystal ball and earwig how that one would play in a future court case?


London's iconic Routemaster Bus

The Old Routemaster wasn't just a bus; it was an iconic example of industrial engineering-cum-aesthetic tour de force which was every bit as important to Londoners and tourists alike as Big Ben, Carnaby Street in the swinging sixties and the dear old Queen Mum. Launching in 1954 and built by the Associated Equipment Company, it became a recognisable worldwide symbol of London, adorning postcards and becoming the must-have holiday snap for international visitors.



However for all Bozza the Buses excitement at his new Boy Toy there are some significant drawbacks. First there is the small matter of costs and revenue. Five buses are being built by Wrightbus at £7.8 million or £1.56 M a copy. OK this is for a prototype but there is no certainty it will go into to production so this Boris Toy could be a very expensive vanity project which will leave Londoner’s short-changed, have less capacity than the “Bendy Buses” (90 to 149) and be difficult for people of limited mobility, with shopping or children. To be anyway competitive the “New Routemaster” will need to be manufactured in its thousands which seems unlikely. And with two stairs and 3 entrances will this not seem a somewhat extravagant example of overdesign to solve a problem which isn’t really there? The previous Routemaster had mechanical simplicity on its side which is why it lasted over 40 years – will the same be said of the Bozza Bus?


The Bozza Bus

Why do we believe that there is something so unique about the streets of London that it requires a special bus which by its very nature would fly in the face of procurement efficiency? Is this not a solution which would have obsolescence built in, another in a long line of British World Beaters which never beat anything?


See also;

Bend it like Boris

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/10/bend-it-like-boris.html

A Bus for London

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/10/bus-for-london.html

Routemaster to Perdition

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/12/routemaster-to-perdition.html

Gone Upstairs

No. 36 Nightbus

There is a standing hoary old Londoner’s joke about a skeleton being found on a Circle line train and being handed in at the Lost Property Office in Baker Street. The “joke” being that he had a heart attack and was just left circling London. This of course never happened and there are strict security checks on the Underground with drivers physically walking through trains at end of shifts and each time they detrain or go into sidings. There is also the “joke” about the young kid telling his mum that he doesn’t want to go upstairs on the Double Decker bus as its dangerous because there is no driver there.

Well today, these old chestnuts have unfortunately been echoed by a disturbing incident on a London Bus, details of which have been revealed at a Coroner’s inquest into the death of a young Polish drug user in London. Bus staff are facing disciplinary action after a dead passenger was driven around London because the driver failed to spot his body. Pawel Modzelewski died on the night bus and remained there unnoticed until a member of the public raised the alarm more than six hours later, an inquest was told. The 25-year-old had got on the No. 36 bus after midnight in Queen's Park and CCTV footage shows him slumped over his seat 12 minutes later.

The driver of the bus noticed Mr Modzelewski on the top deck but "forgot" about him when he went home for the night, Southwark coroner's court heard. Paul Bailey, accident prevention manager for London Central Bus Company, told the hearing the driver thought Mr Modzelewski was asleep and tried to rouse him at New Cross Gate bus garage. He said: "There was no response. He drove the bus into the garage to be refuelled and cleaned by contractors. He forgot to tell anyone about the man. The cleaners didn't clean the bus and on finishing his duty, the driver went home."


London Central Bus Company

The dead man, originally from Poland, was discovered by a commuter on the bus the next morning. In a statement Morlaye Keppy-Camara said: "I got on the 171 bus and went upstairs. I walked towards the back of the bus. As I did so I passed a white male. He was slumped forwards in his seat and not moving." Mr Keppy-Camara noticed vomit on Mr Modzelewski's clothes and spoke to the driver. Police discovered an empty syringe in Mr Modzelewski's right hand and a small wrap of what appeared to be heroin.

Recording a narrative verdict, coroner Dr Andrew Harris said the cause of death was an overdose of drink and drugs, but added there were "missed opportunities" to save Mr Modzelewski's life. Mr Modzelewski's uncle Eligiusz, who is also living in the UK, said: "If my nephew had had help earlier, maybe things would have been different."

How awful this is for his family, especially as it was stated there were missed opportunities to possibly save his life. It is awful to think somebody could be taken ill and just ignored. And regardless of how busy a bus is surely somebody should check nothing has been left on a bus when it comes to the end of its journey, be it a person, a bag or even a bomb! However at the end of the route, the drivers should always check the bus for any remaining passengers before starting the return journey on the route, or going to the depot. This is very much standard practice, and is done for all trains and tubes too.

The drivers job on a night bus is however difficult as they carry revellers coming home from pubs and clubs who are often worse for wear and have challenging behaviour. Perhaps it is unreasonable to expect a driver to deal with all the background issues as well as drive at a very demanding time when the behaviour of pedestrians and other road users is challenging. Maybe there is a case for increasing Night Bus fares in London and having a security guard on each bus to deal with the background issues and anti-social behaviour and provide reassurance to passengers? I know many passengers on night buses who currently feel nervous using them would feel far more secure if there was a security guard on board.

Tube Strike; The Reviews

Bob Crow of the RMT

Well the two day RMT Strike which brought misery and inconvenience to millions of Londoners and visitors to the capital is over and the “reviews” are in. Inconvenience it certainly brought to those who work in the capital but it brought misery to the elderly, the disabled and those who were travelling for hospital and medical appointments. And it brought hardship to temporary workers who lost money by being unable to work unlike the secure well remunerated jobs with final salary pensions of those who caused the disruption.

The RMT Tube Strike caused major disruption in London Town in the morning rush hour on the first day and the public view was the Capital being held to ransom by small group who are England’s equivalent of the Teamsters! The alternative travel arrangements in London were pants! - Bus lanes were blocked with deliveries; there were road works all over the place and empty tourist buses just parked with no customers blocking the red buses full to the gunwales. Londoner's need joined up Government and planning - not what we have seen during the strike - All soundbite and waffle with no reality on the ground. Worst of all was the World Cup qualifier at Wembley where Wembley Stadium Station was closed from midday to “avoid” overcrowding despite three train companies being scheduled to run trains to the station for the match.



On the Wednesday morning Chiltern railways lost the Aylesbury Line through Amersham because the LU signal box at Amersham wasn’t manned and despite assurances the same thing happened next morning when Harrow on the Hill signals were not manned. Getting to Marylebone from Princes Risborough on the first morning of the strike the Underground station was firmly closed. I made the mistake of getting the No. 453 bendy bus but congestion was woeful in London with road works and deliveries on Red Routes (legal up to 11 am and not suspended during the strikes) and the Bendy being torturous in heavy traffic. I abandoned the bus and walked the rest of the way across London in heavy rain.

But what a difference a day makes. This morning (Thursday) Marylebone Underground was open and trains were running freely on the Bakerloo, Jubilee and most Tube Lines. Clearly the strike had lost support, more were coming to work and the situation improved as the day went on. What also was striking were the Tube staff talking to and helping passengers who clearly appreciated those who kept the service running.


Tube trains stuck in the depot

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said he "deplored" the Tube strike, as services slowly returned to normal following the 48-hour walkout. The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) action ended at 1859 BST but Transport for London (TfL) said a full service would not resume until Friday morning.

Liberal Democrat Lord Bradshaw called the behaviour of RMT leader Bob Crow and strikers "utterly reprehensible". The walkout followed a breakdown in pay talks with London Underground (LU). Further talks between the LU and RMT - which wants a 5% pay rise and a promise of no compulsory redundancies - will be held next week to try to end the dispute.



During a Lords debate on public transport, Lord Adonis said: "I deplore the underground strike in London today and urge the RMT to engage constructively with Transport for London to ensure that there is no repetition." Lord Bradshaw said: "The behaviour of Mr Crow and the RMT is utterly reprehensible. There are mechanisms for dealing with disputes. People working on the Underground are well paid and they have long holidays. The strikers' behaviour has been pretty disgraceful."

He added: "Londoners are being held to ransom and many people who are in fear of losing their jobs are making extraordinary efforts to get to work because they think that if they are missed for a couple of days they can be missed for a good deal longer."



On Thursday Mr Crow accused London mayor Boris Johnson of "playing politics" with the Tube by deliberately intervening to scupper a last-minute deal. Mr Johnson said the allegation was "completely untrue". Union boss Bob Crow today gloated over the "success" of the Tube strike as he threatened more walkouts. The RMT leader said his members could launch fresh industrial action as early as two weeks' time - despite signs of the strike crumbling. Many picket lines were deserted today and London Underground managed to run trains on nine out of 11 lines.

But millions of commuters were caught up in gridlock as central London took the brunt of the disruption. Mr Crow turned up for a picket line at Queen's Park on the Bakerloo line, which was running a limited service. He boasted about the industrial action. "I'm really pleased. It was a solid success," he said. "The whole city ground to a halt and the disruption it caused was all over the papers."



Mayor Boris Johnson said the number of trains running showed the lack of support for the strike. He paid tribute to staff who had crossed picket lines to go to work as well as to the number of Londoners who had used crowded buses and trains to keep London operating. He said it showed the weakness in the RMT's case and criticised Mr Crow for "moving the goal posts". Mr Johnson said: "I do apologise for the trouble that has taken place and I think it is very sad, but I urge the RMT to come to their senses and to do the right thing and call off the strike.”

"The people in London have shown fantastic resolve by going to work in such fantastic numbers. This is a testament to the weakness and fragility of the strike. The RMT have greatly undermined themselves by this action."

The hefty six-footer Bob Crow has a reputation for picking his battles well and the RMT is one of the few unions with a growing membership. According to the latest TUC figures it has 75,906 members. But after the half-cock response to the latest 48-hour Tube walkout serious questions are being asked about his judgment.


The alternative travel arrangements

Aslef, the rival Tube union, said today: "It seems Bob Crow is now doing his best to annoy fellow trade unions." Officially Aslef describes the strike as "premature" but the private language is more colourful. A hint of RMT rebellion emerged in the voting figures. Of 10,000 eligible to vote, just 2,810 supported the strike call with 488 against. The rest took the easy way out and didn't bother -although they will, of course, accept any increased pay and working conditions improvements won by the union. Just before the strike started Mr Crow said: "We know that it will receive solid support from RMT members across the Tube network." No, it hasn't. It was a rare misjudgement by Mr Crow.



The last two Victoria line strikes, in support of sacked train driver Carl Campbell, have closed the line completely. It's a different picture now: Mr Crow quietly slipped in a third strike on the Victoria line today to run in conjunction with the main dispute. This strike was only announced to LU, as the union is legally required to do, and not to passengers. The Victoria line is an RMT stronghold but today trains ran along a major part of the route - Victoria to Seven Sisters - where Mr Crow was on early morning picket line duty.

Past network-wide strikes have seen a total shutdown. Compare that with today: during this morning's peak 120 trains ran out of a possible 522; by lunchtime the figure had increased to 140 out of a usual 420. London Underground stated: "We have had lots of drivers turning up." Did that include RMT members? "It must do by the number of people who have reported for duty," said LU. This encouraged even more staff to return to work today, the second half of the stoppage. Union observers ask whether Mr Crow has been bounced into a self-defeating dispute by his even more far-Left fellow officials. There seems to be no immediate threat to his leadership in the absence of a credible alternative. But his reputation as a union general that chooses his battle grounds wisely and normally delivers a victory has been badly damaged.

Tube Strike

“A 48-hour strike by thousands of London Underground workers has begun after last-minute talks to try to resolve the row broke down.

Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) walked out at 7pm - at the start of a stoppage which is expected to cause travel chaos across the capital. The union believes the entire network will come to a halt, causing huge problems for millions of commuters and visitors, and costing businesses tens of millions of pounds.”

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Tube-Strike-By-Thousands-Of-London-Underground-Workers-Begins-After-Last-Minute-Talks-Break-

The Tube strike in London is a political strike by the Jurassic Park RMT Union. I hope its members leave in droves as the strike is pointless and shames Trade Unionism.Of course the RMT is affiliated neither to the Labour Party or the TUC. Ordinary Londoner's are aghast at what's happening. RMT members and the travelling public deserve so much better. Don’t take my word for it – there is overwhelming condemnation of the action across the Media, Blogosphere and most tellingly, by ordinary members of the public. Here is a sample of the Vox Pop;


Sky News reports 9th June 2009, London;

London Underground Strike Is On

news.sky.com — In the middle of the deepest and most damaging recession most of us have ever seen, the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union calls a strike. Is this the most out of touch and selfish union left in the UK?

Typical Bob Crowe... the mans a ****. Sack the whole damn lot of them I am sure there are many eastern europeans who would be glad to do their job at half the wages they are getting and for longer hours. A pay rise in the middle of a recession ???? Kinda says it all about Bob Crowe and his cronies.

Posted By: Michelle - I have just taken a 10% pay CUT and my husband a 20% CUT to try and help our respective companies survive this recession, it's not pleasant, we don't want to do it but, however much we would wish for one - a pay RISE in these times is just not going to happen, I just hope we are still in our jobs in a years time. Mind you, we are not in jobs that can hold anyone to ransom like the transport workers.

Posted By: Lorna - I am heading into London today. This strike is all because there are currently school holidays and these guys want a cheap "couple of days off work". It disgusting. I am sure that Londoners and others in the capital alike will find ways to work around this. But it is not needed and very selfish. Fire the lot of them and give these overpaid jobs to people who wants to work. I feel for those who have to get into the capital tomorrow to earn a decent days living and to the sport fans who would like to support England and get to and from the game safely.

Posted By: Gary Thomas - I say just sack them and get new people to replace them, how can they expect a pay rise in the middle of a recession ??, pay cut more like !. They should try living like the rest of us, trying to make ends meet, trying to get to work (no hope of that for the next 48hrs) and trying to cope with a 30% pay decrease. The public will have no sympathy what so ever with this strike, as someone else said, if anyone else decided that they wanted a pay rise and when they didn’t get it they stamped their feet and went on strike they would just be sacked, do the same to the tube drivers and teach them not to be so greedy.

Posted By: Claire - They get paid far too much to drive tubes. Sack them all and install workers who would be happy to have a job in the first place. It's a joke. We will all get by over the 48 hours, but Crow can crow all he like's and will always be unpopular and hated, by Londoners.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/London-Underground-Tube-Strike-To-Go-Ahead-As-Talks-Break-Down/Article/200906215298874?f=rss


RMT Says ‘Bring Back Elvis and We’ll Cancel Strike’

Written by: silver

In a last-ditch attempt to ensure the total f#@#@ing up of London’s tube system, the RMT have demanded Elvis in return for cancelling planned strikes.

LUL managers started to suspect the union wanted to strike last week when the RMT sniffily announced to the press that they were perfectly willing to talk but were being ignored by the filthy capitalist pigs.

‘We’ve tried everything from memos in comic sans to demanding reinstatement of all sacked members ever, but the bastards have caved in to our every whim,’ said Bob Crow yesterday from his mansion paid for by the sweat of the workers. ‘Elvis was the only thing left to ask for.’

LUL are currently in emergency talks with London Mayor Boris Johnson and representatives from London’s black cab community, many of whom say they had the King of Rock and Roll in the back of their taxi only last Friday.

Tube travellers have been quick to condemn Crow; ‘He’s a twat,’ said one commuter at Bank station. Others questioned why he was demanding jobs for life and above average pay rises during a recession and why the RMT were always such tossers.

‘I hate Bob Crow, he’s a twat,’ said another tube user later identified as Mrs Crow.

http://www.chew-the-fat.com/satire/rmt-says-bring-back-elvis-and-well-cancel-strike002493




UrbanTick

A major strike on the Tube in London is announced for today. From Today Tuesday 19h00to Thursday 19h00 there will be no Tube services in London if the strike goes ahead as announced. This will mean that thousands of commuters and travellers will be forced to search for alternatives.

We already had this once this year. The heavy (12cm : ) snowfall from February 2nd brought a major disruption to London’s transport network and an extra day of for thousands of Londoners. This event was covered in posts here and here.

And again this disruption will change the rush hour for two days. Maybe everyone will be using the riverboat service, as the Major Boris Johnson has arranged for all of us to travel for free.

We’ll see how London and Londoners will manage the situation. In terms of routines it will definitely be different.

Transport for London promotes cycling and walking; this is the cheapest option for them. Walking maps are available from the tfl.gov.uk site. The maps are not very good and hardly any better as a normal tourist guide. Maybe another project would actually be a bit more successful here. The shortwalk project is aiming at promoting the information about distances between inner London tube stations. While doing some research the people behind the project discovered that sometimes it is actually quicker to walk than squeezing into the tube. A nice map visualizes this.

Other option is to plan your journey as a walk on walkit.com or even Google Maps could help you find the shortest route...

A micro blogger community has formed and collects a variety of suggestions and options to beat the strike. A good collection of them is available on TimesOnline. Unlike with the snowfall in February, people seem to be determined to get in to work tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes and whether or not Londoner can make it again a positive disruption of their weekly rhythms.

http://urbantick.blogspot.com/2009/06/disruption-second-take.html


Beat the Tube strike with Walkit.com!

Are you a walkit.com user in London? Or you’re planning to travel to the capital next week?

Are you prepared for the scheduled tube strike?

The RMT Union has announced strike action to commence at 18.59 hours on Tuesday 9 June through to 18.58 hours on Thursday 11 June 2009. (This Guardian page will keep you up to date with any developments.)



Should the tube strike go ahead it is expected to suspend most underground services as well as increase the use of other forms of public transport in the capital.

Although there is still the possibility that the strike will not go ahead why not use walkit.com to prepare an alternative route for any journeys that are affected by the action. Even if the strike is cancelled you can always enjoy your journey on foot avoiding the hot and crowded journey by tube.



Whether you need to get from a mainline station to the office or to an all important meeting, or you’re in London for the day to see the sights use walkit.com to plan your journey on foot.

Don’t forget to let friends, family and colleagues know too!

http://www.walkit.com/blog/2009/06/05/beat-the-tube-strike-with-walkitcom/


We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to outlaw train and underground strikes.

Trains and London Underground are strategic services. Ensuring that they run is essential. Greedy unions should be banned from holding people to ransom by calling for strikes to achieve their selfish objectives of above inflation pay rise while causing misery to innocent people especially in this recession.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/No-Tube-Strikes/


Get to Work strategies during the strike.

As Tube workers walk out for a 48-hour strike, Londoners will have to find other ways to make the 3.5 million journeys for which we normally rely on the Underground every day. While it may be tempting to take the day off work, here are some ways you may not have considered to get around.

:: BY BOAT: Believe it or not, London's riverboat services can carry 8,000 people every hour. Plus you get a unique view of the city that you just don't get from a bus, below the ground on a Tube train. Plus, during the strike, Transport for London is laying on a free shuttle-boat service between Tower Bridge and London Bridge.

:: SHARE A TAXI: Black cabs might not be as cost effective as the Underground - but they work out much cheaper if you're splitting the fare. To help you find people who are going your way, taxi drivers have arranged for special marshals to be posted outside Waterloo, Kings Cross, Liverpool Street, Euston, Paddington, Marylebone and London Bridge stations.

:: LIFTSHARE: You're probably not the only person trying to get to the office in the same part of town. There are a number of websites to help you find people driving that way - you just have to chip in for petrol.

Try: www.carshare.com or london.liftshare.com. TfL won't be letting you off the Congestion Charge, but will be suspending roadwork’s in many areas.

:: CYCLE: If you're feeling energetic, why not ride your bike in. Temporary bike-parking's being made available in town - locations include Trafalgar Square, the Mall and Waterloo.

Also, check out www.biketube.org.uk for details of morning commuter-led rides.



:: BUSES AND TRAINS: TfL says there will be 100 extra buses on the roads during the strike to help you get around. Oyster Card pay as you go will be accepted on all National Rail services in Greater London. DLR and London Overground services aren't affected by the strike.

:: HEADING TO WEMBLEY?: England play Andorra in a World Cup Qualifier on Wednesday - so here's the advice on getting there: Get there early. Gates are opening at 5.45pm, so don't leave it until the last minute.

Local buses and National Express coaches are going to the stadium, and there are trains to Wembley Central and Wembley Stadium stations. If you can't make it, the FA will give you your money back.

For all the latest information and advice, check the TfL website at;

www.tfl.gov.uk

Fair Weather Britain

Britain ground to a halt this morning as the transport systems lack of operational competence and depth was once again cruelly exposed. Speaking at a press conference in Downing Street, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "We are doing everything in our power to ensure services, road, rail and airports are open as quickly as possible, and we are continuing to monitor this throughout the day." No doubt these words will ring as true as his meaningless “British Jobs for British workers” boast. The Highways Agency said the organisation was well prepared to deal with snowfall over roads after criticism over its reaction to severe weather in 2003 but for the long suffering commuters this morning there was no sign that lessons have been learnt and all these organisations which insist on fining commuters in cash if they don’t have the correct fare were not offering them cash refunds for this transport disaster.

LONDON was overwhelmed by six inches of snow today with the threat of at least as much again to come in the next 24 hours. Forecasters warned that the big freeze could last until the weekend. Every bus was withdrawn from service for the first time in living memory because of fears for passenger safety - not even the Blitz stopped the capital's buses running.


Snow in Chiswick

All but two Tube lines were either totally or partially suspended. Many mainline trains in and out of the capital were cancelled with Southeastern and Southern services completely shut. Roads were either impassable or treacherous after the heaviest London snowfall in 18 years.

Dozens of motorists on the M25 gave up trying to drive in treacherous conditions and stayed in their cars on the hard shoulder. The AA warned motorists they risked hypothermia if their cars broke down. Both runways at Heathrow airport were closed and passengers were advised to check with their airline before leaving for the airport.


Snow White City

A spokesman for the worst World Class airport operator BAA (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/up-up-and-away-with-baa-no-2.html)said while Gatwick was open, there were significant delays and cancellations. Stansted, London City and Luton airports were shut. Hundreds of thousands of commuters were forced to stay at home, hitting businesses already suffering from the credit crunch. Most schools were shut.

Network Rail said it had been unable to cope with the sheer volume of snow. An NR spokesman said: "We knew the snow was coming. We had teams of track workers at key junctions. We had people out all night clearing the tracks but the snow was so heavy that once the tracks had been cleared the conductor rails were covered with snow and ice again."


Epsom Downs Station

Many of London's best known sights were blanketed, affording spectacular views of Parliament and other landmarks. Up to six inches of snow fell in London overnight with the same again expected over the next 24 hours. The snow, brought in on winds from Siberia, is the heaviest since 1991 when six inches fell in London and 20 inches in Yorkshire.

While the whole of the UK was affected, London and the South-East bore the brunt. The standstill angered workers who asked why London was unable to cope with conditions that had been predicted several days ago. "London looks beautiful but I'm really angry the transport system has collapsed," said Michael Topper, 24, as he walked from his home in Kensington to offices in Soho. "They've known about the snow since yesterday. The later I get into work the more money we will lose and it's a really worrying time."

Transport for London announced on its website that all London buses, which carry five million passengers a day, had been "withdrawn from service due to adverse weather and dangerous road conditions". The Highways Agency said 500 Lorries had worked through the night spreading grit. A spokesman said: "Our real problem is HGVs which skid, jack-knife and block the roads which mean our gritting Lorries can't get through." The National Rail Enquiries phone line crashed at 7.30am - normally the height of the rush-hour - because so many people were trying to get through.
David Brown of Transport for London said the situation was "exceptional". He added: "We haven't had a circumstance like this for over two decades. We were prepared in the sense that all our cold weather plans on the underground were put into place. But I think that actually the volume of the snow falling during the middle of the night was very difficult for us."


Barons Court Tube Station

At midday the Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced the £8.00 Central London Congestion charge was being suspended for the day – an empty gesture for the empty streets. ( http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/08/london-congestion-charge.html) Disruption caused by the heavy snowfall could cost UK businesses about £1bn, business groups have estimated. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said that 20% of the UK's working population, or 6.4 million

Trading on the London Stock Exchange was thinner than normal. Stephen Alambritis from the FSB said its estimate of £1.2bn was a cautious one and the actual cost was likely to be higher. "There is also the knock-on effect of passing trade going down as people won't be buying their sandwiches for lunch or picking up a coffee or newspaper," he said.


Alfresco at Canary Wharf

Questions have been asked about whether authorities were sufficiently prepared for the snowfall, given that it was widely forecast. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, admitted that the capital was not equipped to deal with such an unusually heavy snow fall. "This is the kind of snow we haven't seen in London in decades. We don't have the snow-ploughs that we would otherwise need to be sure of getting the roads free," he said. But Mr Johnson said it did not necessarily make sense to make a major investment in snow-ploughs if they were only used once every two decades.

This may be so but taking today’s almost total wipe out of transport systems serious questions need to be asked about how the lack of resilience is hitting the economic viability of Britain and how London can claim to be a World Class City if it and its economy grinds to a halt under six inches of strange fluffy stuff? Has the limits of outsourced Britain been ( http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/10/outsourcing-or-ouch-sourcing.html ) discovered as the superficial consequences of the outsourcing, franchising and the tendency to concentrate on short term solutions at the expense of longer term and more robust responses to problems? Is this a country powered by an economy and transport system which only works in fair weather? Is this Fair Weather Britain?

Seats on Feet!

Neanderthal Man

A bane of the regular commuter are the Neanderthal ignoramuses who insist on rudely displaying their genetic inbreeding by using other people’s seats on public transport as a footrest. Indeed due to lack of enforcement by transport operator’s many do this deliberately as a Yob badge of honour normally combined with a “what’s your problem, Mate!” stare as staff major on their “non-confrontational” training and walk on by. I suspect these are the same people who take pride stealing disabled people’s parking spaces normally with their kids in the back seat so they learn by example and the Neanderthal genes are preserved for posterity. Never mind the disrespect to their fellow passengers and the fact that they look stupid (not that they consider this a disadvantage in life!) but analysis of such seat covers generally shows materials not normally found outside forensic science programmes!

Well one enterprising company called TRiP has a new take on this age old problem as it asks its customers to please put seats on feet! The concept is brilliant as London Transport moquette is an iconic fabric and is sold by the London Transport Museum as a successful furniture range.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/londons-transport-museum.html

The hard wearing, iconic patterned fabric seems perfect for footwear and we definitely approve Trip’s recycling ethic: "they incorporate recycled tyre rubber in the soles, restored Tube and bus seat textiles in the uppers and re-used leather cheque book wallets in the trim". If the wallets were collected from the Lost Property Office in Baker Street, then even better!


Moquette Furniture from the LTM Collection

Moquette was used on bus and tube seats from the 30s through to the 70s, a tough fabric able to take the wear and tear of constant daily use. But it wasn't just functional - designers were constantly brought in to liven up the fabric, creating looks that are both stylish and very distinct to their eras.

Each Tube design in the “Above+Below London” footwear is named after the line that supplied the fabric - such as District Line - and all the soles are made from 33 per cent bus tyre rubber. Robert Taylor, of Transport Recycling in Partnership (TRiP), said: “We have used good quality materials which would otherwise have ended up in landfill sites or going to an incinerator. I think the shoes have a real cultural, nostalgic feel to them.” They cost £60, and for every pair sold TRiP promises to plant one tree inside the M25.

The collection exclusively incorporates rare, vintage and ultra rare iconic retro textiles from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's reclaimed from seats on London's Underground tube carriages and buses. Realising these visually striking fabrics were genuine relics of London's design heritage, Central Saint Martin's college graduate Robert Taylor and music promoter/film maker Caroline Read collected and preserved them before they were lost to landfill or incineration forever!




Piccadilly

This design was used on Piccadilly Line Tube stock delivered from 1956 to 1967. The black vertical and red horizontal lines of varying thicknesses against a grey background were also found on the Metropolitan, Central, Northern and Victoria lines.

This line was originally called the Great Northern, Piccadilly, and Brompton Railway. It opened in December 1906 between Hammersmith and Finsbury Park. In 1932, extensions allowed passengers to travel north to Cockfosters and west to Hounslow and Uxbridge. The next major extension connected Heathrow Airport with central London in 1977. The loop to Terminal 4 was completed in 1986, and the line now serves the new Terminal 5 from 2008.




Victoria Line

This Victoria Line moquette design was used during the 1993 refurbishment of 1967 stock on the Victoria line. The sample has broad vertical red and blue stripes with a stepped repeating dark blue, white and red geometric 'arrow' motif. It was created by design consultants Jones Garrard and Tilney, Lumsden and Shane and produced in different colours, though they were never used. The refurbishment also included new grab-poles and armrests that were blue, symbolising the Victoria line. The design was influenced by the bright and bold moquette patterns used on London Transport during the 1930s and 1940s.

This brightly coloured District Line design from the late 1970's has a geometric pattern of repeating rows of orange, yellow, brown and black rectangles. When the surface stock cars on the District line were renewed, the mainly grey finishes of the old interiors were replaced by brighter designs. The new interiors were designed by Misha Black Design Research Unit. The internal doors were painted orange and the moquette matched the colour scheme. This pattern was also used on the Metro and Titan buses, which were introduced about the same time as D78 stock.




District Line

Fashion meets public transport in this new range of shoes made of recycled fabric from London Underground and bus seats and this is an idea which deserves to walk! Indeed the Sage may himself purchase a different design for his left and right feet as his avant garde development on cross dressing, let’s hear it for interchange dressing! Give it time and it could be a New Underground Movement!

See (and order!) on TRiP’s website here;

http://www.urbanremade.com/catalog/about_us.php?osCsid=487505787de14d4cd2a7f8e3e98812a1

And here is the link to the Moquette Furniture Collection on the London Transport Museum site;

http://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/LTM/Furniture-collection/Living.html

Routemaster to perdition?

Foster / Aston Martin "Green" Routemaster

The competition launched in July to find a new Routemaster bus for London has found its winner. Well two of them. Warwickshire-based sports car maker Aston Martin, along with architects Foster and Partners, won the £25,000 prize jointly with Wiltshire bus maker Capoco Design. A Transport for London spokesman said the first of the greener and more accessible, hop-on hop-off, double-deckers could be in service by 2011.

If you believe the press releases from City Hall LONDON'S new Routemaster came a step closer as Mayor Boris Johnson unveiled the winning designs for the next generation of the bus. A streamlined space-capsule bus, designed by car-maker Aston Martin and architect Lord Foster, and a Fifties style vehicle by bus designer Capoco shared the top prize. They will each be awarded £25,000 although it was unclear whether their designs would have more than a glancing influence on the bus that ends up on London's streets.

Mr Johnson will set out the next steps in delivering his new bus during an awards ceremony in central London. "When I launched the competition, I asked for stylish and imaginative designs which would resonate with Londoners," he said. "We have had a phenomenal response, with ideas submitted from around the globe, and we now have, in our joint winners, two stunning designs that allow us to go forward and produce a truly iconic bus fit for 21st century London.

"I know that, like me, Londoners will be waiting eagerly to see how these ideas evolve into the final design that will appear on our roads." The winning designs will be passed on to bus manufacturers to develop into a final design. Transport for London expects to award a contract to build the first new bus for London towards the end of next year, with the first of the vehicles on the streets by 2011. The Mayor initially said the new Routemasters would cost £8 million to run with conductors but was later forced to admit the figure would be nearer £100 million.


Boris the Busman

Routemasters were phased out by former Mayor Ken Livingstone amid concerns about accessibility as well as safety questions over the "hop-on, hop-off" platforms. Mr Johnson made bringing in a new generation of the popular bus a key pledge of his election campaign. The winning design had to include an open platform to let passengers board and alight "quickly and easily", show "good use of interior space" and "accessibility", as well as including green technology and having a conductor. The judges particularly liked the rounded rear of the Foster/Aston Martin bus, designed by Todd Hutton, and its nod to the heritage of the original Routemaster by including wooden floors.




Capoco Routemaster Design

More modern aspects included solar panels built into the glass roof -although there have been concerns this could steam up in winter and make the bus top-heavy. The Capoco submission was praised for its technical excellence, in particular its light-weight structure and hybrid propulsion. It also had a separate door for wheelchairs and pushchairs. The bus would seat 66 passengers with room for 14 standing, compared with 72 seats and five standing on the old Routemaster. More than 700 entries were received for the competition.

The judges were the Mayor, his transport adviser Kulveer Ranger, Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy, TfL's head of surface transport David Brown, Clare Kavanagh and Mike Weston from London Buses and bus expert David Quainton.

Now the Celtic sage has previously cast a rather cold eye on the “New Routemaster” competition for it does rather beg the question if the “New Routemaster” is the answer what is the question?

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/10/bend-it-like-boris.html

Speaking as Boris Johnson announced the winners of his design-a-bus competition, Labour's transport spokesperson Val Shawcross said the "Routemaster" competition was not a serious way to make transport policy.


The Real Deal

"The design competition may have been fun and the winning designs are extremely impressive, but this is not a serious way to make policy and not a worthwhile use of public money. If Boris actually used London's buses or talked to those who do, he would see that London's existing fleet is modern, accessible and well-designed. I have yet to hear one convincing argument for why London needs a new double-decker bus and until Boris comes up with some Londoners will see this as little more than a vanity project. There is understandably a lot of nostalgia for the old Routemaster but nostalgia doesn't get people to work on time."

So what happens now?

Well the Mayor has sort of fulfilled his Manifesto commitment.

• There may be a new bus once somebody redesigns one

• And then builds it

• At some point in the future when the Mayor is safely out of office!

But here is a not untypical comment from the Evening Standard;

"Bendy buses are atrocious. I don't travel on them but they look so dangerous and it's like cattle class with nowhere to stand."

And that tells you great deal about the Bendy 'debate' – much of the debate has been informed by people who don't use the buses but now believe they can't sit down on them, can't stand up on them and that they might veer off the road and murder their children at the drop of a hat. So we end up with a pointless, expensive and patronising solution to a problem we don't have. As for the Routemaster debate let’s agree that the Routemaster (and the RT) were revolutionary 40 years ago with their narrow, compact design, light weight due to the use of aluminium (and a fibreglass bonnet) responsive engine and automatic gearbox. But they were a product of their time (and a massive centralised organisation which military style rebuilt them every 7 years) and the lack of access and running costs of having a conductor (who with Oyster would NOT take fares) cannot be justified today. More seriously what are the public safety implications of an open platform, who NOW designs a transport solution with a known fatal risk factor? It would be interesting to have a crystal ball and earwig how that one would play in a future court case?

And why do we believe that there is something so unique about the streets of London that it requires a special bus which by its very nature would fly in the face of procurement efficiency? Is this not a solution which would have obsolescence built in, another in a long line of British World Beaters which never beat anything?


The production model?