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TRIVIA: Replacement Bus Services calling at stations off line of route

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MotCO

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There is currently major re-signalling work taking place in the Hither Green area. I've noticed that the Replacement Bus Service calls at:

Orpington
Petts Wood
Chislehurst
Elmstead Woods
Sundridge Park
Grove Park
Hiter Green
Lewisham

A second service calls at:

Orpington
Petts Wood
Chislehurst
Bromley North
Grove Park
Hiter Green
Lewisham

The usual train service does not call at either Bromley North or Sundridge Park, being on the Grove Park - Bromley North branch line. Are there any other examples where RRBs call at additional stations not usually served by the normal train service?

Mods - wasn't sure where to put this. Please feel free to move as appropriate.
 
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sjoh

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It's not hugely uncommon. During the Gospel Oak - Barking blockade buses were calling at East Ham between Woodgrange Park and Barking.
Another example on recent weekends has been buses calling at Streatham and then Streatham Hill which are two destinations you'll never be able to get a train between.

Usually it's to do with operational efficiency - why carry people on an arbitrary line of route when there are other sufficient interchanges along the way? Why run two services when one would suffice? Presumably in your example they are simply picking up the branch line stops on the 'mainline' bus service because they happen to be along the way. The railway can't do that, but obviously buses can.
 

Bletchleyite

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Years ago I was on a RRB put on for TPE due to a cancellation, which quite literally did all stations from Preston to Barrow. Including Bare Lane and Morecambe (presumably due to a missed Northern connection). Due to the lay of the land round there it took forever, I think I was 3 hours late in the end (so got a full DR refund).

It's also fairly normal when there's a need to bustitute the south WCML not to just put on a "line of route" bus but instead the likes of Northampton to Wellingborough, Wolverton/MKC to Bedford, Leighton/Tring to Aylesbury etc.
 

TFN

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If including the London Underground, there are too many I've personally worked on. These are what I remember:

The District Line's RRBSs on the Eastern side regularly calls at Canning Town instead of West Ham. On the Wimbledon branch, the RRBSs will call at Putney NR station.

We've also had District Line branded RRBSs call at Liverpool Street instead of Tower Hill.

The Piccadilly Line RRBS on the Uxbridge branch calls at Hangar Lane on the Central Line instead of Park Royal (which are only a 5-10 min away from each other). The Piccadilly Line Hammersmith to Heathrow (all stations) RRBS stops at West Kensington.

The Jubilee Line/Metropolitan Line RRBS calls at Stonebridge Park on the Bakerloo Line.

London Overground Richmond branch RRBSs call at Turnham Green for District and Piccadilly Lines.
 

Class 170101

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It's not hugely uncommon. During the Gospel Oak - Barking blockade buses were calling at East Ham between Woodgrange Park and Barking.

Also at Walthamstow Central instead of Walthamstow Queens Road. This route is also split now can calls at Seven Sisters.

Engineering works between Chelmsford and Shenfield will see GE RRBs run to / from Billericay instead of Shenfield as the road space at Shenfield is lacking.

Also Ingatestone to Newbury Park - definitely not a rail route.
 

Ibex

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If including the London Underground, there are too many I've personally worked on. These are what I remember:

The District Line's RRBSs on the Eastern side regularly calls at Canning Town instead of West Ham. On the Wimbledon branch, the RRBSs will call at Putney NR station.

We've also had District Line branded RRBSs call at Liverpool Street instead of Tower Hill.

The Piccadilly Line RRBS on the Uxbridge branch calls at Hangar Lane on the Central Line instead of Park Royal (which are only a 5-10 min away from each other). The Piccadilly Line Hammersmith to Heathrow (all stations) RRBS stops at West Kensington.

The Jubilee Line/Metropolitan Line RRBS calls at Stonebridge Park on the Bakerloo Line.

London Overground Richmond branch RRBSs call at Turnham Green for District and Piccadilly Lines.

Same for the Bakerloo line / London Overground buses north of Queen's Park, they usually call at North Acton and Preston Road to give connections onto the Tube rather than sending people all the way along the length of a closure when it may be quicker to run to a nearby station on an alternative line.

They haven't been doing so during Covid-19 timetables but during engineering work, Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey buses are usually extended to St Albans City. I believe it's because it's easier to turn a coach around at City than the Abbey and you have to drive half way there anyway to get to a suitable turning point so may as well continue onwards.

Greater Anglia running Ingatestone to Newbury Park (Central line) when the GEML is closed is a regular too.
 

LancasterRed

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Round here you might get the odd Lostock Hall call on Manchester services. I don't think it's happened much, but it's definitely happened in the past.

I would suspect a Bamber Bridge call may have happened too.
 

NSE

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The Oxted line buses usually run to Purley. Giving a direct ‘service’ between Purley and Oxted.
 

Horizon22

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There is currently major re-signalling work taking place in the Hither Green area. I've noticed that the Replacement Bus Service calls at:

Orpington
Petts Wood
Chislehurst
Elmstead Woods
Sundridge Park
Grove Park
Hiter Green
Lewisham

A second service calls at:

Orpington
Petts Wood
Chislehurst
Bromley North
Grove Park
Hiter Green
Lewisham

The usual train service does not call at either Bromley North or Sundridge Park, being on the Grove Park - Bromley North branch line. Are there any other examples where RRBs call at additional stations not usually served by the normal train service?

Mods - wasn't sure where to put this. Please feel free to move as appropriate.

Geographically if you were going from Chislehurst / Elmstead Woods to Grove Park area, you'd run via Bromley (or at least the Plaistow area) anyway so makes sense. The best road connection is along the A2212, there's really no other way around. Plus the shuttle is also suspended, so kills two birds with one stone!
 

London Trains

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Replacement buses from Sutton to Streatham via Mitcham Junction always call at Streatham Common to provide a link to Victoria.
 

AlbertBeale

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If including the London Underground, there are too many I've personally worked on. These are what I remember:

The District Line's RRBSs on the Eastern side regularly calls at Canning Town instead of West Ham. On the Wimbledon branch, the RRBSs will call at Putney NR station.

We've also had District Line branded RRBSs call at Liverpool Street instead of Tower Hill.

The Piccadilly Line RRBS on the Uxbridge branch calls at Hangar Lane on the Central Line instead of Park Royal (which are only a 5-10 min away from each other). The Piccadilly Line Hammersmith to Heathrow (all stations) RRBS stops at West Kensington.

The Jubilee Line/Metropolitan Line RRBS calls at Stonebridge Park on the Bakerloo Line.

London Overground Richmond branch RRBSs call at Turnham Green for District and Piccadilly Lines.

Yes - buses making links with working lines is normal during tube line closures. But Hammersmith to Heathrow via West Ken? Surely not? That's not just off route, it's going two stations precisely backwards...
 

Flange Squeal

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When SWR's Alton branch is closed, replacement buses will generally run Alton - (either Bentley village, or skip Bentley and a minibus will shuttle Bentley station to/from Farnham) - Farnham - Aldershot - Ash Vale - then Farnborough. From there people can board train services to Brookwood (the station after the Alton branch joins the mainline) and beyond. The reason for this is that Ash Vale to Farnborough is only a 2.5 mile journey vs 5.5 miles to Brookwood. Farnborough also benefits from lifts (unlike Brookwood) and can facilitate the use of much-needed double deckers, where as to go to Brookwood or Woking along the normal line of route would require more vehicles due to the additional distance and low bridges would see them having to be single deck.

Yellow is the route of the railway line.
Red is the route the buses usually take.


alton.jpg
 
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TEW

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When SWR services are replaced by buses beyond Motspur Park towards either Chessington South or Epsom the buses run from a station on the open line, rather than from Motspur Park. Motspur Park is not an appropriate place to terminate buses for interchange with rail services. If the Chessington line is closed buses will wil run from Worcester Park, if the Epsom line is closed buses will run from Tolworth.
 

TheDavibob

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Ipswich-Cambridge bustitution now runs as a matter of course to Cambridge North, so never even reaches its normal destination. Given the relative ease of accessing Cambridge North from the A14, the comparative amount of space at the station, and the frequency of trains between Cambridge and Cambridge North, I think it is beneficial for pretty much everyone.
 

py_megapixel

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Occasionally they'll run routes which don't exist at all by train - for example during the Toddbrook incident when the Buxton Line wasn't running as far as Whaley Bridge the RRBs ran from Macclesfield which isn't even on the same line,!
 

TFN

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Yes - buses making links with working lines is normal during tube line closures. But Hammersmith to Heathrow via West Ken? Surely not? That's not just off route, it's going two stations precisely backwards...

Sorry I meant Ealing Common. I have no idea what I was inhaling last night I hope I don't get a medical :lol:
 

TheSel

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Occasionally they'll run routes which don't exist at all by train - for example during the Toddbrook incident when the Buxton Line wasn't running as far as Whaley Bridge the RRBs ran from Macclesfield which isn't even on the same line,!

A similar example affected Merseyrail a few years ago, with rail replacement buses running non-stop from Southport to Ormskirk to connect with Ormskirk - Liverpool trains, as this was quicker for end-to-end journeys than the all-stops rail replacement service to Hall Road plus the connecting rail service from there. Southport - Ormskirk (via Burscough Junction / Bridge) trains were withdrawn in 1962 (I think - open to correction here).

A couple of pictures at Ormskirk Station attached - 'board' in windscreen showing 'Arriva Southport to Ormskirk only (for Trains to Liverpool)'

Rail Rep 2002 - 001.jpgRail Rep 2002 - 002.jpg
 

brad465

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When the new Rochester station was being built there were weekends in 2014 where a service would run non-stop from Bromley South to Maidstone East to connect for a replacement bus service to Rainham, where trains resumed east; there is no physical railway connection between Maidstone and Rainham directly (I often roamed on these trains while doing my A-Level revision as my final exams were coming up at the time).
 

AlbertBeale

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Sorry I meant Ealing Common. I have no idea what I was inhaling last night I hope I don't get a medical :lol:

Aha - yes, Ealing Common isn't far off the route. But why, exactly? Is it that when Hammersmith to Heathrow has buses, there's still a separated service on the Uxbridge branch, and Ealing Common is where that terminates?
 

Ianno87

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When the London end of GEML is blocked, buses to/from connections with the Central Line at Newbury Park are normal
 

Parallel

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Transport for Wales ran a replacement bus service from Chester to Newton-le-Willows, stopping at Warrington Central, in addition to Warrington Bank Quay and the usual stations, a couple of years ago.
 

TFN

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Aha - yes, Ealing Common isn't far off the route. But why, exactly? Is it that when Hammersmith to Heathrow has buses, there's still a separated service on the Uxbridge branch, and Ealing Common is where that terminates?

The buses on the way from Acton Town towards South Ealing passes outside Ealing Common as well as nearby Ealing Broadway. Hence the buses serve both stations, Ealing Broadway being useful to allow Central Line, TfL Rail and GWR connections.
 
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Surely this is similar to when trains are diverted via alsager and call at stoke on trent or via Carlisle when LNER are diverted , it’s going that way so it stops (I’m sure there’s a more technical reason the trains actually stop) you can randomly get liverpool trains or Glasgow via Preston trains at stoke on trent on a bank holiday weekend which is ideal for an impromptu day out!
 

30907

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Another longstanding one on the Southern is the Catford Loop RRB which IIRC runs from Herne Hill to Denmark Hill AND then from Beckenham Hill to (or via) Beckenham Jn. Both perfectly logical when you look at the road map.

Not sure what happens about Ravensbourne these days, but for a long time the road outside was unadopted (it is in Lewisham LB and no-one would pay for it!) which caused problems.
 

RJ

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Aha - yes, Ealing Common isn't far off the route. But why, exactly? Is it that when Hammersmith to Heathrow has buses, there's still a separated service on the Uxbridge branch, and Ealing Common is where that terminates?

I'm a regular driver of the Hammersmith to Heathrow T23 rail replacement route, albeit usually during Night Tube hours so I get to cherry pick the fastest bus from the depot. It takes me about 64 minutes to do it end to end (73 if to T5) whilst other buses can take over two hours!

The Ealing Common stop is there for continuity of connections, plus the Ealing Broadway branch is shut when that closure is on so it provides a replacement service between Ealing Common and Ealing Broadway - and yes, I know there are lots of buses including an express service which also do that!
 
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RJ

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The Stratford to Loughton replacement service calls at Roding Valley.

There are some unofficial ones.

Barnes Bridge - back in the day there was a 1bph Clapham Junction to Chiswick service that served this station. However the Clapham Junction to Twickenham via Mortlake buses would unofficially pick up passengers waiting there going towards Clapham Junction.

Streatham. On the whopper Victoria to East Croydon all stops via Streatham Common service, passengers always ask to be let off at Streatham station.
 

U-Bahnfreund

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Is it because of the general bus deregulation that this all is possible in the UK? Over here in my area in Germany there's currently a longer bus substitution and that goes past all the major innercity interchanges and just stops close to railway stations (which are not in really useful places due to topography). Otherwise it would be considered an unlawful competition to the city buses. There are sometimes to this rule exceptions in rural areas where stations might really be way off from where people live/work/shop, but in urban areas it's quite strict.
 

AlbertBeale

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I'm a regular driver of the Hammersmith to Heathrow T23 rail replacement route, albeit usually during Night Tube hours so I get to cherry pick the fastest bus from the depot. It takes me about 64 minutes to do it end to end (73 if to T5) whilst other buses can take over two hours!

The Ealing Common stop is there for continuity of connections, plus the Ealing Broadway branch is shut when that closure is on so it provides a replacement service between Ealing Common and Ealing Broadway - and yes, I know there are lots of buses including an express service which also do that!

The buses on the way from Acton Town towards South Ealing passes outside Ealing Common as well as nearby Ealing Broadway. Hence the buses serve both stations, Ealing Broadway being useful to allow Central Line, TfL Rail and GWR connections.

Thanks both - I can see that a call at Ealing Broadway makes a lot of sense in terms of aiding connections (and especially if the District connection there is down on account of the same closure!). And as for Ealing Common, if the closure affects that too (as well as the airport branch) then of course it's easy for the airport route to include it. In terms of passing Ealing Common on the way from Acton Town to South Ealing, that hadn't occurred to me - but I'm probably misjudging the route the bus is likely to take; if it gets to AT from Hammersmith via the A4 or the A315 [I guess they don't call at Turnham Green?], and then Gunnersbury Ave, it'll get to Acton Town facing the wrong way to go straight down Pope's Lane from AT to S Ealing.
 

61653 HTAFC

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In my student days there was a period of bustitution at the northern end of the Ormskirk branch of Merseyrail, with trains only running south from Town Green. RRB drivers weren't supposed to drop off outside the gates of Edge Hill College (as it was known then) but if there were more than a handful of students on board they would do- anything for a quiet life I guess!

(Technically not a station off-route, but there is a station by the same name. ;) )
 
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