Figuring out TfL Bus Timetables

[antharro]

I don't find myself in this corner of the forum too often, but I'm trying to figure something out and I'm feeling particularly thick. Hoping you guys can help.

I've been looking at late night bus timetables for a number of routes and I can't figure out why the information I'm getting doesn't seem to add up. Let's look at the 482 as an example.

The last bus of the day calls at Southall Station at 0352, according to this page. It leaves Southall Broadway at 0350 and takes two minutes to reach the station. That all makes sense. But let's look further down the line. The timetable says it takes 27 minutes to travel from the station to Hounslow West Station, therefore arriving at 0419.

This is where I have a problem. Looking at the timetable page for the 482 at Hounslow West (this page), it shows the last bus at 0339. The first buses are the 0410 and 0442, but really they should be irrelevant as they're the *first* buses of the day, not the *last*. So, where did the 0352 from Southall Station go? Why isn't it showing up on the Hounslow West page as the last bus?

I'm having exactly the same problem with other times on this route. Also on other routes - I just can't make sense of the timetables.

So am I being particularly thick here? Help appreciated!

 

[peterblue]

London Bus Routes – 482 timetable

482 - Southall, Town Hall - Convent Way Estate - Hounslow West - Hatton Cross - Heathrow Terminal 4 & 5

Transport UK

bustimes.org

Londonbusroutes.net and bustimes.org are good sources to check bus times. The TfL website I find is a bit clunky.

Note this isn't gospel, as most TfL buses don't run to a set schedule but rather try to space out the service evenly. But if you're looking for first/last buses, or infrequent buses, it will generally be accurate.

According to the above, there's no bus service TO Southall at 0350, but there is a bus FROM Southall to Heathrow at that time, which calls at Southall Station en-route. It appears to arrive at Hounslow West at 0410.

 

[Leedsbusman]

I think you are assuming the off peak times apply in the middle of the night, which seems unlikely.

 

[Farningham]

I don't find myself in this corner of the forum too often, but I'm trying to figure something out and I'm feeling particularly thick. Hoping you guys can help.

I've been looking at late night bus timetables for a number of routes and I can't figure out why the information I'm getting doesn't seem to add up. Let's look at the 482 as an example.

The last bus of the day calls at Southall Station at 0352, according to this page. It leaves Southall Broadway at 0350 and takes two minutes to reach the station. That all makes sense. But let's look further down the line. The timetable says it takes 27 minutes to travel from the station to Hounslow West Station, therefore arriving at 0419.

This is where I have a problem. Looking at the timetable page for the 482 at Hounslow West (this page), it shows the last bus at 0339. The first buses are the 0410 and 0442, but really they should be irrelevant as they're the *first* buses of the day, not the *last*. So, where did the 0352 from Southall Station go? Why isn't it showing up on the Hounslow West page as the last bus?

I'm having exactly the same problem with other times on this route. Also on other routes - I just can't make sense of the timetables.

So am I being particularly thick here? Help appreciated!

It's not you, it's TfL.
The problem is the journey times on the TfL site do not relate to the individual journey, but are standardised for the whole day. There is no warning of this to the intending passenger. Thus the 482 is stated to take 27 minutes for your sample journey at 3:52 am and also 27 minutes at 8:52 am. Bustimes.org will show that your 0352 from Southall Station is actually the 0410 at Hounslow West, having taken only 18 minutes rather than 27.

 

[greenline712]

http://www.londonbusroutes.net/times/482full.pdf

This is from the Robert Munster website: londonbusroutes.net. Robert works for one of the London bus companies as a schedule compiler. His site is fully accurate, and also holds historic data. bustimes is very good, but relies on BODS updates, which sometimes aren't quite accurate enough.
I cannot recommend Robert's site enough . . . it is the timetable version of Mike Harris' busmap.co.uk site. Without these fine gentlemen we would all be much poorer.

 

[Roger1973]

http://www.londonbusroutes.net/times/482full.pdf

This is from the Robert Munster website: londonbusroutes.net. Robert works for one of the London bus companies as a schedule compiler. His site is fully accurate, and also holds historic data. bustimes is very good, but relies on BODS updates, which sometimes aren't quite accurate enough.
I cannot recommend Robert's site enough . . . it is the timetable version of Mike Harris' busmap.co.uk site. Without these fine gentlemen we would all be much poorer.

A few years ago, I was employed by a bus operator within London. We went to one or the other of those for information a lot more often than we did the TFL website, and we bought a few copies of Mike Harris' map for reference when TFL stopped doing bus maps...

 

[Deerfold]

A few years ago, I was employed by a bus operator within London. We went to one or the other of those for information a lot more often than we did the TFL website, and we bought a few copies of Mike Harris' map for reference when TFL stopped doing bus maps...

I used to work for TfL. Several departments did bulk orders for Mike's map.

 

[antharro]

Fantastic, thanks very much! Some really good information and resources there that should help me figure it out. Appreciate your replies.