A new bus in London!
I've got a new local bus and I'm excited!
Over the next month as part of Catch the Bus Month 2024, I’m going to be trying out 24 new-to-me bus routes – but the first one I did is new to everyone having completed it’s first running day in London today!
The 310 is a trial route, running from Stamford Hill to Golders Green. The route was put into effect after 20 years of lobbying from the Charedi Jewish community, who have substantial populations in the two area and currently have no direct bus route. As a resident of Stamford Hill myself, I know the route one would have to take in Golders Green well – you’d need to take the 254 or 253 to Finsbury Park, walk about 8 minutes under a bridge and around to the back of the station, and then get the 210. You used to be able to walk through the station, but barriers were put in about 7 years ago – and the area under that bridge is dark and overcrowded. If it’s raining, it wouldn’t be a pleasant journey – and to travel between the two areas by tube or train would be convoluted and more expensive, not to mention the fact that in a community with so many young families, it would be pretty inaccessible.
Presumably the problem leading up to this point was the low railway bridge at Finsbury Park. As all the aforementioned buses are double-decker, they wouldn’t be able to make it under the bridge. Therefore, this new single-decker bus is a good solution.
I really love that this bus is being trialed, because it’s a great example of new transport put in to meet a community need. There are lots of examples of this in other ways in Stamford Hill (for example, pedestrian crossings operate without needing to push a button on Saturdays as this wouldn’t be allowed on the Sabbath in the Charedi community), but this bus route is one of the more major examples I’ve seen. While I saw online posts about the route filled with anti-Semitic comments (yes, random letters and numbers Twitter account, TfL are definitely going to run buses that are segregated by religion…), this is exactly what we need more of! Service for certain communities to get to festivals, or childcare, or, as I ranted on about last week, festivals and events!
From a personal standpoint, I’m also excited about this bus because it will provide some relief on an already congested route. There are many Jewish schools, and one large Catholic school, on the road the bus starts on, but as most of them are private schools they aren’t factored into council bus considerations. Therefore, from about 8am to 9am and 3pm to 4pm on a school day, it’s basically impossible to get on a bus as kids take the bus two or three stops home. In the other direction, there are many people who get the tube to Manor House as it’s a zone 2/3 border station, and then hop on the bus from there, meaning eastbound buses get extremely congested at rush hour. I’ve missed doctors appointments and once took an hour to get to the gym because of this congestion, and while a single-decker bus that runs every 20 minutes won’t make a huge difference, it should help a little bit.
Actually riding the bus itself, as I did this afternoon, was an interesting experience. I considered walking to the first stop, but it was hot and I was worried I’d miss it, so I just got on at the stop closest to my house, and found there were already 3 bus enthusiasts onboard (this was at about 4pm, so presumably there were a lot more in the morning).
This is, I believe, the first time I’ve ridden on a new bus route in London on a new day, and it’s a strange experience. Particularly on this route, as in the nearly decade I’ve lived in the area there have been no single-decker buses around here on the main roads, so taking one of them down Seven Sisters Road felt very odd, and the driver clearly wasn’t used to the experience.
I suspected it would go into the bus area at Finsbury Park station, but for some reason it looped around it – an ill-advised plan as it then had to make a very tight corner which included driving over the pavement and coming very near to a traffic light pole. I can’t imagine why you’d want a bus to miss a major bus station, but maybe there wasn’t any space for it?
It then goes under the low bridge at Finsbury Park (it was quite exciting as I’ve never ridden a bus there before), and then continue to Golders Green on almost the exact route of the 210 (what it did at Archway felt slightly different, but I know they changed the 210 route a few years ago when the roads in the area were changed and I can’t remember if it also goes that way now). The 210 is my favourite route because of the weird back roads it takes and then its journey through Highgate and the back of Hampstead Heath, so that part was very enjoyable, though not as enjoyable as the double-deck 210.
Several people who were not just bus enthusiasts got on the bus along the route, a few of them questioning the driver about its existence but most of them just getting on without question, maybe having read the timetable at the bus stop or just thinking if it said it was going to Golders Green it was probably going to the stops that they wanted.
It was an unusual experience though, as the bus passed several people who looked on confused, as there is almost nowhere on the route where people would expect to see a single-decker bus. I also suspect many of the people there avoided getting on the bus, thinking it was just a bus on diversion or just knowing “I take the 254” or “I take the 210”, not realising it would also take them to their destination. Or, maybe, they’re just people like me, who will always go for a double-decker if it’s an option.
It made me think, as I often do, about messaging around buses and public transport more generally. How do transport agencies and companies get the message out about new routes? There was a large sign at Golders Green station, but unless you’re getting on there, that’s not much use. The timetables and signs were updated at the stops, but if you go to a bus stop every day, why would you notice that? I often felt like the driver should be pulling over and announcing what the bus was to every person waiting to see if it would be a useful service for them to get on, but that feels quite intrusive and would seriously slow down the service. I don’t have a good answer other than, what inevitable happens, that people see other people getting on the bus, look for information or ask one another, and then happily get on the bus from there.
TfL is doing a consolation on the 310 route, so if you also live on or near it, I would strongly suggest contributing. This is a route designed to connect one community, but like so many similar projects, helps a lot of other people as well – even if it just lets me get directly to my favourite restaurants north of Finsbury Park. The more people that engage with discussing buses, the better! And well, I guess if I’m honest, the more buses that exist, the better!
I’ll be riding lots more buses (outside of London mostly, because I’ve done all the ones in it) throughout the month, and writing about them here. I’m taking a bit of a break from All On This Together, as not only am I trying to ride 24 bus routes this month, I’ve also just started one new part-time job and am about to start another, have the work ramping up for my counselling course, and am generally just a little bit swamped! If you haven’t listened yet though, this is the perfect time to catch up!
A few years ago, a new bus service started out East, near Barking. I'm told that some of the buses were specially painted, with their main stops actually painted on the bus. They could even put a route map on the side of the bus.