@@CoversedInThat ha ha! That's hilarious! I was for 4 years in the North East of England. But, then again, this is a joke, you know, a story with a humourous climax.
Bayhano, ha ha! hello sir .. we were a LITTLE freaked out at first because we were hiding down the back of the X26 where we thought no one would see us!! nicey done though, lovely to meet you!! :-D
Yes! Bus video! My now fiancé proposed to me on the day I made us ride the RV1 before it got decommissioned. We rode the RV1 then he hired an old routemaster for just us. The proposal was amazing going over Tower Bridge, but equally amazing was getting to sit in the driver’s seat of the routemaster! More bus videos please, Geoff!
Amazing video! That "special" bus on the 353 at the beginning was a Scania Omnicity, which I believe is one of the last two in Go-ahead London's fleet, so it technically is special as they are amazing buses and a favourite of many bus enthusiasts
In Milton Keynes, there is a "regular" bus service that runs every Thursdays on the 5 week of the month - I believe this will be the lest used bus service in the UK
I have to agree with michaelXXLF. If have to do Kings Cross to Liverpool Street, or Waterloo to Euston, I take the bus. Much better than being stuck in a noisy, squealing tube train in a dark tunnel. Plus I'd hate to get stranded in tube train in a tunnel should there be a major problem.
Favourite seat? The driver's seat of course. I used to drive omnicitys around Brighton a few years back. A fairly roomy cab with room for your bags and comfortable driving position. Quite quick too. But they were brand new at the time.
If you're going to count actual distance travelled, you'd really have to disallow the Heathrow transfer at the end - because otherwise, what's to stop you going in circles around Heathrow for the rest of the day...
@@Gasmanic That would defeat the purpose though. It's longest distance travelled for £1.50, not for free. There'd also be no reason for a real commuter to travel around Heathrow like that. I agree though, that number 7 shouldn't count.
The bus you had on the 353 was a Scania Omnicity. These were withdrawn from service by Go-Ahead, but because of the Orpington garage fire, which the 353 is run out of, they brought these old buses back. These are now withdrawn as of September, and are probably in use elsewhere in the country.
The least used bus stop in London could count on the 465 near Dorking, the stops along the old London road in Mickleham are always quite quiet and least used! I do know it’s in Surrey, but it is a London bus
Geoff releases a video and I immediately watch it... Despite it being about buses some 500 miles south of where I live, I still can't stop myself from immediately watching it!
The voice of the platform train announcer should be replaced with alternating Hugo/Geoff, like at 1:08 - Geoff: Platform 4 for the.. Hugo: Thameslink Geoff: ..service to.. Hugo: Gatwick Airport.
The 353 has an interesting history, as it wasn't originally a London Transport service! It was started by a minibus firm called North Down Travel back in the seventies, the firm's owner realising that there wasn't a link from Orpington-Croydon, so applied to LT for permission to start one. The firm ultimately became Tilingbourne before passing to Metrobus who would ultimately sell out to Go Ahead. It wasn't until recent years that the 353 became a fully fledged TfL service!
You should do the shortest distance between bus stops. I nominate Catford Bus Garage (BN) to Bellingham Road (BQ) as it is about 80 metres, yet both are quite frequently used.
I live not too far from there. The journey is well under 10 secs. I'd say that Bellingham Road gets way more passengers than Catford Bus Garage though because it's by Bellingham station.
Chessington School (CCC) to Chessington South Station is about ten bus lengths - and because they travel free I've seen kids get on at one and off at the other.
When i was in england in the 60's, when i rode a "double decker" i enjoyed sitting in the very front, to see the sights and so i wouldn't miss my stop.
The X26 is such an amazing route! I love it so much because I have to go between North Cheam and Kingston everyday, and not only does it skip stops, but it has usb charging! (Apart from the fully electric busses, I don’t know of any other London tfl routes that have this luxury, especially where I live) The one downside to the X26 is that it is every half hour, London General please could you up the frequency?
On the least used bus stops here are a couple of contenders.... Both stops because of the fact they are within close proximity of the next stop which is more strategically placed... First is Riverdale Road on the 269 and 132 towards Bexleyheath and secondly Europa Trading Estate on the 99 towards Woolwich which is like two bus lengths away from the better positioned stop for the industrial estate at Birch Walk!
When I was a student in Birmingham I also had a student rail card. One year BR (as was) did a special offer a ticket that was upto £25 was £5 and anything over £25 was £10. A group of us decided to see how far we could get for a £5. We rocked up to Birmingham NS and we decided to goto Windermere. Remarkable value and a good time.
Least used bus stop pretty certain is mortlake station, as only the 969 stops at that given stop, however there are buses in the local vicinity, but bus stop wise, that has to be the least used
No way!!!! Route 108 bus stop East India Dock Road is very busy especially at the moment as the 108 is on diversion. It is definitely not the least used bus stop. I believe a contender would probably be Aintree Cresent on the 169 heading to Clayhall.
I've often used that 108 bus stop, it serves Tower Hamlets Town Hall and takes commuters under the river. I'd say Warwick Terrace Stop C on the 53 is pretty well redundant, it's half way across the common and there's a stop just before Warwick Terrace and one just after the bus turns into Plumstead Common Road. My favourite seat is the one just behind the CCTV monitor.
For the most part, I would agree. It depends on the length of the ride. If it's 30 + mins.. hell yeah. I can spread out. But if it's less than 10, I'll stay on ground level.
On Lothian in Edinburgh that's where theres no room! However the seats on the opposite side have lots! BUT that's only on the B7s that are older than 2010 else you have to be a hobbit to have legroom. 🤪
Excellent video as always Geoff. I've been doing 10p Northern tickets recently. Think I will have travelled just under 200 miles for 90p by the time I return tomorrow!
I work at East Croydon Station and would have been leaving (and possibly on the New Addington bound tram) just as you arrived, so I'm pretty sure we crossed paths at some point. It's always good to see familiar places in your videos Geoff!
Don't like the seat behind the staircase, no legroom! Prefer the upstairs 3rd row (usually) on the left as long as there are no window frames in the way of my left elbow...
Yeah I've seen quite a few people there when I've used the 108. For the least used bus stop I would have thought the Addington Pumping Station bus stop (I think it's the bus stop before the Addington Village interchange, at least on the 314) doesn't see many people...
0:35 I guessed the place before the notation 1 second later, because 5 years ago a certain blogger wrote about the memorial on the screen being excessively passed by. 10:03 The funniest thing is that the best runners can actually cover the same distance on foot in less time. If there's a London Marathon covering much of the X26 route I would think about it seriously.
Geoff, further to your 'Secrets of the (tube) Line' series, how about doing some films of 'Secrets of the xx Route' and feature selected bus routes? Route 140 might be a good starting point as I believe in its heyday it was London's longest route, running all the way from Heathrow Airport to Mill Hill, although its present format has been somewhat truncated. Route 37 which gave rise to the bingo call '3 and 7, a bus to Peckham' might be another good route to cover - it still runs to Peckham, but again the route has been somewhat shortened in recent years.
my research has finally paid off in finding this bus omg there has been no other place that the x26 has ever shown up but it goes right to where i'm staying this is wonderful
Gotta say this video saved my bacon a little bit 😂 I didn’t know that the 7 buses were part of the Heathrow free travel area, that fact saved me a bit of time just now!
I remember in late 2019 I made a joke about the best way to get from Orpington to Bromley, which would involve the 353 bus to Hayes, 119 bus to Croydon, X26 bus to Heathrow, plane to Biggin Hill, and 320 to Bromley South. Love to see bus routes on the channel that i use every day!
I once used a travel planner on my PC, to see if I could go between Kings Cross and St Pancras via Belfast. It took me all round and through Belfast, then back to Kings Cross and told me to walk from there to St Pancras!
Revised challenge for Geoff and Hugo: do the same journey but buses only (no tram) - should be doable if you take the 466 from Addington Village interchange to East Croydon instead of tram.
In greater Gothenburg, where I live my favourite seat is one of the two in the front row of our doubledeckers as the two on the left side have a "stoppinglight" right above them and the risk of banging your head into it is very high.
I'm visiting London and did the x26 route to go in the longest bus route then on the 465 Kingston to Dorking for the furthest (I hope) bus stop from London. and I thought I might have done the longest row in the hopper date when I got the 367 from Perth road to West Croydon then x26 to Heathrow. oops. but at least good to know I was close without intending to!
Excellent video. I used to take X26 from Heathrow to Bromley before they started terminating it at Croydon; for £1:00 - I think. Keep up the good work Geoff.
To add to Hugo's list of interesting bus journeys should try route 465 between Kingston and Dorking. One of tfl's most countrified London bus journeys takes you deep into the Surrey Hills to the market town of Dorking. It could have a claim as being the furthest out a London bus goes outside London and maybe the furthest London bus stop sign outside London. If it fails on those then certainly the most scenic London bus journey when it passes Box Hill
When I lived at Morden in the 1950s, my mother and I would catch the 'only Summer Sundays' 80A which went from Red Bus Morden to Green Bus Walton on the Hill and later Lower Kingswood. Not quite as South as Dorking, but interesting on a wartime 'D' Class Daimler CWA6 bus, although the wooden slatted seats needed a cushion for your bum really!
Wouldn't do me any good since I've never been a bus person anyway, always preferred rail over road and I'm sure my great-grandfather (who was a railway ganger) would say the same thing. To make things clear incase anyone takes this the wrong way. Just because I'm not a bus person, doesn't mean I've got anything against road transport.
I think I've used that bus stop on the 108 route, I had a zipcar which I needed to drop off in the zip zone and the 108 took me through north Greenwich which I needed.
I think the bus stop Hugo is referring to is the Blackwall Tunnel northern approach on the A102, East India Dock Road Stop M, which is on the 108 bus line. He's right, it's fairly bleak.
arthwys Can’t after. It’s a very busy bus stop in the morning peak. And I’ve even seen over 20 people waiting there on a Sunday quite recently. It’s quite busy due to the diverted 108.
The 10 minute grace has saved me before - got a bus from Heathrow Central to the Travelodge, checked in & showered, then tapped in on the bus back to Heathrow Central about 65 minutes later :-)
It looks like if there are issues on the roads or delays on the trains or both then you may struggle! I think it would be less stressful to just expect to pay a little more.
of course you can and depending on the time of the day it's a good idea. For example, if you take the x26 from heathrow to Croydon at 8 pm it would take you the same time (maybe 20 mins longer) than going to Feltham, then Clapham junction then east Croydon. however, during peak hours the whole trip takes over 2 hours so.. definitely not worth it.
Yes Geoff. I'm a fan of the seat behind the stairs. I used to like the X26 when it was run by Epsom Buses-Quality Line using Mercedes Citaros. I liked the single seat behind the door. No one could sit next to you and there was no seat behind either. So little chance of hearing the annoying 'tiss, tiss, tiss' noise from another passenger's headphones To me it was the 1st class seat.
R8 route is underappreciated - show it some love, Geoff! Edit 0: oh and R3, R10 and 464, while you're at it - nbd ;-) Edit 1: worst side of bus upstairs is right hand side because of forced air vents. Edit 2: that stop on 108 is one of my regulars \m/
@@jude1293 8 is indeed very handy - to clarify, there's a whole bunch of routes in the Orpington area prefixed with the letter R, standing for Roundabout. Used to be a company of that name operating the London buses out there but IIRC the name actually predates the company \m/
I could hazard a guess at the least used bus, but the least frequent bus in regular daytime service in London? Possibly the 375 (Romford to Passingford Bridge via Havering-atte-Bower). Every 1.5 hours during the day, Monday to Saturday. The London Loop walk section 20 ends at Havering-atte-Bower and in its guide pre-warns you about the lack of regular buses to get back.
We were shocked by the rail fare from Kings cross to Windsor for a day trip. £37.40 for 2 adults. It was a lovely ride though and I really enjoyed Windsor village. A perfect English sunny day. Thank you.
I used the bus stop on the Blackwall Tunnel north entrance just this weekend. Although that's mostly because the 108 is on diversion north of that point! It's pretty horrible but there is a nice plaque there from when the first tunnel opened. The least used bus stop? If we only count bus stops inside the GLA boundary, I'd hazard a guess that it's stop ID 74335 in North Ockendon. It's served by a 15 minute bus service (the 370), but appears to have a catchment area of about 10 cottages.
A variant - the longest journey by buses: one possibility 142 Watford Junction-Brent Cross 113 Brent Cross-Oxford Circus (various) Oxford Circus-Holborn 188 Holborn-North Greenwich 132 or 422 North Greenwich-Bexleheath 96 Bexleyheath-Bluewater Or 161/472 North Greenwich-Woolwich Arsenal, to pick up the 96
X140??? When does that start? My ex lived in Northolt, An X140 would have been so so handy. I used to do 140 to Heathrow, X26 to Kingston then 418 home. A bit of a marathon. One thing I did notice in Northolt was that a lot of 90s went to the little village of Not In Service. Always a joy to watch one sail past as you waited at the stop for ages.
The longest on the buses for one fare that I can work out for me in New York (which has to include a “short” running transfer) is probably one of the few between separate operators. One bus, the Q60, from 2nd Ave and 59th Street to Jamaica Ave. walk a few blocks (little under a mile)to the 168th street Bus Terminal and get the second, the n22 to Hicksville. Total distance is about the same, 27 miles and would take roughly 3 hours and 20 minutes.
If u don't bother taking the tram, u can travel about 29 miles, from Hayes Kent to Croydon on the 119 bus, then the X26 to Heathrow. Ur bound to make it a hopper as the 119 is expected to take around half an hour
Omnidekkas are the older model of the Omnicity. They used to be allocated to the 353 as well as other routes from MB until they were withdrawn last year.
That bus on the 353 was a Scania N230UD OmniCity. It certainly is an unusual bus since it still has the Metrobus branding, after the Go Ahead London takeover in 2015!
The 'MAPS' T-Shirt is available here, btw: stores.clothes2order.com/dztzstore/dztz-customs/maps/
Next vid? metro.co.uk/2016/09/12/every-advert-in-a-london-underground-station-has-been-replaced-with-cat-photos-6123655/
yay
Geoff Marshall I did a double take when I saw it, it looks just like my spam shirt in a mirror.
You're #50 on trending congratulations!!! 😁
How do you get free train transfer?
I like the seat at the front on the right of a single decker. But then again, I am the bus driver!
Ryan Barry 😂 😂
Prefer the left side
I bet ur not a bus driver
@@CoversedInThat ha ha! That's hilarious!
I was for 4 years in the North East of England. But, then again, this is a joke, you know, a story with a humourous climax.
Yea and ok
I was the guy who talked to you on the X26 at Kingston. Honestly, was so great to meet you both. Really made my day! Hope you weren't too freaked out.
Bayhano, ha ha! hello sir .. we were a LITTLE freaked out at first because we were hiding down the back of the X26 where we thought no one would see us!! nicey done though, lovely to meet you!! :-D
@@geofftech2 Lol, I do apologise. I hope your future bus journeys will be a little less eventful. 😉
@@bayhanoriley9236 was it not in the video? 🥲
@@entropy1484 I wasn't brave enough to appear on camera.
@@bayhanoriley9236 oh okay
The nerdness level is off the chart! 😂👍
@Red Pilled Fox Nothing wrong with being a bus enthusiast
Indeed - it's OVER 9000!!
I love nerdiness
Nice buses!
Hugo is one of the biggest nerds I’ve ever seen - he’s wonderful!
He's an absolute hero
Love him.
Top man!!
I knew he’d rather hop than hug 😀💜
I once booked a megabus Inverness to Sheffield for £1.50.
I've gone Boston to Vermont for $1 on Megabus 🤔
That must have been fun
What, in 1982?
@@xeroxquantum 2007 actually. I think it was around the time when the megabus brand was first launched. £1 plus 50p booking fee!
We did Liverpool to Amsterdam and back for £3 in 2016. 😜
3:03 yes there are it's a Scania omnicity double decker (it's not an omnidekka that's different, look it up)
Scanias ftw
Specifically N230UD but that means nothing to no one who isn’t an enthusiast... lol
@@omegamezle yes bruv
hmmm roblox bus community
Scanias are really easy to spot
Yes! Bus video! My now fiancé proposed to me on the day I made us ride the RV1 before it got decommissioned. We rode the RV1 then he hired an old routemaster for just us. The proposal was amazing going over Tower Bridge, but equally amazing was getting to sit in the driver’s seat of the routemaster! More bus videos please, Geoff!
Amazing video! That "special" bus on the 353 at the beginning was a Scania Omnicity, which I believe is one of the last two in Go-ahead London's fleet, so it technically is special as they are amazing buses and a favourite of many bus enthusiasts
There is quite a lot of them in the London united rapt group fleet, you can mainly get them on the 71 to chessington.
@@yamahabibi You mean RATP Dev Transit?
They used to operate in my area which is Hammersmith on bus towards Heathrow & Hayes it was awesome
I get the 353 every day to school
These are terrible buses and I'm happy they're getting rid of them soon.
Definitely more videos with Hugo please. Works well and love the bus knowledge - feel like there's much more to share there.
I had no idea that you got trams as well as busses for £1.50. So much cheaper than Manchester
Love the trams in Manchester. Still annoys me that it's card payments now. I always prefer cash payments.
Are the trams entirely card now? I moved out of Manchester just over a year ago and I could still use cash.
Aidan6496 You can still use notes & coins - it’s a long time since I’ve used cash, though - these days I either use contactless or my phone app.
Costs £4.40 to go for a single journey from Piccadilly to Shaw and Crompton when I visit my daughter. A lot compared to London Trams.
More expensive because of less government subsidies.
In Milton Keynes, there is a "regular" bus service that runs every Thursdays on the 5 week of the month - I believe this will be the lest used bus service in the UK
What one
As much as I love trains and trams, the top of a bus is the best way to get around London! That is, unless you are in a hurry.
I have to agree with michaelXXLF.
If have to do Kings Cross to Liverpool Street, or Waterloo to Euston, I take the bus. Much better than being stuck in a noisy, squealing tube train in a dark tunnel. Plus I'd hate to get stranded in tube train in a tunnel should there be a major problem.
michaelXXLF also on a riverbus or cable car if it isn’t so expensive and localised within a specific area
Why Why I can well imagine that.
Favourite seat? The driver's seat of course. I used to drive omnicitys around Brighton a few years back. A fairly roomy cab with room for your bags and comfortable driving position. Quite quick too. But they were brand new at the time.
Looks like you've actually done more than 26.2 miles. You measured as the crow flies. If you measured the actual road route, will be a lot more.
that's effort to calculate though
Yeah, the X26 is 23.75 miles long in itself.
If you're going to count actual distance travelled, you'd really have to disallow the Heathrow transfer at the end - because otherwise, what's to stop you going in circles around Heathrow for the rest of the day...
@@Gasmanic in theory, you could just get the x26 one way, after an hour, switch in the other direction. That'll be a sure fire 40miles i reckon.
@@Gasmanic That would defeat the purpose though. It's longest distance travelled for £1.50, not for free. There'd also be no reason for a real commuter to travel around Heathrow like that. I agree though, that number 7 shouldn't count.
The bus you had on the 353 was a Scania Omnicity. These were withdrawn from service by Go-Ahead, but because of the Orpington garage fire, which the 353 is run out of, they brought these old buses back. These are now withdrawn as of September, and are probably in use elsewhere in the country.
some have ended up at Connexions in Tockwith near York :)
there’s literally one in circulation on the 65, very rare to find it
Stagecoach East Scotland have a job lot of ex Stagecoach London and Ex GoAhead Omnicity deckers. They’re not for for the routes they’re used on😂
@@alexaghioso981different company I think as I have never seen any go ahead London scania omnicities only stagecoach London ones
The least used bus stop in London could count on the 465 near Dorking, the stops along the old London road in Mickleham are always quite quiet and least used! I do know it’s in Surrey, but it is a London bus
Yes, Juniper Hall would definitely be a contender (as well as North Downs Way)
Geoff releases a video and I immediately watch it...
Despite it being about buses some 500 miles south of where I live, I still can't stop myself from immediately watching it!
Me too!
Nearly 5,000 miles to my East :D
10,000 miles from where I live. Geoff is my source for reminiscing about when I used to live in London.
Where you stay ,Scotland?
Me too
That is some serious budgeting! I love it 😀
Pure geek, very nerdy but very practical and very funny. Great stuff guys.
The voice of the platform train announcer should be replaced with alternating Hugo/Geoff, like at 1:08 -
Geoff: Platform 4 for the..
Hugo: Thameslink
Geoff: ..service to..
Hugo: Gatwick Airport.
The 353 has an interesting history, as it wasn't originally a London Transport service! It was started by a minibus firm called North Down Travel back in the seventies, the firm's owner realising that there wasn't a link from Orpington-Croydon, so applied to LT for permission to start one. The firm ultimately became Tilingbourne before passing to Metrobus who would ultimately sell out to Go Ahead. It wasn't until recent years that the 353 became a fully fledged TfL service!
You should do the shortest distance between bus stops.
I nominate Catford Bus Garage (BN) to Bellingham Road (BQ) as it is about 80 metres, yet both are quite frequently used.
That's probably one of the shorter distances, I would say. I'm sure I've seen some shorter ones but can't remember where...
I live not too far from there. The journey is well under 10 secs. I'd say that Bellingham Road gets way more passengers than Catford Bus Garage though because it's by Bellingham station.
Chessington School (CCC) to Chessington South Station is about ten bus lengths - and because they travel free I've seen kids get on at one and off at the other.
When i was in england in the 60's, when i rode a "double decker" i enjoyed sitting in the very front, to see the sights and so i wouldn't miss my stop.
Yh i always sit at the left in normal buses because I don't wanna miss my stop especially if it's a new area
Hugo seems like such a nice guy
Just downloaded the Oyster app, didn't even know they had one thanks Geoff
The X26 is such an amazing route! I love it so much because I have to go between North Cheam and Kingston everyday, and not only does it skip stops, but it has usb charging! (Apart from the fully electric busses, I don’t know of any other London tfl routes that have this luxury, especially where I live) The one downside to the X26 is that it is every half hour, London General please could you up the frequency?
I hope you are enjoying the 15 minute frequency now, random internet user
The guy about 3:20 in realising he's in shot and moving out of the way is my new jam.
@@jayohcee379 just a dude going about his day who doesn't want to be in some kind of vlog 🙃
On the least used bus stops here are a couple of contenders.... Both stops because of the fact they are within close proximity of the next stop which is more strategically placed... First is Riverdale Road on the 269 and 132 towards Bexleyheath and secondly Europa Trading Estate on the 99 towards Woolwich which is like two bus lengths away from the better positioned stop for the industrial estate at Birch Walk!
That was great. Thanks Geoff and Hugo. Trams are awesome
3:24 when your on the way back from a robbery and don’t want to be filmed
The reaction at 5:04 is similar. It's probably a data protection nightmare to film such kind of videos.
tbh I would react the same way
Ben Stöver probably but I think he gets tfl permission to film (they love him i think)
ive always said that anyone who dosent want to appear in a photo or video should just stay indoors and dont bother coming out
DANIEL WOODHOUSE well people don't wanna stay their whole lives at home u know
When I was a student in Birmingham I also had a student rail card. One year BR (as was) did a special offer a ticket that was upto £25 was £5 and anything over £25 was £10. A group of us decided to see how far we could get for a £5. We rocked up to Birmingham NS and we decided to goto Windermere. Remarkable value and a good time.
What loveable nerds. :) I happened across this video due to the algorithm. I'm going to look up some more! It was a good watch!
Least used bus stop pretty certain is mortlake station, as only the 969 stops at that given stop, however there are buses in the local vicinity, but bus stop wise, that has to be the least used
No way!!!! Route 108 bus stop East India Dock Road is very busy especially at the moment as the 108 is on diversion. It is definitely not the least used bus stop. I believe a contender would probably be Aintree Cresent on the 169 heading to Clayhall.
I've often used that 108 bus stop, it serves Tower Hamlets Town Hall and takes commuters under the river. I'd say Warwick Terrace Stop C on the 53 is pretty well redundant, it's half way across the common and there's a stop just before Warwick Terrace and one just after the bus turns into Plumstead Common Road.
My favourite seat is the one just behind the CCTV monitor.
I'm with Geoff. Seat behind the stairs is best for the extra leg room
Depends on the bus model though, I sometimes get a 54 and some busses on that route have about 4ft infront at the front right, its ridiculous.
Depends on the bus, on the volvo yes, on the Alexander Dennis, any on the right side middle have loads of leg room,
For the most part, I would agree. It depends on the length of the ride. If it's 30 + mins.. hell yeah. I can spread out. But if it's less than 10, I'll stay on ground level.
On Lothian in Edinburgh that's where theres no room! However the seats on the opposite side have lots! BUT that's only on the B7s that are older than 2010 else you have to be a hobbit to have legroom. 🤪
Arthur Embleton and you can open the windows on a winters morning
How about trying a round outer London by bus ie a circular route. See how far you can get
Excellent video as always Geoff. I've been doing 10p Northern tickets recently. Think I will have travelled just under 200 miles for 90p by the time I return tomorrow!
How?
@@jude1293 on the Northern Rail app there was a promotion around 3-4 weeks ago. There may be another soon
I work at East Croydon Station and would have been leaving (and possibly on the New Addington bound tram) just as you arrived, so I'm pretty sure we crossed paths at some point. It's always good to see familiar places in your videos Geoff!
I like to sit at the back of the bus, but that annoys the passengers when I’m meant to be driving.
Yeah that makes sense lol
I am grateful to you.I wanted this type of video from core of my heart.🙏🙏🙏👍👍
Don't like the seat behind the staircase, no legroom! Prefer the upstairs 3rd row (usually) on the left as long as there are no window frames in the way of my left elbow...
i got for the 3rd row too
Another video that on paper shouldn’t work but Geoff makes it work so well. Brilliant
I do see a fair few people at the blackwall tunnel, you'd be surprised!
Yeah I've seen quite a few people there when I've used the 108. For the least used bus stop I would have thought the Addington Pumping Station bus stop (I think it's the bus stop before the Addington Village interchange, at least on the 314) doesn't see many people...
@@fetchstixRHD Technically that was the answer to what the worst bus stop in London was
We need more Hugo! Fun fun fun...lol. Great vlog - clever challenge. Loved it!
0:35 I guessed the place before the notation 1 second later, because 5 years ago a certain blogger wrote about the memorial on the screen being excessively passed by.
10:03 The funniest thing is that the best runners can actually cover the same distance on foot in less time. If there's a London Marathon covering much of the X26 route I would think about it seriously.
In my hometown Wuhan, China, you could travel over 50 km (which takes over 2 hours) and only pay 2 RMB bus ticket, which is about 25p. Striking.
Please do a least used bus stops series!
This guy makes me go to London more his knowledge is immense
Geoff, further to your 'Secrets of the (tube) Line' series, how about doing some films of 'Secrets of the xx Route' and feature selected bus routes? Route 140 might be a good starting point as I believe in its heyday it was London's longest route, running all the way from Heathrow Airport to Mill Hill, although its present format has been somewhat truncated. Route 37 which gave rise to the bingo call '3 and 7, a bus to Peckham' might be another good route to cover - it still runs to Peckham, but again the route has been somewhat shortened in recent years.
So it's a mix of Secrets of the Underground and Geoff and Jay go up the A1? Hell yes
I love London.
my research has finally paid off in finding this bus omg there has been no other place that the x26 has ever shown up but it goes right to where i'm staying this is wonderful
I just want to point out that people can actually run this distance faster than it took you on the bus :D
Gotta say this video saved my bacon a little bit 😂 I didn’t know that the 7 buses were part of the Heathrow free travel area, that fact saved me a bit of time just now!
I remember in late 2019 I made a joke about the best way to get from Orpington to Bromley, which would involve the 353 bus to Hayes, 119 bus to Croydon, X26 bus to Heathrow, plane to Biggin Hill, and 320 to Bromley South.
Love to see bus routes on the channel that i use every day!
Love how the 119 literally goes to bromley north in the other direction 💀
I once used a travel planner on my PC, to see if I could go between Kings Cross and St Pancras via Belfast. It took me all round and through Belfast, then back to Kings Cross and told me to walk from there to St Pancras!
Revised challenge for Geoff and Hugo: do the same journey but buses only (no tram) - should be doable if you take the 466 from Addington Village interchange to East Croydon instead of tram.
Why don't you do this more often it's amazing
Flaming Herrix Yeah, but leave Hugo at home next time please 😒
@@rajjy1976 never leave Hugo behind
@@rajjy1976 what's wrong with big Hugo?
@@TheKLM98 is that big Hugo as in big Hugo energy?
@@rajjy1976 my parents?
I love watching ur videos. Keep up the good work
When you feel like you're not a public transport nerd but you've watched a lot of Geoff Marshall videos during the holidays.
I like the seat behind the stairs. it feels spacious and comfortable.
The University of Westminster bus stop (in Harrow) has got to be a contender for least used.
In greater Gothenburg, where I live my favourite seat is one of the two in the front row of our doubledeckers as the two on the left side have a "stoppinglight" right above them and the risk of banging your head into it is very high.
I'm visiting London and did the x26 route to go in the longest bus route then on the 465 Kingston to Dorking for the furthest (I hope) bus stop from London. and I thought I might have done the longest row in the hopper date when I got the 367 from Perth road to West Croydon then x26 to Heathrow. oops. but at least good to know I was close without intending to!
Excellent video. I used to take X26 from Heathrow to Bromley before they started terminating it at Croydon; for £1:00 - I think. Keep up the good work Geoff.
Weekday: 0535 from Harrow Weald (arrives at Heathrow 0636) and wait for the X26 at 0642?
that works out at about 20 miles. less than the 26 miles that we did.
Geoff Marshall, the 140 end to end is 13 miles long and the X26 is 24 miles long end to end...
@@BusesInLondon Yes, I agree, but Geoff's rule is as the crow flies, so we have to stick by that! Yours is a different, but equally valid, challenge.
To add to Hugo's list of interesting bus journeys should try route 465 between Kingston and Dorking. One of tfl's most countrified London bus journeys takes you deep into the Surrey Hills to the market town of Dorking. It could have a claim as being the furthest out a London bus goes outside London and maybe the furthest London bus stop sign outside London. If it fails on those then certainly the most scenic London bus journey when it passes Box Hill
When I lived at Morden in the 1950s, my mother and I would catch the 'only Summer Sundays' 80A which went from Red Bus Morden to Green Bus Walton on the Hill and later Lower Kingswood. Not quite as South as Dorking, but interesting on a wartime 'D' Class Daimler CWA6 bus, although the wooden slatted seats needed a cushion for your bum really!
Wouldn't do me any good since I've never been a bus person anyway, always preferred rail over road and I'm sure my great-grandfather (who was a railway ganger) would say the same thing. To make things clear incase anyone takes this the wrong way. Just because I'm not a bus person, doesn't mean I've got anything against road transport.
I think I've used that bus stop on the 108 route, I had a zipcar which I needed to drop off in the zip zone and the 108 took me through north Greenwich which I needed.
Geoff and Hugo on the buses. Where’s Blakey?
I think the bus stop Hugo is referring to is the Blackwall Tunnel northern approach on the A102, East India Dock Road Stop M, which is on the 108 bus line. He's right, it's fairly bleak.
arthwys Can’t after. It’s a very busy bus stop in the morning peak. And I’ve even seen over 20 people waiting there on a Sunday quite recently. It’s quite busy due to the diverted 108.
7:08 relatively rare a single door double decker in london
The 10 minute grace has saved me before - got a bus from Heathrow Central to the Travelodge, checked in & showered, then tapped in on the bus back to Heathrow Central about 65 minutes later :-)
Are you sure you can travel to Heathrow for just £1.50? Wow! Maybe I should take that route.
It looks like if there are issues on the roads or delays on the trains or both then you may struggle! I think it would be less stressful to just expect to pay a little more.
of course you can and depending on the time of the day it's a good idea. For example, if you take the x26 from heathrow to Croydon at 8 pm it would take you the same time (maybe 20 mins longer) than going to Feltham, then Clapham junction then east Croydon. however, during peak hours the whole trip takes over 2 hours so.. definitely not worth it.
More bus rides please Geoff. My favourite seat on the top deck is front nearside, the enthusiasts' choice.
Also, least used bus stop contender, west lodge in roehampton
Thank you so much Geoff and Mike for this interesting video, and for soooo much English humour I loved it!
Next video: Breaking the laws of motion with the 1.50 bus hopper. Love that Scania Omnidecker!
Omnicity
How they are so ugly
Yes Geoff. I'm a fan of the seat behind the stairs.
I used to like the X26 when it was run by Epsom Buses-Quality Line using Mercedes Citaros.
I liked the single seat behind the door. No one could sit next to you and there was no seat behind either. So little chance of hearing the annoying 'tiss, tiss, tiss' noise from another passenger's headphones
To me it was the 1st class seat.
Gets to Heathrow....”and now we can get a flight to Kuala Lumpur for £1.25...provided it takes off in the next 17 minutes...I think we’ll make it!”
It's always surreal seeing places I'm at regularly in TH-cam videos
R8 route is underappreciated - show it some love, Geoff!
Edit 0: oh and R3, R10 and 464, while you're at it - nbd ;-)
Edit 1: worst side of bus upstairs is right hand side because of forced air vents.
Edit 2: that stop on 108 is one of my regulars \m/
8 is great for getting to East London from central
@@jude1293 8 is indeed very handy - to clarify, there's a whole bunch of routes in the Orpington area prefixed with the letter R, standing for Roundabout. Used to be a company of that name operating the London buses out there but IIRC the name actually predates the company \m/
The "Roundabout" name was coined because of the R, not the other way round. The letter "R" was used because "O" would be confusing.
I could hazard a guess at the least used bus, but the least frequent bus in regular daytime service in London? Possibly the 375 (Romford to Passingford Bridge via Havering-atte-Bower). Every 1.5 hours during the day, Monday to Saturday. The London Loop walk section 20 ends at Havering-atte-Bower and in its guide pre-warns you about the lack of regular buses to get back.
He sure loves trains
We were shocked by the rail fare from Kings cross to Windsor for a day trip. £37.40 for 2 adults. It was a lovely ride though and I really enjoyed Windsor village. A perfect English sunny day. Thank you.
Gotta love a red dwarf reference :)
What was the reference? I missed it!
@@tahirsutube it's fun fun fun,
@@punkemoandy oh yeah right!
In case you're wondering the 353 was a N230UD Scania Omnicity and the X26 was a B9TL Wrightbus Gemini 2.
It's 50 miles by road, so nearly two marathons. That's just 3p per mile!
Much less than 50 miles. Probably 30 or so. 50 would take you around the M25.
I used the bus stop on the Blackwall Tunnel north entrance just this weekend. Although that's mostly because the 108 is on diversion north of that point! It's pretty horrible but there is a nice plaque there from when the first tunnel opened.
The least used bus stop? If we only count bus stops inside the GLA boundary, I'd hazard a guess that it's stop ID 74335 in North Ockendon. It's served by a 15 minute bus service (the 370), but appears to have a catchment area of about 10 cottages.
As awkward guys go, Hugo is probably the coolest awkward guy I've seen on youtube not counting myself
A variant - the longest journey by buses: one possibility
142 Watford Junction-Brent Cross
113 Brent Cross-Oxford Circus
(various) Oxford Circus-Holborn
188 Holborn-North Greenwich
132 or 422 North Greenwich-Bexleheath
96 Bexleyheath-Bluewater
Or 161/472 North Greenwich-Woolwich Arsenal, to pick up the 96
Is Harrow Weald to West Croydon further? 140 (or X140 when it is introduced) to Heathrow then X26.
The 140 from Harrow Weald can be 90 mins to Heathrow. Could be possible when the X140 comes along tho.
Not possible one 140. However, I doubt X140 will help much if I'm honest. When it comes. When is it coming???
@@LondonTransportMaster was supposed to be introduced to partly compliment the area when the Elizabeth line's up and running so who knows 🤷♂️
X140???
When does that start?
My ex lived in Northolt, An X140 would have been so so handy. I used to do 140 to Heathrow, X26 to Kingston then 418 home. A bit of a marathon.
One thing I did notice in Northolt was that a lot of 90s went to the little village of Not In Service.
Always a joy to watch one sail past as you waited at the stop for ages.
@@neilcrawford8303 consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/74970d79/
consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/74970d79/user_uploads/x140_proposed-1.pdf
Legend has it that Hugo is still hopping. .............
I love trams when will u go to the Netherlands they have fabolous tram network
Is expensive to get
Come to Melbourne
The longest on the buses for one fare that I can work out for me in New York (which has to include a “short” running transfer) is probably one of the few between separate operators.
One bus, the Q60, from 2nd Ave and 59th Street to Jamaica Ave. walk a few blocks (little under a mile)to the 168th street Bus Terminal and get the second, the n22 to Hicksville.
Total distance is about the same, 27 miles and would take roughly 3 hours and 20 minutes.
The bus fare is also capped at £3.50 for 24 hours
Well till 4am ish really so depends on time u start using it
It's 4.50. and counts until just about 4am, yes.
@@LadyMephistopheles it used to be £3.50! They cant help but raise the damn fares and caps year on year. Robbing bastards.
@@Alexander_l322 haha imagine living in a county with no fare cap
Jeeez i still thought it was £3.50 bloody tfl
If u don't bother taking the tram, u can travel about 29 miles, from Hayes Kent to Croydon on the 119 bus, then the X26 to Heathrow. Ur bound to make it a hopper as the 119 is expected to take around half an hour
I didn't know that they had stopped doing paper maps, that's really sad to me
Awesome work as always Geoff, but you videos always make me homesick 😁
Although everyone calls them Scania Omnideckers, it’s actually a Scania Omnicity bus. Pretty sure they were all built in Poland!
Poland, Denmark & Sweden were all parts of the production line.
Im quite sure Scania produces engines in Poland but not whole buses. I could be wrong
Yes that’s the correct spelling !
Omnidekkas are the older model of the Omnicity. They used to be allocated to the 353 as well as other routes from MB until they were withdrawn last year.
That bus on the 353 was a Scania N230UD OmniCity. It certainly is an unusual bus since it still has the Metrobus branding, after the Go Ahead London takeover in 2015!