A Very Short and Silly Bus Ride
1 April 2024
ABOVE: TfL / Metroline New Routemaster LT 556 (LTZ 1556) navigates its way through the Claremont Park area of Brent Cross Town, on the double-run of route 189 to the new Brent Cross West station. All photos taken on Saturday 23 March 2024, except where stated.
As I publish this, it's the First of April, and that feels like an appropriate day on which to tell this story, because it is very, very silly. But it's not a joke - it really happened!
I undertook a very, very short bus ride two weeks ago, both in terms of the distance between the two stops and the amount of ground covered by the bus between those two stops.
Given the twisty-turny nature of some bus routes, it's not unusual for services to stop at two nearby bus stops at different points of their journey. In Barrhead, Glasgow, buses on route 3 towards Neilston serve the Health Centre stop on Main Street, but don't get to the next Main Street stop ("after Arthurlie Street") for 12 minutes, despite that stop being only 636 feet away. That's because they dive into the local area of Auchenback, operating around a one-way loop - serving a huge number of residences as they do so - before navigating back to Main Street.
There are even longer examples. I stumbled across one on Warrington's Own route 22A to Wigan. After calling at stop C outside Newton-le-Willows station, this route undertakes a detour into Earlestown, returning to Newton-le-Willows station (stop A this time) a full 20 minutes later. The two stops at the station are only 75 feet away from each other!
Some routes twist and turn so much that they almost come back on themselves, even if they're not circulars - another experience in Scotland that I have already shared with you is the 585 service through West Kilbride, where buses serve the same stop in St Brides Road twice, five minutes apart, and then return to serve the stop opposite a few minutes after that!
But those buses do at least go somewhere in between - the ride I did a fortnight ago did not. Nor was it a planned journey.
I'll come back to this in a moment. First, let's set the scene...
I undertook a very, very short bus ride two weeks ago, both in terms of the distance between the two stops and the amount of ground covered by the bus between those two stops.
Given the twisty-turny nature of some bus routes, it's not unusual for services to stop at two nearby bus stops at different points of their journey. In Barrhead, Glasgow, buses on route 3 towards Neilston serve the Health Centre stop on Main Street, but don't get to the next Main Street stop ("after Arthurlie Street") for 12 minutes, despite that stop being only 636 feet away. That's because they dive into the local area of Auchenback, operating around a one-way loop - serving a huge number of residences as they do so - before navigating back to Main Street.
There are even longer examples. I stumbled across one on Warrington's Own route 22A to Wigan. After calling at stop C outside Newton-le-Willows station, this route undertakes a detour into Earlestown, returning to Newton-le-Willows station (stop A this time) a full 20 minutes later. The two stops at the station are only 75 feet away from each other!
Some routes twist and turn so much that they almost come back on themselves, even if they're not circulars - another experience in Scotland that I have already shared with you is the 585 service through West Kilbride, where buses serve the same stop in St Brides Road twice, five minutes apart, and then return to serve the stop opposite a few minutes after that!
But those buses do at least go somewhere in between - the ride I did a fortnight ago did not. Nor was it a planned journey.
I'll come back to this in a moment. First, let's set the scene...
This is Brent Cross West railway station, in North-West London. This new station, on the Midland Main Line, opened in December 2023. It's an impressive modern structure with four platforms, about half a mile south-west of Brent Cross shopping centre. It's not an easy half mile to walk, though, as you have to cross the very busy North Circular Road, close to where the M1 motorway begins.
The station has actually been built to support the new Brent Cross Town development, right here on the doorstep, which will have 6,700 new homes, over 50 locations for retail and restaurants and workspaces for over 25,000 people. Great news that the station has been put in place first, but I wonder why it hasn't been named "Brent Cross Town"...
ABOVE: There are two island platforms at Brent Cross West station. On Saturday 16 March 2024, the 1126 Thameslink service to Sutton (Surrey) has just arrived as the 1125 to Luton stands just out-of-sight on platform 2. (I'm right at the back of the platforms, which are designed for 12-car trains but generally only see eight-car units.
The station is accessed via a bridge that has entrances on both the western and eastern sides, which means it's possible to cross the railway line (on foot) even if you don't want to visit the station. Before the station was here, in order to cross, one would have to go a quarter-of-a-mile north-west to the North Circular Road, or almost a mile the other way to Cricklewood Lane. The bridge is open 24 hours a day.
ABOVE: Looking west to east, from end-to-end across the bridge. The entrance to the station is about halfway along on the right, broadly marked by the vertical red poles
This is the station entrance, halfway along the bridge:
ABOVE: The station entrance on Saturday 16 March 2024
And this is the view looking from the bridge down towards the eastern exit...
ABOVE: You can see what a long way down it is! Two sets of escalators lead down to the street on the eastern side of the station. There are lifts as well (just out of view to the left)!
Transport for London (TfL) ensured that a bus service was ready for the opening of the station, when the 316 route was extended from Cricklewood to terminate on the western side of Brent Cross West.
ABOVE: Metroline Travel DEL 2264 (LK66 FTE), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, is pulling onto the stand on the western side of Brent Cross West station, at the end of a trip from White City on route 316.
The other end of the 316 route is White City, adjacent to the huge Westfield London shopping centre. It's rather strange that Brent Cross West station initially had a direct bus to Westfield London shopping centre, but not to the similar and far more local facility at Brent Cross!
That has been put right with the diversion of route 189 (Brent Cross to Marble Arch) into the eastern side of the station. At present, buses are undertaking a double-run from Cricklewood, Claremont Road, for a distance of around one third of a mile down to the station, then back again.
There are bus stops on both sides of what is currently a no through road at the station (Google Maps suggests that it's called the "Interim Transport Interchange", but local signage calls it "Arbour Street"). Curiously, buses serve both stops in both directions. (And now you can see where this is going...)
For once I wasn't on my own, but travelling with a small group of friends. Because of all the hoardings, it wasn't immediately obvious, from where we were standing, as to which end of the road was closed off or where the buses would turn round, so we decided to wait and observe.
ABOVE: The two bus stops at Brent Cross West station (eastern side) for route 189, on Saturday 16 March 2024. A TfL New Routemaster, operated by Metroline, approaches stop BB with a service towards Marble Arch. It will turn around and then serve stop AA on the other side of the road. The stop flags on both sides of the road confirm the stopping arrangements.
The bus came into view from the south, and, with the driver seeing five people at the bus stop, he pulled up, despite us signalling that we didn't want it. The driver opened the door, and my companions had a little chat with him about what we were doing and what we wanted to observe. The driver then invited us to board...
So we all boarded (and we did tap in, by the way). And here's where the bus goes..
It drives down the road to a turning circle. There's a bus stand here, presumably for unscheduled turns:
ABOVE: The turning circle, with its bus stand. That's not another bus stop in the distance - it's the entrance to the development site!
Here, buses do a U-turn, but it's a tight turn for a New Routemaster even if there's nothing else parked up on the stand.
ABOVE: TfL / Metroline New Routemaster LT 190 (LTZ 1190) starts its manoeuvre around the turning circle.
ABOVE: TfL / Metroline New Routemaster LT 648 (LTZ 168) tackles the tight U-turn.
Then buses come back down the other side of the road, and serve the other stop.
ABOVE: LT 190 again, safely out of the turning circle and ready to continue its journey to Marble Arch.
I estimate that it's about 100 feet between the two stops, and the journey - estimated at 916 feet - has taken less than a minute! And that's basically it, because that's where we got off!
We subsequently debated the need for both bus stops, and the conclusion we came to was that it's probably a temporary arrangement, and that the long-term plan will be for buses to drive straight through. That's borne out by my subsequent researches, which have unearthed a map from the consultation that was held on these changes, this time last year, which shows the road outside the station as a through road, and a road called High Street South, that may or may not already exist, but certainly isn't joined up to the "Interchange".
As an aside, there's a green space, Claremont Park, just around the corner from the station, complete with a seasonal café, which turned out to be a lovely spot to pass half an hour after our 'long' (!) bus ride.
ABOVE: Claremont Park
I wouldn't advocate anyone doing the trip we did on the 189. By all means come in from Cricklewood or Brent Cross to see the double-run, but don't come just to do the double-run on its own... People will think you're crazy!
ABOVE: The opposite view to the one above, with bus stop BB, outside the station, photographed from stop AA
As we headed out of the area by train, I speculated that this bus journey was far too short to justify an article of its own. But during these subsequent days, I thought more-and-more about writing it up anyway, and this is the result - even if I did have to make a second visit to get some extra photos (I didn't use the 189 bus this time)!
I will leave you with a "Thought of the Day", courtesy of the staff at Brent Cross West station staff (and specifically "Papa Ken"):
Above photo taken on Saturday 16 March 2024
BELOW: Map of the area, with my journey shown in purple
