No 65 Bus Route - Is it the worst in London?
At 6.35pm on Sunday 7th March 2010, I waited at the Ealing Broadway No. 65 bus stop outside the post office for 1.5 hours. During that time, we witnessed two No. 82 buses making detours and 14 almost empty rail replacement buses. The first No. 65 bus didn't arrive until 7.45pm but drove straight past because it was packed solid with travellers that had also been waiting for a long time at Ealing Broadway tube. During the next 20 minutes, three empty No. 65 buses with interior lights off, drove straight past without making any attempt to stop and pick up passengers. We were finally picked up at 8.05pm. Weather conditions were dry but with the wind chill felt to be sub-zero. It was so cold, a fellow passenger offered her scarf to a young mum to help keep her babe in a pushchair warm. Several people called TFL Info whilst waiting to learn there were traffic delays of 45 minutes. During a complaint made to TFL Customer Service, the traffic delay had extended to 60 - 70 minutes and there was also a house fire. I have now received a letter from D. Mitchell, Staff Manager for London United at Fulwell Garage stating traffic delays are now up to 160 minutes and were caused by buses being diverted westbound due to building fire, roadworks at junction of Richmond Road/St. Margaret's Road and Hammersmith Bridge being closed for maintainance. He admits buses are stopped short of their final destination if running late so that they can be back on time in the opposite direction, and that empty buses are sometimes drivers at the end of their legal driving hours for the day.The 65 bus service has been dubbed the worst in London and appears to travel in threes or fours (I once saw five pull up together at 10.30am outside McDonalds in Brentford). During the last eight months of 2009, passengers have made 107 complaints about the service – the highest number of any bus in the capital. The 65 also made it to fourth spot in the top 10 of buses that fail to stick to their timetable. I am normally a forgiving person, but what happened on Sunday evening was the last straw. D. Mitchell defends his corner, but after using the No. 65 for more than a decade, I have grown sceptical of his reply. There have always been road works to live with, the Hammersmith Bridge closure is miles to the east, there were no matches at Brentford FC and Twickenham to contend with and traffic on a Sunday evening is often very light.Do you believe the 65 bus service is the worst in London? Do you have instances of being inconvenienced by the poor service?What suggestions can you make to improve the service?I look forward to your feedback. Perhaps together we can make Transdev and London United more accountable for their inefficiencies and force them to improve. Thank you.
Michael Greer ● 6043d18 Comments ● 6022d