Tube Strike 2014 Round 2 Part 1 29/04/14

Tube Strike again - this time only RMT staff walked out of work. This led to even more Tube Strike Bus extras, supplied from numerous companies. I made the effort to go to Central London and I did get some interesting things during the misery/blessing (delete as appropriate) of the tube strike. It was practically a London Bus Rally! This post covers the first day of the strike, where I did not get much, mainly due to a later arrival in Central London:

Go-Ahead London DRM2516 (WLT 516) on Route 36, Vauxhall

Traffic at Victoria/Hyde Park Corner was horrendous, leading to curtailments:


Metroline TEH1464 on Route 16, Victoria

It seems that Tube Strikes trigger early NBfL conversions. This is the second early (leading to full) conversion:


Arriva London LT176 on Route 38, Victoria


Arriva London LT208 on Route 38, Green Park

Route 38 full conversion (with part route crewing - up to Islington(?) from Victoria) isn't for another two weeks!


This bus did spring up on me, and I couldn't get a good picture of it.
Ensignbus MRJ 233W (Southend Transport 233) on Route 38, Hyde Park Corner


London United LT86 on Route 9, Hyde Park Corner


London United LT69 on Route 9, Green Park
The worst route on Tube Strike days was the 25, but the 9 could come close to contending with it!


London General WVL501 on Route 14, Piccadilly

Route 29 had extras as it was practically the Piccadilly Line rail replacement:

Arriva Wandsworth DLP20 on Route 29, Trafalgar Square


London Bus Company RML893 on Route 29, Trafalgar Square


Timebus RML2389 on Route 29, Trafalgar Square


Timebus RML2263 on Route 29, Tottenham Court Road/Centrepoint

Another route affected by reliability was 176, many curtailing at Trafalgar Square:

Arriva London T99 on Route 176, Trafalgar Square

Route 205 had extras again from the provinces:

Stagecoach South Downs 18511 on Route 205, Warren Street


Stagecoach 18310 on Route 205, Warren Street

The observations from the second day of the strike are on the next post, as I got more from the next day.