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[email protected] · November 28th 10, 10:35 AM posted to uk.transport.london

In article ,
(Lewis A) wrote:

On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 19:29:26 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:
On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 12:38:34 -0600,
wrote:

I arrived at a bus stop in front of King's Cross station this morning
planning to catch a 45 or 46 to Grays Inn Road. The 63 also calls at
the same stop but my destination was further from Farringdon Road so
it seemed better to stick to the Grays Inn Road routes.

When I arrived the first two buses shown on the Countdown screen were
a 45 and a 46 (or vice versa) due in 4 or 5 minutes. Then a 63
appeared on the screen as "due" and disappeared again. A few minutes
later a 63 bus did appear but wasn't showing on Countdown at all. Then
a 45 showed as due and disappeared without a bus turning up. No 45 or
46 bus came but it showed several due in the next 5 minutes or so.

Then suddenly the screen changed, just after the 63 had left, with
three 45s or 46s due, but only in 12 minutes! Then a 45 appeared after
a couple of minutes with Countdown showing the next bus due in 10
minutes.

?Que?

Yes it can get confused. My guess is that because the 45 and 63 start
one stop earlier at St Pancras International there is something odd
about how it deals with reality against possibly using a scheduled
departure time (i.e. the timetable). I may, of course, be talking
complete nonsense!

Could there have been a diversion? I've experienced similar behaviour
from Countdown in Broad Green, Croydon while waiting for a northbound
60. There was one due within five minutes but disappeared from the
display, as did other routes' buses when their due times dropped to
3-4 mins or so. A 60 arrived about ten minutes later which was
consistent with it 'going the wrong way', and dropping off the radar
near West Croydon station, and its physical reappearance on the
correct route at a junction near me. A travel bulletin on the radio
announced that an earlier shooting had resulted in road closures in
the area.

I doubt it, honestly. The routes mainly start at King's Cross and there
were no signs of any on the route.

I happened to see that the Countdown displays on Oxford Street outside
John Lewis were all happily displaying bus arrival times even though
the entire street was closed for the VIP event and no bus will turn up
for about another 2 hours!

Please say there were people queueing, looking at their watches and
tutting!

No. There wasn't more than one other waiting with me. Most people got on
the 63. If you're going to Blackfriars as I more often am at that point,
it's just as good as the 45.

--
Colin Rosenstiel