Just to follow up some of Paul's points:

In message , Paul Corfield
writes
Extras on the 15 are supposed to operate between Aldgate and Aldwych
during the District Line weekend closures. Having travelled on the 15
from Tower on a normal day with full Tube services in operation I can
tell you it gets besieged then as well!
I would have expected this to some extent because of it being the only
major route to serve the Tower these days. However, the crush loadings
continued well after closing time at the Tower and the stop one to the
West of Tower Hill (Eastcheap?) seemed to attract very heavy use, too,
which puzzled me a bit.

I think one inspector would not cope. You actually need several customer
service people to help if you actually want the inspector to be
controlling the service.
Then I suspect that that would be a good use of manpower.

That said, the abuse being suffered by the member of staff guarding the
gate at the (closed) Tower Hill station had to be seen to be believed.
You would have thought he had personally and on a whim decided to close
that part oft he system.

Welcome to hell.
You don't have to tell me!

Driver Information
No it isn't too much to ask but as in all things you get people who are
not enthused. I expect that a route like the 15 is dreadful from this
viewpoint because so many tourists use it. As soon as you show any
semblance of being knowledgeable or helpful you will get completely
surrounded by people wanting help - I'm sure you know how that feels :-)
Indeed I do! I often take my Blue Badge off when I finish a job now
just to prevent this. It's not being unhelpful, it's just that you do
indeed get besieged.

(A few weeks ago, I was walking across the Millennium Bridge early one
evening. I'd finished a job a little earlier and was taking my coach
driver over to see the Globe and some other developments on the
Bankside. A (South African?) lady coming the other way spotted my
Badge and asked a question about Saint Paul's Cathedral. When I told
her that it was now closed she asked if she could get a bus from there
to the Tower. I told her yes and that it was the 15 and - as you say!
- I was suddenly surrounded by other people who seemed to come from
nowhere, all asking different questions about Bankside, the Bridge and
countless other things. My driver ended up rescuing me!)

Well I am going to have a nice trip in to work on the 73 as I can get my
local route to Seven Sisters. Most mornings I see the Routemasters
pouring out of the garage about 1-2 mins apart
I recently watched the film "The Nine Road" for the first time. You
reminded me of the early morning scenes in that!

The Metroline vehicles used on the 205 all have good loud PA systems on
them. I just think a lot of drivers are reticent to use them and there
is no compulsion so to do
Whereas it ought to be a requirement of the job. Divers might be
reticent but it's a useful service (and would in fact help drivers in
the long run).

but the point is well made for the 205 - one
of the better inventions for the congestion charge services.
It's the first time I've used it. We had to get from Tower Hill to
Marylebone and I couldn't face the 15 again so walked to Aldgate!

But these are really just observations. In two and a half days' really
intensive use of the system, it managed to get us there everywhere every
time. It did it late in the evening, when Paris's transport system
would have been skeletal and that of most other British cities
non-existent and my essential belief in London having a Good Transport
System was not shaken.

Well exactly - we all have bad journeys at times but the system works
far more times than it fails.
Absolutely.

Glad you had a good stay.
Thanks! (Although I more or less feel like a resident these days, so
much time do I spend in London seeing it from a leisure perspective was
both interesting and useful.)
--
Ian Jelf, MITG, Birmingham, UK
Registered "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide for
London & the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk