To be honest, I was so cross with a 159 crew yesterday - they didn't
stop nearly long enough to allow people to get on, as they had been
hidden behind a larger bus, so nobody saw they were there - that I
thought "and the sooner *you* go to one-man operation, the better!"
Many, if not most, of the conductors are courteous, friendly and
helpful, but one or two are the exact opposite.

Well I did promise to give you an update on the 159 when more details
emerged. The new contract award was announced yesterday for the 159 - it
is staying with Arriva London South but will get new double deckers
which certainly means it loses its conductors as well. The vehicle
requirement has only gone up marginally so either the route is being
shortened or it is being reduced in frequency because it is normal for
the number of vehicles to rise when conversion to OPO happens as the
buses take longer to travel over the route.

No date has been announced but I am told that the 159 will vie with the
38 to be the last RM route in London with both of them being converted
in October this year. All the other routes go before then with the 19
being next on 2 April 2005.

The 38 is being converted to bendy buses so will stay with RMs to the
last day. I would not be remotely surprised to see the 159 go the same
way as the 137 which had lost almost all of its RMs by the official
conversion date. No information has leaked out about the 13, 14 and 22
conversion except they are some time in the Summer.

--
Paul C


Can I also thank you for the update Paul. I'm very relieved the bendy buses
are being used - double-deckers would not really make sense for this
extremely busy route.

Do we know yet if they're reducing the vehicle requirement dramatically (as
with the 73)?

James