This might seem to be a silly question, but here goes:-

SWMBO & I took a Thames Cruise yesterday from Gravesend to Chelsea &
on the return trip noted two red d/deckers coming off the Woolwich
Ferry at North Woolwich.

They used the middle lanes on the boat & seemed to have enough
headroom, so it just night be a regular occurance, but we were
wondering why said busses would use the ferry rather than a bridge or
tunnel?


DC

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They used the middle lanes on the boat & seemed to have enough
headroom, so it just night be a regular occurance, but we were
wondering why said busses would use the ferry rather than a bridge or
tunnel?

Only speculating but if you want to get a double decker across the
Thames for service in E London the ferry is a good deal easier than
driving to Tower Bridge or Dartford crossing? (Blackwall is OK
Southbound IIRC for a stock DD but def. not Northbound in the old bore.)

IIRC much more common in days of yore (before the Dartford tunnel) when
buses on daytrips from E London headed Sarf.

--
Robin
reply to address is (meant to be) valid

On 08/05/2014 16:03, Paul Corfield wrote:
[...]
I recently used the Free Ferry for the first time ever - rather a nice
way to get across even though it was a tad breezy when I did it. There
are convenient bus links at either side of the Thames.


Mildly surprised to hear that!

There's such an abundance of space for foot passengers on the ferries, I
wonder if the passenger deck has ever been remotely full up, bearing in
mind the existence of the foot tunnel (and much more recently the DLR link).

I have discovered that the 474 bus uses the free ferry. Any other buses? I'm thinking of making the journey now!

So I suppose those buses seen on the ferry were running light.

On Friday, 9 May 2014 15:46:47 UTC+1, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Fri, 9 May 2014 00:49:14 -0700 (PDT), Offramp

wrote:



So I suppose those buses seen on the ferry were running light.



Yes - MOT runs, garage transfers or possibly driver training. When I

used the ferry there was a single decker driver training bus waiting

for the ferry at Woolwich.

Do any bus routes go under or over the river by QEII Bridge or Blackwall Tunnel or any Ferry?

In message , at
06:25:54 on Sat, 10 May 2014, Offramp remarked:

Do any bus routes go under or over the river by QEII Bridge

http://www.ensignbus.com/route-x80.html

or Blackwall Tunnel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Buses_route_108

or any Ferry?

What other vehicle ferries are there? According to wikipedia the car
ferry at Dartford ceased when the tunnel opened.
--
Roland Perry

On Saturday, 10 May 2014 14:39:12 UTC+1, Roland Perry wrote:

Do any bus routes go under or over the river by QEII Bridge

http://www.ensignbus.com/route-x80.html

or Blackwall Tunnel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Buses_route_108

or any Ferry?

What other vehicle ferries are there? According to wikipedia the car

ferry at Dartford ceased when the tunnel opened.

Thanks for those.
My knowledge of ferries is very limited.

In article ,
(Paul Corfield) wrote:

On Sat, 10 May 2014 06:25:54 -0700 (PDT), Offramp
wrote:

On Friday, 9 May 2014 15:46:47 UTC+1, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Fri, 9 May 2014 00:49:14 -0700 (PDT), Offramp

wrote:

So I suppose those buses seen on the ferry were running light.

Yes - MOT runs, garage transfers or possibly driver training. When I
used the ferry there was a single decker driver training bus waiting
for the ferry at Woolwich.

Do any bus routes go under or over the river by QEII Bridge or Blackwall
Tunnel or any Ferry?

The 108, from Stratford to Lewisham, goes through the Blackwall
Tunnel. It has to use single deckers because of the clearances in the
northbound tunnel.

Ensignbus's X81 uses the Dartford Crossing to run between Chafford
Hundred and Bluewater.

No bus services use ferries across the Thames.

In times past there was a minibus operated route through the
Rotherhithe Tunnel (P14 then 395) but TfL withdrew the 395 without
replacement. Width restrictions have been added since then which make
bus operation impossible through the Rotherhithe.

Others can add in the older history of LT bus operation through the
tunnels if they wish.

Perhaps what's needed is a heritage operation through the Rotherhithe tunnel
with RTs? :-)

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Paul Corfield wrote on 10 May 2014 20:10:50 ...
On Sat, 10 May 2014 06:25:54 -0700 (PDT), Offramp
wrote:

On Friday, 9 May 2014 15:46:47 UTC+1, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Fri, 9 May 2014 00:49:14 -0700 (PDT), Offramp

wrote:



So I suppose those buses seen on the ferry were running light.



Yes - MOT runs, garage transfers or possibly driver training. When I

used the ferry there was a single decker driver training bus waiting

for the ferry at Woolwich.

Do any bus routes go under or over the river by QEII Bridge or Blackwall Tunnel or any Ferry?

The 108, from Stratford to Lewisham, goes through the Blackwall
Tunnel. It has to use single deckers because of the clearances in the
northbound tunnel.

Ensignbus's X81 uses the Dartford Crossing to run between Chafford
Hundred and Bluewater.

No bus services use ferries across the Thames.

In times past there was a minibus operated route through the
Rotherhithe Tunnel (P14 then 395) but TfL withdrew the 395 without
replacement. Width restrictions have been added since then which make
bus operation impossible through the Rotherhithe.

Others can add in the older history of LT bus operation through the
tunnels if they wish.

From 1927 to 1951, the 108 through the Blackwall Tunnel (two-way
traffic in the original bore in those days) used special-bodied
double-deckers with "domed" roofs (reduced height at the sides) and
tyres with steel-reinforced walls to cope with the frequent rubbing
against the kerb that was necessary to pass other traffic. Initially NS
and later STL. Standard STL and RTL/RT buses were used from 1951 to
1968, LT having persuaded the police that special bodies weren't really
necessary.

I didn't realise that after the 2nd bore was opened in 1967, they raised
the carriageway level in the old bore in order to provide more width,
which reduced the available height and prevented use of double deckers
when it reopened. More details at
http://www.red-rf.com/single-deck_ro...enary_run.aspx
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)