I hope this in not OT, as it is about a bus service which starts in London but finishes well outside.

A new route has been introduced, linking New Barnet with Luton Airport and town. It is numbered 714, presumably as a nod to the old Green Line 714 whose northern leg ran from London through Barnet to Luton. It runs seven days a week, but at irregular times with seemingly a concentration of services in the very early morning and evening. Could this be due to the needs of airport workers or travellers?

I rode it last Saturday, and my thoughts a-

The vehicles used are not really suitable for long journeys, being ordinary single deckers with barely padded seats. After 90 minutes you are certainly feel them! Also, there is no extra luggage space, something which I would have thought was a priority on an airport service.

It seems rather slow for a limited stop service. A few kinks in the route could be straightened (does it really need to go into London Colney shopping park which is already quite well served?)

The timetable (see http://www.metroline.co.uk/uploads/p...EL_2006151.pdf) is utterly irregular, and so impossible to remember. The frequency varies between 60 and 90 minutes. It is not sufficiently frequent to be a 'turn up and go' service so it needs some sort of clock face timetable for passengers to remember.

On my journeys patronage was low, and it seemed mostly made up of customers diverted from the 84/321 routes. Of course it is early days - I hope Metroline have the courage to stick with it, tweak the service as required and we could end up with a genuinely new and useful service which would attract more custom. I wish it well.

Peter

On 2015-07-06 08:16:18 +0000, peter said:

On my journeys patronage was low, and it seemed mostly made up of
customers diverted from the 84/321 routes. Of course it is early days
- I hope Metroline have the courage to stick with it, tweak the service
as required and we could end up with a genuinely new and useful service
which would attract more custom. I wish it well.

I do note they have recognised the large number of flights departing
Luton at the crack of dawn and arriving late on with an almost-24-hour
service. That makes sense compared with the limited hours of the
Stagecoach 99 to/from MK.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

On 06/07/2015 09:16, peter wrote:
I hope this in not OT, as it is about a bus service which starts in London but finishes well outside.

A new route has been introduced, linking New Barnet with Luton Airport and town. It is numbered 714, presumably as a nod to the old Green Line 714 whose northern leg ran from London through Barnet to Luton. It runs seven days a week, but at irregular times with seemingly a concentration of services in the very early morning and evening. Could this be due to the needs of airport workers or travellers?

I rode it last Saturday, and my thoughts a-

The vehicles used are not really suitable for long journeys, being ordinary single deckers with barely padded seats. After 90 minutes you are certainly feel them! Also, there is no extra luggage space, something which I would have thought was a priority on an airport service.

It seems rather slow for a limited stop service. A few kinks in the route could be straightened (does it really need to go into London Colney shopping park which is already quite well served?)

The timetable (see http://www.metroline.co.uk/uploads/p...EL_2006151.pdf) is utterly irregular, and so impossible to remember. The frequency varies between 60 and 90 minutes. It is not sufficiently frequent to be a 'turn up and go' service so it needs some sort of clock face timetable for passengers to remember.

On my journeys patronage was low, and it seemed mostly made up of customers diverted from the 84/321 routes. Of course it is early days - I hope Metroline have the courage to stick with it, tweak the service as required and we could end up with a genuinely new and useful service which would attract more custom. I wish it well.

Peter


Metroline seem to be testing how they can serve Herts from their Potters
Bar base. In addition to the above the are operating two St Albans
local routes (under contract) and have added an 84A variant to the 84.

It is interesting that they are allowed into Luton Airport - Arriva's
321 service was ejected!

Peter Lawrence

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On 2015-07-06 17:05:26 +0000, Peter Lawrence said:

It is interesting that they are allowed into Luton Airport - Arriva's
321 service was ejected!

Didn't Arriva take legal action and win, which is why the Greenline
coach made it back in?

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

On 07/07/2015 08:37, Neil Williams wrote:

On 2015-07-06 17:05:26 +0000, Peter Lawrence said:

It is interesting that they are allowed into Luton Airport - Arriva's
321 service was ejected!

Didn't Arriva take legal action and win, which is why the Greenline
coach made it back in?

Yep.

It is interesting that they are allowed into Luton Airport - Arriva's
321 service was ejected![/i][/color]

Sadly from 23/7/16 the Metroline 714 ceased. The St Albans - Luton Airport - Luton Interchange section is covered by an hourly extension of the Metroline 84A (not Sundays). Serving all stops apparently, though I can't confirm that!

People from New Barnet heading for Luton Airport will,
I assume, now take the 307 bus to Elstree & Borehamwood
and travel from there by train.

Well it's only 1hr14mins on the 84A, maybe faster but uncomfortable.

Whoops, should be 1hr41min, 21 mins more than the 714.