W7, Frequency Heaven? (Part 2)

It was an article on the My London web site that opened fbb's bleary eyes to this fascinating bus route.

Just 2.6 miles long, at first glance you might consider the W7 bus 'a bit much'. It's one of London's most frequent bus routes, coming as often as every three minutes in the weekday peak periods and requires a whopping 17 double deckers to run the full service. As far as London bus routes go, the W7 is the TfL version of big things coming in small packages.

The route starts at Finsbury Park and continues in a near-straight line up Stroud Green Road to Crouch End Broadway before making another ascent up to Muswell Hill Broadway, where it terminates on a roundabout. Think of it as London's answer to a ski lift. Finsbury Park is just 30 metres above sea level, Crouch Hill is 45 and Muswell Hill is an exhausting 105. Walking up the two hills is only an option for those of us who are incredibly fit and have a spare change of clothes at the summit.

Coupled with the fact that Muswell Hill and Crouch Hill are not directly served by the London Underground and Finsbury Park is, the W7 is a pretty powerful route, shuttling around 6 million passengers per year over the past decade up and down the two North London hills. It is the busiest route under three miles long on London's bus network, and usually within the top 150 of London's 700 each year.

The route IS short!

It only has 13 stops. It is not the shortest but there is some debate about which IS. One offering is the 847 ...

... but technically it isn't a London bus route as it does not come under the remit of Transport for London - it is more of a contract getting people to "Here East".

Here East is a media complex located in the Olympic Park in East London, built specially for the 2012 London Olympics. During the Olympics and Paralympics, the complex was named the London Olympics Media Centre. 

Following the games, the property firm Delancey formed a joint venture with Infinity SDC to convert the Olympic broadcast and press centre into a tech hub for corporations.

The complex was designed to create some 900,000 square feet (84,000 m2) of business space as part of the legacy of the games. BT Sport started broadcasting from the centre in August 2013, and has three studios there.

In February 2014 the site was renamed Here East. It went on to accommodate campuses for Staffordshire University, Loughborough University and University College London as well as Plexal, a co-working location for start-up businesses.

The HereEast gives a timetable of sorts.

No map, of course.

The problem with "proper" London bus routes is that short services are often loopy, so defining the end of the route can be unclear. 

But fbb votes for the 346 with an (averaged) 9 minute run.

The route only started in 1988 and serves a 1960s (?) housing estate called "Upminster Park".

In 2016 operation passed from Arriva to GoAhead ...

... with a MetroBus branded vehicle standing in as above. It runs every 15 minutes with the time point at Waycross Road Lexington Way.

Route 248 also serves Upminster Park as per the map above .

But, back to the W7. It is also a very frequent route, every 3 mins at peak as reported by MyLondon.

Knowledgeable folk will possibly remember that there used to ba a train service from Finsbury Park via Stroud Green, Crouch End and Muswell Hill, terminating at Alexandra Palace.

Could the development of the W7 (also serving Stroud Green, Crouch End and Muswell Hill) have anything to do with the closure of this strange little line?

For the answer, tune in to tomorrow's blog!

Isn't Technology Wonderful No 345

Puzzle Picture

Who is the star advertising train trips by L N E R to the East Coast?

You Haven't Changed A Bit

Then an LNER (the original of that name) station ideal for tourists but now in the hands of the North York Moors Railway! They had bright green, almost dayglo, trees in the olden days!

 Next M7 Heaven blog : Tuesday 8th March