Have any of you asked the current users of this bus service which serves people on Wood Vale, Sydenham Hill SE23 & along to Crystal Palace Parade what they think of their transport being diverted at Forest Hill Road to go instead to Honor Oak Park Station?

Isn't it the 363 that goes along the roads you describe? The 63 terminates in Forest Hill Road just opposite the Forest Hill Tavern. That's that bus that the campaign is about I believe not the 363.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/s...us-map.pdf

See here, 63 (in green) terminates in Forst Hill Road:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/...-14631.pdf

Thats correct. The 363 would not be effected. It might even be worth considering an additional service (63a) that would replace say 1 in 4 ordinary 63's that would go to Honor Oak Park. This would also minimise extra traffic and noise going up to Honor Oak Park

A little history. The 63 bus service (Crystal Palace/Kings Cross) was created to provide the alternative public transport route to/from London when the High Level railway line closed. Its route ran along the local roads as described in my earlier post today and the night buses still follow this original route to Crystal Palace. The current nonsense of buses being turned around in Forest Hill Road near the Wood Vale turning was never a feature until route truncation was imposed some 5 years ago when residents(Southwark side) organised to close vehicular access into Wood Vale from London Road (A205 South Circular). To achieve this,1st they had to get rid of the 63 buses. Bus passengers did not find out about the plans until they had been implemented. There is a real need for daytime reinstatement of the original 63 bus route. The current plan to highjack the buses again is fundamenetally wrong and selfish. A much better idea would be to design an entirely new route for a hoppa type bus which incorporates the desired stop at Honor Oak railway station plus fills some of the gaps left by the rerouted P12. A new hoppa bus route would benefit both SE23 & SE23 residents and also help visitors travelling to the Horniman Museum.

I 'm don't understand your argument here. Nobody is planning to reinstate the original bus route during the daytime, but the plan to extend the route would benefit people wishing to travel to/from SE23 from Kings Cross, Blackfriars, Peckham, and East Dulwich. Buses turning round at Wood Vale benefits nobody in SE23 or in SE22. This is not a case of hijacking a bus, but of providing a better service but simply extending the route.

While I agree the 363 made its appearance about 5 years ago, it's been far longer since the no right turn into Wood Vale from London road was instigated. It's at least 10 years since that's when I bought my flat on Wood Vale and it was like that then.

I'd agree that a Hoppa style is probably a better answer than extending the 63 since that is only going to cause confusion at the time it becomes the N63 - and lead to demands for it to go to HOP for the last trains.

And with respect, I don't think having the buses turn, pick up passengers and then deposit them at the current turnaround for them to switch bus would really work in practice.

As I mentioned some time ago on this thread I think it would be great for the 63 bus to be extended over the hill, esp with the ELL extension. The idea of a 63a bus terminating and starting at Honor Oak Park Station sounds good (using brockley rise as a turnaround point) There is space for more than two busses to stop opposite the station at any one time. The P12 is not that frequent, with a bit of planning they could schedule a new bus to come over the hill in between times, even if it were 2 an hour at least that would help.

I think the 63 and 363 routes should remain unchanged. The suggestion of a hoppa bus 63a sounds reasonable but it will duplicate the P12. which on its return journey can be boarded at the Kings Arms, top end of Rye Lane to other connecting bus services into central London i.e. 63, 363, 12, 78 as a starter for 10.

At Honor Oak Park/Stondon Park, if I'm not mistaken don't the 171 and 172 both run into central London?

Sorry if someone has already said this:

+I always thought 63 should go to the station, then swing around by the CHandos and park up where it normally does.

+THe reason I think it doesnt is because PERHAPS the road over the hill is too tricky for a double decker.

The reason that the 63 has not historically reached Honor Oak Park is that the bridge at the station used to have a weight restriction that would not allow double decker buses. However, Lewisham transport department indicated that this restriction is no longer in place, so double deckers could use this route (see post #30).

The current split of the 63/363 was to improve reliability on the whole route.

If you recall, during daytime hours Mon/Sat, only FOUR buses per hour were extended to Crystal Palace, the rest terminated at Forest Hill Tavern with additional buses during peak hours between the Elephant and FHT.

Passengers who live between Wood Vale and Crystal Palace saw an improvement in service from an 4 per hour to 6 on the 363. Cutting the service back to the Elephant ensures better reliability as it[/quote] was common to wait much longer for the Crystal Palace 63's. It was quite common to see 4 or 5 buses go to Honor Oak before a CP bus would turn up.

The 63 bus may be extended to Brockley Rise.....if Ken Livingstone is elected mayor.

http://peckhamryelabour.blogspot.com/201...gn-to.html

This is good news - not only for those wanting to use the station but also for others who want to use the shops and restaurants near the park and may find it difficult to get back up the hill!

Not sure if the ends justify the means...

And should anyone would trust Ken 'do as I say but not as i do' Livingstone?

Good news indeed, if only to lend more weight to the issue.

In addition, this would give easier access from Honor Oak to Peckham Rye Park and East Dulwich; it may also mitigate against park and ride use of HOP station.

Yes anything to stop the parking issues in HOP!!

While it may reduce parking issues in the HOP area, I have concerns about the reliability of the 63 bus if extended.

Already the bus has issues where buses are already late and delayed and a new timetable will be introduced in March to try and solve this problem. So if extended, passengers may have to wait longer just to get to the other side of the hill.

I'm still not sure if Brockley Rise can handle three bus routes being parked there either.

Once ell phase 2 is operational i assume people would take the bus to peckham rye instead as its a zone 2 station which may relieve hop of some parking pressure and also cause a loss of customers to the high street.

Maybe extending the 63 would be a good move for our high street