News

It used to be the case that the 410 was near exclusively operated by dual door buses with the appearance of a single door bus being so infrequent that it could be put down to temporary use of an engineering spare. However since the change of timetable at the end of April 2008 the route seems to be infested with single door buses. The buses in question are the single door versions of Arriva's PDL type (there are many more dual door PDLs about, and they are often seen on the 410). I have seen at least five different ones. Today I had the misfortune to travel on one to Crystal Palace, and the first three buses I encountered coming the other way were also single doored. I am hoping that the use of these buses is a temporary thing and that perhaps the other buses are being refurbished or equipped with iBus or something, but I don't have any confidence in this at all.

The 410 gets so overcrowded at various times of the day that even the dual door buses can't cope, so a single door bus is completely useless. Even at quieter times the single door PDL is pretty useless as the wheelchair / pushchair bay is small and badly designed. It can just about hold two pushchairs if the second one is small but access can be awkward. In contrast the DWS bus most commonly seen on the route has a larger bay opposite the exit door which can easily hold two pushchairs and can usually handle three if the other passengers and the driver show some consideration. The other thing about the single door PDL is that it is rattles badly and the engine screams as it struggles to climb the hills to Crystal Palace.

I can't make any real comments on the dual door PDLs and the ADLs operating the route, but the DWS seems to do a good job. It is just too small and the buses bunch too much.