Poor old Bus Stop M isn't all there. It should have three boards to display timetables, but since the start of the year it's only had two. Initially the front of one of the panels was ripped off in some random act of angry vandalism, revealing a default background sheet urging the public to ring 0845 300 7000 during office hours if any timetables are missing. Then a couple of weeks ago that was wrenched off the pole too, and was duly kicked around the adjacent alleyways for a few days before disappearing. Now all that's left is a gaping grey metal groove where a timetable board normally slots in, and two proper boards on the other sides.
Seven different bus routes stop at Bus Stop M, but timetables remain for only five - those for the 276 and N205 have disappeared. Essentially all the buses that go no further than Stratford remain, but bad luck if you want to go beyond. What's more one of the spaces on the current boards is being wasted to advertise a bus consultation that closed four weeks ago, which confirms my suspicion that nobody from The People Who Update Stuff On Bus Stops has been here for a while. Still, what's new?
Meanwhile, a special shout-out to TfL's Digital Bus Stop team, whose online map continues to misrepresent the changes which have taken place at Bow Church in the last eighteen months. Bus Stop M, amazingly, is the only one of the six stops they've got right. In reality Bus Stop G disappeared in October 2015, and the empty blob to the left of it is Bus Stop E, killed off and removed at the same time. Should you click on the 'G' or the blank circle on the map you get the messageThis stop does not serve any TfL routes, whereas in reality This stop no longer exists. Meanwhile on the opposite side of the road Bus Stop K was removed in August 2016, but still appears on the map, while Bus Stop L no longer has any scheduled services, except the map insists nightbus N205 stops here. Continued congratulations, Digital Bus Stop team.
