One thing about spending most of the day doing chores is that there isn't much time left to write a post. So the following was written in less than an hour without refining the first draft or checking facts for accuracy or drawing a special map or going to Potters Bar to take an up-to-date photo.
I see bus route 84 is being withdrawn. It currently runs from Barnet to St Albans via Potters Bar, South Mimms and London Colney. It's been running for many years but won't be running again after April 1st because Metroline are deregistering it because passenger numbers have become unsustainable thanks to Covid and significantly increased operating costs. It may be a bus that runs partly in London but it's not a London bus run by TfL so if the company wants to throw in the towel it can and it has.
The 84 is the only bus that runs from Barnet to Potters Bar and the only connection between Potters Bar and St Albans. Its withdrawal will leave South Mimms with an hourly Potters Bar to Borehamwood connection whereas the 84 is currently half-hourly, unless some other operator steps in to run the route but that seems unlikely. Bus connections between London and Hertfordshire are generally quite poor unless you live in Watford, Borehamwood or Potters Bar (or maybe Waltham Cross if 500m over the border counts).
The 84 is a strange route because it could have been a London bus but instead became a London Country bus. You used to be able to use your Oyster on it until 2012, or at least get a discount, but now it's real money only. Barnet to Potters Bar costs £2.90 single, which is about double a TfL fare, while to ride the full 10 miles to St Albans costs a stonking £5. I wrote a proper history of route 84 and blogged a journey back in 2014 so you should read that if you're interested, or there's a bussier history here, plus FBB is blogging about it in detail at present. It's interesting that TfL have never reused the number 84 for any of their own services, but I guess they might actually do that somewhere sometime now.
London's bus users could be in for a shock when details of the government's bailout deal are finally confirmed, but it's unlikely to be quite as dramatic as the loss of the entire 84, let's hope.
I see bus route 84 is being withdrawn. It currently runs from Barnet to St Albans via Potters Bar, South Mimms and London Colney. It's been running for many years but won't be running again after April 1st because Metroline are deregistering it because passenger numbers have become unsustainable thanks to Covid and significantly increased operating costs. It may be a bus that runs partly in London but it's not a London bus run by TfL so if the company wants to throw in the towel it can and it has.
