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Camden News - by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
Published: 1 May 2008

On the 29 – ‘It’s no party’

‘Riding the 29 is not what I’d call fun’

Charlotte Chambers rides the 29 to see what it’s really like...

THEY say you wait ages for a bus and then they all come along at once. In the 29s case you wait ages and when it finally comes its so packed you can’t get on it.
That’s just one of the problems facing frequent commuters who take the 29, a bendy bus that goes from Trafalgar Square to past Wood Green.
Things are so bad it’s known as the Crazy Train by day and the Party Bus by night – although, as travellers will tell you, it’s anything but a party.
The list of complaints are long. It’s a bad design, it’s always packed, it’s unsafe.
The day I took the route things started badly when I couldn’t get on the first bus and one poor woman actually fell out before being grabbed to safety by other passengers.
The second time around I stepped on to be greeted by an ominous voice warning me “pickpockets operate in this area”.
Later on the announcer informs us a routine police operation is about to commence. Everyone pulls their Oyster card out to pay for their journey. It certainly seemed to disprove TfL’s theory that “80 per cent of 29 passengers have travel cards and bus passes” and don’t need to touch in.
Riding the 29 isn’t fun. From the dripping umbrellas pushed against my leg as I stand in the scrum, to desperate passengers calling out to be let off before others steam in, the over- crowding around the doors is a big problem.
And I commend the brave soul who shouted out when someone attempted to steal something from my friend’s bag.

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