Picture it: you’re running late, you’ve got coffee on your shirt, and you see the dreaded sign: “ROAD CLOSED.” It wasn’t for a royal visit or a film crew. No, this was for utility work. Which is code for “some guys digging a hole that will take three weeks and uncover a forgotten Roman coin and a vape pen from 2017.” The closure hit the junction near the station, sending the 139, 328, and C11 buses into a chaotic spiral of confusion and rage.
Suddenly, your beloved bus route was rerouted through streets so narrow that two cyclists passing each other counts as a traffic jam. It was like watching a hippo try to do ballet in a phone booth. Surprising fact: The diversion added roughly 12 minutes to the journey. That’s 12 minutes you could have used to finally text your mum back, but instead you spent them staring into the soul of a delivery driver who also missed the sign.
Buses Behaving Badly
Now, let’s talk about the diversion itself. The buses were forced to snake along Sumatra Road and Broomsleigh Street. If you’ve never driven these roads, imagine a hedge maze designed by a drunk gardener. One bus driver I spoke to (after he nearly took my ear off with his mirror) said it was “like threading a needle while wearing oven mitts.” The buses would turn corners so tight that passengers on the top deck could practically shake hands with people in second-floor flats.
The fun didn’t stop there. Because the buses were running late, they started bunching. Bus bunching is when three identical buses show up at the same stop after you waited 22 minutes. It’s the transport equivalent of a broken elevator that arrives right when you give up and take the stairs. Scientists call it “a failure of headway management.” I call it a cruel joke played by the ghost of George Stephenson.
'Tomato' Bus at West Hampstead Station on route 139 - Gemini 3 MK1
