The London Bus on-line

INTRODUCTION and EDITORIAL

GENERAL and INDUSTRY NEWS

GREATER LONDON AREA Route Developments

COUNTRY AREAS Route Developments

VEHICLE NEWS

PUBLICITY, FARES & TICKETING

RAIL REPLACEMENT SERVICES

PUBLICITY NEWS

 

There have been five new service change leaflets from London Buses since this section last appeared. In date order, the first is: U7, Extended to Hayes Sainsbury’s, Starting Saturday 4 July 2009.  This has a standard slimline blue cover with a drawing of an Enviro200 single-decker. There is a map showing the revised route in purple and the abandoned stretch of route along Uxbridge Road in green. There is a full panel timetable and a route grid. The second leaflet is an A5 flyer: New buses and a weekend service for route 507, Starting on Saturday 25 July 2009. The front carries some explanatory text, without any reference to Red Arrow branding. Overleaf is a map of the route, times of first and last buses and a drawing of a standard Citaro single-decker.  The third leaflet is: S3, Route S3 extended to Malden Manor, Starting Saturday 1 August 2009. This has a standard slimline blue cover with the same generic drawing of an Enviro200 as on the U7 leaflet, although neither route is operated by that type. There is a map inside showing the route in crimson, with much of the route, particularly west of Sutton, shown as hail & ride sections. There is a full panel timetable and a route grid.

Two further leaflets have appeared in early September. The first is an A5 flyer: New buses for route 521, Starting Tuesday 1 September 2009. This is similar to the leaflet for the 507 except that the bus drawing is carried on the front rather than overleaf, where the map occupies more space, given that the 521 is a longer route. Like that for the 507, this is a fully detailed traditional bus route map, which even shows the separate set down and pick up points for the 521 at Waterloo. The latest leaflet is: 395, 398 Introducing new route 395 and changes to route 398, Starting Saturday 5 September 2009. This has a standard blue slimline cover with a drawing of an Enviro200 single-decker in red livery. Inside is a full set of features. We thus not only have some explanatory narrative, a table of first and last buses and a route grid for both routes, but also a route map and full matrix timetables for both routes. The map shows the 395 route by a blue line and the 398 in red.   These show the minor changes to proposed routeings at Northolt Station (395) and at Wood End Estate (398) from what had been intended.

London Buses also has several new bus station spider maps. North Greenwich Bus Station is dated June while Golders Green, Kingston, Liverpool Street, Uxbridge, Victoria and West Croydon are each dated July. These maps are little changed from the previous issues, which date from between last December and March.  A point of interest is that the new night bus section of the 65 route south of Kingston is treated as a night bus route, like the N87 route on the same map. The latest spider map is for a new location. Your guide to bus services from Crystal Palace is dated August 2009 and introduces a new cover colour of yellow. The cover design is otherwise unchanged showing a stylised drawing of buses at a road junction with a large lower case letter I (the symbol for information) superimposed on the cross-roads. Inside is a spider map and a local area map which usefully extends to the National Sports Centre and the Athletics Stadium within Crystal Palace Park. TfL are to be congratulated on recognising that Crystal Palace is a major bus interchange which merits the publication of a spider map. Including night buses and the one mobility route (931), there are eighteen routes fanning out from this location, reaching as far as Plumstead and Orpington in the east, Morden and Clapham Common in the west and Oxford Circus and King’s Cross to the north. While this latest map brings the total of bus station spider maps to around thirty, plus another thirty or more hospital spider maps, there are some 900 such spider maps available on the TfL website, many of which also appear in display format.

A consultative exercise (for route G1) has been conducted by London Buses.  An A4 map was sent with a covering letter to the main local stakeholders, seeking views by 21 August. This map is also available on the TfL website for local residents to download. Under a red ‘Have your say’ masthead, this is headed: Under consideration, Possible changes to bus route G1. The map shows the existing route in pink, with the sections proposed for abandonment in orange and optional new sections in blue.

This year’s leaflet for the Notting Hill Carnival has the same cover design as in 2008, with a picture of a young lady sporting a multi-colour exotic hair style. The only difference is that the date on her T-shirt has been changed from 24-25 to this year’s 30-31 August.  The rest of the slimline is also much the same, but with a tiny NHC2009 code on the back cover. The map inside has been updated to show the routes which now serve the Westfield Shopping Centre, while the 295, which last year was diverted via North Pole Road to reach St Mark’s Road has been trimmed back closer to Scrubs Lane.

There is a new issue of the leaflet for the East London Transit scheme, last reported in TLB532. A slimline with a red cover with the strapline ‘Second phase’ appeared in July. Although undated, the text refers to the first phase between Ilford and Barking as already under construction, with services to begin in spring 2010. There are two maps of the second phase to serve the new Barking Riverside development. These maps show planned modifications to River Road, Thames Road and Creek Road (on the current 387 bus route) on which work is scheduled to begin late in 2010, with services starting in 2013.

There is a new edition dated July of the Step-free Tube guide, the small format (75x150mm) folded map with a yellow cover. This replaces the first edition dated January 2009. It looks much the same as the previous issue, but there is an extra fold to accommodate narrative information for additional accessible stations. The Tube diagram inside is modified to show, by a range of symbols, where passengers can get between the platform and street, or change between lines, step-free. Alongside this guide, there is a new issue of the Do you need help getting around? slimline, which has an August 2009 date on the back. Like the original from last December, this has a yellow cover. It lists the various large print, audio and online guides to assist older and disabled people use public transport in London.

There is also a new edition of the Tube Toilet map showing which stations have male, female and accessible toilets for wheelchair users, whether they are inside or outside the ticket gates, and whether they have baby changing facilities. Again this map is only available on the website. Like the original, which appeared in January, the new edition is undated, but the accompanying ‘Toilet facilities, Useful information’ sheet, is dated July. It has been reported that there was another issue of this map in March, but given the ephemeral nature of items on the website, we can no longer see that. Compared with the January version, the latest map shows some additional stations with toilets, either on the station or nearby.

There is a new June 2009 edition of the walking map for the Bond Street area. The latest map is folded inside a card folder of just 70x108mm. The cover, which carries Mayor of London and TfL branding, has a yellow masthead reading Legible London, beneath which is the title, A new way of walking in the Capital. Inside is one of the new style street maps found in CYJs at Marble Arch, Bond Street and Oxford Circus. This has a grey background, with the major buildings marked in yellow and with the largest of them (eg Selfridge’s, John Lewis, Claridge’s) embellished by drawings of their frontages. Tube stations and bus stops are marked, with bus stops for the 8 route in New Bond Street and Davies Street still shown, despite its withdrawal from these streets from 27 June. The previous undated issue of this Legible London map, Walking the West End, was reported in TLB537.

Transforming Tottenham Court Road is the title on an A4 leaflet published jointly by London Underground and Crossrail. The headline on this item, which is probably the first of a series of news bulletins, reads: Crossrail Visitor Centre - now open! There is a cover picture of the visitor centre, which is open 12.00 to 20.00 every Tuesday and Thursday. The leaflet, dated Summer 2009, describes the work now under way at Tottenham Court Road, as well as the work now started on the diagonal pedestrian crossings at Oxford Circus.

 

There are still more new issues of Continuing your journey (CYJ) maps available at London Underground stations. These all have bus stop maps with a yellow background on the front page. Some of the latest issues, nine of those with 06.09 date codes, and both those with an 07.09 code have lost the grey tint behind the destinations in the bus route lists below these bus stop maps. In date order, the latest arrivals are: with an 11.08 code: Caledonian Road; then Chalk Farm, Walthamstow Central, West Kensington with 04.09 codes; Angel, Becontree, Belsize Park, Bermondsey, Blackhorse Road, Canons Park, Colindale, East Putney, Finchley Central, Finsbury Park, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Hornchurch, Moorgate, Newbury Park, Oakwood, Osterley, Oval, Pinner, Preston Road, Snaresbrook, Sudbury Town, Turnpike Lane, Upminster Bridge, Upney, Upton Park, West Finchley, West Harrow, Woodford.

With 05.09 codes:  Bank, Bethnal Green, Bond Street, Bow Road, Camden Town, Chancery Lane, Great Portland Street and Regent's Park, Green Park, Holborn, Hounslow Central, Hyde Park Corner, Kennington, Kentish Town, Leytonstone, Liverpool Street, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul's, Stratford, Tottenham Court Road, Victoria, with 06.09 codes, and finally Tower Hill, Waterloo with 07.09 codes. There is also a new LAM (local area map) for Watford with an 04.09 code.  Notable among these new arrivals is Bond Street, which joins Marble Arch and Oxford Circus in having a semi-pictorial street map inside.

However, the most keenly awaited CYJ we have to report this time is Cockfosters, which has an 01.07 code and a white bus stop map on the front. Its significance is that it has appeared in the publicity slots at the last remaining Underground station to receive a CYJ in the current series. This statement needs some qualification. CYJs do not feature at 21 stations served by London Underground. The rule appears to be that CYJs are not produced for stations served by National Rail or London Overground trains unless there are separate London Underground ticket barriers, or unless the station is operated by LU. Therefore we see CYJs at places like Finsbury Park, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Stratford and West Ham but not at Barking, Ealing Broadway, Kensington (Olympia), Upminster, Wimbledon, stations on the Richmond branch or on the Bakerloo from Queen's Park northwards. Nor are they published for the three stations at Heathrow. All told, CYJs are currently published for 230 Underground stations, although because of some combined issues for neighbouring stations, there are only 224 different CYJs. In addition, another fifteen stations outside Greater London have LAMs (local area maps) without bus stop maps on the front. Within the total of 230 the two separate stations at Edgware Road, Elephant & Castle, Hammersmith and Paddington each count as only one, while the closed Blackfriars is excluded along with the stations on the East London line no longer served by Underground trains. Of these 224 CYJs, 23 still have the older style bus stop maps with white backgrounds, while Covent Garden, with no nearby bus routes, has no bus stop map, but has some bus stops shown on the street map inside.

For anyone pondering the inclusion of so much detail on items apparently aimed at rail services, we should explain that CYJs and LAMs contain no information on Underground services other than marking the location of the station entrances on both the bus stop and street maps. CYJs are updated regularly for the benefit of the bus services, and those members who monitor such matters will have noticed that new CYJs have recently appeared at stations along the length of the 8 and C2 routes to reflect the revised destinations of these two routes.

A new issue of TfL’s slimline booklet Travel discounts, for children, teenagers and students is dated April 2009. This has the same green cover as the previous issue dated 1 September 2008. Also reissued just in time for the start of term are two other slimlines with green covers, both dated From 1 September 2009.  The first is Free travel on buses and trams with ZIP from Oyster, Age 11 – 15. The second leaflet is Get fantastic travel discounts with ZIP from Oyster, Age 16+. Both items replace similar leaflets from September 2008.

‘Pop will eat itself’ is the title of an Art on the Underground leaflet promoting an exhibition of contemporary art at Piccadilly Underground station from June to September. A second leaflet is titled Impossible Buildings, Interpreting Place. This opens out to reveal a poster of drawings inspired by the walk between Southwark Underground station and Tate Modern. Street Smart is the title on a green and white slimline promoting a play experience for families at the London Transport Museum from 25 July to 31 August.

Getting to us by bus, Bus timetable from Monday 5th January 2009, is the title of a slimline in corporate style from Tesco, Kennington Lane, Kennington. Inside is a spider map (in Tesco, not TfL style) showing all the bus routes serving Vauxhall Bus Station. Overleaf is a route list and frequency guide. Curiously, this guide ignores the 3, 59 and 159 routes along Kennington Road, which run closer to the store than the buses at Vauxhall.

Further reprints of TfL’s cycling maps have been identified. All these have either 02.09 or 03.09 print codes, in place of the original 06.07 codes. The latest examples are the Local Cycling Guide for areas 4, 5, 6, 10, 11 and 12.  As explained in TLB536, these new issues are almost identical to the 2007 editions, apart from gaining a message from Boris Johnson. The Tour of Britain, the TfL London Stage Saturday 19 September 2009, is the heading on a slimline with a drawing of a cyclist on the cover. Inside is a map of the Circuit Race route from Westminster to Tower Hill, showing every Underground and Rail station around the area.

Summer by London Overground is a slimline promotional booklet suggesting ideas for days out which can be reached from LO stations. There is a deckchair on the cover and a fold-out LO network diagram. A tiny 0609 code gives the issue date.

Some recent items from DLR merit a mention. Under the ‘Building a better railway’ banner, an A5 flyer announces that a new ‘flyunder’ comes into service on 24 August. This enables weekday peak hour trains from Bank towards Lewisham to bypass West India Quay station. A new timetable came into effect from the same date. There is a new issue of the slimline ‘A guide to using Docklands Light Railway’ dated August. This is similar to previous issues of this guide, but has restored the table of first and last train times (Monday to Friday) which was omitted from the last edition in March. It is therefore the first printed table of these times since the opening of the line to Woolwich Arsenal. Another A5 notice lists planned works and closures until the end of October. These will continue, although three-carriage services will operate on DLR between Bank and Lewisham from early next year. The new line from Canning Town to Stratford International will open in summer 2010. 

Those awaiting a copy of the current season’s National Rail London Connections map have so far been disappointed. In the normal course of events, the new map would have appeared about the same time as the new National Rail timetable started in May. The latest promise is that copies of this map will become available during September, but we offer no guarantee that this target will be met. However, in recent weeks, display copies of the London side of the new map have been posted at a few locations. Dated 17th May 2009, this is little changed from the previous issue from last December. As might be expected a few aspects have been updated. The DLR line to Woolwich Arsenal is now shown as open. Imperial Wharf station between West Brompton and Clapham Junction has been added (or more precisely restored) to the map and labelled as opening in late 2009 when it will be served by both LO and Southern. [It is now expected that Imperial Wharf will open from 27 September – Ed.]. The First Capital Connect branch to Moorgate has been deleted.

 

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Moving outside London, Arriva the Shires has ventured into new territory with a smart promotional slimline leaflet for St Albans. Under a lime green masthead labelled Green Line 712, this is titled London to St Albans, Enjoy a great day out in St Albans, History, culture and fun for all. There are drawings of three Roman soldiers, although one has substituted a baseball cap for his helmet and another has a camera and is wearing an ‘I love St Albans’ T-shirt. Inside is an impressive glossy brochure extolling the attractions of the historic city of St Albans.  A street map of the city shows Green Line routes 712 and 724 together with local bus routes 300 and 301. A red label on the cover shows a £5 return fare as an introductory offer till 30/09/09. For potential passengers in the opposite direction, there is an A5 folder ‘Have you tried the new Green Line service to London yet?’ The cover suggests Sightseeing, Shopping and Commuting as reasons for using this service. There is a route map inside. Another 712 item is a slimline slip showing how the 712 route connects with the Underground network.

The MK Metro subsidiary of Arriva  continues with its distinctive style of leaflets, with a red cover A5 for routes 12/2E from 21 June, but cross-country route 33 to Northampton is marketed as an Arriva service with a standard hazel green A5 from 22 June. A pale green A5 for Great Days Out from the Milton Keynes area 2009 includes across its centre fold a spider map diagram of MK Metro and Arriva routes serving Milton Keynes, Wolverton and Bletchley. A slimline with a yellow cover promotes the 5 for a fiver day ticket in Buckinghamshire.  In the Know, the newsletter from Arriva at Hemel Hempstead has a Summer 2009 issue. This A5 leaflet has new buses for route 300/301 as the lead story.

The Arriva website, which has been redesigned in recent weeks, now offers route maps and local street maps of Green Line services 712, 757, 758 and 797. There is also a revised Green Line website from which a Green Line network diagram can be downloaded. Dated 8.6.09 this diagram, which includes a frequency guide, also shows First Group 701/702 route to Windsor and Bracknell, as well as Arriva 510 bus route which connects with 724 route at Harlow onto Stansted Airport. It is to be hoped that this diagram might appear in printed form, as the last comprehensive Green Line map was published by TfL as long ago as 2004.

Standard leaflets in the new hazel green A5 style are for 261 (Aylesbury, Oxford) from 20 July, and a batch for Luton from 1 September: 9, 23/27, 24/25 including college service 26 and Sunday 21. As is customary with Arriva’s publicity, the fact that the evening services on 24/27/29 (see TLB540 paage16) are now worked by other operators is not mentioned and their journeys are not shown.  .

Sister company Arriva Southern Counties has further A5 leaflets in the new hazel green style. These are for Dartford 455 from 31 May, Buses to school with Arriva for schools at Wilmington (routes 414, 423, 424 and 485) from 15 June, Horsham 51/61/62 from 27 July, Gravesend 495/498/499 from 9 August and the customary one (but now in the hazel green) for the August Bank Holiday service variations.  Calling all bus users, Buy, receive and use your bus ticket via your mobile, is the self-explanatory title of an A5 handbill. This invites passengers in Kent and Medway to purchase m-tickets via their mobile phones, which they then show to the driver on the mobile’s screen. There are also new issues of the A5s for Fastrack route A and B dated 31 May, which are otherwise identical to the previous issues from last August and September, with cover photos of the Fastrack vehicles. 

Centrebus has three new A5 route leaflets. That for the 46 dated 29/06/09 inside is similar to the recent April issue, but the four Plaxton Centros (which are not relevant to this route) have been deleted from the happy couple and child cover. The Centrebus name is now suffixed by ‘Herts & Beds’, with the strapline, Your local bus service provider. A second leaflet, at eight pages about the bulkiest seen from this operator, is for routes 366, 365, 866. This shares the same cover design with the 46 leaflet, even to listing the same place-names on the cover, including Hemel Hempstead. The timetables inside, dated 29th June, have headings which correctly list the route as Dunstable, Luton, Hatfield. The third item, for route X31, is similar to the 366 and is also dated 29th June with eight pages. This time, the destinations listed on the cover are correct. There are three boxes starting Luton, followed by Toddington, Milton Keynes and Hemel Hempstead.

The slimline for the Excel Airport by Coach service X3 from south Essex to Stansted Airport was reported in TLB538. A similar leaflet, again with a blue cover, for Excel’s X11 Airport by Coach service direct to Gatwick Airport from Chatham, Gillingham, Hempstead, Maidstone, Sevenoaks is dated 1 June 2009. Within the LOTS area this service picks up in Borough Green, Sevenoaks, and Godstone. There are ‘where to get on & off’ coach stop maps inside for the major points.  

First in the Thames Valley has a new issue of the slimline booklet for the RailAir service from Reading to Heathrow. Dated June, this shares a similar cover picture with the recent Slough & Windsor bus timetable book. There is also a new edition of the Bracknell bus information slimline timetable book dated 29 August. Both items have the modified cover design introduced with the Slough and Windsor book in May.

As trailed in TLB539, we can report a new timetable book from Metrobus of Crawley. This is titled West Sussex Bus Times, which is an A5 glossy with fifty six pages. It is dated as Valid from 25th July 2009 and has a cover picture of Horsham with an inset of Godstone village pond.  The book is in the same attractive format as before, but has gained an improved Crawley and Horley Bus Network map in something resembling London style, with all the bus roads named and colour coded. There are also town centre maps for Crawley, Horsham, East Grinstead and Haywards Heath. Metrobus also has an A5 leaflet with a navy blue cover for improved route 7 from 25 July. There is another vintage style route leaflet. With a straw coloured slimline cover and a sepia tinted photo of Croydon clock tower this is titled: Time to enjoy the arts, history and culture on Route 409. This is issue 1 dated July 2009. As well as a timetable and route map, there are descriptions inside of attractions such as the Caterham Seven sports car showroom at Caterham, Sackville College at East Grinstead and the Whitgift Almshouses in Croydon.

Metroline has a new issue of its combined Bus Times slimline for routes 84 and 242. This is dated ‘From 5 September 2009’ and is almost identical to the previous issue dated 30 March, with a cover photo of one of the 08 registered DEL class AD Enviro200 single-deckers.

The National Express dot2dot pre-booked minicoach service between central London hotels and Heathrow Airport terminals was sold to Corot plc in January. A slimline for the new operator has now been seen. This red and white flyer dated February offers the Heathrow to London service for £19 or less, while London to Gatwick and Heathrow to Gatwick transfers are also available, the latter a new venture since the Corot takeover. .

Oxford Bus Company has reissued its slimline leaflet for the airline service from Oxford to Heathrow and Gatwick. This is dated 14 June to 26 September 2009. This has a largely blue slimline cover.  Their rivals, Oxford Tube have a new slimline for their London to Oxford service dated 26 July 2009. The cherry red cover carries a small drawing of the new Astromega double deck coaches now appearing on the service. These imposing vehicles have three axles and two staircases, reminding older readers of Bournemouth trolleybuses perhaps. But with air-con, wi-fi, power sockets, reclining seats and on board toilets, they are streets ahead of the old trolleys.

Bus Times, Full details of your local bus services operated by Southdown PSV is the title of a multi-colour glossy 16 page A5 booklet dated 29 August 2009. It seems that competition in this area is good for bus timetable standards. Metrobus are renowned for their high production values. TLB539 reported on the smart glossy timetable published in April by Compass Bus. This latest Southdown book goes one better by employing colour on every page. These pages provide full timetables of all the company’s services, plus a route diagram and a town plan (Surrey CC style) of Oxted & Limpsfield. The company also has a full colour A5 handbill for route GF1. This is headed: Day trip to Godstone Farm from the Crawley, Horley and Redhill areas. This school holidays route ran Mondays to Fridays from 27th July to 28th August.

Woottens (Tiger Line) has a slimline for new route T2, Chesham, Hemel Hempstead, Watford, which has a yellow corner flash: Launches 17th August 2009. This has a similar cover to the T1 route, except that a photo of Watford has been imported, replacing that of Hemel church.

 

In the local authority sector, East Sussex has redesigned its area bus timetable leaflets. In place of the generic drawing of a Solo in a rural setting on the slimline covers, we now have specific photos of local landmarks in each area.  These multi-fold leaflets have gained extra folds, partly because of employing a larger typeface for the timetables inside, but also because they have gained coloured string FWT town bus maps, similar to those in the last countywide bus map, dated November 2007. As before, timetables are only included for council contract Rider services, with just a simple list of commercial services, although all routes are shown on the maps. The one area which includes a route into LOTS territory, Heathfield, Uckfield & Crowborough, has now lost Crowborough to a separate area. The new Bus Timetable Heathfield & Uckfield Area is dated as Valid from 27th July 2009. It has an attractive cover photo of Uckfield’s Picture House dating from 1916. It includes a timetable for route 261 to Forest Row and East Grinstead, now operated by Countryliner in place of Eastbourne Buses.

The new Bus Timetables for Essex book dated June has arrived. It is in the same weighty telephone directory A4 format as before, with a useful ‘principal bus routes’ county map to supplement the town maps. This book was produced before the end of Stansted Transit, but recent examples of Essex slimline route leaflets reflect the changes this closure has brought. One for Village Link 5 Saffron Walden and Bishops Stortford dated 2 November 2008 shows Stansted Transit as the operator, possibly the last time this name appeared on an ECC leaflet. Although a little outside the LOTS area, an example of a replacement for a former Stansted Transit route is 17 Great Bardfield to Saffron Walden dated 5 July 2009, with First as the new operator. Another slimline, this time for a route that passes into Herts, is 444/445 Barley, Chrishall, Saffron Walden dated 15 June 2009, which is operated by Viceroy of Essex.

Hertfordshire has three new Travel Guide timetable books. The first of these is for area 1, Watford, Bushey & Rickmansworth, dated July 2009. The others are for area 2 Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted & Tring, and for area 5 Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth & Baldock, both dated August 2009. All three have the usual A5 format with a glossy cover. There is a new edition of Intachange magazine, issue 59, dated July/August. The cover story is about days out this summer with a picture of a Centrebus Dart in special orange livery on summer Sunday Chilterns Rambler route 327. Another item reports the offer of a ‘webclick’ button. This is (to quote what appears on the screen when it is plugged in) a USB Human Interface Device. Plug it into a USB port on a PC and it links automatically to the Intalink website when the device is clicked. It also constantly changes colour once plugged in. Intalink magazine states that it is hoped this will slowly wean people off the more conventional printed Area Travel Guides. Your Guide to explorer from 5th July 2009, is a slimline leaflet promoting the Explorer ticket on the Intalink bus network. It explains that these tickets are no longer valid on Green Line 724 route south of Maple Cross.

There is an updated Oxfordshire Public Transport Map & Guide dated June - December 2009.   This is much the same as the previous issue from December 2008, except that it has a new cover picture. The rural bus map now employs a red line to show routes with an hourly or better service on Monday to Friday, whereas previously this only indicated a route with more than five journeys a day.

 


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