In March, lots of routes in North-East London changed operator over two weekends, whilst others gained new buses while staying with the same company. I finally found the opportunity to cover them last week, so on Friday I went out on a massive adventure all over that part of London, to hunt down all of the vehicle changes, apart from one which is running late. However, this post has been delayed enough already, so waiting for the new vehicles to enter service isn't really an option, especially as there have been so many other changes in this hectic month for the world of buses, resulting in a flurry of Busageddon posts over the next month.
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| Stagecoach London 12410 on route 205. |
I apologise for the extra-large size, this picture is showing up as fuzzy on my preview page and I want to make sure my visual representation of the changes is on point! The first change took place on the 25th February, when the 277 started to receive a partial allocation of E40H MMC vehicles, from Bow (BW) garage. However, they are spending more time on the Central London route 205 at the moment, which is fine by me as that route is far more useful to me than the 277, and these hybrid vehicles are wonderful. The 277 is using the older E40H vehicles allocated to route 205, which are still my favourite hybrid vehicles in the whole of London, and contain seats that are much more comfortable than the flat ones on the Scania OmniCity vehicles which have migrated to the 97, following the arrival of this new kit.
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| CT Plus 1263 on route 397 to Debden. |
The 397 runs on the outskirts of London and into Essex, with a modest 2bph frequency, from Crooked Billet Sainsbury's-Debden, via Chingford and an assortment of back streets. The buses are always fairly busy and I think a frequency increase to every 20 minutes would make the route even more popular; it could've been useful twice on Friday, although a 25 minute wait on both occasions wasn't appealing. The route was run by Arriva London, before CT Plus won the route in the tendering process, with some brand new Enviro 200 MMCs. The independent operator were very successful in winning routes from other operators, resulting in a very large order of single deck vehicles from their new garage in Walthamstow. The vehicles operate on a common user policy, meaning that any of the vehicles allocated to the 397, W11, W13 or W16 can appear on any route found in the garage, as they all use the same type of bus. For example, the bus shown in the picture is really allocated to the W13, but it can frequently be found on the 397. At the start of the contract the locals weren't happy with reliability and concluded that Arriva ran the route better than CT Plus, although the service has improved lately and is almost as good as the previous operator's effort.
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| WVL473 stands at Wanstead on route 101 to Gallions Reach. |
Following the introduction of New Routemasters on the East London Transit routes (these will be covered in October, once the new roads in Barking Riverside open), the Gemini 2 vehicles previously allocated to the routes were made redundant. Go-Ahead London used this opportunity to win route 101 off Stagecoach, with these existing vehicles. However, the branded buses haven't been repainted since their last contract, so the Gemini 2's on the 101 are running around with East London Transit vinyls on the side, even though the route isn't part of the scheme! Ironically, the New Routemasters on the EL1, EL2 and EL3 haven't had their vinyls applied yet. The 101 is a difficult route to operate, passing through traffic-filled town centres of East Ham and Beckton, although the scenery on the route is lovely, including Beckton DLR Depot and Wanstead Flats. The route is fairly reliable and Go-Ahead are not struggling with it at all, partially because this route mirrors the 474 from Beckton-Manor Park, which Go-Ahead already operate. Overall, this is a successful operator change and I hope the strong start remains consistent over the next five years.
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| Stagecoach London 10116 stands at Lee Valley Campsite on the 215. |
The 215 is an odd route, running with double deckers from Walthamstow Central-Lee Valley Campsite. Before the contract renewal, the route was allocated with Scania OmniCity vehicles and was extended to Lee Valley Campsite during summer months only; the route terminated at the Yardley Lane lay-by at other times. The route now runs with ADL Enviro 400 vehicles displaced from the 387 and terminates at the campsite all year long! The route offers a stunning view of the seemingly endless King George's Reservoir towards the end of the journey and the terminus at Lee Valley is pretty unique, located in the heart of the countryside at Sewardstone. From my observations, the route is lightly used up there, but clearly the loadings are sufficient enough to demand a service to the campsite all year round!
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| A Gemini 2 vehicle stands in Wanstead, working route 308. |
This route was supposed to receive brand new B5LH EvoSeti vehicles at the beginning of March, however they still haven't entered service now! It runs from Clapton Pond-Wanstead via Stratford and Forest Gate, running every 12 minutes. The double decking of the route has been appreciated by the locals and lots of bus enthusiasts, myself included, as the route can get exceptionally busy in rush hour. This route also offers decent views of the Olympic Park in Stratford, although the 388 is still slightly better for this. For now, a mixture of existing vehicles found at Lea Interchange garage are being used on the route, like the Gemini 2 shown in the picture.
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| A CT Plus E200 MMC on route W11. |
The W11 is a short, well-used single deck route that runs from Walthamstow Central-Chingford Hall Estate. A re-route via Blackhorse Road was scheduled for the contract award, although that aspect of the tender has been postponed and the route still runs directly to Walthamstow via Palmerston Road. As well as the 397, Arriva lost this route to CT Plus, with more E200 MMCs equipped with the TFL interior and moquette. At the moment, CT Plus are struggling with the route, with large gaps in the route becoming a common occurrence. I hope that CT Plus get their act together soon, otherwise the locals aren't going to be happy with the new, inadequate service levels.
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| Another win for CT Plus... |
The W16 runs from Chingford Mount-Leytonstone, avoiding Walthamstow completely by travelling through Highams Park and Wood Street instead. As a result of ongoing works in the town centre, the W16 is a popular method of travelling across North-East London efficiently and is a very busy single deck route. Go-Ahead London used to operate the route with ADL Enviro 200 vehicles from Northumberland Park garage, although those vehicles have been sent to Orpington for the R11 contract, along with a refurbishment. The common-user MMCs at Walthamstow garage work the W16 and the route is doing well under CT Plus, after a shaky start. A frequency increase was probably best for this route-although thankfully it's not at bursting point yet. I get the feeling that it will only get busier as time goes on, so hopefully CT Plus can maintain the good levels of service provided so far.
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| A banditised route 167 vehicle at Loughton Station. |
Go-Ahead London lost both the 167 and 549 to Stagecoach on the 11th March. These routes will receive new Enviro 200 MMC vehicles in the future, although they will only arrive later this month. This is because Stagecoach originally order Mercedes Citaro K vehicles for the routes, but due to concerning emission levels those vehicles have been banned from London for the time being. The routes are temporarily using a mixture of ADL Enviro 200 vehicles, sourced from various garages across East London. The 165 and 178 have temporarily converted to double deck operation, allowing their single deckers to transfer over to Barking until the new kit arrives. Unfortunately, Essex County Council withdrew funding for the 167 route, so a curtailment from Debden was necessary, meaning that the route now only runs between Ilford and Loughton. A new school route, the 677, now runs to all of the schools in the area and route 20 continues to provide the link from Loughton-Debden. So far, reliability on the 167 has been great, although some of the buses don't have blinds for the route, resulting in "banditry", which involves sticking a piece of card or paper in the window with the route number written on instead of normal blinds. Once Barking garage fix their vehicle presentation, the route will be fine. The 549 runs between South Woodford and Loughton every 70 minutes and is a community route running with only one vehicle for the entire day. Operation under Go-Ahead was terrible, so hopefully Stagecoach can provide a more useful service for locals along the route.
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| An Optare Esteem vehicle stands at Chingford Station on route 379 to Yardley Lane. |
The 379 only has a PVR of 2 and is a circular service from Chingford Station, operating in a loop at the Northern end of the route, serving the Yardley Lane area and linking the locals to a railway station and high street. A full journey from Chingford-Chingford only takes 20 minutes, meaning that this route is one of the shortest in London. Amazingly, Arriva managed to lose this route, even though it must be relatively easy to run, to Go-Ahead London from Northumberland Park (NP) garage. I'm not entirely sure of the future allocation of this route, as I think the use of Esteem vehicles are only a temporary measure. These vehicles started off South of the river under Metrobus (the logo is still visible), but then they moved to the 346 in Upminster, which is just like the 379! It's a loop service with a PVR of 2 that links local residents to the station and high street. However, the 379 is going to kill these vehicles, they are really struggling up the steep Antlers Hill!
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| CT Plus 1269 on route W13 to Leytonstone. |
CT Plus managed to hold onto this route, with more MMCs. The buses are very nice, containing the TFL interior and are capable of travelling at high speeds. The W13 runs from Woodford Wells-Leytonstone via Wanstead and sometimes uses double deck vehicles. CT Plus have always ran the route well and the reliability is still on point for the new contract. This route is also full of buggy users, so enjoy watching some "buggy wars" if you feel the need to ride this route.
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| Stagecoach London 36302 on route 462 to Limes Farm Estate. |
The 362 and 462 were also won from Go-Ahead by Stagecoach, from Barking garage. Some of the 462 MMCs have entered service, although the 8.9m "classic" E200s are still hanging around for a while. These low frequency routes have also been subject to banditisation several times since the new contract and have been very unreliable since the new contract. Hopefully Stagecoach can get their act together for the next five years, otherwise some very angry locals will emerge in the East London area!
Thankfully, all of the NE London changes have been covered and I now only have 5 Busageddon posts left to publish now! Stay safe and thanks for reading!
