Smarter Bromley, Woolwich Doubled

In addition to the changes concerning Orpington (MB) garage, some other contract changes and retentions have occurred in South-East London, with Stagecoach being the general losers again.

Somehow, the oldest Trident ALX400 seems to be living the younger official allocation for the 61.

Stagecoach London managed to retain route 61 in the tendering process, which was rather surprising given their current losing streak. The service runs between Bromley North and Chislehurst in a U-shaped roueting which involves travelling through Locksbottom and Orpington, so it certainly isn't direct. Conveniently, it passes Bromley (TB) garage which is where the 61 is based. A peak vehicle requirement for 9 vehicles satisfies a 15 minute frequency from Monday to Saturday, with a typical reduction to three buses per hour on Sundays and during the evening. Previously, the 61 had an

interesting allocation consisting of 56-reg Trident Enviro 400s, which were the only full batch in London to have a long wheelbase configuration, something which is actually very common outside of the capital. These were supported by even older Trident ALX400s acting as spares, along with newer Enviro 400s from the 208 and 261 allocations. The 61 as a route is almost always empty apart from during the school run, where persistent heavy loadings justify a double deck allocation, although from time to time single deckers at Bromley (TB) garage do work the service. Stagecoach London operate the 61 pretty well, although the exotic E400s have almost all been withdrawn now and won't be serving the route for its next contract. With the 261 receiving brand new MMCs, its fairly young existing ADL Enviro 400s are a perfect fit for the 61 and its conversion is almost complete. Luckily, the Trident E400s won't be leaving London entirely, as some will be used as trainer buses whilst others have a new life ahead of them on the Mega Sightseeing tour bus routes in Zone 1, so hopefully we'll still be able to see them running around. The solitary example at Rainham (RM) garage, which is also the Sprit Of London vehicle, still sees regular service too.

One of the exclusive 61 vehicles has a day out on the 261 days before withdrawal.

Like the 61, the 261 passes Bromley (TB) garage and was retained by Stagecoach London at this base. This latter service runs between Lewisham Station and Princess Royal Hospital, via Grove Park and Bromley Town Centre. It's a fairly busy South-East London trunk service which is used for long distances, in addition to more localised trips at either end. Being 9 miles in length, end-to-end journey times are around 60-70 minutes during the day, with most of the route being urban in nature. An unusual 13 minute frequency from Monday to Saturday requires the same number of buses for the PVR, with a reduction to every 15 minutes on Sundays and every 20 minutes during the evening. Previously, Metrobus at Orpington (MB) garage operated the service and there was speculation that the route would return, but for once Go-Ahead were unsuccessful in their tender application. Although the 261 did receive its own ADL Enviro 400s in 2013, the route is lucky enough to have another batch of new buses for this contract, with the conversion taking place quite rapidly now.

One of the new buses is seen on a crisp Winter morning.

 This route was retained at the start of December, but the new buses didn't enter service until a couple of weeks after - so far there haven't been any strays. They perform very similarly to the examples at West Ham (WH) garage, essentially having a more whiny diesel E40D engine with efficient super-capacitators and other technological advancement, being well-suited to slow-moving urban services such as the 261. As ever, there were rumours that the buses would move to West Ham and join their slightly older counterparts, but in the end this didn't happen and South-East London can, for once, actually appreciate brand new vehicles. Conveniently, the future for the 63-reg former 261 buses is at the same garage, so reblinding is not necessary and the upgrade for route 61 is also taking place quickly. I wish Stagecoach all the best for both services and hopefully they continue to provide their commendable quality of service for the next five years.

A royal kebab, never heard of that one before...

Running between Lewisham Station and Woolwich, the 178 is one of many routes connecting these two town centres. Taking around 45 minutes end-to-end, this service travels via Lee, Kidbrooke and Queen Elizabeth Hospital at a 15 minute frequency, which drops to every 20 minutes on Sundays and during the evening. A PVR for 9 vehicles is necessary to run the 9-mile service. Previously, Stagecoach London operated the service from Catford (TL) garage, using a mixture of single deckers. Initially, these were commonly Dart Pointers but around a year ago they were replaced with slightly more modern ADL Enviro 200s, which were complemented occasionally with MMC variants officially allocated to the 380. For a short period of time in early 2017, the route was temporarily converted to double deck operation using Trident ALX400s, as the new buses for the 167 takeover were late and compliant vehicles needed to be sourced from somewhere. This did not become a permanent feature for the remainder of the Stagecoach contract. However, this "trial run" was clearly deemed a success and from Saturday 8th December, the date Go-Ahead London took over, the 178 is officially known as a double deck route.

I'd like to thank Sainsbury's for making this shot uploadable through their light source.

 Initially, enthusiasts were quite surprised that this particular route was chosen for an upgrade to double deckers, since it was never really busy and other single deck services are still in desperate need of an improvement. However, the new Kidbrooke Village development is likely to result in substantial growth for the 178, providing links to many stations and a hospital. This area was previously known as the Ferrier Estate, which had rather negative connotations, but the new site consists of much prettier housing, surrounded by extensive green spaces with gorgeous lakes, and its pretty vast. Buses undertake a clockwise circuit to serve the area and at the moment it's a perfect time to ride the route, as half the area is complete with residents happily living inside the property, whilst the rest is a building site. Combined with other quirky features like the bizarre double run into Kidbrooke Station, the views of Woolwich Barracks and lovely panoramas, I'd certainly recommend the 178 to all of you. The second (and arguably weaker) reason for decking the 178 is the arrival of Crossrail in Woolwich, but I'm sceptical this will actually cause a net increase in passenger usage as people already commute to catch a train from there, they'll just be catching a faster purple service instead of the DLR or Southeastern (I've left out the other operator as they've been useless in the South-East). The Crossrail related bus changes were all supposed to take place just before the grand opening on December 8th, but only the 178 and 291 double deckings went ahead, as it wouldn't be fair to ask Go-Ahead to source new single deckers when they'd already planned a new allocation.

The hospital was infuriating for finding spots in the sun, but the trees here were nice at least.

 Go-Ahead operate the 178 from New Cross (NX) garage and a batch of ADL Enviro 400s are rostered for the service, having received a deep refurbishment after their duties on the demanding 36. Other double deckers at the garage have been reblinded to include this route too, which means Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TLs and E40H MMCs also appear on a day-to-day basis, introducing hybrid technology to the route for the first time. From my observations a few weeks after the conversion, locals are still getting used to the prospect of having another seating level, but the amount of young children and families using the service is high and they're usually very keen to climb up the stairs. Whlist the route may not be fulfilling all of its capacity at the moment (apart from in the school run), in the future the 178 will be an essential service for all the residents in Kidbrooke and I don't doubt that it'll run 24/7 sooner or later. I wish Go-Ahead all the best for the next five years and hopefully they build on the promising quality of service delivered so far.

Woolwich has always been good for photography as the roads are quite narrow.

The 291 is probably the shortest route in Woolwich, travelling between Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Woodlands Estate - the latter destination is served by undertaking a clockwise loop. Intermediate destinations include Plumstead Common and Woolwich Town Centre, but the route is only 4 miles long. End-to-end journey times never exceed 30 minutes, whilst a peak vehicle requirement of only 6 vehicles satisfies the rather intensive 10 minute frequency, which drops to 4 buses per hour on Sundays and during the evening. Like the 178, Stagecoach London operated this route under the previous contract, but this time from Plumstead (PD) garage. Before the 386 was lost to Go-Ahead in June, a mixed single deck pool of 8.9m Dart Pointers and 9.3m ADL Enviro 200s was shared between the two services, but in the final few months of the 291 contract only the latter type worked the service and no rare workings occurred as every other route at the base used double deckers. Stagecoach London's operation was exemplary, with the route having no real reliability issues, but when double deckers were specified in the tender award Go-Ahead managed to undercut this operator again, with their unstoppable force of existing 2011 vehicles...

I realise this angle is bizarre, but there aren't any other photos of QEH bound buses.

After a Scania OmniCity vehicle was deemed unsafe to operate the 291 after a route test, it looked like a hindrance to the double decking of the route and perhaps Go-Ahead would need to source some single deckers after all. Luckily, the shortest vehicles in the DD fleet, these being ADL Enviro 400s, passed the route test and the plan to use Gemini 2s quickly changed, with refurbished ex-36 vehicles again being the preferred choice. This does mean that technically no odd workings can occur on this route as all other types are banned, so the closest you'll get is a slightly older E400 with a grey skirt that should be the 180 spare. Morden Wharf (MG) garage run the 291 and for some odd reason they've been really struggling - curtailments are being pulled out all the time and once or twice the entire service has been heading in the same direction. Bunching seems all too common and from an outsider's perspective it looks like no real effort is being made to control the route properly, which is a shame as the upgrade is now offset by the drop in service quality. The good news is that even without the presence of Crossrail, people are really appreciating the increase in capacity on the 291. Although it is a very short route and did use small single deckers before, the Woodlands Estate is pretty dense and it seems there's a lot of demand for a quick shuttle to and from the town centre and station, especially at rush hour and during the shopping run, so the 291 fits the bill perfectly. Although these double deckers may struggle with the tight roads, hopefully they should be much better at tackling the array of hills this route undertakes with a full load. In the school run DDs have been seen with a full load and hopefully once the service settles down the 291 can thrive and become more established in the Woolwich community.

Thanks for reading and stay safe