1 June - The man on the Thamesmead omnibus
A reader reported a conversation with a bus driver earlier this week; the news subsequently appeared on The Murky Depths blog but not all of it. The driver gave no dates and there can be no guarantee it is totally accurate but this is the summary of what he said…
Route 301 which had been scheduled to complement Crossrail services from December 2018 will begin service
imminently using double deckers operated by Arriva out of Dartford †. It will run from Bexleyheath
to Woolwich via Woolwich Road, Long Lane, Brampton Road, Woolwich Road (top of
Knee Hill), New Road, Harrow Manorway, Carlyle Road, Bentham Road and Nathan Way.
The 53 from Plumstead Garage will no longer serve stops beyond Lambeth North
during the day and a new N53 will service Plumstead to Horseguard’s Parade during night hours.
The 428 will only serve Erith and Crayford/Dartford and not go to Bluewater or Darent Valley Hospital.
The B11 will only operate between Bexleyheath and Lakeside Medical Centre on Yarnton Way and no
longer go to Thamesmead.
The driver referred to information on a website called
http://www.londonbusroutes.net
although the changes section doesn’t appear to be very up to date.
There was no reference to the 469 (Woolwich to Erith) for which a diversion via
New Road. Woolwich Road and Picardy Road was proposed. That would deprive Abbey
Road of more than a third of services, turn New Road into a major bus route and
congest Picardy Road even more than is already the case.
† Arriva has recently been granted permission to
keep buses at 185 Manor Road, Erith too.
Route 301 as originally proposed. However due to Bexley Council’s intransigence over removing the dangerous kink in the road at the top of Knee Hill it will now divert via New Road. That may not seem like much but it is an additional five stops on what was supposed to be an Express Service.