We certainly weren't expecting that!
When route W19 was up for tender earlier this year, there were a variety of operators which people expected to potentially win the route. However something almost nobody saw coming was CT Plus winning the route.
Route W19 is a route which was previously operated by Go Ahead London and was operated from Barking (RR) garage. The route was allocated with MCV Evolution bodied Enviro200 buses supplemented with a few Enviro200 bodied E20D buses. The route operates between Ilford and Walthamstow, Argall Avenue however during evenings it only operates between Ilford and St James' Street Station. It was announced that CT Plus would be ordering brand new Enviro200's for the W19. Initially assumed to be Enviro200 MMCs it was quite a disappointment when towards the end of October classic Enviro200 buses started turning up at Walthamstow (AW) garage especially after more than a year since Enviro200 MMCs entered service on route 499. There was further disappointment when it was announced that the route would continue to use 9.6m buses despite it could take longer buses.
Go Ahead London operated the W19 for 10 years, 5 years from Silvertown Garage (SI), 4 years and 8 months at Rainham (BE) garage and then 3 months from Barking (RR) garage. During its time at Go Ahead London the W19 saw a fair share of vehicle types ranging from 8.9m Marshalls to 10.8m Enviro200s along with its allocated MCV Evolutions. Its allocation of MCV Evolutions was supplemented in 2015 by some brand new Euro6 Enviro200s (SE232-SE234) when the PVR of the route was increased to help with demand. These Euro6 Enviro200s were also fitted with flywheels.
CT Plus duly took over the operation of the route on the 26th of November. I took the short trip to Ilford on the EL1 to be granted with a nice 20 minute wait for the W19, not the smoothest of starts but something which is to be expected on the first day of a new operator. Eventually 1225 turned around the corner showcasing its very obscure blind display, something which took me by surprise to say the least, but CT Plus certainly deserve credit for blind accuracy. When 1225 came back around to take me to Walthamstow, the first thing I couldn't help but notice on the bus was the "new bus smell" as well as the extremely welcoming interior of the bus, the same interior found on the E40H Citys for routes 26 and 78.
We set off from Hainault Street, the bus behaving like you would expect a normal Enviro200 to behave. Three stops later our bus was completely at capacity, no doubt caused by the gap in front of our bus as well as the route's natural popularity. It wasn't until Manor Park Station where most of the crowd had got off, but it didn't take long until the bus became crowded again along Aldersbrook. It was at this point that I noticed that every W19 that was heading in the other direction had been part of a bunching.
When we reached Leytonstone Station, most of the crowd got off the bus giving me some breathing room. It wasn't long until we were in the grounds of Whipps Cross Hospital and then a few minutes later we found ourselves at Leyton Green. I was quite happy at the speed that we were going...until we found ourselves at Hoe Street. It was just standstill traffic along that road, no doubt caused by the roadworks taking place near Walthamstow Central Station. We must have spent over 30 minutes travelling from Baker's Arms to Walthamstow Bus Station. It also wasn't very helpful when an alarm started going off in the bus while we were stuck in the traffic. We eventually reached Walthamstow Bus Station and the bus was going to have a driver changeover, but by this point I'd lost all my patience with the route so I got off. Not much to my surprise, 1227 also rolled up a minute after 1225.
It was not the smoothest first day for CT Plus, with buses bunching everywhere. Service on the route has improved since then, but not dramatically. The roadworks in Walthamstow are to continue for the considerable future, and it will be unfair to expect a perfect service from CT Plus during this time. However there is a lot of time left for improvement, maybe CT Plus will eventually master the service on the route.
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| ED16 seen at Ilford Broadway on route W19 © EastLondoner |
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| SE232 is seen at Ilford Broadway © EastLondoner |
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| 1225 seen at Ilford High Road © EastLondoner |
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| Interior of one of the W19s buses © EastLondoner |
We set off from Hainault Street, the bus behaving like you would expect a normal Enviro200 to behave. Three stops later our bus was completely at capacity, no doubt caused by the gap in front of our bus as well as the route's natural popularity. It wasn't until Manor Park Station where most of the crowd had got off, but it didn't take long until the bus became crowded again along Aldersbrook. It was at this point that I noticed that every W19 that was heading in the other direction had been part of a bunching.
When we reached Leytonstone Station, most of the crowd got off the bus giving me some breathing room. It wasn't long until we were in the grounds of Whipps Cross Hospital and then a few minutes later we found ourselves at Leyton Green. I was quite happy at the speed that we were going...until we found ourselves at Hoe Street. It was just standstill traffic along that road, no doubt caused by the roadworks taking place near Walthamstow Central Station. We must have spent over 30 minutes travelling from Baker's Arms to Walthamstow Bus Station. It also wasn't very helpful when an alarm started going off in the bus while we were stuck in the traffic. We eventually reached Walthamstow Bus Station and the bus was going to have a driver changeover, but by this point I'd lost all my patience with the route so I got off. Not much to my surprise, 1227 also rolled up a minute after 1225.
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| 1227 seen at Walthamstow Bus Station © EastLondoner |
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