The Day of the Small Routes
On Saturday 30th March, route 396 in East London (Ilford - King George Hospital) changed operator.
Another change saw small route 317, which operates between Enfield Little Park Gardens and Waltham Cross Bus Station make the leap from Arriva London to Metroline, joining sister route 231 which had also moved to Metroline a few months earlier.
Route 217 and co.
In 2017, Sullivan Buses gained their new and current flagship route: the 217, which operates between Turnpike Lane Bus Station in North London and Waltham Cross Bus Station in Hertfordshire, running along the length of the London leg of the A10 Great Cambridge Road. But let's not dwell on that particular service change, as you can read more about the 217 here.
To supplement the 217, there are also two 'feeder' routes that effectively run half the length of route 217 before joining the Southbury Road and terminating somewhere in Enfield Town Centre. Route 231 is responsible for supplementing the southern leg of the 217, operating between Turnpike Lane Station, Southbury Retail Park and Enfield Chase Station at a lower frequency of once every 15 minutes Monday to Saturdays and less so Sundays and evenings.
The route up until the summer of 2018 was operated by Go-Ahead London from their Northumberland Park (NP) garage. The route shared a common pool of 2008-born Enviro 400 buses with route 191 which also operates in the Enfield area. One of the quieter tenders of its days back at the end of 2017 had revealed that route had been awarded from Go-Ahead London to Metroline, a sort of homecoming as prior to 2008 Metroline had operated the route until First London had won it for a five-year contract, before Go-Ahead retained it for another 5-year contract in 2013.
Metroline returns to the Great Cambridge Road
Metroline won the route from Potters Bar (PB) garage using existing Enviro 400 buses scraped together that were displaced from other contract renewals. The conversion of route 113 at Edgware (EW) garage to hybrid operation saw a number of LK08 and LK59 plated Enviro 400s (TEs) make the move across to PB for the 231. Whilst these buses themselves don't appear on the route themselves, it allowed for newer Euro V TEs (TE1420-48) from route 134 to be released for this route. This batch is of significant interest in Metroline's fleet as the vehicles carrying LK62 registration plates are unusually, for a Metroline bus, equipped with Voith gearboxes.
A year later Metroline won the northern counterpart to route 231: route 317. This smaller and less busy equivalent runs between Enfield Town (the terminus is a stone's throw from Enfield Chase Station although TfL seem to have established it as two completely different places within Enfield; this one just being referred to as simply 'Enfield') and Waltham Cross. Route 317 is the least frequent route along the A10 corridor, operating at a mere every 20 minute frequency Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 30 minutes at all other times.
A worthy observation that often comes up in discussions relating to route 317 is that it is the least used double decker route in London, and when you take a ride on it during most of the week it is actually easy to spot why. The route struggles to break through a million passengers a year in terms of patronage (see TfL data) - so why is this backwash route a double decker and why is it as frequent as it is?
A major college sits near Turkey Street Station that sees the 217 and 317 crush loaded every morning and afternoon during the school run. Whilst this enables a valid excuse for route 317 to be double decker, another question can be asked about why the school in question doesn't have dedicated school day routes? The answer is, it does - two, in fact. Both routes 617 and 629 run a number of trips each school day however it doesn't stop other local schools in the area from using the 317.
The route also sees a wave of passengers during times of rail disruptions - it does pass near a number of railway stations served by London Overground, Great Northern and Greater Anglia who during the off-peak mostly provide a half-hourly services (although Great Northern as an example has recently ramped up the amount of trains on the line through Enfield Chase to one every 15 minutes). When one line is disrupted or closed for whatever reason, passengers will flock to the 317 to shuttle themselves between other local stations in the area.
The route is one Transport for London is reluctant to scale back in terms of frequency, simply because due to its short localised nature and the way it provides a lot of handy local, direct, round-the-corner links between Enfield Town and the likes of Bullsmoor, Turkey Street and Carterhatch, rightfully so would residents go up in arms if basic convenience was to be lost.
The 317 has always been the more neglected route when it came to getting attention and for the allocations it has received for the last several years. Arriva London, the predecessor operator to incumbent Metroline had constantly dumped a micro-fleet of buses that were soon heading towards retirement until a mid-contract upgrade saw the introduction of more younger DWs being favoured to operate this route.
Metroline as of March 2019 are now the custodians of route 317, operating this route out of Potters Bar garage once more alongside the 231. The pool of TEs has been expanded to allow the 317 to share this as an allocation. It was rumoured that Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 buses (VW-class) were due to operate this route, having been released from route 105 however this has now been proven false as route 134 gains new buses to allow enough TEs to be released to route 317.
The fleetlist for both routes are as follows:
LK59 DYY - TE976
LK59 DZB - TE978
LK59 DZE - TE980
LK59 DZF - TE982
LK62 DXP - TE1420
LK62 DXR - TE1421
LK62 DXS - TE1422
LK62 DXX - TE1424
LK62 DXY - TE1425
LK62 DYA - TE1426
LK62 DYC - TE1427
LK62 DYD - TE1428
LK62 DYF - TE1429
LK62 DYG - TE1430
LK62 DYH - TE1431
LK62 DYO - TE1433
*TE1423 is at Alperton (ON) on route 204; TE1432 is at Cricklewood (W) on route 266
Thank you for reading this post. Enjoy your bank holiday and remember to stay safe!
Another change saw small route 317, which operates between Enfield Little Park Gardens and Waltham Cross Bus Station make the leap from Arriva London to Metroline, joining sister route 231 which had also moved to Metroline a few months earlier.
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| Go-Ahead London EN2 (SN58 CDZ) at Turnpike Lane Station, route 231. |
Route 217 and co.
In 2017, Sullivan Buses gained their new and current flagship route: the 217, which operates between Turnpike Lane Bus Station in North London and Waltham Cross Bus Station in Hertfordshire, running along the length of the London leg of the A10 Great Cambridge Road. But let's not dwell on that particular service change, as you can read more about the 217 here.
To supplement the 217, there are also two 'feeder' routes that effectively run half the length of route 217 before joining the Southbury Road and terminating somewhere in Enfield Town Centre. Route 231 is responsible for supplementing the southern leg of the 217, operating between Turnpike Lane Station, Southbury Retail Park and Enfield Chase Station at a lower frequency of once every 15 minutes Monday to Saturdays and less so Sundays and evenings.
The route up until the summer of 2018 was operated by Go-Ahead London from their Northumberland Park (NP) garage. The route shared a common pool of 2008-born Enviro 400 buses with route 191 which also operates in the Enfield area. One of the quieter tenders of its days back at the end of 2017 had revealed that route had been awarded from Go-Ahead London to Metroline, a sort of homecoming as prior to 2008 Metroline had operated the route until First London had won it for a five-year contract, before Go-Ahead retained it for another 5-year contract in 2013.
 |
| Go-Ahead's E67 (LX57 CJJ) makes an appearance at Enfield Chase on route 231. |
Metroline returns to the Great Cambridge Road
Metroline won the route from Potters Bar (PB) garage using existing Enviro 400 buses scraped together that were displaced from other contract renewals. The conversion of route 113 at Edgware (EW) garage to hybrid operation saw a number of LK08 and LK59 plated Enviro 400s (TEs) make the move across to PB for the 231. Whilst these buses themselves don't appear on the route themselves, it allowed for newer Euro V TEs (TE1420-48) from route 134 to be released for this route. This batch is of significant interest in Metroline's fleet as the vehicles carrying LK62 registration plates are unusually, for a Metroline bus, equipped with Voith gearboxes.
 |
| Metroline TE1421 (LK62 DXP) at Turnpike Lane terminus, route 231. |
A year later Metroline won the northern counterpart to route 231: route 317. This smaller and less busy equivalent runs between Enfield Town (the terminus is a stone's throw from Enfield Chase Station although TfL seem to have established it as two completely different places within Enfield; this one just being referred to as simply 'Enfield') and Waltham Cross. Route 317 is the least frequent route along the A10 corridor, operating at a mere every 20 minute frequency Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 30 minutes at all other times.
A worthy observation that often comes up in discussions relating to route 317 is that it is the least used double decker route in London, and when you take a ride on it during most of the week it is actually easy to spot why. The route struggles to break through a million passengers a year in terms of patronage (see TfL data) - so why is this backwash route a double decker and why is it as frequent as it is?
A major college sits near Turkey Street Station that sees the 217 and 317 crush loaded every morning and afternoon during the school run. Whilst this enables a valid excuse for route 317 to be double decker, another question can be asked about why the school in question doesn't have dedicated school day routes? The answer is, it does - two, in fact. Both routes 617 and 629 run a number of trips each school day however it doesn't stop other local schools in the area from using the 317.
The route also sees a wave of passengers during times of rail disruptions - it does pass near a number of railway stations served by London Overground, Great Northern and Greater Anglia who during the off-peak mostly provide a half-hourly services (although Great Northern as an example has recently ramped up the amount of trains on the line through Enfield Chase to one every 15 minutes). When one line is disrupted or closed for whatever reason, passengers will flock to the 317 to shuttle themselves between other local stations in the area.
 |
| Arriva London DW546 (LJ13 CKF) on route 317, Southbury Retail Park. |
The route is one Transport for London is reluctant to scale back in terms of frequency, simply because due to its short localised nature and the way it provides a lot of handy local, direct, round-the-corner links between Enfield Town and the likes of Bullsmoor, Turkey Street and Carterhatch, rightfully so would residents go up in arms if basic convenience was to be lost.
The 317 has always been the more neglected route when it came to getting attention and for the allocations it has received for the last several years. Arriva London, the predecessor operator to incumbent Metroline had constantly dumped a micro-fleet of buses that were soon heading towards retirement until a mid-contract upgrade saw the introduction of more younger DWs being favoured to operate this route.
 |
| Arriva London T234 (LJ61 LKC) on route 317, Waltham Cross. |
Metroline as of March 2019 are now the custodians of route 317, operating this route out of Potters Bar garage once more alongside the 231. The pool of TEs has been expanded to allow the 317 to share this as an allocation. It was rumoured that Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 buses (VW-class) were due to operate this route, having been released from route 105 however this has now been proven false as route 134 gains new buses to allow enough TEs to be released to route 317.
The fleetlist for both routes are as follows:
LK59 DYY - TE976
LK59 DZB - TE978
LK59 DZE - TE980
LK59 DZF - TE982
LK62 DXP - TE1420
LK62 DXR - TE1421
LK62 DXS - TE1422
LK62 DXX - TE1424
LK62 DXY - TE1425
LK62 DYA - TE1426
LK62 DYC - TE1427
LK62 DYD - TE1428
LK62 DYF - TE1429
LK62 DYG - TE1430
LK62 DYH - TE1431
LK62 DYO - TE1433
*TE1423 is at Alperton (ON) on route 204; TE1432 is at Cricklewood (W) on route 266
 |
| TE1422 (LK62 DXS) on route 317 at Enfield |
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