Yet another one?

These days it's not too often we get a new route completely out of the blue, or new routes at all with the amount of withdrawals that are taking place. However that is exactly what has happened recently in the Woolwich area with brand new route 301 running between Woolwich and Bexleyheath.

Okay, I know what you're thinking. Doesn't Woolwich have enough links to Bexleyheath with routes 96, 99 and 422? and now yet another one is being introduced? However it should be appreciated that they all take different routes between the two town centres and similarly route 301 too will provide the link through new places. This route was initially made public with the huge bus changes consultation to support the Elizabeth Line with the plan to introduce it on the 8th of December to co-incide with the opening of it. However by now we all probably know how that's panned out.

DW485 seen on the route
© LondonBuses72

The route was proposed to run from Bexleyheath Town Centre to Woolwich Town Centre with 70 capacity single deckers, although later the decision was taken to make it a double decker service. It's planned route would take it out of Bexleyheath through Woolwich Road, up Knee Hill, through Thamesmead then through Nathan Way to Plumstead where it would then continue straight ahead like route 472 currently does to Woolwich. The route was put out to tender, which to many people had two possible outcomes. A win by Go Ahead London from Bexleyheath garage (BX) or a win by Stagecoach from Plumstead garage (PD), so no doubt it caught many people by surprise when Arriva London came in and won from Dartford garage (DT).

The route was to use DWs made free from elsewhere in the company. A few weeks prior to the start of route 301 it was confirmed that the DWs which would be used for the route would come from route 144 which would in turn get HVs made free from the partial LT conversion and the cut back of route 67. The 67 will later receive a full LT allocation when route 48 is withdrawn in time for the route's return to Northumberland Park (NP) although that's a post for a future date. TfL's recent attitude towards service changes over the past few months has left a lot to be desired, in many cases stop flags and route maps haven't been updated at all prior to a change. However the 301 to a surprise had all its stop tiles in place and the route maps for Woolwich and Abbey Wood had also been updated.

DW487 opposite Bexleyheath Shopping Centre
© EastLondoner

DW487 became the first bus to kick start the new route, although that proceeded to then break down later in the day. Unfortunately the days following the introduction of the 301 I had other commitments meaning I could only properly catch up with the change on the Thursday following the introduction of the route. Thankfully Woolwich isn't too far from Barking so it didn't take me long to reach the route, after arriving there I tried to get a picture of the route at its Woolwich stand, although traffic conditions stretching from the ferry meant that it was near enough impossible to get a picture of the route there. I headed to the first stop on Plumstead Road. This has been a bug bear for quite a few people as the route doesn't pick up in Woolwich Town Centre, although this will eventually mean that it stops near the Crossrail entrance and actually allows people coming out of the station to be able to board the bus, instead of needing to let it go past as it already picked up a crowd in Woolwich Town Centre. 

DW484 seen in Abbey Wood
© EastLondoner

DW455 seen on stand at Bexleyheath
© EastLondoner

The route heads down towards Plumstead before going down Nathan Way towards Thamesmead Town Centre, much like route 472. From there it heads towards Abbey Wood before going up New road like the B11. The initial routing was to have the buses climb Knee Hill, however testing of the buses along the road deemed it unsuitable for pubic bus service operation and the choice was taken to send it up New Road. From here it continues to follow the B11's route down Brampton Road and Long Lane, uniquely operating as a Hail & ride along these sections making it only the second double decker route in London to have a Hail & Ride section (after route 230). The route then continues down Long Lane until Woolwich Road where it takes a right into Bexleyheath Town Centre. This doesn't mean the route goes down any roads which are new to buses however it does provide quite a few new links as well as providing less crowded alternatives to other routes in the area. 

Being a new route it's hard to talk much about it for a post. It doesn't have much of a history, nor does it have a past operator to compare the previous experience with. Initial patronage seems quite good, passengers in the area have quickly warmed to their new route and it seems to be popular with the school crowd too! My experience on the route had a decent load on it throughout which certainly bodes well for the future of the route. Arriva have been running the route well since they started operating it, hopefully this continues for the next 5, or maybe 7 years.

DW445 seen in Bexleyheath
© EastLondoner

As TfL promise to redeploy bus capacity from the inner parts of London to the outer parts of London we may see many more new routes in the near future. The next new route is already on its way, route 378 will be introduced in Putney replacing route 209 which has temporarily been diverted there, then the 497 will be introduced this August in the Harold Hill and Harold Wood areas. Route 304, which like the 301 should have been introduced on the day Crossrail opened is still pending a new date of introduction and route 335 running in Kidbrooke is expected to be introduced in the Autumn. This will all be covered in upcoming posts soon after these routes are introduced so make sure to keep an eye on the blog!