30th August 2003 - 20 years ago

[ibus246]

On this day some 20(!) years ago (30th August 2003) a whole plethora of improvement after improvement to routes were introduced to London’s bus network under Mayor Ken Livingstone. Lots focused on South London but there were many others too. I’ve listed a few below and also a Flickr link to some of the timetable covers.

flic.kr/p/2oYU4yj

The bus slogan TfL used back then was “buses are getting better” and how right they were.

I doubt we’ll ever see this level of improvement en masse again as we did in the early to mid 00s.

How times change and where has the time gone?!


———

Route 434 brand new route introduced and run by Metrobus from Whyteleafe Station to Coulsdon serving many areas that didn’t have a bus service. I recall riding the Y Reg blue and yellow darts on the first day. Unfortunately the route was not welcomed by some with residents laying in the road blocking route tests in protest prior to operation commencing.

Route 246 increased to x30 and rerouted between Bromley and Pickhurst Lane

Route 405 revised to run via Pampisford Road between South Croydon and Purley, increased to x20 and passed to Metrobus

Route 50 extended from Streatham along the high road to Streatham Hill. No longer served South Croydon and improved frequency of x12.

Route 358 evenings increased to x20 and last buses to Crystal Palace an hour later on all days of the week

Route 410 increased to every 10 mins and Sunday to every 15

Route 466 transferred from Arriva to Metrobus with brand new buses.

Route 496 extended from Romford Market to The Brewery

Route 130 changed from running to Croydon and rerouted to Norwood Junction instead with a brand new operator (Metrobus)

Route 194 withdrawn from Forest Hill to terminate at Lower Sydenham. Frequency increased to x12 and with a new operator (Arriva)

Route 119 increased to x10 and brand new night service introduced.

Route 250 increased to every 7-8 and a brand new night service introduced.

Route 264 extended to St George’s Hospital

Route 269 increased to x10.

Route 302 increased to x8.

Route 320 increased to x15

Route 255 extended from Clapham Common to Stockwell and increased to x12

Route 198 brand new buses

Route 166 buses that terminated at Chipstead Valley extended to Banstead

Route 412 double deck buses introduced

Route 356 extended from Elmers End to Shirley with new buses and a brand new Sunday and evening service.

[southlondonbus]

I know I still think of 2003 as recent. That was a good set of improvements for Croydon I remember. Thou sadly was the real beginning of the end for the L with the 466s withdrawn that day and the 50 and 264 on the cusp of new buses then with the 109 already converting to DLA earlier on.

I remember being pleased to see the 50 gaining that extension albeit short up to Streatham Hill Station returning the 50 number to St Leonards and the High Road.

[vjaska]

Aug 30, 2023 13:31:18 GMT southlondonbus said:

I know I still think of 2003 as recent. That was a good set of improvements for Croydon I remember. Thou sadly was the real beginning of the end for the L with the 466s withdrawn that day and the 50 and 264 on the cusp of new buses then with the 109 already converting to DLA earlier on.

I remember being pleased to see the 50 gaining that extension albeit short up to Streatham Hill Station returning the 50 number to St Leonards and the High Road.

A good set of changes too - the 50 ending at Streatham Station was always short sighted as it misses the important objective of the shopping area at Becmead Avenue so was welcomed by many, including yourself by the looks of it

Shame about the L's, underrated workhorses they were but I still had another 2 years of them on the 249 & 432 by that point

[joefrombow]

Route 15 gained nice new shiny low floor ALX Tridents on all days of the week and at all times if I remember rightly of the top of my head ... Where the heck has 20 years gone time literally flies very scary .

[WH241]

Aug 30, 2023 13:53:06 GMT joefrombow said:

Route 15 gained nice new shiny low floor ALX Tridents on all days of the week and at all times if I remember rightly of the top of my head ... Where the heck has 20 years gone time literally flies very scary .

Was a sad day when the RMLs went. I remember Upton Park did a few specials on routes 147 and 473 and maybe other routes using the green RMC than used to run on the 15 before the last day.

I used to like the various different buses used on the route especially the RMA!

Also in this day the 15 moved to BW.

[southlondonbus]

Aug 30, 2023 13:39:18 GMT vjaska said:

Aug 30, 2023 13:31:18 GMT southlondonbus said:

I know I still think of 2003 as recent. That was a good set of improvements for Croydon I remember. Thou sadly was the real beginning of the end for the L with the 466s withdrawn that day and the 50 and 264 on the cusp of new buses then with the 109 already converting to DLA earlier on.

I remember being pleased to see the 50 gaining that extension albeit short up to Streatham Hill Station returning the 50 number to St Leonards and the High Road.

A good set of changes too - the 50 ending at Streatham Station was always short sighted as it misses the important objective of the shopping area at Becmead Avenue so was welcomed by many, including yourself by the looks of it

Shame about the L's, underrated workhorses they were but I still had another 2 years of them on the 249 & 432 by that point

Absolutely. Definitely was better for points south of Streatham to have a link further up the high road. Even loosing the Swan & Sugarloaf section was seen as that terrible. Maybe another 20 years and we will see the 60 going further up.

[vjaska]

Aug 30, 2023 14:11:54 GMT southlondonbus said:

Aug 30, 2023 13:39:18 GMT vjaska said:

A good set of changes too - the 50 ending at Streatham Station was always short sighted as it misses the important objective of the shopping area at Becmead Avenue so was welcomed by many, including yourself by the looks of it

Shame about the L's, underrated workhorses they were but I still had another 2 years of them on the 249 & 432 by that point

Absolutely. Definitely was better for points south of Streatham to have a link further up the high road. Even loosing the Swan & Sugarloaf section was seen as that terrible. Maybe another 20 years and we will see the 60 going further up.

For that to happen, they need to reduce the traffic on the A23 itself in order for the 60 to have a chance of going further up the high road - the 50 had the advantage of being shorter and more direct. I wonder if the old 60 routing would still be going had the 255 not been created to take it's northern section from it or even going further back, if the 60 & 118 would of ever been swapped north of Streatham Hill Station?

[southlondonbus]

Aug 30, 2023 16:03:40 GMT vjaska said:

Aug 30, 2023 14:11:54 GMT southlondonbus said:

Absolutely. Definitely was better for points south of Streatham to have a link further up the high road. Even loosing the Swan & Sugarloaf section was seen as that terrible. Maybe another 20 years and we will see the 60 going further up.

For that to happen, they need to reduce the traffic on the A23 itself in order for the 60 to have a chance of going further up the high road - the 50 had the advantage of being shorter and more direct. I wonder if the old 60 routing would still be going had the 255 not been created to take it's northern section from it or even going further back, if the 60 & 118 would of ever been swapped north of Streatham Hill Station?

It's hard to imagine the 118 not going to Brixton now. There were no routes from Mitcham to Brixton and now there is two!

[ServerKing]

We were enjoying the then new DLAs on the 242, and the 243 had DLPs for a short while before they moved to Enfield! There was an array of operator liveries, and buses were more enjoyable with reasonable road speeds

[overgroundcommuter]

The 194 curtailment was actually worse for those of us who used it to get to Bell Green from Forest Hill. That section of route is now served by the 356 with lower frequencies.

[southlondonbus]

Aug 30, 2023 18:32:36 GMT overgroundcommuter said:

The 194 curtailment was actually worse for those of us who used it to get to Bell Green from Forest Hill. That section of route is now served by the 356 with lower frequencies.

I never really saw the point of that change as if barely saved 5 mins off the 194 and it broke a link from Forest Hill to Beckenham Road/Beckenham war memorial which the 356 didn't replace.

[M1104]

Aug 30, 2023 17:52:04 GMT ServerKing said:

We were enjoying the then new DLAs on the 242, and the 243 had DLPs for a short while before they moved to Enfield! There was an array of operator liveries, and buses were more enjoyable with reasonable road speeds

It was certainly a good year for new vehicles, including also the introduction of the DW variant DB250s south of the river. There was also the introduction of the four speed Voith option for Volvo B7TLs and Dennis Tridents which firms like Go Ahead and Firstbus took orders on with both manufacturers.

Was particularly happy on the PVL order to convert the 155 back to double deckers...as well as the similar aged PDL version allocated to SW, even though the latter weren't too popular to the depot due to their steep inclined foot pedals (more for me to choose from for those night duties).

[YY13VKP]

I'd probably say that these changes created the bus network that I knew and grew up with, though when the changes took effect I had just turned 3 years old so didn't know any different. But most of these changes lasted a good while, some are still in place today and it's incredible that this all happened 20 years ago! Particularly the introduction of the 434 for me as it's been a popular addition to the areas it's served over the years. Though the Croydon and Sutton bus changes coming into effect in March next year will have a similar feel to it.

[southlondonbus]

Aug 31, 2023 20:27:25 GMT YY13VKP said:

I'd probably say that these changes created the bus network that I knew and grew up with, though when the changes took effect I had just turned 3 years old so didn't know any different. But most of these changes lasted a good while, some are still in place today and it's incredible that this all happened 20 years ago! Particularly the introduction of the 434 for me as it's been a popular addition to the areas it's served over the years. Though the Croydon and Sutton bus changes coming into effect in March next year will have a similar feel to it.

Will certainly be a boost for Old Lodge Lane having the 312 every 12 mins and the new 439 and 443 in Purley.

[ThinLizzy]

Aug 30, 2023 14:01:42 GMT WH241 said:

Aug 30, 2023 13:53:06 GMT joefrombow said:

Route 15 gained nice new shiny low floor ALX Tridents on all days of the week and at all times if I remember rightly of the top of my head ... Where the heck has 20 years gone time literally flies very scary .

Was a sad day when the RMLs went. I remember Upton Park did a few specials on routes 147 and 473 and maybe other routes using the green RMC than used to run on the 15 before the last day.

I used to like the various different buses used on the route especially the RMA!

Also in this day the 15 moved to BW.

I remember the cavalcade of Routemasters passing my train at Limehouse on the last day of RMs on the 15, and later on, talking to enthusiasts travelling up to Bow for the last day of the 8 on my train running up from Lewisham to Stratford.

However, I can also remember the 03-reg Tridents coming into service, particularly at BK on the 5. They were always my absolute favourite batch of Tridents, with the original S-BWC and T-KPU batches coming in a close second.