 | |
| Parent | Go-Ahead London |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1 April 1989 (1989-04-01) |
| Headquarters | Merton |
| Service area | South London |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Depots | 6 |
| Website | www.goaheadlondon.com |
London Central is a bus operator brand underLondon General Transport Services Limited,trading asGo-Ahead London. It is a subsidiary of theGo-Ahead Group and primarily operates services inSouth London under contract toTransport for London.
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In April 1989, London Buses was divided into 11 separatebusiness units, one of which was the London Central Bus Company.[1] As part of theprivatisation of London bus services, in September 1994, London Central was sold to theGo-Ahead Group for £23.8 million (equivalent to £59,793,000 in 2023).[2]
In August 2008, the Go-Ahead Group's London bus operations all adopted theGo-Ahead London trading name, although the individual company names are still applied beneath the Go-Ahead London logo on most buses. London Central was among the three other Go-Ahead London operations to be brought under theLondon General license in early 2017, however as before, the London Central name was retained on company logos.[citation needed]
London Central operates six bus garages.
Bexleyheath garage operates routes89,99,132,269,401,486,B11,B12,B13,B15 andB16.[3]
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Built as atrolleybus depot by theLondon Passenger Transport Board, Bexleyheath was the only new garage built for trolleybuses, opening on 10 November 1935. The garage's trolleybuses were among the first to be withdrawn from service by London Transport in favour of motorbuses, with routes 696 and 698 replaced by bus routes96 and an extendedroute 229 respectively.[4]
Bexleyheath garage is a large and imposing building, slightly set back from the main Erith Road to enable parking on the forecourt. This arrangement was used for the terminus forroute 122. In August 1986, Bexleyheath was found to be one of a number ofLondon Regional Transport (LRT) bus garages surplus to requirements as a result of bus route tendering reducing the LRT bus fleet, and as a result, Bexleyheath garage was closed, with work transferred to theCatford,Plumstead and Sidcup garages. The site, however, was retained by LRT for further development.[4]
On 16 January 1988, Bexleyheath garage reopened under the guise ofBexleybus, a low-cost unit set up byLondon Buses in preparation for the deregulation of London's bus services. Bexleybus had a varied fleet of 107 buses painted in a cream and blue livery, ranging from Robin Hood-bodiedIveco Daily and integrally-constructedMCW Metroriderminibuses to ex-LRTDaimler Fleetlines andLeyland Nationals as well as 28 newNorthern Counties-bodiedLeyland Olympians leased to the operator.[5] The move to set up the new company to tender for routes backfired, with low maintenance, supervisory and administrative staffing at Bexleyheath garage resulting in frequent service delays and vehicle breakdowns.[6] As a result of the disruption,routes 422 and492 were transferred toBoro'line London in October 1988,[7] and in the next round of London Buses route tendering in September 1990, onlyroute B16 was awarded to Bexleybus, whilst London Central won nine routes.[8]
London Central took control of Bexleyheath garage and its routes in January 1991, with the Bexleybus name being dropped and vehicles being returned to their lessors.[8] In recent years, the garage has had a good utilisation figure, with up to 139 in 2001 parked at the garage necessitating parking in the rear yard and the forecourt.[citation needed] Bexleyheath also houses one of London Central's iBus hubs, controlling routes for Bexleyheath, Morden Wharf, New Cross, and Peckham garages,[citation needed] as well as Go-Ahead London's private hire and rail replacement fleet, the former of which is painted in the style of the former London General company.[8]
In 2022, Bexleyheath became the first bus garage in London to be equipped for 'opportunity charge'battery electric bus operation, whereby the bus is charged while terminating before starting its next journey. This was introduced onroute 132 whose eastern terminus is at the garage.[9] A gantry was installed at the garage connecting with apantograph on the top of the bus, and on 9 July 2022, a fleet ofAlexander Dennis Enviro400EVs began to enter service on route 132.[10][11]
Camberwell garage operates routes1,12,35,40,42,100,108D,176,185,188,355,360,484,N1 andN15.
Although opened by theLondon General Omnibus Company in June 1914, Camberwell garage was not used as a bus garage until 1919 as it had been requisitioned by theWar Department duringWorld War I. DuringWorld War II, Camberwell garage was bombed twice: the first bombing occurred on the night of 31 October 1940, resulting in four buses being destroyed and 13 seriously damaged, followed on 16 April 1941 by anincendiary bomb being dropped on the garage, destroying one bus. During the war, Camberwell garage was equipped for bus body overhauling in 1940, and a fleet of sixteen buses were converted to run oncoal-fuelledproducer gas to combatfuel rationing.[12]
During the early 1950s, Camberwell garage underwent heavy modernisation, which saw the garage's welfare and operational block reconstructed and bus parking area extended. The new building also incorporated a newly developed pit and workshop layout in a separate self-contained block, all being grouped together in order to reduce the effort required by maintenance staff. As a result, Camberwell was able to undertake heavy maintenance for both itself andWalworth garage as part of an engineering grouping of London Transport bus garages.[13]
The allocation at Camberwell decreased slightly over the years from 165 in 1952, until the closure ofWalworth garage in 1985 increased the allocation to 142.[citation needed] When London Regional Transport's bus operations were split on 1 April 1989, Walworth was designated as the head office for the London Central Bus Company.[12] Between September 1992 and early 1993, Camberwell garage took delivery of 24Optare Spectra bodiedDAF DB250s to replace AEC Routemasters onroute 3, these being the last new buses delivered to London Buses before privatisation.[14][15][12]
The purchase of London General by the Go-Ahead Group in 1996 saw the merger of the two companies' operations, resulting in London Central's head office moving away from Camberwell. The office building was left mothballed until 2001, when it was refurbished and opened as Go-Ahead's London recruitment and training centre. This centre was refurbished and reopened again in March 2019 as a facility to train over 1,000 bus drivers a year under a new apprenticeship programme, also expanding its scope to drivers working for the wider Go-Ahead Group.[12][16]
Camberwell garage is today one of the United Kingdom's largest bus garages, having a vehicle authorisation of 242 and employing 650 drivers as of 2019.[12] After having previously been the garage forMercedes-Benz Citaroarticulated buses on the route between November 2004 and November 2011,[17]New Routemasters were introduced at Camberwell onroutes 12 and68 between 2015 and 2016,[18][19] and 42 charging points were installed at the garage during 2021 to facilitate the introduction ofAlexander Dennis Enviro200EVbattery electric buses on routes100,360 and484.[20]
Morden Wharf garage operates routes51,178,244,286,291,386,469,601,624,625,658,N472 andSL11.[21]
On 29 July 2017, Morden Wharf garage commenced operations at the site of a sugar refinery on theGreenwich Peninsula afterLondon General's Mandela Way garage closed,[22] receiving an official opening on 12 March 2018. Housing 125 buses and 310 drivers, Morden Wharf initially operated routes 108, 129, 180, 188, 225, 286 and N1.[23][24]
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New Cross garage operates routes21,36,108,171,172,321,343,436,453,N21,N89,N136,N171,N343 andP4.
Said to be the largest of London's bus garages with space for over 300 buses, New Cross garage was originally a tram depot and opened in 1906. In 1952 with the trams withdrawn, the depot was converted into a bus garage. The garage allocation has fluctuated over the years, from 191 in 1966 to 132 in 2001; New Cross has never been even close to its capacity due to the close proximity of other garages, but has at various times been used to store surplus vehicles.[citation needed]
New Cross was a garage where two special bus services were based. In 1972, New Cross ran a preserved ex-Tilling ST-typeAEC Regent I on London Transport's new route 100 sightseeing service, running betweenHorse Guards Avenue,Whitehall,Trafalgar Square, theWest End of London and theVictoria Embankment;[25] this service was revived during 1977 as part of commemorations for theSilver Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[26] The second service, launched in January 2000 as part of the 'Millennium Busway' project, used a fleet of 17East Lancs Myllennium bodiedDAF SB220s, three of which wereLPG gas-powered, forMillennium Dome shuttle services M1 and M2,[27][28] the former of which was relaunched with the same buses asroute 486 in early 2001.[29]
On 18 February 1996, a London CentralLeyland Titan based from New Cross garage and working onroute 171 was destroyed when abomb detonated prematurely in the lower deck as it drove alongAldwych, killingProvisional IRA memberEdward O'Brien and injuring eight others inside and outside the bus. Driver Robert Newitt, one of three seriously injured, was left permanentlydeafened by the explosion.[30][31]
In February 2003, New Cross garage began operating 30Mercedes-Benz Citaro articulated buses onroute 436, the third such London bus route to be converted toarticulated buses;[32] In January 2005, New Cross garage withdrew its lastAEC Routemasters whenroute 36 was curtailed fromLewisham toNew Cross Gate in favour of the 436 and ahead of the introduction of thecongestion charge, with one-person operated double-decker buses taking over on the 36.[33] The 436's articulated Citaros were themselves withdrawn and replaced by double-deckers on 21 November 2011.[34]
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Peckham garage operates routes37,78,197 andP12.
After the original Peckham bus garage, which opened in 1951,[35] was closed in 1994 due to both operational expenses and concerns about the garage'sferro-concrete roof, London Central took over a local authority maintenance depot and opened a new Peckham bus garage at the site with a capacity for 75 buses.[citation needed]
In January 2000, Peckham garage put London's firstVolvolow-floor double-decker buses, in the form of part of an order of 46Alexander ALX400 bodiedVolvo B7TLs, into service onroute 63.[36]
Peckham won Bus Garage of the Year in 2004, although this turned out to be a poisoned chalice for the garage, losing almost half of its work includingroutes 381 andP13 in the next year's tender awards.[citation needed]
Sydenham garage operates routes126,162,227,352 and354.[37]
As of December 2019, London Central had a peak vehicle requirement of 676 buses.[needs update]
Media related toLondon Central Bus Company at Wikimedia Commons
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