Aviation Specials – June 2018

120 The London Bus

Bexleyheath town centre with

Lodge Hill, partially replacing a

section of route 122. Operation

passed to Kentish Bus in 1991

and the route was extended to

Abbey Wood station.

Retendering in January 1999

extended the route again, to

Thamesmead Boiler House,

with a further projection to

Thamesmead town centre

in 2004 when the route also

passed to London Central, thus

returning to Bexleyheath Garage.

As with the 244, the contract

for the B11 has been extended

for 12 months pending changes

associated with the Elizabeth

Line opening. It is likely to be cut

back to Abbey Wood station.

The B16 (Kidbrooke-

Bexleyheath) was introduced

by Bexleybus on 8 July 1989. It

replaced a section of route 160

between Eltham and Welling

and the B1 between Eltham and

Kidbrooke. It has been operated

from Bexleyheath for its entire

existence.

Periods of great change

The past 30 years have included

some turbulent periods for

Bexleyheath garage and its staff

and the recent loss of several

routes has been unsettling. The

Elizabeth Line will likely bring

more major change.

A new route 301 linking

Bexleyheath with Woolwich is

proposed and the tendering

process for this is underway.

The 244 and B11 are also being

retendered currently. Farther

into the future, the Bexley

Growth Strategy envisages

over 30,000 new homes in the

borough by 2050.

The man responsible for leading

Bexleyheath garage’s 270 staff

through this period of change

is Jon Verrall, general manager

for both Bexleyheath and the

former Metrobus operation at

Orpington, who joined Go-

Ahead in the summer of 2016

after nearly 30 years with Royal

Mail. Verrall grew up on the

nearby Cray Estate and spent his

formative years jumping on and

off Routemasters on route 229.

Although he can see many

similarities between running

buses and delivering mail, one of

the differences that struck this

newcomer to the bus industry

was the sheer complexity of staff

rotas. Instead of blocks of shifts,

staff sign on and off constantly.

For most of its trolleybus

heyday, Bexley depot (as it was

then) had an allocation of around

70 double-deckers. Today, despite

recent losses, it still houses over

140 buses including around

20 from Go-Ahead London’s

commercial services fleet for rail

replacement, private hires and

other outside work.

They have been moved there in

order to be parked under cover,

which is particularly important

for open-top double-deckers, but

also helps preserve the paint

finish on heritage Routemasters

and other types used at such

high profile events as the Chelsea

Flower Show and Wimbledon

Tennis. ● ML

London Bus Garages

ABOVE:
Enviro400s and an
Enviro200 inside
the bus parking
area.

RIGHT:
Approaching their
last days in service
in London, two
LDP-class Dennis
Dart SLFs with
Plaxton Pointer
bodies stand on
the Bexleyheath
garage forecourt.