Since the withdrawal of the old route 87 (Barking - Romford) and the 5 being extended to Romford back in the mists of time, the 5 has been the only route direct between Becontree Heath and Barking, and as a result, a bit of a capacity issue has been happening on the route.
To solve this issue, route EL2 was cut between Barking and Ilford and instead extended to follow the 5 in a to Becontree Heath. Now the route looks like a "C" shape!
Blue Triangle WVL454 on Route EL2, Barking Station (© Jacek)
For the removed part of the EL2, existing routes 169, EL1 and more indirectly 366 cover the affected Barking-Ilford section. This is quite busy the EL1 has gained a frequency increase to offset the loss of the EL2. (or you could walk, it's full of traffic and it's not that far.) Compared to the previous situation of the 169, 179, 369 all on the direct path between Barking and Ilford, it was a considerable downgrade as only the 169 would go to Ilford Town Centre whilst EL1/2 terminated at Ilford Hill.
Blue Triangle WVL497 on Route EL2, Becontree Heath (© Anthony)
On the first day of the extension most EL2s along the extension were carrying air as people didn't know whether to board the bus. Nearly everyone opted for the still full 5s behind it making the short trip to Becontree Heath quite leisurely, cruising along with nobody else on the bus.
Blue Triangle WVL347 on Route EL2, Becontree Heath (© Anthony)
Another load of fresh air, but not for too long hopefully. As people get used to it a more even usage between 5s and EL2s is more likely.
Blue Triangle WVL472 on Route EL2, Barking Station (© Jacek)
The buses used for the extension were a mix of existing WVLs with new (and new style) blinds, some with new but old style blinds, and some transferred ones from SW off the 249 which has for the meantime been downgraded to PVLs. So part of the buses on the East London Transit don't even have the ELT livery now. Again.
Blue Triangle WVL479 and WVL335 on Route EL2, Becontree Heath (© Jacek)
The ELT (well, EL1 now as EL2 follows a different routing) is basically a glorified version of the old 369 route that has a special livery on its buses and bus shelters, but on the extension the bus stops don't have the livery yet. However, the East London Transit was a larger plan, planning to be a tramway across East London, crossing at the Thames Gateway bridge (later scrapped and reintroduced as a plan albeit slightly different). It was later downgraded to hybrid, then downgraded further to conventional diesel buses, being just a bog standard bus with a fancy livery on a route with new bus stop shelters and bus lanes:
Blue Triangle WVL452 on Route EL1, Barking Station (© Aubrey)
This bus wasn't part of the original ELT batch, as it had been cascaded from other parts of the GAL empire.
That's pretty much it. Next to do in this area is a double double decking - the 62 and 368.
To solve this issue, route EL2 was cut between Barking and Ilford and instead extended to follow the 5 in a to Becontree Heath. Now the route looks like a "C" shape!
Blue Triangle WVL454 on Route EL2, Barking Station (© Jacek)
For the removed part of the EL2, existing routes 169, EL1 and more indirectly 366 cover the affected Barking-Ilford section. This is quite busy the EL1 has gained a frequency increase to offset the loss of the EL2. (or you could walk, it's full of traffic and it's not that far.) Compared to the previous situation of the 169, 179, 369 all on the direct path between Barking and Ilford, it was a considerable downgrade as only the 169 would go to Ilford Town Centre whilst EL1/2 terminated at Ilford Hill.
Blue Triangle WVL497 on Route EL2, Becontree Heath (© Anthony)
On the first day of the extension most EL2s along the extension were carrying air as people didn't know whether to board the bus. Nearly everyone opted for the still full 5s behind it making the short trip to Becontree Heath quite leisurely, cruising along with nobody else on the bus.
Blue Triangle WVL347 on Route EL2, Becontree Heath (© Anthony)
Another load of fresh air, but not for too long hopefully. As people get used to it a more even usage between 5s and EL2s is more likely.
Blue Triangle WVL472 on Route EL2, Barking Station (© Jacek)
The buses used for the extension were a mix of existing WVLs with new (and new style) blinds, some with new but old style blinds, and some transferred ones from SW off the 249 which has for the meantime been downgraded to PVLs. So part of the buses on the East London Transit don't even have the ELT livery now. Again.
Blue Triangle WVL479 and WVL335 on Route EL2, Becontree Heath (© Jacek)
The ELT (well, EL1 now as EL2 follows a different routing) is basically a glorified version of the old 369 route that has a special livery on its buses and bus shelters, but on the extension the bus stops don't have the livery yet. However, the East London Transit was a larger plan, planning to be a tramway across East London, crossing at the Thames Gateway bridge (later scrapped and reintroduced as a plan albeit slightly different). It was later downgraded to hybrid, then downgraded further to conventional diesel buses, being just a bog standard bus with a fancy livery on a route with new bus stop shelters and bus lanes:
Blue Triangle WVL452 on Route EL1, Barking Station (© Aubrey)
This bus wasn't part of the original ELT batch, as it had been cascaded from other parts of the GAL empire.
That's pretty much it. Next to do in this area is a double double decking - the 62 and 368.
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