Return to Bromley: 146/336 to Stagecoach

The first morning of route 146 at TB sees 36620 standing in Downe. (© Jacek)

Route 146 is a short little route linking Bromley with Downe every hour. Back in 1985 it was notably one of the first routes in London to be tendered, passing from TB to Crystals Coaches, using a mixture of Leylands and Mercedes midibuses. More recently since the 90s Metrobus ran it with step entrance then later low floor Darts.

Two days before TB take over, Esteem Dart 229 stands in the same spot in Downe. (© Jacek)

The 336 is more complicated. It runs from Locksbottom to Catford Bridge, through Bromley and the tight side roads in Downham. It started in 1990 as a Bromley - Locksbottom link run from TB, passed to Centrewest in 1995 then to Metrobus in 2001 who kept it for the next 15 years with various Dart SLFs. It reached its current form in 2004 when it was extended over the 138 to Catford Bridge.

On the 336's last day with GAL, Pointer Dart 252 stands in Locksbottom. (© Jacek)

On the 20th of August, both the 146 and 336 were taken over by Stagecoach, marking a return to TB operation. For this contract 13 new 9m long E200MMCs (numbered 36609-36621) have been purchased, with GAL Metrobus withdrawing the Esteem-bodied Darts. The first one actually went out a month early without logos, on the Knockholt circular R5/R10:

The first MMC out a month early, 36617 reverses into the stand in Orpington having worked an R5 from Knockholt. (© Jacek)

Since then they've gone out on all of TB's R routes, while the old style E200s allocated to those have gotten new blinds containing the 146 and 336:

Reblinded old style E200 36581 in Catford. (© Jacek)

The buses perform quite well, they have plenty of power given the chance to open up (which given how tight the 336 gets, won't happen often). The interior is very comfortable, if not as good as on the longer versions as these have slightly less legroom at the back. Air cooling works as expected, really the only issue I found as a passenger was a rattly front door.

They've also caught the eye of the average punter in Bromley, and I overheard a few comments about "lovely new buses" on the first day.

MMC 36621 standing in the rain in Locksbottom. (© Jacek)

Operation of the routes has overall been good but has had its issues. The 146 has been basically fine but the 336 has had trouble with bunching and the odd curtailments, plus the side roads around Downham being too tight for the buses (they failed the route test, then got sent out anyway as there's nothing smaller available). More trouble came when a water main burst in Bromley Common causing traffic and diversions. However a frequency increase to every 15 on the 336 has helped it with overcrowding issues common in Metrobus days, when it ran every 20 minutes.

36610 on 146 and 36620 on 336 meet at Bromley North. (© Jacek)

Overall, both routes seem to have a bright future at TB. The 336 could use some improvements but it's early days and with time, as TB get used to running it again, it'll likely become much better.