CT Plus 1260 on Route W16, Leytonstone Station (© Aubrey)
CT Plus also introduce the 17 reg into TfL service with these buses. The first day for these routes each had a few operational hiccups, but expected on the first day.
CT Plus 1251 on Route 397, Chingford Station (© Aubrey)
The 397 was the first route to go to CT Plus, moving from Arriva London. On 25th February, the 397 gained its new Enviro 200MMCs. The first day got a few hiccups, including this curtailment from Debden to Loughton. For a route that is low frequency (every 30 minutes), it's pretty severe to be late enough to curtail on a low frequency route.
CT Plus 1244 on Route 397, Chingford (© Aubrey)
Although since the first day, the service on the 397 has improved.
CT Plus 1252 on Route W11, Crooked Billet Sainsbury's (© Aubrey)
On March 4th, the W11 and W16 also moved to CT Plus. W11 was also from Arriva London, whilst W16 came from Go-Ahead London General.
CT Plus 1242 on Route W11, Walthamstow Central (© Aubrey)
Route W11 is a residential route between Walthamstow Central and Chingford Hall Estate via Crooked Billet Sainsbury's. The W11 was supposed to be diverted via Blackhorse Road, as a previous diversion of Route W15 temporarily proved to be very popular. However, due to cost cutting by TfL, this has been indefinitely postponed. Even though the consultation supported it.
CT Plus 1252 on Route W11, Crooked Billet Sainsbury's (© Aubrey)
Driver changes for Routes W11 and 397 are done at Crooked Billet Sainsbury's, only a few minutes walk through a car park to the new Walthamstow Avenue Garage:
Walthamstow Avenue Garage, CT Plus (© Aubrey)
The new garage at Crooked Billet, near Walthamstow Stadium holds community transport buses. It also is the base for Routes 385, 397, W11, W16 and W19. Also, there are some Solos off the W12 seen in the garage, thus the W12 may also be based at this garage. Coded AW (Walthamstow Avenue), the garage is fairly basic, with portacabins for offices, and basic storage.
CT Plus 1247 on Route W16, Leytonstone Station (© Aubrey)
The third route mentioned to move to CT Plus is former London General route W16. The route has always ran between Leytonstone Station and Chingford Mount. This route started out at the ill-fated London Forest operation, before eventually falling into the hands of Arriva London. Tendering moved the route to First Capital in 2012, for only a few months before Go-Ahead London bought out the Northumberland Park garage of First London. The route has since moved through tendering into the hands of CT Plus. On the first day, there was some bunching of buses and some ticket machines did not work. However, it was only the first day, and since then, things have improved.
CT Plus 1264 on Route W16, Leyton Midland Road (© Aubrey)
Overall, this is a fairly notable gain for CT Plus, especially over Arriva London. These are the big additions to the CT Plus operations in London.
It appears from your post that few routes of the buses have changed. Am I right? It is good that you have provided the information about which routes are covered for convenience of the travellers.
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