The WLTMTB have been listed as one of the top 100 mass transit blogs in the world, more details at the end of the post.
Abellio London 8172 on Route 464, Tatsfield Old Ship (© Aubrey)
Route 464, a TfL route being the main link south of New Addington to Biggin Hill via the steep 15% Salt Box Hill and Jewels Hill is a small village route being also the main link to the little village of Tatsfield, in north-east Surrey. It had been operated by Metrobus since it was introduced in 1998.
Gained by Abellio London under tender on 20th May 2017, new Enviro 200MMCs are the new allocation on the 464.
(© Aubrey)
The rural nature of the Tatsfield terminus can be seen here, with the route terminating at the village green, next to The Old Ship pub. Metrobus used Darts since when it was tendered in 2000 (it was commercial between 1998 and 2000) as part of the Tramlink service changes. The Darts have been dependable buses for the route, with passengers certainly noticing the change in buses and operator.
Abellio London 8172 on Route 464, New Addington (© Aubrey)
Taking 8172 to Tatsfield and back proved to actually be a slightly painful experience. When stopping at each stop, the stop-start technology kicked in. Unfortunately at each stop, the engine would not start again until a complete switch-off and turn-on again. This proved to be troublesome at the hail and ride sections, notably. On the southbound run, the bus stalled at Jewels Hill whilst stopping and luckily not at the steeper Salt Box Hill. The E200 engine was only just getting to the top of the 15% incline into Salt Box Hill. The issues actually meant that 8173 (the other bus on the 464) had to wait just before Salt Box Hill for the other bus to get through.
Abellio London 8172 on Route 464, Tatsfield Old Ship (© Aubrey)
The sections at Jewels Hill and Salt Box Hill are so narrow, the timetable ensures the buses pass at Biggin Hill, and that each bus must not proceed into the Salt Box Hill/Jewels Hill section northbound until they have seen the other bus towards Tatsfield. For schooldays, there are 2 extra journeys slotted into the timetable southbound and one extra northbound for schools. They are timetabled very closely to the normal buses and only run between New Addington and Biggin Hill. Thus three buses (8171, 8172, 8173) are all allocated for the 464.
Abellio London 8172 on Route 464, New Addington (© Aubrey)
After about 1 minute of stand time at Tatsfield due to the delays by the stop-start, the bus made its way back to New Addington with the issue popping up only once on the return. The buses are decent for the route, and hopefully the issues with the stop-start technology on these vehicles can be fixed. After that, the buses can last for some time on the route. Abellio London, running the route from Beddington Cross, should not find too many issues on running this small village route. Unless two buses meet on the Jewels Hill/Salt Box Hill section. That could be very tricky!
Also, notably, the WLTM Transport Blog has been listed as one of Feedspot's top 100 mass transit blogs, the first sort of award given to this blog. It's been a great 5+ years, and thanks to every past and present member of the blog, we've managed to do this, and we will continue to blog about transport for as long as we can. The list can be seen here.
Thank you to Feedspot for this award.
Abellio London 8172 on Route 464, Tatsfield Old Ship (© Aubrey)
Route 464, a TfL route being the main link south of New Addington to Biggin Hill via the steep 15% Salt Box Hill and Jewels Hill is a small village route being also the main link to the little village of Tatsfield, in north-east Surrey. It had been operated by Metrobus since it was introduced in 1998.
Gained by Abellio London under tender on 20th May 2017, new Enviro 200MMCs are the new allocation on the 464.
(© Aubrey)
The rural nature of the Tatsfield terminus can be seen here, with the route terminating at the village green, next to The Old Ship pub. Metrobus used Darts since when it was tendered in 2000 (it was commercial between 1998 and 2000) as part of the Tramlink service changes. The Darts have been dependable buses for the route, with passengers certainly noticing the change in buses and operator.
Abellio London 8172 on Route 464, New Addington (© Aubrey)
Taking 8172 to Tatsfield and back proved to actually be a slightly painful experience. When stopping at each stop, the stop-start technology kicked in. Unfortunately at each stop, the engine would not start again until a complete switch-off and turn-on again. This proved to be troublesome at the hail and ride sections, notably. On the southbound run, the bus stalled at Jewels Hill whilst stopping and luckily not at the steeper Salt Box Hill. The E200 engine was only just getting to the top of the 15% incline into Salt Box Hill. The issues actually meant that 8173 (the other bus on the 464) had to wait just before Salt Box Hill for the other bus to get through.
Abellio London 8172 on Route 464, Tatsfield Old Ship (© Aubrey)
The sections at Jewels Hill and Salt Box Hill are so narrow, the timetable ensures the buses pass at Biggin Hill, and that each bus must not proceed into the Salt Box Hill/Jewels Hill section northbound until they have seen the other bus towards Tatsfield. For schooldays, there are 2 extra journeys slotted into the timetable southbound and one extra northbound for schools. They are timetabled very closely to the normal buses and only run between New Addington and Biggin Hill. Thus three buses (8171, 8172, 8173) are all allocated for the 464.
Abellio London 8172 on Route 464, New Addington (© Aubrey)
After about 1 minute of stand time at Tatsfield due to the delays by the stop-start, the bus made its way back to New Addington with the issue popping up only once on the return. The buses are decent for the route, and hopefully the issues with the stop-start technology on these vehicles can be fixed. After that, the buses can last for some time on the route. Abellio London, running the route from Beddington Cross, should not find too many issues on running this small village route. Unless two buses meet on the Jewels Hill/Salt Box Hill section. That could be very tricky!
Also, notably, the WLTM Transport Blog has been listed as one of Feedspot's top 100 mass transit blogs, the first sort of award given to this blog. It's been a great 5+ years, and thanks to every past and present member of the blog, we've managed to do this, and we will continue to blog about transport for as long as we can. The list can be seen here.Thank you to Feedspot for this award.
Congratulations on this great achievement. Actually your blog deserves the award. You have been providing very useful bus transit information which help passengers.
ReplyDelete