Streetlites Are Good?

Honestly, this was a title I was not expecting to type when it was announced that the 232 was going to be allocated Streetlites upon Go-Ahead taking the contract up on 3rd August 2019. Yes, this post is delayed by 3 months, but at least it's here.

WS143 entering new territory for Go-Ahead at Brent Cross
© Aubrey

Route 232 has been with Metroline and its predecessors (London Northern, MTL London) since August 1994, based in Potters Bar (PB), Cricklewood (W), North Wembley (NW) and Perivale West (PV). It has been with no other operator, apart from certain school journeys operated by Leaside Travel/Arriva London for a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s.


The last few years of Metroline operation was with an allocation of Enviro 200s, like this example performing the last Metroline operated journey.
© Aubrey

When the tender was announced that Go-Ahead London General were to win the 232, with Wrightbus Streetlites as the order, many enthusiasts were surprised, as well as skeptical about the performance of the buses on the route, especially as the route transverses the A406 North Circular Road. This road is fast, with multiple 50mph + sections. Dual carriageway. Nearly urban motorway standard roads, even.


WS131 enroute to St Raphael's Estate, at Colney Hatch on the North Circular Road.
© Aubrey

Surprisingly, these buses perform very well on the fast sections of the A406. The acceleration and performance of these buses are positive, and it can climb the hillier section in the western end of the route near Neasden pretty well. Considering that the reputation of the Streetlite is quite negative, to have one overtake cars between Colney Hatch Lane and Temple Fortune is a nice surprise.


WS133 approaching the final stop at Turnpike Lane Station
© Aubrey

This is the first time that the route has been completely run from the eastern end, as the Metroline operations have been from the western end of the route, with changeovers at Brent Cross frequently used. It is run from Northumberland Park (NP), which is about 15-20 minutes dead run from the eastern end of the route at Turnpike Lane. Incorporated into the new timetable is the frequency increase to every 12 minutes for this popular route, from an every 15 minute service. Thus, there has been an increase of PVR, and thus more buses required for the route. WS131-148 are allocated (near-solidly) on the route, with a PVR of 16.


WS135 departs Brent Cross enroute to St Raphael's.
© Aubrey

Inside, it is to the newest TfL specifications, which includes USB chargers behind seats, which work fairly well when new. Thus, one can be charging their phone whilst being whisked along fairly quickly (when traffic allows) across North London. Thus one can catch up on the latest Aus and Mini Podcast on the bus, or message their good friends. Or even annoy them by telling them how good the buses are, yet how far behind TfL are compared to the rest of the commercial networks even just outside of London. However, even in this era of heavy cost-cutting, London is finally catching up a little, albeit inexpensively.


WS141 curtailed to Neasden Shopping Centre
© Aubrey

Hopefully, Go-Ahead London General will be able to maintain these buses to a level where the performance on the route can be maintained. Thus they will be able to run the route well. During the hiatus of this blog, the route has lost one of its allocated buses, thus WS66 was transferred from the 39 to run on the 232 as the sole non-USB charger equipped bus on the route.

This batch of Streetlites is the first that I've been impressed by, which is quite concerning as Wrightbus has been building the Streetlite since 2010. Performance of these buses on rides that I've experienced has been pretty good. Soon after the buses were delivered, Wrightbus did enter administration, and is now currently under the ownership of the Bamford family, whose holdings include JCB.

Post by Aubrey

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