Proposed changes for East London Transit routes and 436 & 452

Recently, TFL proposed changes for the East London Transit routes. They wish to add more services on both routes and the EL2 will be re-routed from Barking to Becontree Heath Bus station which runs parallel with Route 5.

From the TFL Consultation

“We have looked at bus services in the Barking and Dagenham area and identified issues including crowding on the approach into Barking, in particular from Ripple Road, and Longbridge Road which is also served by route 5. We also anticipate that demand will continue to grow for buses to and from Barking Riverside Development.

A scheme has been developed for the East London Transit network that would address these issues. We are proposing changes to routes EL1 and EL2 and would like to hear your views.

What are we proposing?

Route EL2 would run between Dagenham Dock station and Becontree Heath serving Barking Town Centre and Longbridge Road. Route EL2 would no longer run beyond Barking to Ilford along Ilford Lane.

We also propose to increase the frequency of both routes EL1 and EL2 as follows:

The improvements to both routes would mean bus services better match the current and predicted passenger demand in the area. Ilford Lane would have a small frequency reduction from a bus every 3 minutes to a bus every 3-4 minutes, but the frequency of buses would continue to match the needs of bus users between Barking and Ilford town centres.

This proposal would also create new direct travel opportunities to and from Barking Riverside.

Please see the map below for further details of the changes to where routes would go and how the frequency changes may affect your journey.”

The consultation ends on Monday 18 January 2016. You can do the online survey for the East London Transit routes here.

I also found out that TFL are consulting on Routes 436 and 452.

“The area around Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea (VNEB) is currently experiencing a large amount of growth; with an increase in the number of jobs and housing, the number of people needing access to public transport is on the rise. As a result, we are proposing to make changes to routes 436 and 452 so that they better serve the VNEB area and would like to hear your views. We are also proposing to increase the frequency on route 36 in conjunction with these proposals.”

Another addition I noticed on the consultation is:

“To ensure that capacity is sufficient to meet demand between Vauxhall and Paddington, route 36 frequency would be increased to operate with buses every 4 minutes during the peak times, every 5 minutes during Monday to Saturday off-peak times and every 10 minutes on Sundays.”

The consultation ends on Sunday 10 January 2016 and you can take part on the online survey here.

I'll finish this article with some news from LOTS:

·         The Optare MetroCity all-electric demonstrator YJ65 EOV is now at New Cross and due for use on route 108.   Optare Versa hybrid demonstrator OP07 ARE is now on loan to Quality Line Epsom – in 2012 this bus was in London with Go-Ahead as HOV 1 on route 360.

·         The ADL E40H(MMC)-City demonstrator that was at the NEC Show,  SN65 OHP, is now on type familiarisation at Arriva Ash Grove, prior to the production batch (HA 1-19) arriving for route 78.

·         After just three days of intermittent operation on route 69, The ADL E40H(MMC)-VE  SN65 ZGO has been off the road most of the time due to ‘Charging Issues’ on the bus and at Bus Stations.

Nice to see that the all-electric bus is entering service on route 108. Hopefully more of these will follow. Electric buses are one of the ways to combat diesel emissions which contribute to climate change and overall pollution.

You can track the Optare MetroCity electric bus and the Enviro400H MMC Virtual Electric by using the London Vehicle Finder.

I’m on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and Google Plus which is @Clondoner92, so follow me to keep up-to-date with transport and related issues.

Related article:

Increased services for London Buses Route 5 by only two buses!

 Image Attribution

"Blue Triangle WVL335 on Route EL2, Ilford Hill (15186661149)" by Au Morandarte from London, Middlesex, England - Blue Triangle WVL335 on Route EL2, Ilford Hill. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_Triangle_WVL335_on_Route_EL2,_Ilford_Hill_(15186661149).jpg#/media/File:Blue_Triangle_WVL335_on_Route_EL2,_Ilford_Hill_(15186661149).jpg