London Buses route 130
| 130 | |
|---|---|
| 300px | |
| Overview | |
| Operator | London General |
| Garage | Croydon (C) |
| Vehicle | Dennis Dart SLF 10.7m / Plaxton Pointer 2 |
| Peak vehicle requirement | 8 |
| Route | |
| Start | New Addington |
| Via | Addington Shirley Park Addiscombe |
| End | Thornton Heath |
| Length | 9 miles (14 km) |
| Service | |
| Level | Daily |
| Frequency | 15-30 minutes |
| Journey time | 33-60 minutes |
| Operates | 04:55 until 00:50 |
London Buses route 130 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between New Addington and Thornton Heath, it is operated by London General.
History
Route 130 commenced operating a few weeks before the outbreak of World War II on 5 July 1939, as a daily service between Croydon and New Addington (Central Parade). It replaced a temporary route which had been operated privately by the developers of the New Addington estate. This was the second time the route number 130 had been used on a motor bus route in London.
On 21 February 1951, the route was extended in New Addington from Central Parade to terminate at Salcot Crescent. On 6 January 1952, it was again extended in New Addington to Homestead Way. Later that year on 22 October 1952, a much longer extension was put in place, this time at the other end of the route, replacing route 166 on Mondays to Saturdays between Croydon and Streatham Common via Thornton Heath and Streatham Vale. On 6 May 1953, route 130 was also extended on Sundays to Streatham making the route a daily Streatham Common to New Addington via Croydon operation.
On 6 October 1954, the 130 group of routes started to become complicated, when a new supplementary 130A was introduced. The new route ran from daily from New Addington (Salcot Crescent) to Croydon (Park Lane) with a Monday to Saturday extension to Thornton Heath (High Street).
On 10 June 1955, a supplementary Monday to Saturday peak hour 130 express service was introduced between East Croydon station and New Addington. The Saturday service on this supplementary route only lasted one year, being withdrawn as from 31 July 1956. At Streatham a slight change in the terminal arrangements meant that route 130 terminated at Streatham garage as from 7 August 1957. Another small change happened on 31 July 1963, when the express service was extended from East Croydon station to West Croydon station. The AEC Regent III RTs were replaced by AEC Routemasters on 1 September 1964.
In 1967, South Croydon Garage also received brand-new RMLs from the end of the Routemaster production run. The express services on the Route 130 group ceased on 18 April 1970 with the introduction of the 'C' prefix flat-fare One Person Operated (OPO) services (Routes C1-C4).
In 1975, Routemasters on the 130 group (by now comprising 130/130A/130B) were replaced with Daimler Fleetlines (DM class), the variant of the DMS class designed for two-man (crew) operation.
On 4 September 1982, when widespread cuts were implemented across the London bus network, the Croydon to New Addington group of services underwent the first of several stages of streamlining and simplification. From this date, the 'C' group of services were withdrawn entirely, leaving the 130 group to fill the void. As part of this, Route 130 (and the remaining 130B) were converted to One Person Operation using Daimler Fleetlines (D/DMS class) with Express journeys incorporated into their schedule to replace those from the 'C' routes. Furthermore, Route 130 was withdrawn on Mondays to Saturdays between West Croydon and Streatham Garage, this section being replaced by new Route 60. (Splitting the north and south sections in this way benefitted both ends as Route 130 had become notoriously unreliable when running all the way from Streatham to New Addington).
On 7 February 1987, Route 130B was also withdrawn, leaving the main Croydon to New Addington link solely in the hands of Route 130, albeit supported by other service changes including an extension of Route 64 from Addington (Gravel Hill) to New Addington. Express journeys on Route 130 were re-numbered X30 in order to differentiate.
The DMS class would continue to operate on Route 130 in gradually diminishing quantity until the final demise of the type in early 1993. Leading up to this, several other types operated alongside DMSs, starting with Metrobus (M class) in early 1985 (temporary deployment of new vehicles), Leyland Olympian from February 1987, Leyland Titan second-hand from Walthamstow in November 1991 and (again) Metrobus (M class) second/third-hand from the closure of Streatham Garage in March 1992, replacing the Leyland Titans.
In May 2000, Croydon Tramlink commenced operation, initially operating the section between Croydon and New Addington, the immediate success of which rendered Route 130 (particularly the express journeys) almost superfluous overnight. As Tramlink became operational across all its routes and other bus services were cut back as a result, there was speculation over the future of Route 130.
On 31 August 2002, with the service still running, it was converted to single deck operation with Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Darts and was subsequently revised to operate between New Addington and Norwood Junction, via Woodside.
Upon being re-tendered, it passed from Arriva London to Metrobus on 25 August 2003. Metrobus successfully tendered to retain the route with a new contract commencing on 28 August 2010.
In June 2014, route 130 was included in the transfer of Metrobus's contracted Transport for London routes to fellow Go-Ahead Group subsidiary London General.[1] However, the vehicles used continue to carry Metrobus branding. On 14 February 2015, route 130 was extended from Norwood Junction to Thornton Heath Clock Tower.[2]
Current route
Route 130 operates via these primary locations:[3]
- New Addington tram stop
- Addington Village tram stop
- Gravel Hill tram stop
- Shirley Park
- Ashburton Park
- Woodside tram stop
- Norwood Junction station
- Park Road
- Whitehorse Lane
- Thornton Heath Clock Tower
References
- ↑ "Go-Ahead London" Buses issue 713 August 2014 page 71
- ↑ "Short Hops" Buses issue 721 April 2015 page 21
- ↑ Route 130 Map Transport for London
External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
