 | Photo © Mark Lyons. |
Home | Bus routes | Operational details | Service changes | Operators & Garages | Photo gallery
Like the 186, the 101 was until recently operated with the prototype 1993-94 low floor single deckers, in this case the SLW class Scania version, which from reports seems to have been a lot more durable than the Dennis LLWs. The 101 was the last of the five routes in the trials, and indeed the last SLWs were delivered after privatisation of East London to Stagecoach. On the other hand, the final withdrawal of the last few vehicles from route 101 during March is of special historical importance, marking as it does the departure from London service of the last remaining vehicles purchased by London Transport, apart from the Heritage Routemasters.
Like most of the other routes involved in those trials, the 101 has reverted to double deck operation. This may be my last chance to feature one of Stagecoach’s first batch of low height double deckers – the first 98 were delivered in this configuration, and were also among the last buses delivered to London with the compact spiral design of staircase, and many of them have since been cascaded out to the provinces with the rest likely to follow before long. Here 17062 (T662 KPU) heads south along High Street North, Manor Park.
| Photo © Mark Lyons. |
In this case the double deck conversion was an integral part of a route scheme that also saw the route substantially reduced in frequency from 8 to 5 buses per hour. The freehold section between Manor Park and Wanstead was not heavily loaded, and capacity between Manor Park and East Beckton was maintained by extending route 474. The overall scheme was designed to match supply better to demand in light of the opening of the London City Airport extension of the Docklands Light Railway, and like the north end the south end of the 101 was lightly used, so the route was diverted to the new Gallions Reach Shopping Park leaving the North Woolwich section to route 474.
This was the first major routeing change since the route was introduced nearly a century ago in March 1914 (and for a year before that it had run under the number 54). The basic route has been North Woolwich to Wanstead ever since, although for many years there was a Summer Sunday extension to Lambourne End, for Hainault Forest.
Even before the recent reduction the 101 was much less frequent than it used to be. In 1936, buses ran every 3 minutes between North Woolwich and Manor Park, and in its heyday in the 1950s was London's most frequent bus route with a total of 64 buses per hour between East Ham and North Woolwich in the peaks at one point. The difference was that then it was the only route along most of the roads served. Now it has nothing to itself — even Aldersbrook, the isolated area in the middle of the Wanstead Flats, enjoys the services of a second route, the W19 (formerly 551)!
The 101 is also notable in having been operated from Upton Park garage for over 80 years, although there are several other contenders for the longest unbroken spell at one garage.
Navigation
| Previous | Next | |
| Chronologically | 257 | 162 |
| Numerically | 97 | 102 |
Photo Gallery | Bus route list | Operational details | Service changes | Operators & Garages