Route 244

Route 244
5 July 2008

Another large selection of photos is here provided for the 244, partly because of a mixture of different vehicle types, and partly because many of the photographs submitted have been of unusually good quality, in terms of location and composure.

The route is officially scheduled for DML class 9.4m Darts with Marshall bodywork, which date from 1999. Some of these vehicles have now left London, but the majority are still at Bexleyheath where they work mostly on routes 244 and B11. The first shot shows DML14 (T414 AGP) climbing the west side of Shooter's Hill, illustrating the good views to be had over London from this location. The brick building in the near distance is a former water tower. I wouldn't like to be the cyclist struggling up this hill!

Photo © John King.

At the other end of the route is DML12 (T512 AGP) in Whinchat Road on 3 March 2007. This area was developed in the 1980s and was variously known as Thamesmead West or Broadwaters Estate, and has recently been expanded to the north. The 244 was first introduced to serve this area, and has now been joined by route 380, which provides needed extra capacity, as well as serving the newest part of the development.

Photo © Malc McDonald.

A further view of DML14 is given, this time in Sandy Hill Road on the final descent into Woolwich, again illustrating the hilly nature of this section of the route.

Photo © John King.

Less common is the DMS type. Just four of these are held at Bexleyheath garage now, and are mostly used on route B12. However, the spare is liable to appear on the 244, as indeed was the case on 5 June 2006, when DMS9 (T109 KGP) was photographed on the stand at Abbey Wood Station, a rather poky location under the Harrow Manor Way flyover over the railway. The photo was taken by the bus's driver, who comments that it had recently had a major engine rebuild, and was therefore rather popular with drivers! This vehicle was part of a batch of 15, but the remainder were disposed of to Go-Ahead North East in mid 2004, following loss of route B15.

Photo © Dan Broughton.

The final type to be illustrated here comprises the 10.2m long Plaxton Pointer bodied Darts. Most of these are dual door, and were transferred in to upgrade the 469 and B16 following double decking of route 155, but often appear on the other single deck routes. LDP113 (S113 EGK) was seen in Whinchat Road, again, this time on 31 March 2007. Queen Elizabeth Hospital is served by several routes directly from Woolwich, but the 244 takes more of a detour before it gets there.

Photo © Malc McDonald.

The final photograph shows LDP122 (T122 KGP), which is similar to LDP113, but from a later batch. The location this time is Brent Road, on the north face of Shooter's Hill, with the Thames and Millennium Dome clearly visible in the background, along with some of the tower blocks of Tower Hamlets. Buses operate on an unusual anticlockwise one-way loop at this point – the bus is about to turn right onto Eglington Hill, but buses heading the other way continue straight down the hill. The road is too narrow for buses to pass easily, and the way this bus has come is also less steep than Eglinton Hill, which may not be an issue with modern buses but certainly was in days gone by, when it was hit-and-miss whether a heavily loaded buses would make it up the hill even with this detour!

The 244 started in 1987 as a very short route just running from Woolwich to Broadwaters. It was very soon tendered and awarded to Selkent's new low cost Bexleybus operation, based at Bexleyheath garage (despite the entire route being within a mile of Selkent's Plumstead garage!), which commenced operation on 16 January 1988. Bexleybus was disbanded less than three years later, with the garage and most routes being handed over to London Central in November 1990.

In 1991 the 244 was extended to Belmarsh Prison, with peak hour journeys running to Thamesmead via the Woolwich Industrial Estate on Nathan Way. Services in the Thamesmead area have been subject to frequent re-structuring, and one such scheme in Janaury 1999 saw the 244 extended on a daily basis from Belmarsh to Abbey Wood via Central Way and Bentham Road. This was part of the re-structuring of routes 272 and X72 to 472, with the 244 providing the quickest link between Bentham Road and both Woolwich and Abbey Wood Station. The 472 ran via Nathan Way, obviating the need for the former 244 peak hour extensions.

Like the Jan 1999 changes, the next major changes were timed to coincide with contract renewal in January 2004. This time the changes were centred on the south end of the route and, in particular, the newly redeveloped Queen Elizabeth Hospital. One of the major critcisims had been the lack of a direct bus link from much of Shooter's Hill Road into the hospital, and this was corrected by diverting the 178 through the grounds. The 178 had previously come from Kidbrooke, run along Shooter's Hill Road and up Shooter's Hill, and then down into Woolwich via some of the roads illustrated above. Instead, it was re-routed via the hospital and directly into Woolwich, thus providing the service from the west, and the 244 was extended from Woolwich via the former 178 route to terminate at the hospital from the east.

Further changes are planned, possibly in January 2009 to coincide with contract renewals on many routes in the area (the 244 has had its contract extended for good performance, so is not being re-tendered at present). The first set of changes relate to the opening of the DLR extension to Woolwich and road layout changes in the town centre. The 244 will be re-routed via Nightingale Place and Grand Depot Road, effectively swapping routeings with the 386 to simplify the latter.

The second change is more major and is linked with the eventual opening of the Greenwich Waterfront Transit, which is primarily a replacement for the 472. The GWT would serve many of the areas currently served by the 244, i.e. Thamesmead West and Barnham Drive, but conversely would not serve Woolwich Industrial Estate, so the 244 would be re-routed from Plumstead Station via its old haunt of Nathan Way and the current 472 route to Bentham Road, thence to Abbey Wood as now. Ironically, these changes would mean the 244 no longer serves its original objective!

Navigation

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Chronologically 144 H26

Numerically 243 248
See also routes B11, 380, B12, B15, 469, B16, 155, 472, 178, 386

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