Route 320

Route 320
12 April 2005

There is only one main bus service to Biggin Hill, and that is the 320. Biggin Hill used to be little more than a large village on the road to Westerham, and was served by Country Buses’ 410 (Reigate to Bromley via Westerham). Biggin Hill’s main claim to fame now is the Airport there, which is mainly used by private owners and also hosts the annual air show. During the Second World War, the 410 had to have special precautions on the section past the airport — read all about it on the 1943 Greater London Bus Map by Mike Harris!

However, substantial housing development in Biggin Hill in the late 1960s and early 1970s was going to require an improvement to local bus service provision. Much of this development was in the valley area to the west of the Main Road, and initally the 410 was diverted to double run down and up Stock Hill and as far as Rosehill Road.

In 1987, as part of a new (but short-lived) local Sevenoaks network, Kentish Bus (the former London Country South East) launched route 20 between Bromley and Biggin Hill Valley, with a few journeys to Dunton Green garage. Bromley is the nearest major shopping area and railhead, although more recently links to Orpington and Croydon have also been developed. Rationalisation of the network and withdrawal of route 23 (formerly 483) resulted in a more regular service to Sevenoaks, and then in 1990 the 20 was itself withdrawn as was the London section of the 410.

New route 320 was introduced by London Regional Transport, operating between Westerham and Bromley. London & Country won the contract, with a small fleet of Volvo Citybuses, strangely outstationed at Kentish Bus’s Dunton Green garage. Indeed Kentish Bus operated the Sunday 320, which ran only between Biggin Hill and Bromley and was interworked with its own 402.

The two companies subsequently came back under common ownership within the British Bus group. British Bus itself was bought out by the Cowie Group in 1996, who soon set about rationalising services. The small operation at Dunton Green was closed down, a deal being struck with Selkent to swap its 227 and 320 routes, together with the 162, for two of Selkent’s routes in the Croydon area from November 1997. The Croydon routes (166, 198) would instead be worked from the Croydon and Thornton Heath garages of sister Cowie company South London.

However, this did lead to the replacement of the supremely suitable Volvo Citybuses on the 320 with clapped out Selkent Titans, which also had the disadvantage of not having engines well suited to climbing Westerham Hill. Volvo Olympians were used when possible, but in any case the route was lost on re-tender from 19 September 1998 to Metrobus who bought a full allocation of new Olympians — amongst the last step entrance buses to enter service in London.

At the same time, the 320 service structure was standardised with buses running only between Biggin Hill Valley and Bromley. Services to the south end of Biggin Hill and the link to Westerham were maintained by a new commercial route by Metrobus, the 246. The 246 ran out to Edenbridge, and was later extended to East Grinstead, firmly reverting this section to its country bus form – even if in a different direction – although it has subsequently been retracted back to Westerham again.

Contract renewal in 2003 resulted in new low floor, wheelchair accessible, buses being required, and a batch of East Lancs Omnidekkas on Scania chassis was obtained. In practice these have become mixed with earlier and later batches, and here 491, one of the later batch with even less Blue / Yellow in the livery, is seen passing through Leaves Green, Westerham Road, on 20 May 2004.

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Chronologically 487 2

Numerically 319 322
See also routes 402, 227, 162, 166, 198, 246

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