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Launching seven Arrows on the seventh
Page 32
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NEW LTB CENTRAL SERVICES WILL COINCIDE WITH START OF FIRST TVVO SUBURBAN SCHEMES by Brian Cottee • Tomorrow. September 7, London Transport will introduce seven new Red Arrow one-man operated services in central London to link main line stations with business and shopping centres, on the lines of the pioneer Red Arrow route 500 which has carried over 1m passengers between Victoria and Marble Arch on a 6c1 flat fare since it started in 1966. On the same day London Transport is launching its first two completely recast suburban area services as part of a major reorganization plan. These reshaped suburban services, in which a number of new one-man single-deck buses will be introduced, will be in the Walthamstow and Wood Green areas, Together with route changes in other parts of North. North East and East London, the changes will bring major alterations to 60 routes, while a total of 22 services will go over to one-man operation. This reorganization affects the operation of more than 1,100 buses.
The seven new Red Arrow routes will provide for heavy short-distance passenger movement between main line stations and business and shopping centres in the West End and City, as follows:
Route 501 will be between Waterloo Station and Aldgate, using the Strand underpass on the North bound leg, and will be a Monday-Friday service at 5/6 minute intervals at peak times and 7/8 minutes during the mid-day period. Route 502 will be between Waterloo and Liverpool Street Station at 4/5min and 5/6min intervals: this also is a Monday-Friday service. while Route 503 will be a daily service between Waterloo and Victoria via Westminster Bridge. On weekdays the frequency will be 5/6min and 5/7min. but in the evenings and on Saturdays it will be about 8min (slightly longer on Saturday mornings) and on Sundays will vary between 1I,112min and 22min according to time of day. Route 504 is a Saturday-only service between Waterloo arid Liverpool Street at 11i1 6min intervals. Routes 505 and 506 are MondayFriday services, the first between Marylebone Station and Aldwych in peak hours only, the second between Victoria and Picadilly Circus. During offpeak, 505 will serve the Waterloo-Portman Square run. via Trafalgar Square and Oxford Street. Route 507 is a Monday-Saturday service between Waterloo and Victoria via Lambeth Bridge.
On the seven new Red Arrow routes, nearly
50 one-man-operated single-deckers, each carrying 25 seated and 48 standing passengers will be employed, Passengers will enter at the front of the bus, putting 6d in the slot to pass through one of the twin turnstiles, and will leave by the centre exit. No tickets will be issued and there will be no half fares: change machines will provide 6d pieces in return for s. 2s and 2s 6d coins.
The buses will all be rear-engined AEC Merlin ISwift) chassis with MCW bodies, having power-operated doors and top-slider panels above fixed main windows.
On the Wood Green and Walthamstow reshaped services where short local routes will feed central interchange points, there will be over 80 of the new one-man single-deckers. but although the flat fare will be 6d on these, children will pay half fare and will press a button on the coin machine to alert the driver to the fact that a half-fare entry is being made. As with the Red Arrows, no tickets will be issued on these single-deckers but change will be available from the driver instead of from a machine.
At a Press preview of the seven Red Arrow services last week LTB chairman, Mr. Maurice Holmes, emphasized that the extension of one-man operation, following from the recent productivity agreement. was a big step forward for London Transport. The use of fewer but higher-paid operating staff would help to overcome the serious manpower shortage which had bedevilled operations for years. Between now and the end of January. LTB propose to introduce 500 one-man buses, with a further 350 following in 1969.
Mr. Holmes said he believed that travel habits would change in many areas where the route patterns were being reorganized and he felt that the changes inherent in the reshaping plan heralded a new era for transport in London.
Following the Wood Green and Walthamstow reorganizations, the Ealing area is next on the list—probably this autumn. To give passengers advance information of the changes, about Jim leaflets are being distributed and local advertising is being supple
merited by house-to-house delivery of explanatory literature.
In the Wood Green scheme, Turnpike Lane underground station will become the focal point for public transport in the area and the bus station has been roofed over so that passengers will be able to make bus-to-bus and rail-to-bus changes under cover: in the Walthamstow area a new bus station is being built at Walthamstow Central.
Sampling the Arrow Travelling over part of the new Red Arrow routes 501. 502 and 503 last week, the Press was able to sample the standards of travel they will offer. The wide entrance and exit of the AEC/lVICW Merlins are well suited to high-density traffic and the grab rails are very sensibly positioned. Stanchions and rails in the standing area immediately behind the turnstyles should provide adequate support for standees but the rather plain and frankly old-fashioned external appearance of the buses is reflected in the rather restricted out look for standees: the deep cant panels and front cove panelling contrast with some other modern standee bus designs.
All the seats are to the rear of the central exit, and are reached by a single rather steep step from the front floor. Seats are to the usual high LTB standards, leg room is adequate and even at the rear of the bus the noise level is quite good for a service vehicle of this type. But the ride—with a total of 35 passengers— was on the harsh side and there were a surprising number of body rattles for a new vehicle.
The 501 buses will be the first to use the Strand underpass (part of the former tram tunnel) and they need most of its width to negotiate the turns; inclusion of the underpass is a sensible move for such a short-headway city service but it will not be popular with motorists, who on this occasion formed a 15-20 mph double queue behind the Red Arrow.
Judging by the success of the VictoriaMarble Arch service, the new Red Arrows will catch on quickly with London's travellers—as indeed they deserve to do. With smarter bodywork and refinements such as glazed cant panels, they might be expected to do even better.