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Red Arrow (bus)
Encyclopedia
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
. The most recent Red Arrow services were route 507
London Buses route 507
London Buses route 507 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Go-Ahead London.-History:...
and route 521
London Buses route 521
London Buses route 521 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Go-Ahead London.-History:Service 521 is one of two Red Arrow routes, the other being route 507, that survived into 2009....
, where the name was dropped from September 2009.
History
London Transport had instigated a Bus Reshaping PlanBus Reshaping Plan
The Bus Reshaping Plan of 1966 was a plan devised by the London Transport Board for the reorganisation of bus routes in London, England. The main features of the plan, which was to be rolled out over ten to fifteen years, were:...
in 1966 to examine bus service operation, and settled on replacing some double-decker bus
Double-decker bus
A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or 'decks'. Global usage of this type of bus is more common in outer touring than in its intra-urban transportion role. Double-decker buses are also commonly found in certain parts of Europe, Asia, and former British colonies and protectorates...
es with long single-decker bus
Single-decker bus
A single-decker bus or single-decker is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term single-decker refers to a standard two-axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which is essentially a single decked bus with an extra deck and...
es, which would have extra capacity by implementing a 'standee bus' model as used on the continent, whereby the fixed seating in the bus would be minimised to that required off-peak, with hand holds fitted to allow maximum standee capacity at peak times. These buses would also have dual doors.
The concept was introduced with on 18 April 1966 with 6 AEC Merlin
AEC Swift
The AEC Swift was a rear-engined single-deck bus chassis built by AEC between 1964 and 1974. The chassis design was closely related to the Leyland Panther...
buses on a new express service, route 500, the Red Arrow, running between Victoria and Marble Arch, extended during shopping hours to Oxford Circus. On 7 September 1968 LT introduced these new buses on more Red Arrow routes, 501-507, along with wholesale introduction on several other route networks around the capital.
The following years saw changes to the Red Arrow route network, in June 1969 a minor adjustment to 505, and the addition of the 508; in the summer of 1969 route 509 replaced 508 and in 1970 route 513 was added. By 1972, the new single deck model of operation had not been overly successful in the other areas and were withdrawn. However, on the central London Red Arrow 'people-moving' work, between the southern edge railway terminals Victoria and Waterloo and the City, they were proving a success and were retained.
The Red Arrow Network as of 1972 was:
- 500 Victoria Stn - Park Lane - Oxford Street - Marble Arch - Park Lane - Victoria Stn
- 501 Waterloo Stn - Aldwych - Holborn - St Pauls - Bank - London Bridge Stn
- 502 Waterloo Stn - Aldwych - Fleet Street - St Pauls - London Wall - Liverpool Street Stn
- 503 Waterloo Stn - Westminster Bridge - Victoria Stn
- 505 Waterloo Stn - Aldwych - Holborn - Old Street - Shoreditch Church
- 506 Victoria Stn - Green Park - Piccadilly Circus
- 507 Waterloo Stn - Lambeth Bridge - Victoria Stn
- 513 Waterloo Stn - Aldwych - Fleet Street - St Pauls - Cannon Street - London Bridge Stn
From April 1981, LT started replacing Merlin buses on the Red Arrow routes with Leyland National
Leyland National
The Leyland National is a British single-deck bus built in large quantities between 1972 and 1985. It was developed as a joint project between two UK nationalised industries - the National Bus Company and British Leyland. Buses were constructed at a specially built factory at the Lillyhall...
IIs. Further expansions, contractions and renumbering of the route network occurred, but the core Red Arrow network remained into the 1980s, and into London Buses operation with the London General business unit, as part of the first stage of the privatisation of London bus services
Privatisation of London bus services
The privatisation of London bus services was the progressive process of the transfer of operation of London Buses from public bodies to private companies....
.
In 1989 a demonstrator of the new Optare Delta
Optare Delta
The Optare Delta is a single-decker bus body produced for the DAF SB220 chassis. They were built in a factory in Leeds. They are known for their distinctive sloping front window.-Production:...
single decker was trialled on Red Arrow routes, a 2-door specially built bus, DA2. This did not result in any orders, and DA2 was rebuilt and joined other DA class buses at the Westlink London Buses unit.
An early UK version of the articulated bus
Articulated bus
An articulated bus is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usually a single-deck design, and comprises two rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint...
, the Leyland-DAB
Leyland-DAB articulated bus
The Leyland-DAB articulated bus was an articulated bus built by Leyland-DAB in Denmark. The Leyland-DAB artic found customers in Denmark, and was the first modern style articulated buses in the United Kingdom, albeit with limited repeat orders....
, was exhibited by private London operator Capital Citybus
Capital Citybus
Capital Citybus was a major bus operator for London Buses in North and East London. The company was eventually sold to First in 1998. Capital Citybus is not to be confused with the other former London bus and coach operator Capital Logistics, for whom in 1999 it provided amongst others relief buses...
with route blinds and markings for Red Arrow service.
Between 1992 and 1994, the 41 National IIs on Red Arrow duties were re-bodied and re-engined as the Leyland National Greenway, and in 1994 the fleet passed fully into private hands to the Go-Ahead Group
Go-Ahead Group
The Go-Ahead Group plc is a rail and bus operating company that was created following the privatisation of the UK's train and bus industries. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-Early history:...
, who had bought the London General operation. The Greenways were given 'cherished registrations' transferred from disposed of Routemaster
Routemaster
The AEC Routemaster is a model of double-decker bus that was built by Associated Equipment Company in 1954 and produced until 1968. Primarily front-engined, rear open-platform buses, a small number of variants were produced with doors and/or front entrances...
s, to hide their apparent registration age for seemingly new buses. With a subtle repaint, the Greenways continued operating the Red Arrow branded network, although by 1998 it had been contracted to just four routes, 501, 505, 507 and 521. The 505 was withdrawn in 2000 and the 501 was withdrawn in 2002.
On 2 June 2002, the remaining two Red Arrow routes 507 and 521 became the first London Bus routes to be converted to articulated buses. A new fleet of articulated 18m Mercedes-Benz Citaros entered service from that date. Being commuter routes, and so little used outside peak times, these routes were suitable to test the bendy buses on, and resembled the original standee bus concept, now with off bus fare collection. Additionally, route 521 ran through the Strand Underpass
Strand Underpass
The Strand Underpass is a vehicle tunnel in central London connecting Waterloo Bridge to Kingsway near Holborn. It was built by John Mowlem & Co and opened on 21 January 1964....
making double decker operation impossible. The artics still carried the Red Arrow name, although it is was much smaller and less pronounced than all the previous versions.
As of 2008, the peak operating requirement was nine buses on the 507 and 19 on the 521. As part of the move to replace London's articulated buses, a commitment made in the 2008 London Mayoral election, the articulated buses on the 507 and 521 were replaced when their contracts expired in 2009.
The articulated Citaros have been replaced by new 12 metre rigid versions. On route 507, a new weekend service, running every 12 minutes, was added from Saturday 25 July 2009, the first weekend service for a Red Arrow route. This was the first day in service for the new Citaros. Route 521 converted to rigid operation on 1 September 2009. The new Citaros do not carry the Red Arrow name, as it is thought now to be associated with articulated buses. This has drawn criticism, as there is nothing to distinguish the buses from normal services. Another criticism of bendy buses was the low number of seats, with only 49 per vehicle. A standard rigid Citaro has 44 seats, however the new ones for route 507 and 521 have just 21, with room for up to 76 standees, leading to criticism the new buses were "cattle trucks" and even more crowded than the buses they replaced. Despite the increase in frequency, the total number of seats has dropped.