A Branded Local Network in London? That's Barking!
8 December 2024
ABOVE: Four East London Transit New Routemasters are in view here at the Rivergate Centre stop in Barking Reach. On the left is an EL1 service about to cover the last few hundred yards to its Barking Riverside terminus. Behind it, an EL3 starts out towards Small Heath, from the normal EL3 terminus (right) where two more buses are parked up. One will form the next departure on route EL3, whilst the other has broken down! All pictures in this article were taken on Wednesday 8 May 2024, except where stated.
Until the arrival of the Superloop, and not counting ghastly all-over advertising wraps, all London's buses had been broadly in a bland, all-over red livery, without any relief, for some years.
Well, almost all buses. There was, and is, an exception to this in the far-flung (ie, zone 4) suburbs of East London, in the form of the East London Transit (ELT). Centred on Barking, ELT was launched in stages from 2010. The scheme was developed by Transport for London (TfL), in anticipation of increased demand for public transport in the area, and especially in the area to the south / south-east of the Town Centre, towards the River Thames.
This was the site of the old Barking Power Station, decommissioned by 1981 and subsequently demolished. It is now a major new housing development, Barking Riverside, which is expected to have a population of around 26,000 in three "towns", when completed in the 2030s.
Launched with Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini 2s, the ELT fleet was subsequently 'upgraded' to New Routemastsers, wearing an adapted livery with cream relief, a hint of orange and a few pink swirls.
This article isn't a history of the ELT routes - just a look at how they operate at present.
Although the buses carry the special route numbers EL1, EL2 and EL3, there is no special bus stop branding for the ELT (in contrast to the Superloop):
Here's a diagram representing the broad shape of the network:
Let's visit the three routes in turn:
EL1: Barking Riverside to Ilford
Known to some as "eli", and previously numbered 369, the EL1 is a 24-hour service. It starts in the spacious, open and still relatively undeveloped area around Barking Riverside station.
ABOVE: The first 900 New Routemasters have (Northern Irish) numberplates broadly matching their fleetnumbers, from LTZ 1001 to LTZ 1900 inclusive. But the plates from LTZ 1901 upwards weren't available, so LTs 901 to 999 inclusive - a range that includes all of the East London Transit vehicles - had to use a sequence of plates from LTZ 2101 instead. So this is LT 918 (LTZ 2118), a Wright New Routemaster, passing Barking Riverside station. Incidentally, LT 1000 carries the plate LTZ 1000 - the only New Routemaster where the fleet and registration numbers exactly match.
It then passes into the Thames View Estate. Built in former marshland in the 1950s, it features around 2000 homes. What has started as a quiet run for my EL1 journey rapidly becomes much busier in terms of passengers.
ABOVE: A central bus-only section in the heart of the Thames View Estate. All other traffic must go round the edge.
This area is officially part of Creekmouth - a name that used to be appear as a destination on many a London bus. The industrial area around River Road and Thames Road is one of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham's largest employment areas.
The roads around here are the exclusive remit of the ELT, but we're soon approaching River Road, where the three ELT routes come together. We cross the trunk A13 road, and start to mix with other bus routes on the approach to Barking Town Centre.
ABOVE: LT 934 (LTZ 2134) in Ripple Road, Barking, just around the corner from the railway station. This road is restricted to buses and cycles - the road is part of "Cycleway 42", as the road designation indicates.
With the river close by, it's no surprise to learn that fishing was the most important industry in Barking from the 14th until the mid-19th centuries. Salt water fishing began before 1320 and expanded greatly from the 16th century (info: Wikipedia).
ABOVE: New Routemaster LT 938 (LTZ 2138) is in Station Parade, Barking, on route EL1, with an ADL Enviro400 visible behind working route 287 towards Rainham.
After Barking Town Centre, the EL1 traverses Ilford Lane, which I have described previously as a slog. Heavily congested, with many conflicting traffic movements, this one mile journey is timed to take anything up to 11 minutes.
ABOVE: LT 916 (LTZ 2116) works its way through the traffic of Ilford Lane. It is seen near the junction of Madras Road on Saturday 11 May 2024.
The service terminates at Ilford Station. Historically a small rural settlement, the population of Ilford stood at over 168,000 in 2011. The only complete skull of a mammoth to have been discovered in the United Kingdom was unearthed here in 1864 (info: Wikipedia).
And the EL1 is quite a mammoth bus service, requiring 18 buses to keep the peak hour operation going, at a rate of one bus every five-to-six minutes (10 minutes evenings and Sundays, and half-hourly overnight). A lot of buses for a route that is only five miles long!
EL2 Dagenham Dock to Becontree Heath
It's a funny spot, Dagenham Dock station, nestling in the shadow of the A13 trunk road, just at a point the latter is flying high above everything else. And it's here, actually underneath the flyover, that the EL2 starts its U-shaped journey towards Becontree Heath
ABOVE: A plain red New Routemaster, LT 411 (LTZ 1411) has strayed from its official home on route 5 (Romford to Canning Town) to cover route EL2. It is parked up awaiting departure from Dagenham Dock station. ELT-liveried buses on route 5, and plain ones on the ELT network, are a daily occurence.
No-one travelling from Dagenham Dock to Becontree would use the EL2 - it's much quicker to cross the railway line and catch the 145 then 175. Not that I think anyone will do the EL2 end-to-end anyway; I'm the only customer for quite some way from the Dock on this lunchtime journey.
ABOVE: LT 941 (LTZ 2141, right) and a colleague stand at Dagenham Dock under the A13 flyover. The railway bridge at Dagenham Dock station (open to non-ticket holders) is visible behind.
Incidentally, if you do cross the railway line at Dagenham Dock, you're crossing not only the c2c line between Grays and London Fenchurch Street, but also High Speed 1 - the line from St Pancras International to the Channel Tunnel. And, if you're quick, and there at the right moment, you might capture a fleeting glimpse of a Eurostar train...
This bus stays marginally north of the main Barking Riverside area, but we're still in the same kind of territory - the construction of new housing is evident, and open, undeveloped land is ripe for future development.
ABOVE: Choats Road, Dagenham, looking west
We join the EL1 in the Thames View Estate. When we hit Barking Town Centre, we are briefly running along the same roads as the not-too-differently-numbered Superloop SL2. I wonder whether people ever mix the two up...?
ABOVE: LT 929 (LTZ 2129) and a fellow New Routemaster head down Station Parade in Barking
Heading broadly east out of Barking Town Centre, the territory is green and attractive for a while.
ABOVE: LT 911 (LTZ 2111) passes along Longbridge Road on the outskirts of Barking, working a route EL2 service to Becontree Heath.
Buses run every eight minutes on weekdays, every 10 minutes on Saturdays, and quarter-hourly evenings and Sundays. This eight-mile route needs up to 14 buses.
The approach to Becontree is built-up, and the actual terminus is close to a major crossroads where each of the approaches has two, or even three, lanes of traffic.
I don't think the bus stand here is the one I remember as a child. Buses have a small space within what seems to be a communal car park, serving Morrison's and the Becontree Heath Leisure Centre amongst others. At least that implies access to suitable essential facilities - Becontree Heath was somewhere we avoided as much as possible when I was young, because it didn't seem to have any such facilities!
EL3 Little Heath to Barking Reach
Wikipedia tells us that Little Heath was recorded in 1369 as Lytel Ylleford heth, meaning "Little Ilford Heath". It was shortened to Litelheth (from the Middle English words litel and hethe) by 1456.
The EL3 terminates at the side of the heath itself; broadly a triangular piece of green space - think of a small-scale version of Shepherds Bush Green, but nicer.
Just down the road is the vast King George Hospital (haven't been able to find out which King George - either V or VI, I presume).
ABOVE: Stagecooach London 36668 (SN17 MLU), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, stands in the grounds of King George Hospital awaiting departure on a journey towards Grange Hill (near Hainault)
We pass through Goodmayes and join the EL2 for the journey through the Faircross area east of Barking Town Centre. This is where Barking Bus Garage is to be found (see article 155 for pictures from the recent Open Day and Heritage Running Day).
ABOVE: LT 933 (LTZ 2133) drops off at Faircross, near Barking Bus Garage, on Saturday 23 March 2024 - the occasion of the Barking Garage Open Day and the route 62 / 145 Heritage Running Day.
There's a striking pub building here. The Acorn dates back to 1855 and used to be known as The Royal Oak before it closed in 2021. Methinks the new owners have a sense of humour with the new name; they do say that mighty oaks from little acorns grow, so maybe the new business will eventually rebrand with the old name...?
ABOVE: The Acorn public house stands opposite Barking Bus Garage (behind me on the right as I take this shot). LT 307 (LTZ 1307) is working its correct allocation, route 5, as two ELT services approach the junction.
After the Town Centre, the EL3 heads to Barking Riverside, but not by exactly the same route as the EL1, and not to the same terminus point. The EL3 passes Go-Ahread London's River Road Bus Garage (the "Blue Triangle" subsidiary), where the whole ELT operation is based. River Road is one of London's largest bus garages, with almost 200 buses being scheduled to operate from here at peak times. The EL3 only accounts for 14 of these across its seven-mile routing, running every 10 minutes on weekdays, every 12 minutes on Saturdays and every 20 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays.
ABOVE: Taken from the top of an EL3, a selection of New Routemasters and ADL Enviro400H MMCs can be seen in the yard of River Road Bus Depot, along with one Volvo B5LH MCV EvoSeti.
The route is unusual for a TfL route, in having schoolday-only journeys extended from the main route terminus at Barking Reach, via the EL1 to Barking Riverside. It's only about half a mile extra for the two schoolday journeys each way.
ABOVE: LT 909 (LTZ 2109) demonstrates the 11.3metre length of the New Routemasters as it swings out of Mallards Road into Galleons Drive in Barking Reach.
I have mentioned the station at Barking Riverside. This is a very recent extension to add to the transport links of the area. Part of London Overground's newly-renamed Suffragette Line, the extension from Barking opened in summer 2022.
ABOVE: A Class 710 London Overground train stands in Barking Riverside station, which has presumably been built at height in readiness for possible future extensions across the river (out of sight to the right)
This is the line that runs through to Gospel Oak in North London. It's not a central London link, but it provides useful interchange in Barking to enable access to the City using the London Underground or c2c. It all makes Barking Riverside very attractive for commuting purposes.
ABOVE: A bus stands at the Barking Riverside terminus of route EL1. Photo taken from a London Overground train on the approach to Barking Riverside.
When the ELT was first launched, there was talk of it being the foundation for a tram network in the area. Whilst there is a lot of merit in this idea, I don't see it happening anytime soon, but, in the meantime, there is at least an attractive and frequent bus link into Barking and beyond, supporting the recent rail extension and ensuring that this once-isolated area is now well-connected.
ABOVE: And finally, the contrast between a New Routemaster, LT 918 (LTZ 2118, right) and the real deal - preserved RM 848 (WLT 848) in Longbridge Road, near Barking Town Centre, on the route 62 / 145 Running Day on Saturday 23 March 2024.