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E40D 19844 in Catford on a service to Grove Park, this bus is allocated to the 199. Glorious Water |
Route 136: Grove Park Station - Elephant & Castle Newington Causeway
Operated by: Stagecoach London
Garage: Catford (TL)
PVR: 19
Length: 11 miles/17 kilometres
Allocation: Alexander Dennis E40D 10.2m and Dennis Trident/Alexander ALX400 9.9m
Timetable: http://www.londonbusroutes.net/times/136fullnew.pdf
Route 136 started as route 36B in November 1958 and ran from Grove Park to Victoria with a Sunday extension to West Kilburn. It was operated using RTs of London Transport from Rye Lane garage in Peckham. From June 1959 the Kilburn section was run Monday-Friday as well as Sundays. From 1963 the route was run with Routemasters and from January 1964 it ran to Kilburn all week. From when Rye Lane closed in 1969 to 1972 it juggled allocations between Peckham, Camberwell and New Cross. before finally settling down at PM. In 1976 MD-class Metro-Scanias were introduced on the route, replacing Routemasters. Their stay was short due to reliability issues and the Routemasters returned in 1980.
During November 1985 the route became a bit more like it is today, gaining a partial weekday allocation at TL. In October 1986 the route was curtailed to Victoria and TL had the main allocation at this point. In June 1987 the TL allocation was converted to one-person operation. In 1989 a Monday-Friday peak extension to Paddington was introduced, but from 1990 the service ran as a shuttle from Victoria to Paddington except for through garage journeys. The shuttle was short-lived and in 1991 it was withdrawn along with the partial allocation at PM. Some Routemasters went to TL to keep vehicle numbers even. In March 1992 the main route was cut to Camberwell Green except for certain morning/evening and Sunday journeys continuing to Victoria. The route was fully converted to OPO at this time. Just 2 months later the route had another conversion, being changed to operation by single-deck Dennis Lances.
In March 1994 the 36B was renumbered the 136 and the Lances were again replaced by Titans. This route ran Grove Park to Peckham and was operated by Selkent from TL. The Titans ran until August 1995 when they were replaced by some of the last Leyland Olympians built. These ran on the route until February 2001 when they were replaced by new Alexander ALX400-bodied Dennis Tridents with a 3-speed Voith gearbox. These buses weren't that great to travel on in my opinion but they frequently mixed with newer ones off the 75 and later 47. They were partially replaced in 2011 by slightly newer ones displaced from East London by new Enviro 400s and were much better to travel on as a result of their ZF gearbox. Few of these remain in TFL service, but by chance one of these is at TL.
The 136 was retained by Stagecoach with new Enviro 400s due in May 2012, these arrived 2 months early. These buses were similar to those that had replaced Tridents in East London. They mix all the time with the 61-reg batch for the 199. Though the seats are comfortable I don't really like these buses, the Voith gearbox on these is a bit tight and they're rather slow as a result. In April 10136 was repainted in classic livery for TL's centenary and promptly went on the 199 as TL aren't the best with allocations. The first Trident and Enviro400 respectively, TA1 S801 BWC and 19000 LX55 HGC were expected to appear but didn't come.
On the 10th of May 2014 the first route alteration since 1994 happened. It was extended from Peckham to Elephant & Castle to relieve crowding on the 343 through North Peckham. The confusion surrounding the Stagecoach mass hybrid order left us wondering what buses the extension would use and these eventually appeared in the form of Euro2 Dennis Tridents cascaded from Plumstead. However on the first day the route's Enviros and the old Tridents mostly went on the 47 in return for that route's Tridents. Nevertheless it was great to see the old Tridents get a new leash of life, even if it is only for a month or two while new Euro6 Enviro400s are ordered. One of the Tridents is a ZF gearbox one, one of four left in TFL service. The route is decent enough but nothing very special and can get very crowded in the peak hours. With the Tridents you can get a good thrash up Downham Way near Grove Park but the Enviro400s aren't the fastest buses and don't thrash well as a result. Even the Tridents don't go very fast on the Peckham - E&C section however.
Anyway here is the fleetlist, note that these buses frequently go on other routes as a result of TL's fleet mixing. Also a personal note, 10129 is one of the slowest buses in London in my experience.
Trident/ALX400s:
17441 Y441 NHK
17466 LX51 FLC
17478 LX51 FLP
17487 LX51 FMF
17503 LX51 FNF
17505 LX51 FNH
17507 LX51 FNK
Enviro400s:
10124 LX12 DDY
10125 LX12 DDZ
10126 LX12 DEU
10127 LX12 DFA
10128 LX12 DFC
10129 LX12 DFD
10130 LX12 DFE
10131 LX12 DFF
10132 LX12 DFG
10133 LX12 DFJ
10134 LX12 DFK
10135 LX12 DFL
10136 LX12 DFN
10137 LX12 DFO
10138 LX12 DFP
Thank you for reading this post and for visiting our blog.
Remember to stay safe.
Route 136 started as route 36B in November 1958 and ran from Grove Park to Victoria with a Sunday extension to West Kilburn. It was operated using RTs of London Transport from Rye Lane garage in Peckham. From June 1959 the Kilburn section was run Monday-Friday as well as Sundays. From 1963 the route was run with Routemasters and from January 1964 it ran to Kilburn all week. From when Rye Lane closed in 1969 to 1972 it juggled allocations between Peckham, Camberwell and New Cross. before finally settling down at PM. In 1976 MD-class Metro-Scanias were introduced on the route, replacing Routemasters. Their stay was short due to reliability issues and the Routemasters returned in 1980.
During November 1985 the route became a bit more like it is today, gaining a partial weekday allocation at TL. In October 1986 the route was curtailed to Victoria and TL had the main allocation at this point. In June 1987 the TL allocation was converted to one-person operation. In 1989 a Monday-Friday peak extension to Paddington was introduced, but from 1990 the service ran as a shuttle from Victoria to Paddington except for through garage journeys. The shuttle was short-lived and in 1991 it was withdrawn along with the partial allocation at PM. Some Routemasters went to TL to keep vehicle numbers even. In March 1992 the main route was cut to Camberwell Green except for certain morning/evening and Sunday journeys continuing to Victoria. The route was fully converted to OPO at this time. Just 2 months later the route had another conversion, being changed to operation by single-deck Dennis Lances.
In March 1994 the 36B was renumbered the 136 and the Lances were again replaced by Titans. This route ran Grove Park to Peckham and was operated by Selkent from TL. The Titans ran until August 1995 when they were replaced by some of the last Leyland Olympians built. These ran on the route until February 2001 when they were replaced by new Alexander ALX400-bodied Dennis Tridents with a 3-speed Voith gearbox. These buses weren't that great to travel on in my opinion but they frequently mixed with newer ones off the 75 and later 47. They were partially replaced in 2011 by slightly newer ones displaced from East London by new Enviro 400s and were much better to travel on as a result of their ZF gearbox. Few of these remain in TFL service, but by chance one of these is at TL.
The 136 was retained by Stagecoach with new Enviro 400s due in May 2012, these arrived 2 months early. These buses were similar to those that had replaced Tridents in East London. They mix all the time with the 61-reg batch for the 199. Though the seats are comfortable I don't really like these buses, the Voith gearbox on these is a bit tight and they're rather slow as a result. In April 10136 was repainted in classic livery for TL's centenary and promptly went on the 199 as TL aren't the best with allocations. The first Trident and Enviro400 respectively, TA1 S801 BWC and 19000 LX55 HGC were expected to appear but didn't come.
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| Trident 18463 at Elephant & Castle on the first day of the extension, this bus is allocated to route 47. Glorious Water |
Anyway here is the fleetlist, note that these buses frequently go on other routes as a result of TL's fleet mixing. Also a personal note, 10129 is one of the slowest buses in London in my experience.
Trident/ALX400s:
17441 Y441 NHK
17466 LX51 FLC
17478 LX51 FLP
17487 LX51 FMF
17503 LX51 FNF
17505 LX51 FNH
17507 LX51 FNK
Enviro400s:
10124 LX12 DDY
10125 LX12 DDZ
10126 LX12 DEU
10127 LX12 DFA
10128 LX12 DFC
10129 LX12 DFD
10130 LX12 DFE
10131 LX12 DFF
10132 LX12 DFG
10133 LX12 DFJ
10134 LX12 DFK
10135 LX12 DFL
10136 LX12 DFN
10137 LX12 DFO
10138 LX12 DFP
Thank you for reading this post and for visiting our blog.
Remember to stay safe.
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