In March 2020 TfL published a Croydon Bus Study, a 54 page examination of the local bus network and how it might need to change in response to proposed development, particularly to the south of Croydon. Essentially it said "if more people are going to live here they'll need better buses".
One issue was a need for more buses along Purley Way ("The Purley Way transformation area will require additional capacity"). Another was the recent removal of buses from Waddon Marsh tram stop ("A service could use Waddon Marsh to stand"). And another was historically poor links to the hillier streets in Kenley ("A significant section of Kenley is more than 400 metres away from the network"). So one of the study's key conclusions was to introduce a brand new route ("We are investigating whether we could restore a bus service to Waddon Marsh and introduce a service into Kenley.")
A brand new route duly started this weekend starting at Waddon Marsh and passing through Purley and Kenley. It's the 439, a number London buses haven't previously used, which now runs every half hour to the edge of Surrey. But north of Purley it merely shadows an existing route (the 289) and south of Purley it's merely taken over another (the 434). It won’t be reaching the heights of Kenley because that task's been given to the 434, and the 434 doesn't yet reach the heights of Kenley because the roads up there aren't yet bus-friendly. The 439's no groundbreaker, merely treading old ground, but I’ve been to ride it anyway.
Route 439: Waddon Marsh - Whyteleafe South Length of journey: 8 miles, 35 minutes
No the blind still doesn't photograph properly, but imagine it says 439 Whyteleafe South. Nobody waiting here by the tram stop wants to go to Whyteleafe South, indeed most likely have no idea where it is, and the fact that no bus stops yet have timetables won't be helping them to work out where it goes. One potential passenger has to ask "Are you going to The Colonnades?" and only boards once told yes. Last week no buses started here but now two do, the other being the extended S4 (which is taking over from the 455, do keep up). The blind of the S4 doesn't photograph properly either but that's because it doesn't have one, it seems to be another route introduced before the new blinds were ready. At least the tiles are right.
We set off round the back of Sainsbury's, past the supermarket bins and the TK Maxx car park. This is the only bit of the route that's properly new, or at least unserved since 2017, and it's just one stop long. When we pull over prematurely my eyes are drawn to the iBus display which is telling me it's only 9 minutes to Waddon station. It's the same super hi-tech display as on the S2, indeed the route uses the same type of vehicles, but in this case the software is actually working. It's also lying though, it must be, because in an instant the time to Waddon station suddenly drops from 9 minutes to 5. (It turns out to be 7, such is the poor power of prediction).
A word about these modern displays, iBus mk2, because in two ways I find them worse than the original. They only show the time if someone's dinged the bell wanting to alight, whereas on the old style it's exactly the opposite (time before ding only). More peevingly the screen keeps trying to tell you how long it'll be until the bus reaches a key transport node and they rarely get it right. It's also often a stupid transport node nobody's interested in, as here on the 439 where after Waddon the display suddenly gets obsessed with the time to Whyteleafe station. This is 24 minutes away apparently, and nowhere anyone on board would be going, whereas the time to Purley might have been useful to the majority. Basically, programmers, think about your list of locations far more carefully.
For the next ten minutes we'll be shadowing route 289 down Purley Way. The fortunate folk who live, work and shop along here are getting a bus boost from five services an hour to seven. I’ve blogged a full journey down Purley Way before so I won't submit you to it again, but here are some condensed snippets: Hare and Hounds, Gavin Palmer's belated Mayoral billboard, Fourways, Fiveways, sponsored academy, Grade II listed barn, reversing lorries, Wing Yip cash and carry, Kevin News, former airport, de Havilland Heron, the Colonnades Leisure Park, Costco, Battle of Britain RAF Memorial, cluster of caravans, concrete apron, a heck of a lot of playing fields, more school playing fields, estate agent nirvana, Mock Tudor parade.
We reach Purley Cross a fraction ahead of a bus on route 434. This is the bus whose route ahead the 439 has just swiped, which means there might be someone on that bus who now wants to switch to ours. They can’t, the timing hasn't worked out, so annoyingly they'd now have to wait another 30 minutes (or walk). Five fresh passengers board at Purley station, having correctly deduced they now need the new number, and in one case is over-excited at having a brand spanking new vehicle. We head under the railway bridge, then veer off up Foxley Hill Road to the lower heights of Kenley. This is what the 434 used to do, and will one day do again before entering pastures new and powering up the full length of Higher Drive. More of that later, because I came back to explore it properly.
Northwood Avenue is both isolated and lucky, sandwiched for half a mile between woods and railway with a half-hourly bus service all to themselves. All these houses run along a steepish slope, as do so many around here, in some cases perched above their garages. The road is narrow and double parked so requires careful driving, plus it's bin day and we’ve been fortunate to have missed the dustcart. The road winds on and on and on, briefly achieving connectivity at Kenley station, then ploughs on past lovely gardens, genteel courts and suburban palaces. On the other side of the railway the 407 and 434 are serving a busy main road whereas we're in another world entirely.
The last hurrah of this 2½ mile quarantine is a tiny grid of residential avenues where, as previously blogged, one isolated road has been pettily disadvantaged by ULEZ-inclusion. The bins change at the top of Hornchurch Hill as we switch from London to Surrey, then a level crossing heralds the appearance of that Whyteleafe station the iBus has been going on about for the last 24 minutes. Whyteleafe, a Surrey suburb with a Victorian heart, now has three red bus services not to mention two stations on entirely different railway lines so lucky them. TfL's accountants would have preferred to terminate the 439 here but it has to continue for another three quarters of a mile down the Godstone Road before there's space for a stand and a roundabout to turn back. If you've ever wondered where Ann Summers HQ is, you'll be turfed off outside it.
The 434 used to terminate here but it's just been extended to Caterham to make way, so that's good. What's less good is that to get here it's had to whizz along the A22 because its twiddles around the heights of Kenley aren't yet ready. It should have plunged headlong up Higher Drive, as I mentioned three paragraphs ago, indeed nothing's currently stopping it. The road's broad, not too steep and there are newbuild flats going up whose residents would love a convenient bus. A full mile's worth of potential passengers are waiting, although obviously they all have cars because they’ve never had an alternative.
The underlying problem is that it's easy to get a bus up to the top of Kenley but very difficult to get it back down. There are no convenient roundabouts, no easy turning loops and rather too many narrow lanes linking up here with down there. In particular the left turn out of Firs Road onto Park Road is too sharp, too hairpin, so the obvious route on paper is not an option in real life. Instead buses are going to have to divert round Wattendon Road, a curvaceous bungalowed backwater whose residents could never have imagined it would ever see a regular bus. They're probably up in arms about it, to be honest, but will no doubt use it to nip to the shops once it emerges. Which’ll be just as soon as someone's carried out some enabling works...
These TfL contractors were out yesterday digging up part of Firs Road by the entrance to Wattendon Road. I thought they were removing a traffic island but after checking Streetview it seems they were more likely adding one. Someone's also painted circles around a number of potholes, because it seems the best way to get these filled in is to suddenly have a bus route diverted your way. It does seem a bit remiss to be tackling this only after the proposed launch day but better late than never, and it could still be months before the 434 gets up here. That'll be proper gamechanging, though, for hundreds of homes and a primary school who'll finally get to experience what millions of other Londoners take for granted.
Sorry, I did warn you back in January that there might be an overdose of bus reportage around the start of March. In good news the next big route change isn't until Saturday, plus that's also my birthday, so you now have a few days off before I bring you a couple more.
