Red Arrow (bus)



Red Arrow was branding given to two current and several former London bus limited stop routes used as high frequency commuter services in central London. The most recent Red Arrow services were route 507 and route 521, where the name was dropped from September 2009.

History
London Transport had instigated a Bus Reshaping Plan in 1966 to examine bus service operation, and settled on replacing some double-decker buses with long single-decker buses, 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 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 By 1972, the new single deck model of operation had not been overly successful in the other areas and were withdrawn.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 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.

In 1989 a demonstrator of the new Optare Delta 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, the Leyland-DAB, was exhibited by private London operator Capital Citybus 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, who had bought the London General operation. The Greenways were given 'cherished registrations' transferred from disposed of Routemasters, 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 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.