London Buses route 108

London Buses route 108 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Lewisham and Stratford International station, it is operated by London Central. An unusual feature of the route is its use of the Blackwall Tunnel, a source of severe delays which leads to the route often being cited as amongst the least reliable in London.[1]

108
Overview
OperatorLondon Central
GarageMorden Wharf (MG)
VehicleMercedes-Benz O530 Citaro
Irizar i2e
Peak vehicle requirement17+2(i2e)
Night-time24-hour service
Route
StartLewisham Shopping Centre
ViaBlackheath
Westcombe Park
North Greenwich
Poplar
Bow
EndStratford International station
Service
LevelDaily

History
London Central MCV Evolution bodied Alexander Dennis Dart SLF at North Greenwich bus station in 2014

Two batches of double deck buses were specifically built for use in the Blackwall and Rotherhithe Tunnels, with specially shaped roofs to improve clearance on the corners. On 14 April 1937, the last solid-tyred AEC NS-Type bus in London operated on route 108.[2] In 1937, forty STL-type buses with convex-shaped roofs made with Blackwall Tunnel in mind were used on routes 108 and 82 and allocated to Athol Street (C) garage in Poplar.[3]

Harris Bus ran into financial difficulties in December 1999, and as a result operations of its contracted routes were taken over by a new subsidiary of London Buses itself, trading as East Thames Buses. East Thames Buses initially ran its routes north of the Thames from the former London Forest garage in Ash Grove, along with the Harris base at Belvedere.[4]

On Friday, 6 Sept 1968, RTL 1561 was the last RTL southbound through the 1897 Blackwall Tunnel bore from Bromley By Bow to Lower Sydenham and back via the 1968 bore of Blackwall Tunnel. RTL1561 was also the last RTL on Route 108 before conversion to RT' from 7 Sept 1968.

Route 108 became the first bus route to serve the Millennium Dome at the Greenwich Peninsula during construction. The stop was initially inside the security area, and was used by staff only.[5]

On 3 October 2009, East Thames Buses was sold to London General, which included a five-year contract to operate route 108.[6][7][8][9] Increased capacity will be introduced on route 108 in 2014.[10]

In February 2016, Transport for London released a consultation regarding various changes on local bus services in Poplar and the Isle of Dogs. One of these changes saw route 108 swap routes between All Saints and Bow with route D8 and extended to terminate at Stratford International station in lieu of Stratford bus station from 1 October 2016 with it no longer serving Bromley-by-Bow and South Bromley.[11][12] Mercedes-Benz Citaros and two electric Irizar i2es cascaded from routes 507 and 521 were introduced at the same time.[13][14][15]

Current route

Route 108 operates via these primary locations:[16]

References
  1. Aldridge, John (July 2007). "Tunnel troubles provoke interesting reaction". Buses. Ian Allan Publishing (628): 21.
  2. Graeme Bruce, J; Curtis, Colin (1977). The London Motor Bus: Its Origins and Development. London Transport. p. 44. ISBN 0853290830.
  3. Graeme Bruce, J; Curtis, Colin (1977). The London Motor Bus: Its Origins and Development. London Transport. p. 73. ISBN 0853290830.
  4. Aldridge, John (May 2000). "Harris Bus: Why LT took over". Buses. Ian Allan Publishing (542): 14.
  5. It's not all Dome and gloom Glasgow Herald, 3 October 1999
  6. Go-Ahead Acquires East Thames Buses Archived 22 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine Go-Ahead Group 30 July 2009
  7. Go-Ahead buys East Thames Buses Archived 24 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 3 August 2009
  8. East Thames Buses Archived 24 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine Go-Ahead London
  9. Bus tender results Route 108/N108 Transport for London 1 July 2009
  10. Read, Carly (24 July 2014). "Chaos on 108 bus to Greenwich forces TfL to add additional service this autumn". This is Local London. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  11. Proposed changes to bus services in the Isle of Dogs area Transport for London 13 July 2016
  12. Bus Services Changes 19 August to 8 October inclusive Transport for London
  13. "First Go-Ahead London electric buses in service" Coach & Bus Week issue 1256 6 September 2016 page 6
  14. "Debut for electrics and StreetDecks" Buses Magazine issue 739 October 2016 page 22
  15. TfL Improving buses, Zero Emission and Ultra Low Emission buses
  16. Route 108 Map Transport for London
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