396 - It's progress so far with Go-Ahead

Hello and welcome to another blog.

How are you? Good? Bad? Whatever you are feeling today another post is ready to be read. By me of course.

Today I am going to talk about route 396 which operates on the East side of London.

It has almost been a year, since the route has been taken over by Go-Ahead and I aim to talk about my initial reaction to the route, as well as a comparison between the recent operator.

So grab a snack or drink and enjoy! If you have any....

First Impressions

When I heard that the route was lost to Go-Ahead I was like "Ah, no!" I felt this way because Go-Ahead London, is such a big company and with their allocations, I thought there wouldn't be any double decker workings. I did use the route, quite regularly under Stagecoach London so hearing that made me feel a bit mixed honestly... 

The route, at present goes from King George Hospital to Ilford Broadway (technically Sainsburys) via Newbury Park and Gants Hill, being that way since the route was born in 1994. It's rather short, being 7km in length making it to be among the shortest routes in London. 

Places of interest: 

Aldborough Hatch - There is a stop near William Torbitt Primary School called Aldborough Road North and there's a road opposite which is ultimately under the same name - Aldborough Road South (if you walk back towards the subway then take a right). Staying on this road for a short time, a park will appear on the left hand side (Seven Kings Park). Things, such as a tennis court, slides and certain gym exercise equipment (I don't go gym, don't judge me) are situated here. However, there is much more further to explore up ahead - just requires a walk if you're interested. Those of you who want to know, I did play tennis and goodness me, it was really tough! I am still a beginner, as I only started training for the first time last summer. I ain't going to be the next Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal, unless I train as mad as a headless chicken. But that is not gonna happen so I will continue doing it for fun. Look how much training they have to do. Do you think I will be able to match that? Anyway this isn't a tennis blog - it's a transport blog so lets get back down to Earth lol. 

Newbury Park - This is the section of the route where people mainly get off ideally to get Central Line services towards London. Not to mention, there is this massive dome-shaped bus shelter that buses go under to serve the station which I find rather awesome! Can also be useful when mother nature decides to play nasty. On certain occasions when TFL Rail is closed, rail replacement buses normally go to Newbury Park so on weekends it is rather busy! 

Gants Hill - Gants Hill is the busiest station on the Central Line (Hainault Loop) meaning quite a few buses serve the area. In the morning though, there may be traffic so if you want to access Central Line quickly then getting off at Newbury Park would be more ideal. The station design is similar to stations that are operated in Moscow. A rather cool design by Charles Holden. Good on you fine chap. 

Valentines Park (near Ilford) - Funfair events take place here eventhough I never been to it. If you ever get a double decker on 396, you are able to see a pond near The Drive, close to the traffic lights. Splendid. Sometimes cricket matches also take place at this park. Notably, it is one of the biggest parks in the London Borough of Redbridge so to speak.

One more note: There is an Ilford Exchange if you want to do shopping. Not really a shopping fan myself but for those hardcore enthusiasts take your pick.

Those are the places of interest. Up next the comparisons!

Stagecoach London vs Go Ahead London

Stagecoach used Dennis Darts when it was handed over (2002) before getting Optare Versas 7 years later. Annoyingly, these buses did have loud ratting problems so that was a headache for me. If you were lucky then during the cold seasons, the driver would switch on the heating. This was mostly great since you don't want to come onboard a bus and feel like you're in the North Pole. No one wants that. In that case, hot chocolate and biscuits would be provided. Never mind who am I kidding it's a public bus! That said, other double and single decker vehicles did have to come in forming part of the allocation due to the Versas being untrustworthy. The frequency felt a like hit and miss overall with some buses coming on time or just taking ages to come. Apart from that though, Stagecoach London managed to give passengers a good service and handed over the baton to Go-Ahead.

Go Ahead also decided to follow suit with the allocation. ADL Enviro 200s (Allison gearbox) is the original allocation. However ADL Enviro 400s (Tridents - mainly 56 reg and 57 reg), Optare Esteem (sometimes) and if you're lucky 60 or 61 reg E40Ds although these tend to stay confined onto the 147 bus route. One time I managed to get thrash on E69 (LX57 reg - Enviro 400) and reached near to 47-48mph. If you're a London enthusiast, then you would know that thrash is very hard to get nowdays. That is why, people tend to go outside London in order to search for their much loved childhood buses. Having been on this route under Go-Ahead operation, I can say they are doing a good job. Frequency may not be perfect, but it's there when I need it to be so I appreciate that, since I need it sometimes to get alternative bus routes.

Tip: On single decker Enviro 200s, there is a air-conditioning/heat unit just before the back (third seat on the left hand side). Certain drivers enable this function to give passengers the best comfort. Hence, I'm saying aim to sit there since whatever season, it can really be better or worse. Trust me, I go to that seat and one time the driver switched on the heating unit. Jackpot!

Okay. Decision time.

Which operation do I prefer it under?

I would say.........................



Stagecoach.


Not trying to say Go-Ahead is bad, but I felt like there was more variety under Stagecoach. Including ALX400s which are my prime favorites! If Go-Ahead had alike types of buses e.g. Optare Olympus or Wright Eclipse Geminis in their garage then maybe........ maybe I could have changed my mind. Unforunately though in this day and age - rather unlikely.

Summary on Route 396

1. 7km route going from King George Hospital - Ilford Broadway (Sainsburys)
2. Allocation consists of single deckers and double deckers can make an appearance too
3. Passes through some places of interest including Valentines Park, Aldborough Hatch, The Exchange (Ilford shopping mall)
4. Frequency has improved under Go-Ahead operation - amount of vehicles allocated stays the same though
5. Handy (at the right time) if you need to make quick links

Generally, I feel like 396 is doing great based on what I discussed here. I wish the best for this company as they continue to dominate once again.

Hopefully I made your day/night slightly brighter or better than how it is going. 

Thanks for reading this blog! 

Take care and happy reading! :)