London Bus Services

Route 60 has almost certainly succeeded in making itself London's most infamous route for years to come, as a result of one of the most spectacular failures of the London Buses tendering system. In general, companies place bids with London Bus Services Limited for the operation of a route for a set period (usually five years), and the lowest bid, o... r the one providing best value for money, usually wins. However, until recently relatively little thought was given to the suitability of the bids. The 60 came into existence in September 1982, replacing route 130 between Croydon and Streatham Common via Streatham Vale, and route 118 from Streatham Vale and Streatham to Clapham Common via Poynders Road. It plodded on fairly uneventfully until 1998, when one of many route schemes to affect the Croydon area network recently, all in the name of Tramlink, took place. Several routes were due to be re-tendered from the summer of 1998, one of these being the 60. The opportunity was taken to reorganise the routings as well; in particular, the 60 was extended south, replacing route 50 beyond South Croydon Garage to Purley, Coulsdon and Old Coulsdon, in order to restore a long-lost link between Coulsdon and the Mayday Hospital off London Road. Ironically the link had been lost in 1988 when the 50, which does not serve the Mayday, replaced old route 190 between Old Coulsdon and Croydon. This particular bit of planning was a bit up the wall, as the change coincided with the closure of Purley Hospital, whose patients were transferred to the Mayday! In compensation for the extension, the section of the 60 north of Streatham Common to Streatham and Clapham Common was transferred to a new route, the 255. The southwards extension of the 60 via former 190 roads also partially replaced route 109, which was cut back from Purley to Croydon. The successful bidder for the 60 was quite a surprise, Capital Logistics gaining the route from Arriva London South. Capital Logistics was formed in August 1997 following the merger of Whyte's ...Read More