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Locate Us | Bus Routes | Abergeldie House abergeldiehouse.com | Map & Bus Route Information eugeneeyecare.com | Bus 12 Route :: OPA Ortho opaortho.com |
[edit] HistoryThe history of route 166 begins in the 1980s, when route 164 was cut back to Belmont, as part of bus deregulation. As a replacement, Epsom Buses started route 598, under contract to Surrey County Council, running between Epsom and Croydon on a similar route to the current 166. In July 1992, route number 498 started, representing commercial journeys operated by Epsom Buses rather than under a Surrey Council contract. Routing around the Epsom area has changed several times. For a number of years, route 498 from Epsom to the cluster of hospitals west of it. Route 598 was withdrawn for a while, but then returned as a Sunday service that ran into Sutton in place of Croydon, but then disappeared again. By 1996 the routing in the Epsom area was standardised, running only as far as Epsom. The service to The Wells was covered by new local route E5, and the housing built on the now-closed cluster of hospitals route E9. Meanwhile, London Transport route 166 was running between Chipstead Valley and Croydon. As part of the bus changes for the introduction of the Tramlink scheme, it was proposed that route 166 would be withdrawn from Chipstead Valley and instead run to Caterham-on-the-Hill. To maintain the frequency to Chipstead Valley, route 412 was to be extended from Purley, but this operates via a very indirect route via Selsdon. This would have left the hourly 498 as the only direct service from Chipstead Valley to Croydon, with no evening or Sunday service. However, there was lots of protest from residents of Chipstead Valley, as they only replacements would be an indirect extension route 412, or the 498, which didn’t run on evenings or Sundays. The plans for the route 412 extension were scraped, with the buses saved used to increase the frequency on route 498. Arriva provided a half-hourly service, with a co-ordinated timetable that provided a service every 20 minutes between Chipstead Valley and Croydon. Confusingly, the 498 was renumbered 166, and the diverted 166 (to Caterham-on-the-Hill became 466 instead. Arriva won the contract for the 412, and so the buses were introduced to route 166 with Epsom Buses. Soon after though, Epsom Buses made the decision to stop operating their journeys on the 166 commercially. As a result, the entire route was taken into the London Buses network from 28 July 2001. London Buses fare scales were introduced, and everything was taken over by Arriva. Extra 9.8 m Dennis Darts were cascaded in from route 307, which at the time was gaining double deckers. Currently, route 166 is the lowest route number to be found in the Epsom area. Most routes still are numbered in the old London Country system with “4xx” numbers or in more recent times with letter prefixes. The DAF SB120/Wright Cadets are very often mixed with some of the other buses in Croydon garage, with Dennis Dart SLF/Alexander ALX200s from route 407 (up until October 2009 when Arriva stopped running route 407) and Dennis Dart SLF/Alexander Dennis Pointers from route 312. It is also possible to see double deckers running the route.[1][2] A new batch of Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Darts began running on the route from March 2009. [edit] Vehicle types used since service began
[edit] Current route
Notes:
[edit] See also[edit] References[edit] External links
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