London Central
London Central Bus Company Limited, trading as Go-Ahead London, is a bus company operating in South London. The London Central brand is a subsidiary of Go-Ahead London and operates services under contract to Transport for London. History London Central commenced operating on 1 April 1989 when London Buses was divided into 11 separate business units. In September 1994, it was sold to the Go-Ahead Group for £23.8 million. In August 2008, Go-Ahead's London bus operations all adopted the Go-Ahead London trading name, although the individual company names are still applied beneath the logo. Garages London Central operates five bus garages. Bexleyheath (BX) As at January 2023, Bexleyheath garage operated routes 51, 89, 132, 244, 321 (night service only on this 24-hour route), 486, 624, 625, 658, B11, B12, B13 and B16. History Built as a trolleybus depot by the London Passenger Transport Board, Bexleyheath was the only new garage built for trolleybuses. The depot is a large and imposing building, slightly set back from the main road to enable parking on the forecourt, which was used as a terminus for route 122. Bexleyheath closed in 1986, with work transferred to Catford, Plumstead and Sidcup garages. In 1988 it re-opened under the guise of Bexleybus, a low-cost unit set up by London Buses under de-regulation, and had a large and varied allocation from Iveco/Robin Hoods and MCW Metroriders to Leyland Olympians and Daimler Fleetlines. The move to set up the new company to tender for routes backfired, and in the next round of tendering only route B16 was awarded to Bexleybus, whilst London Central won nine. London Central took control of Bexleyheath garage and routes in 1990. Lately the garage has had a good utilisation figure, up to 139 in 2001 which necessitated parking in the rear yard and the forecourt. In January 2007, the garage received its first Alexander Dennis Enviro400s for use on route 486. This garage also houses one of the companies iBus hubs, controlling routes for Bexleyheath, Morden Wharf, New Cross, and Peckham garages. In 2022, Bexleyheath became the first bus garage in London to be equipped for 'opportunity charge' electric bus operation, whereby the bus is charged while terminating before starting its next journey. This was introduced on route 132 whose eastern terminus is at the garage. A gantry was installed at the garage connecting with a pantograph on the top of the bus. On 9 July 2022, a fleet of Alexander Dennis Enviro400EVs began to enter service on the route. Camberwell (Q) As at September 2023, Camberwell garage operated routes 1, 12, 35, 40, 42, 100, 108D, 176, 185, 355, 360, 484, N1, N15 (additional workings only) and SL6. On 30 April 2016, route 345 passed to Abellio London. On 2 May 2020, route P5 passed to Abellio London with new Caetano e.City Gold Buses. History Although built in 1914, Camberwell garage was not used as a bus garage until 1919 as it had been requisitioned for the war effort. Once it came into use