dreamingofsleep

A quick way to get to Surrey beyond the M25 is to drive to Beckenham, take a right at the Odeon roundabout and a left at the next junction into Upper Elmers End Road, then go on to West Wickham through to Layhams Road, Skid Hill and Beddlestead Lane and on down Titsey Hill. You go under the M25 and end up on the A25 at Limpsfield.

Hi James - thanks for that... my husband drives them and said they've tried 33' buses on the route in the past, but they were too long. 31' must be the upper limit. Fingers crossed for their success!

I've heard that even 3' extra on the 484 bus means it can't get round the corners residential streets of Lewisham. New buses are the same length as the old, but have an extra set of doors to ease exit.

My husband drives a 484. They're currently operated by London Central in Camberwell but they've lost the contract and it will be transferring over the road to Abellio (who also operate the 40s) next March. FYI, responding to a previous post, if drivers are off sick they do indeed employ drivers constantly on a 'spare' rota to cover these gaps. If a route seems sporadic it is far more likely to be down to buses breaking down than a driver shortage. As I'm sure you can work out, if the buses are meant to be every 10 minutes and 1 breaks down, you're left not only with a gap of 20 mins to the next bus, but increased passenger numbers causing the bus to be fuller and slower, increasing the waiting time. When the route changes garage there'll probably be new buses, so potentially fewer break downs, and therefore a better service, but we'll have to wait and see. As for 'the worst service in London'... I doubt that VERY much!