London Buses route 358

358
London General Irizar ie tram outside Bromley South station
Overview
Operator	London General (Go-Ahead London)
Garage	Orpington
Vehicle	Irizar ie tram [1]
Peak vehicle requirement	17
Night-time	No night service
Route
Start	Crystal Palace bus station
Via	Anerley Penge Beckenham Eden Park Shortlands Bromley Locksbottom Farnborough Green Street Green
End	Orpington station
Length	15 miles (24 km)
Service
Level	Daily
Frequency	About every 12-20 minutes
Journey time	45-97 minutes
Operates	04:00 until 01:29

London Buses route 358 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Crystal Palace bus station and Orpington station, it is operated by Go-Ahead London subsidiary London General.

The route is one of the longest in London, at around 15 miles (24 km) in length. ^[2]

History

The route was introduced in 1989 on a commercial basis by Metrobus and initially only had two return journeys per day Monday to Friday. It became a Transport for London route in 2002 and was subsequently improved, with frequency increasing to every 12 minutes at peak times and every 20 minutes on evenings and Sundays. In 2014, it was taken over by London General who operate the route from Orpington bus garage.^{[ citation needed ]}

In October 2022, Irizar signed a contract with London General to supply twenty ie tram electric buses and the associated charging infrastructure for the route. At each end of the route an ultrafast charger was installed to allow buses to charge via a reverse pantograph (an overhead pantograph that drops down onto the bus). ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} The ie tram buses began operating on the route on 20 November 2024. ^{[2] [1]}

Current route

Route 358 operates via these primary locations: ^[7]

• Crystal Palace bus station
• Crystal Palace station
• Anerley station
• Penge
• Kent House station
• Beckenham Road tram stop
• Clock House station
• Beckenham Beacon
• Elmers End
• Eden Park station
• Park Langley
• Shortlands station
• Bromley South station
• Bromley Common
• Locksbottom
• Farnborough
• Green Street Green
• Orpington High Street
• Orpington station

References

1. "London's new tram-like buses come into service". BBC News . 20 November 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
2. Lydall, Ross (20 November 2024). "Is it a bus or a tram? New era for electric buses in London". The Standard. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
3. Staubach, Timo. "Bus-Down Pantograph Charging: Schunk's Inverted Pantograph SLS 201". Future Transport News.
4. "London first fast-charged bus route to be electrified by Irizar e-mobility - Go Ahead". Sustainable Bus. 27 October 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
5. Marius, Callum (4 January 2023). "South London bus route set to be transformed by new 'trambuses' in 2023". MyLondon. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
6. "Opportunity charging rolled out on London route". Bus & Coach Buyer. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
7. Route 358 Map Transport for London

External links

Media related to London Buses route 358 at Wikimedia Commons