Arriva London Ash Grove Bus Garage
Ash Grove Bus Garage
Operator: Arriva London
Address: Mare Street, South Hackney E8 4RH
Garage Code: AE
Opened: 1981 Vacated: 24th February 2024
Peak Vehicle Requirement: 23
Vehicle Types Operated:
Wrightbus New Bus for London (NB4L)
Garage History
In 1981, Ash Grove became the inaugural bus garage out of the three newly built by London Buses. This development aimed to replace older garages, with a price tag of approximately £3.5 million.
Upon opening the garage had covered space for 140 vehicles, with further yard space for another 30.
In April 1989, when London Buses were privatised, Ash Grove became part of the London Forest business unit. However, this arrangement only lasted until 1991. when London Forest had to shut down due to losing 11 routes. As a result of these losses, Ash Grove was also closed.
In 1994, Ash Grove was reopened under the name Cambridge Heath by Kentish Bus, after winning a few routes in the Leyton area. Unfortunately, with more tender losses, Kentish Bus had to leave the garage in February 1998, leading to its closure again.
After Harris Bus went out of business in December 1999, East Thames Buses, a subsidiary of London Regional Transport, took over the operation of the Harris routes.
In January 2000, they reopened Ash Grove as an operating base. However, on 13 October 2005, East Thames Buses relocated to Mandela Way in Southwark. Fortunately, CT Plus started operating from the garage shortly after, preventing it from being closed again.
After switching from AEC Routemaster buses to Mercedes Benz Citaro articulated buses in November 2005, Arriva London started using Ash Grove as a home base for these vehicles, since Clapton Garage was unable to accommodate them.
After switching back to standard double-decker buses on the 38, it was decided to keep using the garage and assign more routes to operate from there.
Due to route loss resulting from the tendering process, the garage was left with only Route 254 and the decision was taken to vacate the site, with the 254 moving to a re-opened Stamford Hill Garage on 24th February 2024.
Hello, we are local Nursery five minutes walk from you near Regents Canal
The children that we take care of are from the local area
This is a bit of a cheeky question, but would it be possible to pay you a visit? Let the children see the buses up close we would just bring a small group
As the children’s main interest right now, our buses and some have never had the opportunity to be on a bus
Sending you a big thank you
Hi Stacey
Unfortunately this blog is not affiliated with Arriva London and therefore I cannot assist you with your request. I can however inform you that Arriva London no longer operate Ash Grove Bus Garage and you would need to make your request to Stagecoach London via their head office at West Ham on 020 7055 9804.
Hope this helps