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New route 493 is perhaps the most
ambitious route ever to be commissioned in south
London! Starting from Richmond, it follows the
337 to Barnes before peeling off to replace the
485's Queen Mary's Hospital leg at Roehampton.
After that it shadows the 170 to Tibbett's
Corner, where only then it begins to serve new
sections in the form of Augustus Road in
Southfields and the southern end of Wimbledon
Park Road, continuing to Wimbledon and Tooting,
where it terminates at St George's Hospital. It's nice to see
Augustus Road get its bus service back, having
lost the 39 in May 1990 when it was rerouted
away, but I worry about the nightmarish rush hour
traffic to be found both along the Upper Richmond
Road end and, arguably worse, at the Tooting end.
Perhaps accordingly, a bit of bunching was
evident on the first day.
Mitcham Belle
are in charge of the 493, and have stripped the
152 of buses (replacing them with what?) to see
it through till the new intake appears. The
80%-red livery of Caetano Nimbus-bodied 10-metre
Dennis Dart SLF 061 (KM51 BFY) looks remarkably
good, if a bit grubby from winter muck (it rained
heavily earlier in the day). The bus is seen at
Putney Heath, Green Man.
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