The 286 was introduced in late 1961 from Belmont and
Sutton as far as Raynes Park, and extended three months later to
Kingston, replacing the Coombe Lane section of the
200. The meandering route was not a success
and it was withdrawn Monday to Saturday after only two years and
completely by the end of 1964.
Sutton's RT4374 is seen
standing at Belmont on a Sunday in October 1964, awaiting departure
to Kingston on the 286 a few weeks before the route was
withdrawn. Note the upper case intermediates blind, unusual
for blinds new in 1962. Ken Glazier suggests they may have
been produced for an earlier operational date. The sideblind
is however lower case!
Photo © Bob Turner,
Ian Armstrong collection
New daily Sutton RT-operated route 286
was introduced in October 1961 between Raynes Park and Belmont, via
Wimbledon, Morden, The Woodstock, Sutton and the main road to
Belmont. Sutton Common Road between The Woodstock
and Sutton By-pass finally gained a bus route, and from there
to Sutton the route replaced the 156
along Collingwood Road.
Twelve weeks later, on 3 Jan 62, the 286
was extended from Raynes Park via Coombe Lane
to Kingston, replacing the 'West Wimbledon' section of the
200. The additional service along
Coombe Road to Kingston helped offset a reduction on the 213 when that route was double-decked and a
substantial part of the service rerouted onto the new
213A, in May 1963.
However, the route was short-lived, presumably
due to its meandering nature, and was withdrawn in 1964.
First to go was the Monday to Saturday service, in January 1964,
replaced in part by an extension of the 57 from South Wimbledon to
Kingston and in part by a tortuous (and itself short-lived,
the section being in turn replaced by the 80/A in 1969) revision to the
213A. The Sunday service lasted until November,
and was not replaced along Coombe Lane until the 200 was extended
to Kingston on Sunday afternoons a year later.
