Search

Content

Follow Us

Drop Down MenusCSS Drop Down MenuPure CSS Dropdown Menu

Search This Blog

Saturday 2 April 2011

London United Hounslow Heath Garage [HH]...Revisit...New Optare Tempos

Today I visited London United's Hounslow Heath Garage which sits on the Border of Greater West London and Surrey. This is the second time I have visited the location, the first of which was back in October when the ADHs were in the process of being delivered. This time I visited the garage as I received word that some of the new Optare Tempos (OT) had finally been delivered for use on the new H37 (Hounslow - Richmond) contract.


The new Tempos or OTs as they are classified as have an acclaimed capacity of '78' and weigh 10,180KGS. They are fitted with environmentally friendly Mercedes Euro5 Engines. I must say I really like these vehicles. They bring a much needed new style of Bus to London's streets I would personally love to see more of these ordered. Currently at the Garage there are four of these Buses, all of them have had their IBUS Screens fitted as well as CCTV are now in process of driver training. Just a note here: The Tempo demonstrator is still situated at Hounslow Bus Garage (AV). More photos of the said buses and the premises are displayed below, enjoy!

London United DPS707 SN55 HKK

London United VA71 V189 OOE

London United DPS712 SN55 HKT

London United DE21 YX58 DWK

London United ADH1 SN58 EOR

London United ADH1 SN58 EOR

London United OT3 YJ11 EHK

London United Optare Tempo Interior

London United OT4 YJ11 EHL

London United OT2 YJ11 EHH


London United SP21 YN08 DHF

London United SP21 YN08 DHF

24 Comments:

Hassaan
at: Saturday, April 02, 2011 11:07:00 pm said...

Have they stored a tyre in the wheelchair space?

Jay says:
at: Saturday, April 02, 2011 11:35:00 pm said...

Yes they did. It was on all of them for some reason.

Anonymous
at: Sunday, April 03, 2011 12:27:00 pm said...

Hi Jamaal,

Excellent Pictures of the HH garage, thanks for getting photos of inside the garage bit, very good visit this time.

Jack
at: Monday, April 04, 2011 2:11:00 pm said...

Hi Jamaal,

Great photos am I right in thinking the 285's DE's have just been fitted with new power blinds in the last week as the old ones were a complete mess where you couldn't even see the destination.

I also think the late delivery of these buses is very poor on Optare's behalf as this is a huge opportunity for them to launch this bus in London and it's not as if they havn't had long enough to build them. They had exactly the same amount of time as Alexander Dennis to supply them and their buses arrived early.

Thanks

Jack

Jay says:
at: Monday, April 04, 2011 5:33:00 pm said...

Thanks guys!

Jack the 285's DEs have been fitted with standard new manual blinds not power blinds. I have to admit they do look quite nice now. The old ones should of never existed, there was no point in them as you could not see anything!

Jack
at: Monday, April 04, 2011 6:17:00 pm said...

Oh okay thanks do you know what type of blind they were in the first place? Are they on any other London routes I have never seen anything so bad.

Jay says:
at: Monday, April 04, 2011 7:30:00 pm said...

No problem. The old blinds were standard manual blinds but the material Transdev London use is thinner than other London operators and the lighting behind the blind was not good at all. Some of the 08 and 58 Plate Metroline DEs have similar blinds but not as bad.

Hassaan
at: Monday, April 04, 2011 8:05:00 pm said...

Is that why the blinds on buses with the old style blind box (the box with space for the via points) appear dimmer than on the buses with the new style box?

Hassaan
at: Monday, April 04, 2011 8:25:00 pm said...

When do you think these new buses will enter service?

Jay says:
at: Monday, April 04, 2011 8:43:00 pm said...

Yep. The old style Blind Box is called manual which means the driver has to control it manually whereas the new style one is called power blinds which means the driver can press a button and set it to a specific route and destination automatically. The lighting behind manual blinds is much dimmer than the lighting behind power blinds.

The new OTs for the H37 are due to enter service next week I was quoted.

Jack
at: Tuesday, April 05, 2011 3:31:00 am said...

Okay thanks, do you know if 15 OTs have been ordered to match the pvr for the H37 as i know that with most high frequency routes spares are ordered as well.

Jay says:
at: Tuesday, April 05, 2011 5:40:00 pm said...

Well all routes have spares, London United have ordered 17 Buses for the H37.

Jack
at: Tuesday, April 05, 2011 11:25:00 pm said...

Thanks Jamaal, yeah I thought so but I know sometimes some of the operators just order the same amount of brand new buses as the pvr and use older ones as spares.

Jay says:
at: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 12:06:00 am said...

Jack, that can only be possible in cases where the older stock is LEZ compliant and does not have to leave London. The DPs currently on the H37 are Euro2 and will be leaving London as soon as their duties are done.

Regards
Jamaal

Hassaan
at: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 6:11:00 pm said...

Will all Euro 2 buses have to leave London by the beginning of next year or face massive charges to be used in London?

Jay says:
at: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 8:23:00 pm said...

By January the 12th 2012, I think that's the exact date, all Euro2 Buses will either have to depart from London or face Engine Changes to make them at least Euro3 to allow them to continue service in London.

Jack
at: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 11:19:00 pm said...

Oh okay thank you as soon as the 17 OTs are in service 17 DPSs will be moved elsewhere I imagine? They are currently operating on the H37 which have been moved from HH as most of the H37 DPs have already been taken out of service. Then the remaining DPs are only then in service on the 222 which is due to be re-tendered before the year is out.

Hassaan
at: Friday, April 15, 2011 5:48:00 pm said...

OT7 (YJ11EHO) has arrived at AV, while OT1 (YJ11EHG) has had its London United logos applied.

Jay says:
at: Sunday, April 17, 2011 6:07:00 pm said...

May I ask how the logos look. Also if the 222 route is retained London United are seeking to add Tempos to the Route.

Hassaan
at: Monday, April 18, 2011 7:50:00 pm said...

I only saw the front and the left hand side. On the front, the logo is tn the space above the numberplate. on the side, it is above the front door.

I think these buses are too long. A number of the turns on the H37 route are quite tight. A 10.2m bus actually mounted the pavement once when turning right. If this happens to 10.2m buses, imagine what would happen to 12m ones. They could have done something else, like increase the frequency while using new 10.8m buses, instead of these 12m ones, which are too long. The bus I was on before the 10.2m one, which was a Tempo, had to be stopped at Hounslow Garage (AV), one stop into the route, although I don't know the exact reason for this (probably because the driver could not drive the bus!). The route cannot take double deckers, due to a 13' 3" low bridge.

On the other hand, the 222 can take double deckers. The 222 has a few double deck workings. If they need more capacity, they should fully convert the route to double deck, like they did with the 81, except using new buses. (the 81 used buses displaced from the H32 and then 111, and is also coming up for tender). I know there is at least one tight turn on the route, at Bell Rd in Hounslow, and 10.8m buses can manage this, but I think 12m will be too long to manage this turn. I think it will be better to use double deckers instead, even if they're in a short length like 10.1m, because these will have more capacity than the 70 of the Tempos.

Anonymous
at: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 11:45:00 pm said...

Do you have any pics of the new enviro200s on the
423? Or new logo on 111?

Jay says:
at: Thursday, April 21, 2011 10:02:00 am said...

No pictures as of yet.

Anonymous
at: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 4:36:00 pm said...

How come London united changed its logo?

Anonymous
at: Thursday, February 28, 2013 12:39:00 pm said...

CYCLO!!! Maybe the sole on the Optare.

Post a Comment

Please comment responsibly

Total Pageviews

Recent Comments

Recent Comments Widget

recent posts

Contact Us

Name

Email *

Message *

© The Circle of London Blog 2015

Followers