Another month has past, they seem to be dropping like fly's at the moment, this month featured a tube strike, the next batch of new routemasters were pressed into service as well as the first new style Wright Gemini 3's for London and not forgetting Notting Hill Carnival prompts the return of the suffix.

Tube Strike Extra's

Abellio London's 8018 is seen at Aldwych while working as an extra on the Route 188 (Taken by Kristian Lake on 06/08/15)

Ensignbus's pride and joy MD60 is seen on Whitechapel High Street while working as an extra on the Route 25 (Taken by Kristian Lake on 06/08/15)

Ensignbus ER882 is seen on Whitechapel High Street while working as an extra on the Route 15 (Taken by Kristian Lake on 06/08/15)

Introduction of Mercedes Citaro's on Route 108

MEC21 is seen approaching North Greenwich, while working on the Route 108, MEC's have been rushed into service on this route following a recent fire damaged DWL. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 28/08/15). It has been rumoured that upon the introduction of the new BYD Electric E200s on Routes 507 and 521, MECs should be moving south, with Routes 108 and 293 mentioned. 

New Routemaster - Route 88

 

LT509 is seen on Clapham Common Stand while working on the first day of service on the Route 88, the introduction of New Routemasters on this route will allow a cascade within Go-Ahead London to take place eventually ridding them of the remaining early numbered PVL's. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 22/08/15)

New Go-Ahead Volvo B5LH's at Croydon for Routes 119, 202, 405

WHV44 is seen on Blackheath Common while working on the Route 202, this is one of 39 new style Wrightbus Gemini 3's currently being introduced at Metrobus Croydon. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 22/08/15)

Victoria Line Closure - Rail Replacement Buses

TP408 is seen on Broad Lane, Tottenham approaching Seven Sisters while working on the Temporary Route 558 between Chingford Mount and Seven Sisters, normally long term closures frustrate regular users, however in the final days of the closure of the Victoria line a petition was set up by Chingford residents to keep this route in operation after the line has re-opened.  (Taken by Kristian Lake on 11/08/15)

Notting Hill Carnival Extra Buses:

12313 is seen crossing Warren Street while working on the Route 205X between Liverpool Street and Harrow Road. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 30/08/15)

MEC14 is seen in Vauxhall Bus Station while working on the Route 436X between Peckham and Notting Hill Gate. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 30/08/15)

WVL397 is seen in Vauxhall Bus Station while working on the Route 36X between New Cross Gate and Harrow Road. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 30/08/15)

VLA65 is seen in Vauxhall Bus Station while working on the Route 2X between West Norwood and Notting Hill Gate. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 30/08/15)

Second Irizar I2e Electric

This month also saw the introduction of the Second Irizr I2e Electric Bus at Waterloo Garage, Ei2 is seen on London Bridge on 01/09/15, taken by Kristian Lake.

Adverts:
New Nike 'Built for Brilliance'

LT282 is seen at Trafalgar Square while working on the Route 453 sporting the new Nike 'Built for Brilliance' all-over advert. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 22/08/15)

New Dove - Rugby World Cup

LT241 is seen approaching Shoreditch High Street while working on the Route 8, this is one of the buses to have the #Scrum Together, Dove Men Care, Rugby World Cup advert. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 15/08/15)

New Tommy Hilfiger

LT440 is seen on Regent Street at Oxford Circus having arrived on the Route 12 from Dulwich Library. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 30/08/15)

Outskirts of London:
Arriva Kent Thameside - New 'Fastrack' Wrightbus Streetlites (Routes A/B Dartford-Bluewater area)

4303 is seen arriving at Bluewater Bus Station while working on Fast-track Route B. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 08/08/15)

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Introduction of new Enviro 200's on Routes G1 and 322.

The start of May saw the introduction of new buses at Plough Lane and Stockwell for the Routes G1 and 322 respectively they where a batch of small Enviro 200's, quite possibly the last standard batch for London, with all future models of the MMC flavour.

SE254 is seen at the Battersea Shaftesbury Estate, this is one of very few turns where buses have to reverse in the road. (Taken on 02/05/15 by Kristian Lake).

SE239 is seen on stand at Clapham Common on the first day of operation of the route following its transfer from Abellio (Taken on 02/05/15 by Kristian Lake)

New Coca-Cola NBFL advert livery

LT167 is seen on Oxford Street on 9th May working on the Route 10 to Kings Cross, this was the first NBFL to receive the advert with a couple more also expected to get similar treatment. If it is anything like last years Coca-Cola advert then get it quickly as it wont be around for long.

New Ensignbus Volvo B9TL's/Gemini 2's
One of the surprises of the month came in the form of four new Volvo B9TL's which where delivered to Ensignbus towards to end of April, this was to allow a similar number of older Trident/ALX400 buses to be disposed of. The new buses came with the Wrightbus Gemini 2 body, are the last of the type to be delivered. Carrying 15 Plates, the vehicles themselves were built iin 2014 under the small type approval scheme which allows manufacturers combined to build up to 250 vehicles of a previous Euro rating and similar models have showed up with Arriva North East as well as Go Ahead North East.

127 (LX15GOK) is seen in Stratford City Bus Station on 9th May while working on a DLR Rail Replacement Service to Canary Wharf, this was one of 26 buses within the Ensignbus fleet to be named after a local Purfleet solider who lost there lives in the Great War, A wonderful tribute to commemorate the centenary of the Great War.

Cross-London Transfers...
May saw a further four ex Stagecoach Trident/ALX400's enter service with Tower Transit at Westbourne Park, these four had been released from Leyton following the conversion of Route 55 to NBFL and join six others already with Tower Transit.

TAL33208 (LX03BTY) ex Stagecoach 17754 is seen at Marble Arch on 9th May while working on the Route 23 to Westbourne Park.

NBFL introduction on Route 73
The introduction of 53 new NBFL's and six transfers from BN began on Thursday 14th May, when the first ten entered service, the whole route is expected to be converted by Saturday 6th June.

LT467 is seen on Oxford Street near Bond Street Station while working on the Route 73 to Victoria. (Taken on 23/05/15 by Kristian Lake)

  

LT472 became the latest victim of a accident, while on its first day in service it collided with another NBFL on Oxford Street outside Selfridges, causing long delays to all bus services in the area. But thankfully no one was injured and the bus was towed away within an hour. (Taken on 23/05/15 by Kristian Lake)

Route 135 transfer to Go-Ahead
Saturday 23rd May saw the transfer of Route 135 to Go-Ahead operation using E208-223 (transferred from NX thanks to the cascade of WHV's from Q following the introduction of NBFL's on the Route 12, yes I know its complicated) in the interim until the brand new Volvo B5LH/Enviro 400 MMC's (numbered EHV1-13). It is estimated that the first bus will be delivered for commissioning at the turn of the month. It is unlikely to enter service for at least two weeks while it undergoes some testing. So keep you eyes peeled in June for the EHV's.

E211 is seen at Aldgate Station while working on the Route 135 to Old Street, having transferred over from New Cross a few days previous. A couple of buses ventured onto the routes D7, 673 and 474, they are also currently the only buses able to work on the 135. 

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A relatively quiet month in the London bus world, but one thing we can confirm is that Arsenal are not going to win the league title after all and Jeremy Kyle is our new top gear host and I personally cannot see anyone better to be honest, with his amplified voice, who better to talk about a V6 engine on a car.

Delivery of the VH class Volvo B5LH/Wright Gemini buses for the 116 & 285

Delivery of first of 28 VH class Volvos numbered VH24-51 for London United commenced on the 27th of Apirl where four of these buses were unexpectedly delivered to the company's Twickenham Depot in South West London. Earmarked for the Route 116 & 285, there was much speculation as to what both routes will be using to mark the start of their new contract, in particular the 285, with some theorists suggesting the ADH class on the 94 would be utilised which would make way for the introduction of LTs on the route. This was of course rubbished when the first pictures on the net emerged of the new buses. Seen here in a lonely Twickenham yard, stands VH40 which is in warm storage, while it awaits blinds, Tfl revenue equipment as well as IBUS installation prior to entering service on routes 116 and 285.

Introduction of Enviro 400 MMC's for Metroline on Route 332 

The 17th of April, saw the much anticipated introduction of the first batch of Metroline MMC bodied Enviro Hybrid buses, with TEH2081 and 2082 performing the honours. The vehicles ordered against the issue of the new 332 contract were delivered to the company's CELF Centre facility in February before being placed in warm storage at another location. The introduction of 16 strong batch with numbers ranging from TEH2072-2087 will ultimately allow some of the older TEs from the batch TE1073-1104 to transfer to Holloway (HT) in order to oust the 25 TP/TPL class currently in service. As of April 2014, TE1076 & 1077 have made the short trip up north. 

The Last Enviro 400 to enter service

Seen here with the Millennium dome in the backdrop, is Stagecoach London's 12364 SN15 LRJ, the Plumstead allocated vehicle prides itself in being the last ever production model Enviro 400 to be introduced to the streets of London after which all other models will be of the MMC body. Allocated to the 122 as a logistical spare, it spends most of its time plying its trade on the other routes at Plumstead Garage.

Sullivan's new acquisitions

The 7th of April, saw independent operator Sullivan Buses take on the delivery of four former Stagecoach Lodno Scania Omnicity buses which had recently come off lease following the end of their contractual duties on Route 56 which obtained Hybrid buses. Given fleet numbers DS50-53, the vehicles will be allocated to newly won school routes, 692 and 699 which were respectively won from fellow operator London General. The Buses originally ordered by stagecoach are in the process of receiving a new blind sets, prior to deep clean, their arrival allows the company to oust the ageing ALX1/2 & 4/5 in the summer which are nearing the end of their lives.

More Greens for Metroline 

Delivery has commenced of 34 VWH class buses for Metroline as illustrated in the above picture, the eventual batch will consist of 64 vehicles, with eventual fleet numbers set to be running from VWH2088-2151, the introduction of these vehicles will see both routes 6 and 98 convert to full hybrid operation, to meet new requirements as well as allow the not too long refurbished VPs to be utilised elsewhere, ridding older leased deckers in the process. 

A set of striking two tone pink and black NBFL adverts

The over-publication of London fashion icon, the 'LT' continued, with this time Magnum supporting the cause, noted across the Holloway and Leyton garages, the buses, are being wrapped in a pink vinyl advertising Magnum's new flavoured ice cream, all wrapped vehicles have also had WiFi installed, which is sponsored by Walls.

Slightly out of London

Introduction of Streetdecks in Brighton

Slightly out of London, the much coveted introduction of the first of the facelifted Streedecks went very smootly, with the first models entering service on flagship routes 12 and 12X, 24 buses comprised of an integral Wrightbus chassis which is coupled to a 5.1 Daimler engine commenced delivery in the early days of April. Although there have been mixed reviews about the vehicle, nothing can be taken away from the fact it has a marvellously striking design.

Observations 

TEs on the U5

Metroline West TE1743 is seen in Hayes, unusually working the U5, this batch of buses were originally new to former operator, First London's Greenford Garage for the retention of the E1 & E3 which were successfully retained on tender in 2009. The batch were formerly numbered DN33575-33611, however following the purchase of First's Centrwest operations it and its sisters were given new identities, in TE1715-1751. At present most of the batch are still at Greenford Garage, following the retention and gain of routes 282 and 482, while a few transferred north to Holloway Garage (HT) for the 91 while its TEs transferred further north to the company's Potters Bar (PB) garage as temporary cover on the recently gained 34 and 125 while both routes awaited their new VWHs.

WDL1 on the 655

A normally 270 allocated WDL1 is seen loading outside of GAL's headquarters in Merton whilst serving school route 655, the one off vehicle was delivered to Go-Ahead's via VDL dealer Arriva Bus & Coach in 2009 and housed at their Stockwell garage.

MCL1 Still going strong

Still going strong, seen navigating Kingston Bus Station is Quality Line's MCL1, a now spare bus purchased by Quality Line following the gain of Route 293 back in 2003, the vehicle now spends most of its operating as a layover bus, allocated to much of the routes at the company's small Epsom base.

Transfer of TEs from Cricklewood to Holloway

The much anticipated transfer of up to 25 TEs from Cricklewood to Holloway commenced on the night of the 18th of April, when TE1076/7 transferred in the little hours, the vehicles from a bigger batch with numbers ranging from TE1073-1104 were acquired in 2010 to meet contractual requirements. Initially it was only TE1073-1075 that were delivered to Cricklewood in July 2010, while the latter of the batch commenced their delivery in October of that year, following the annual factory shut down of ADL. The introduction of the vehicles at Holloway will allow the ousting of 5 TPL and 20 TP class vehicles which currently ply their trade on routes 17,43 and 271. It is expected that when all 25 do transfer, their mainstay will be Routes 17 and 43.

Tender News  

29th of April 2015

LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:
Route Current Operator New Operator PVR Vehicles
11/N11 London General London General 26 Existing New Routemaster
23 (24 Hr) Tower Transit Tower Transit 28 Existing diesel and hybrid double deck
190 Metroline Metroline 10 Existing diesel single deck
295 (24 Hr) Tower Transit to Metroline West 21 New hybrid double deck

Contracts will commence on the following dates:
31st October 2015 – Routes 11/N11 and 295
14th November 2015 – Route 23
12th December 2015 – Route 190

Read more »

The calendar month of March is always a busy one irrespective of the London Bus Scene, if we recap Arsenal just came a step closer in being crowned Premier League champions following their 2-1 over Newcastle and Jeremy Clarkson left Top Gear in favour of the more lucrative role as a presenter of Channel 5's Fifth Gear. But deep within the streets of London are a group of individuals who pride themselves on accumulating knowledge of London's Buses and this is what this month's March Recap will be corresponding on.

Bexleyheath gained a V6 

V6 (BJ14KTL) is seen at Abbey Wood Station while working on the Route 229 to Queen Mary Hospital. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 12/03/15)

Short lived, V6 from Camberwell (Q) to Bexleyheath (BX) proved quite a shocker, when it suddenly appeared on the Route 229 one day, apparently for fuel comparison trials, the move was allowed to take place following the introduction of Streetdeck WSD1 on the 2nd of March 2015. The move also saw WVL366 move to Northumberland Park. The transfer itself was short lived and the vehicle was withdrawn from service on the 24th of March, reported to be visiting Coventry, prior to going abroad. 

London United OC1 moves to Quality Line



OC1 (YD63UZL) is seen in Kingston Town Centre while working on the Route 411. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 14/03/15)

One of the more quiet transfers saw former Metrocity demonstration bus OC1 YD63 UZL transfer between sister companies London United and Quality Line. The vehicles was the one previously launched at the Bus & Coach expo back in 2012 rather strangely sporting route 29 blinds.

Introduction of LTs on the 15 

LT391 (LTZ1391) is seen at Trafalgar Square having arrived from Blackwall on the Route 15. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 04/03/15)

During the early days of March , another Stagecoach route, in the 15 began its conversion to LT operation, with its batch ranging from LT391-416 as well as top up vehicles LT462 & 463 which randomly appeared out of sequence. The introduction of LTs en route has helped to aid the conversion of another Stagecoach route, in the 56 to full Hybrid operation in order for it to meets the terms of its new contract. After a refurbishment by ADL 12128-12153 will return to their new home, Leyton (T)

Streetdecks enter service 

WSD1 (SN64CTV) is seen on Westminster Bridge Road while working on the Route 12 towards Dulwich Library. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 04/03/15)

SW1 (LK64DVV) is seen leaving Wood Green Garage about to start on the Route 221 to Edgware. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 04/03/15)

Two new Wright Streetdecks enter service in London in March, but thankfully they have retained there Gemini 3 styling. WSD1 has gone to Go-Ahead at Camberwell to replace V6 and SW1 has gone to Arriva at Wood Green to run alongside VDG1, the Volvo B5TL demonstrator.

Transfer of Route 482 to Metroline

TE1727 (SN09CEX) is seen on South Road at Southall Town Hall on the first day of Metroline operation of the Route 482, taken on 21/03/15 by Kristian Lake

On the 21st of March 2015, Metroline West duly took over the Route 482 from their Greenford Garage (GR) using the former E1 & E3 buses, with numbers ranging from 1715-1751, had things gone slightly differently, this batch of buses would have ended up at Potters Bar, operating on both routes 34 & 125. The batch is now split between the 91*, 282, 482 & U4, with the higher ended numbers transferring across from Holloway (HT) to Uxbridge (UX) to form a partial allocation on route U4 alongside the TPs. 

  

Tower Transits new buses and routes 212/444



WV46108 (SN64CVM) is seen at Sterling Way at Silver Street Station while working on the Route 444 to Chingford. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 07/03/15)



VH38110 (BL64MHV) is seen at Walthamstow Central Station while working on the Route 212 to Chingford (Taken by Kristian Lake on 07/03/15)

Tower Transit took over two new routes in March which required twenty new buses (10 new Streetlites and 10 new Gemini 3 hybrids) both currently working out of Lea Interchange (LI) but could easily be moved to the forthcoming Pickkets Lock (PI) garage. Both routes start and finish at Chingford which was virgin ground for Tower Transit. Anyone interested in finding out more about these two routes and buses please check out the Tower Transit, The next two post.

MMCs commence Abellio operations on the 415



2514 (YY64TZO) is seen at Brixton Station while working on the Route 415 to Tulse Hill Station. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 07/03/15)

The penultimate Abellio route to gain MMC's was the Route 415 which was also a takeover from Arriva, the first day saw only three MMC's running with other Walworth (WL) buses assisting but within a week all MMC's had entered service, they have also made a number of forays onto other WL routes such as the 40.

Three new E200s for Blue Triangle 



SE233 (YX15XML) is seen on Woolwich Manor Way at Beckton having just started its journey on the Route 376 to East Ham. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 17/03/15)

One of the surprises of the month came in the form of three new Enviro 200's which went to Rainham (BE), they are almost identical to the recent batch for the Route 100. And so spent there first few days on the Route 376 while drivers where being trained on them as they have the new gear box. All three made an appearance on the route within the first week using borrowed blind sets from Silvertown (SI) while new sets where on order. They have all since been used on there intended route the W19, but unfortunately this is likely to spell the end for the two remaining Cadets (DW11 & 12).


MMCs starting on Route 350



2526 (YX15OWU) is seen at West Drayton Station while working on the Route 350 towards Hayes & Harlington. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 28/03/15)



The long awaited final batch of Abellio MMC's entered service a week later than planned towards the end of March on the Route 350, a rather unusual choice in my opinion given Hayes only has two double decker routes. I would have thought they may have been better suited on a more central route. Anyway this batch signals the end of Abellio's current order of MMC's and also the end of some of the 51-reg tridents that have spent there latter years on this route. Anyone interested to find out more about the route of buses please check out the Route 350 overview post.

Introduction of LTs on the 12 

LT417 (LTZ1417) is seen turning into Margret Street at the end of the Route 12 at Oxford Circus. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 29/03/15)

March saw a second route start to receive New Routemasters, following on from the Route 15 at the start of the month the route 12 also began towards the end, this was one of the larger batches of recent, with a total of 40 buses going to Camberwell (Q) even though they may eventually get mixed in with the 453 batch at Mandela Way (MW). This phased conversion will be continuing into April.


New Enviro 200's for National Express at Heathrow



8360 (SN15LKG) is seen at Hatton Cross Station while working on the British Airways Staff Shuttle BA5. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 14/03/15)



8369 (SN15LKD) is seen at the Bath Road Roundabout near Terminal 5 while working on a British Airways Staff Shuttle service (Taken by Kristian Lake on 18/03/15)

March also saw the start of a new contract between National Express and British Airways for the operation of a number of staff shuttle services around the Heathrow perimeter calling at all the main British Airways office's, buildings and hangers. 10 ADL Enviro 200's (10.8m) and 4 Optare M900SR's where ordered for this contract and these supplemented a couple of other existing Enviro 200's which will solely be used for these services. These new buses join a number of other Enviro 200's based at Heathrow for BBC Staff Shuttles and Heathrow Hotel Hoppa services.

London's new Sightseeing Tour Company 





Ex Metroline VPL183 (Y183NLK) is seen at the Tower of London while working on for London City Tours. (Taken by Kristian Lake on 28/03/15)

And finally this month also saw a new Open Top tour operate begin operations, they are using heavily modified ex Metroline VPL's, these buses have had their roof's removed (not all have the roof fully removed), new LED destination blinds, free Wifi as well as USB/plug charging. So they seem to have the facilities of a luxury coach compared to a sightseeing bus.

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