Today was something new. The first time I had ever visited a London General Garage. The reason for me doing this was to view the MCV double decker that was brought there for the officials of the company in the main office to view.

 The MCV Double Decker I was chasing is probably the rarest bus on the streets of London, with just the one model being built. However when I arrived at the premises today, it was confirmed to me that the vehicle had left, route-bound for MCV's base in Ely, Cambridgeshire. However it was not all a downer as today was the day I met on of my now best mates, Rohan!

Now for a bit of info on the garage...Merton Garage, located just south of Wimbledon is the headquarters for the company Go Ahead London, which include the following subsidies; London Central & General, Blue Triangle, Docklands Buses and East Thames Buses. The Garage opened in the early 1900s and for years was the largest garage within the LGOC company. At one stage it even housed in excess of 220 AEC bodied Regents and in the 1950s it housed all 181 D-Class Daimlers. This is made possible by the layout of the garage. It has quite a unique longitudinal structure to it which allows buses to make use of all available space in the garage. In addition to this it also has a rear yard which is predominantly used to store PVLs, which are the company's Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs.

In the early 60s, the garage was modernised and in 1991, it was modified further, thus seeing the introduction of a new roof structure and more welfare facilities located throughout the garage to prevent obstruction, which was prior to this very long and narrow. The modification of this allowed the company to make abundance of the space in the garage. During the works many buses were parked at the nearby Colliers Wood.

Over the years the garage capacity or PVR has fluctuated between 83 vehicles and 134 vehicles, never really reaching its full potential. However the garage is responsible for maintenance in many areas of the company.

As of today the garage runs the following routes; 22 (Sundays only), 44, 77, 118, 155, 163, 164 (Monday to Saturday), 200, 201, 219, 270, 280, Night Bus route N155 and school route 655. It also runs the St. Bedes School private bus services 514 and 519, which run between the Caterham area and the school, on behalf of Surrey County Council. Located below are some pictures from the visit. Due to the lighting in the garage, there are a lot of reflective shots.

However before I can proceed, credit must go out to the Go Ahead London staff who ensured my safety whilst on site. Kudos to you all!

London General PVL160 X616 EGK

London General LDP194 SN51 UAG

A nearside view of PVL78 W478 WGH,
when it still had its hub caps on the wheel

A fire damaged Cadet. 

PVL127 and PVL288 at Merton Garage

LDP261, PVL160 and SE21 at Merton Garage

London General SOE35 LX09 EVC and SOE21 LX09 AZD

London General PVL290 PJ02 RDU and PVL153 X553 EGK

Wilts Dorset Visionnaire No.403 HD54 KXV

London General LDP240 SN53 ETV

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SEL761 LK07BCY  stands at Perivale East Garage blinded for Route 460 waiting to form its next working.

Its the 2nd of June and my Blog has been running for nearly three months now! Whilst in the area of Perivale I decided to visit this garage. It is home to Routes 7,90,206,232,460 and school Route 611, it also operates the 'night' 297 Route. It is the sole home on the Scania Olympus's (SEL) purchased for the Route 7 and 205 in 2007. 

MM827 LK57 AYY at Perivale East Garage

MM771 LK07 ELH at Perivale East Garage

DLD207 LN51 KXO at Perivale East Garage

MM773 LK07 AYD at Perivale East Garage

TPL238 LN51 KXR at Perivale East Garage (Front)

TPL238 LN51 KXR at Perivale East Garage (Rear)

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The carriage of S Stock number 21001. Photo Photo © Andy Davison. 


This is a rare sight of an S Stock car separated as they have been designed not to be separated into individual cars by any means however the car of unit no. 21001 has been split to do work, this is because Neasden Depot currently does not have the facilities as of yet to deal with the S Stock maintenance so they have to revert to the A Stock style of maintenance by separating the individual cars. However once the equipment is in place the whole train will be lifted in one go. 

Another shot of the other three carriages.

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Ex Armchair DT15 (KN52 NDY)  stands at Waltham Cross Bus Station working on the Route 555. Photo © Peter Horrex. 

In 2003 Armchair celebrated winning the 237 Contract from London United. The Route was to be run from their Brentford Garage using new vehicles. So in early 2003 Armchair Transport took on the delivery on 22 new leased Transbus ALX 400 Tridents via Dawsons Rentals. In 2005 Armchair was taken over by Metroline Travel and in 2007 the DTs were all repainted into traditional Metroline colours. This consisted of a Red body and a blue and white skirt. However in 2008 the Metroline's Brentford Garage IBUS Scheme commenced and this signalled the end of the DTs at Brentford due to leasing agreements.


Before returning of lease to Dawsons Rentals the DTs had a brief spell at Travel London (now Albellio) to provide replacements for vehicles that were having their IBUS installed.


DT 5 and DT 6 remained at Perivale West Garage (PA) until April 2009 before returning to Dawsons Rentals.


In January 2010 TWH (Travel With Hunny) of Essex acquired an ex Metroline DT. The Bus is used on their route 555.

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S Stock no. 21001 sits at Neasden Depot photo ©  Andy Davison. 


The S Stock is a new type of Train built by Bombardier in Derby. The Trains are due to take over the Metropolitan Line, District Line, Circle Line and Hammersmith and City Line. Prior to their expected delivery this year, two pre-delivery units have been built and sent down to Neasden Depot in North West London for extensive testing. The new Trains are part of Bombardier's Movia family which the 2009 stock currently operating on the Victoria Line belong to. The S Stock will have an articulated 'style' carriage structure the same style used on the recently introduced Class 378s, this means you can see right the way down the Train. They will have a limited top speed of 62mph and the current line voltage on the Metropolitan Lines we gather will be raised from 630V to 750V.  The First stock to be replaced will be the A60/62 Stock currently operating on the Metropolitan Line they are just over 50 years old but are probably some of the best stock operating on the Network. Next are the C Stock that currently operate on the Circle and Hammersmith & City Line they also take up small duties on the District Line between Edgware Road and Wimbledon. The C Stock are probably some of the worst stock operating on the Network I'm sure any enthusiast will agree. Then last to be replaced are the D Stock, these trains will be replaced in 2013 as the last of them were refurbished in 2008. They operate solely one the District Line however for a short period time they were used on the East London Line. 

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TP 435 (LK03 GGF)  stands at Waltham Cross Bus Station working on the Route 217. Photo © Peter Horrex. 


Now any enthusiast who follows Metroline closely will know a repaint scheme has commenced on their TPs (Trident Presidents). Following the loss of their blue and white skirt in May 2009 the first set of TPs based at Holloway, the T Reg examples, were sent to Hants Dorset Trim in Eastleigh, they were repainted, refurbished and fitted with new seats. More TPs from the 2003 batch originally delivered to Potters Bar and Cricklewood have also been repainted however it is only the 03 plate examples that have been refurbished. Some 03 Plated TPs have transferred to Holloway from Potters Bar to take duty on the newly commenced 217 contract. More 02 and 52 plated TPs have also been repainted however some are due to return of lease to Dawsons Rentals in Olney, Milton Keynes. There are also many repainted TPs  now in store in North Wembley while a final decision is being made on their intermediate future, whilst in store they have had their IBUS decommissioned  and Oyster Card readers removed.

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I again visited CELF to see what was Buses were there for maintenance. It is quite a busy place as it recieves a different Bus within the Metroline fleet every two days as part of a compulsory check up. However Metroline Buses are not the only Buses to visit. Alot of First London VNs,VNLs, TNs and TNLs have also visited the centre for maintenance, check-ups and paint jobs as well as panel trimming.

If I'm being totally honest, there was not much to see here today apart from some decommissioned Plaxton Pointers which are due to go to NW any day soon and some decommissioned TPs which are due to go back of lease to Dawson's Rentals. More photos from the visit are placed below.

Metroline TP364 LR52 KWF

Metroline DLF74 W974 TRP and VPL632 LK54 FWM

Metroline VP516 LK04 CRU

Metroline DLF81 KM02 HDK (Rear)

Metroline DLD137 W137 ULR

Metroline TAL129 X329 HLL

Metroline DLF81 KM02 HDK

Metroline TE898 LK08 NVO and DLD706 LK55 KME

Metroline DE866 LK08 DWZ

Metroline DLF103 KU52 YKK 

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On my way home from Wembley I decided to stop of at Perivale West Garage again. There was abit more to see here than on the last time I visited a week ago nevertheless it still made for a pretty average visit.  

 Metroline DE1000 LK09 EOB and DE1001 LK09 EOC 

The Garage holds just shy of 80 Buses and runs 7 Routes in the form of Routes; 70,143,297,326,395,C11 and the E6. It is completely operated by Enviros and with CELF Centre just around the corner there is a noticeable difference in the performance and maintenance standards of Perivale West's Buses. Strangely there was no sign of any E400s for the Route 297 and as it is a Sunday when the Route 297's PVR gets cut from 15 to about 10, I'd expect to see at least 2 TEs in the yard however this was not the case. All in all it was a pretty average visit but I aim to give you content wherever I can. More shots from my visit are placed below.

Metroline DE954 LK58 CSZ

Metroline DP38 W138 WGT

Perivale West Yard

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