Its been a while since my last garage visit, so I decided to treat you to this whilst I can. Today I visited London Sovereign's Harrow Garage which located in the pinnacle of the Routes and runs 85% of the 'H' prefix routes in Harrow. It is also my local Bus Garage so I believe a visit to here was long overdue.
Although the name would suggest the Garage is located in the centre of Harrow, it is actually located in North Harrow with Routes 183 and H18/19 running right past the doorstep of the Garage. It was opened in 1994 to support the company's then expansion of their dominance over the Harrow Routes, it proved very successful as in 1999, the company won the Route 183 from this base using Plaxton Pointer Dennis Darts in the distinguished colours of cream and black. Initially 20 Darts were used on the route. However an increase in the demand for capacity on this Route had so see the Darts replaced by some Double Decker Plaxton President bodied Buses on the very reliable Volvo B7TL Chassis. Thus meaning the operation had to shift to Edgware Garage owing to the fact Harrow Garage has a very low roof structure and cannot support double deck vehicles. However one positive that was borough from this devise is that it allowed this small Garage which only holds 42 vehicles to strictly hold one chassis which made bus maintenance work on the garage much easier to manage.
Since the take over of the company by Transdev in 2002, there have been various vehicles that have come and gone to the garage to signify Transdev's presence within the company, however they have all been on the Dennis Dart chassis which has to be accredited for by Transdev.
More recently the company have taken on the delivery of 43 Enviro 200s, 29 of which are allocated here for the contractual work on Routes H9/H10/H11/H14 and H17 which were all successfully retained by the company in 2011. The DEs were reportedly part of a batch of cancelled stagecoach vehicles, hence their untraditional colour scheme. Although there was not one present here today, more shots of the garage are based below.
Credit must go out to the London Sovereign Staff, who first allowed me on site and ensured that all the rules from Health and Safety act were followed whilst I was on site, to ensure my safety was paramount. Please note that this was an authorised visit and prior contact with the company has to be made before proceeding to go on site.
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| Transdev DE59 YX59 BYH is seen at Harrow Garage |
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| London Sovereign Harrow Garage shed entrance from the rear of the Depot |
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| London Sovereign Harrow Garage closed maintenance area |
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| Transdev DE56 YX59 BYH is seen at Harrow Garage |
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| London Sovereign DPS639 is seen inside the shed at Harrow Garage |
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| A view of the rear shed at London Sovereign's Harrow Garage |
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| London Sovereign DPS629 SK02 XHD and DE54 YX59 BYF are seen in the shed at Harrow Garage |
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| London Sovereign DPS632 SK02 XHG |
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| A shot of the yard in London Sovereign's Harrow Garage |
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| The bus wash facility at Harrow Garage |
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| London Sovereign DPS630 SK02 XHE is seen near the entrance at Harrow Garage |
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| London Sovereign Harrow Garage closed maintenance area |
Key facts to note about London Sovereign's Harrow Garage
- Runs 85% of the 'H' prefix Harrow Routes
- Holds 42 Buses
- Opened in 1994
- Compound is shared with Venture Coaches of Harrow
