The introduction of new Routemasters on the 390 was the catalyst that triggered a fleet shuffle within the Metroline fleet particularly concerning their Holloway and Potters Bar Garages. Which is what will be covered in this post, not so much what was at the centre today, so in this case the pictures act as a visual aid to the text.

Route 390 converted from its Plaxton bodied Volvo B7TL vehicles to NB4L operation on the night of the 7th of December 2013. The introduction of these vehicles was over a week late, for reasons unknown, however the change of vehicle type was swiftly done which in theory would make the VPLs surplus to requirements. VPL581 - 603 formerly Route 390 operatives were reassigned to the Route 4 which just gained clearance for the longer 10.6m vehicles.

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Would anyone like to warrant a guess as to where this picture was taken, as late some new Routemasters have commenced their delivery ahead of the Route 10 conversion to NB4L operation.

I had an intention to write up a post based on this location, however I wasn't satisfied in the amount of pictures I gained on this occasion. So I thought I'd rather have a bit of fun and allow you to comment below where you think this location is.

London United NRM LT162 - 166

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My once very numerous visits to Metroline's CELF Centre have now become as few and far between as a summer without rain. Those familiar with the blog would be more than able to testify to this. The Centre was opened in 2007 to help assist the engineering departments across the company with the maintenance of their vehicles. The Centre since its opening nearly 7 years ago has been accredited for its excellency and is widely utilised by other companies, namely London United and Tower Transit, whose vehicles can be seen here on a regular basis.

Metroline operate a fleet in excess of 1600 vehicles, which was boosted by Acquirement of First West London in June 2013. All of which must spend a statutory two day period at the centre whilst they undergo MOT and chassis cleaning amongst other things.

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3817 - LJ58 AWC is seen on stand outside Watford Junction Station.

LJ58 AWC transferred from Arriva London to Arriva the Shires in August 2013 after refurbishment at Hants and Dorset Trim.

The batch (ENL11 to ENL17, now recoded 3811 to 3817), along with a few others was originally ordered for Arriva London's Route 491 back in 2008. In May 2013, the route passed over to Go Ahead London. Therefore, a few ENL's would remain surplus at the Enfield Garage.  Arriva decided to transfer these to the Garston Garage to work on Routes H18/H19 which had been given a PVR increase of 2.

The batch entered service in August 2013 primarily for the circular H18 and H19 routes. Nowdays, they can be also put into service on other single decker routes (268, 288, 303 and 305). Arriva the Shires are known for intermixing their double deck vehicle into single deck routes and vice versa. This has been the third time Enviro200 has been put into service on the 142. Route 142 is usually a full double deck operation.

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DLA206 - W437 WGJ is seen on stand at Edgware Bus Station.

DLA206 - W437 WGJ

The Vehicle was formerly part of a batch from Brixton (BN) operated by Arriva London South. DLA206 transferred over to Arriva the Shires' Garston Garage in early February to cover for the PVR increase of 1 on Route 340 due to road works on Marsh Lane between Cannons Park and Stanmore Broadway. No change in fleetcode and inadequate Blind Destination Boards indicate that the vehicle is a temporary transfer and may get decommissioned out of service in London. This may follow in the footsteps of 6224 (X457 FGP), which was a permanent transfer to Arriva the Shires from Arriva Southern Counties.

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A recent yet unexpected repaint comes in the form of long term absentee SEL746, the vehicle is part of a batch of 33 ordered by the company in 2007 and delivered between the summer of that year and January 2008. For no apparent reason on the 19th of February 2013, the vehicle was withdrawn from service, however it was later emerged that it had suffered severe damage, although the details were not disclosed.

During my various trips to CELF, I never did actually manage to catch a glimpse of the vehicle, it became somewhat of an interest point for me as at the time it seemed weird as to why it was out of action for so long. One the 18th of January 2014, just a month shy of a year out of service, it inaudibly slipped back into service on the 297. Albeit sporting a fresh coat of paint complete with the latest Metroline logo and a very small roundel.

For all the efforts of repainting the vehicle, it will become redundant in June 2014 along with sister vehicles, SEL739 - 745 & 747 - 764 which will be replaced by 21 brand new Volvo B5LH/Gemini3 buses as per the new route 7 contract.  No doubt the repaint has activated the rumour mill again to where these buses will end up after their duties are relieved on the route 7. One was seen driving in the Holloway area in the direction of  HT garage.  I'll let that one land where it does...Feel free to comment! 

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I think I'm being really generous, today's visit caps off four garage visits in as many weeks. As the title suggests, today's visit was one to Arriva London's Edmonton garage which is strangely not even located in the area of Edmonton. The garage itself is situated just a short walk from the Lea Valley Garage on a piece of land adjacent to the river Lea. The area has a somewhat industrialised feel to it, which is exaggerated by the Pylons towering over and almost makes you feel out of place if you don't work in that sort of industry, and although I vowed to never come back to this area any time soon, I couldn't refuse to opportunity to add to this year's already promising looking portfolio.

Opened in 1993 by the now defunct operator, London Suburban bus, Edmonton Garage was the base chosen to house the recently won 4 and 271 routes, with the 41 being won at a latter date. The obstruction of the River Lea and Pymme Brook, means that drivers would have to cautiously drive alongside the canal for quite some distance before joining the main road, which was interesting to see.

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Today was a visit to the much loved Lea Valley Garage, a garage that I have visited many times before and one that I won't be visiting again as, by March 2014, it will be handed over to National Grid who require the site. Another desolate location - as with Northumberland Park Garage, my previous visit - at least there is a huge Tesco superstore as well as an IKEA within close proximity, well a 10 minute walk away. The garage is served by routes 192 and 24 hour route 341.

The garage itself is located at the back of an industrial estate just north of Tottenham, and seems about a million miles away from civilization and can proved difficult to get to, providing you don't have your own form of personal transport. One thing I did note whilst inside the main reception, is that the garage actually overlooks EC (Edmonton Garage), it was probably the aquamarine vehicles in the background that caught my eye.

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