Company News:

First Centrewest:

- The VN's at Hayes are starting to return to normal service as a number of them were faulty. The DN's operating 427 should go back to Greenford soon.

Metroline:

- The VW/VWH's for route 52 have been delayed to enter service due to type training. Part of this is because of the bad weather that we've been experiencing recently. They should enter service in February. 

- Boris Johnson has announced that Metroline route 24 is going to be the first bus route to convert to a fully NB4L allocation. These approx. 30 vehicles will be classed as 'LT' like the ones on 38. This is expected by summer 2013.

- The VW/VWH that operate route 24 are being considered their future with Metroline. These vehicles were employed in November 2012. Very likely, they will replace some of the older vehicles at HT, whether it's the TP/L or to release some of the TE's to HD, who knows...

Abellio London:

- The brand new E200's for route H28 are starting to be delivered to Hayes Garage (WS) in West London. These buses should come in service some point in February 2013. The route will convert from 8.8m to 10.2m.

London United:

- AH23-32 have been delivered to Stamford Brook(V) for 27's new contract, as well as ADH1 & ADH2. All of these buses (ADH1/2 and ADH23-32) are in service although more buses (ADH33-51) will be delivered in the upcoming month.

Manufacturer News:

Alexander Dennis: ADL are making a Euro 6 version of the Trident 2 chassis which is planned to consume less fuel, is more eco-friendly and is suppose to be lighter. Also, they are planning to make a newer version of the Enviro 400 body.

Volvo: Wrightbus & Volvo are working together currently making a new engine called "Volvo B5TL" which will replace the current "B9TL".

YN55 NKX works the 267 towards Fulwell, Bus Garage.

Chiswick is a rather large community and is served by several buses. However, not all of the buses have a picture below. The buses that serve Chiswick are:

272 (Shepherds Bush - Chiswick, Grove Park)

391 (Imperial Wharf - Richmond)

27 (Chiswick, Business Park - Chalk Farm, Superstores) 24 hour service

440 (Chiswick, Power Road - Stonebridge Park)

E3 (Chiswick, Edensor Road - Greenford Broadway) Partially 24-hour, N11 covers most of the route

H91 (Hammersmith - Hounslow West)

267 (Fulwell, Bus Garage - Hammersmith)

94 (Piccadilly Circus - Acton Green) 24 hour service

190 (Richmond - West Brompton)

237 (White City - Hounslow Heath, Hussar)

And the night routes:

N9 (Heathrow Terminal 5 or Hounslow Bus Station - Aldwych)

N11 (Ealing Broadway - Liverpool Street)

I do happen to have photos of the 391, 440, E3, 237 and 267(The one above).

So here is the shot for E3:

Here an Enviro 400 in the form of SN09 CGG/ DN33607 works the E3 whilst going via Southfields Park.

Here below are 2 shots of the 391:

An Optare Versa works the 391.

Here shows the rear of YJ58 VBL/ OV9 at Clifton Gardens.

And here is another route that passes Chiswick, the 237, Metroline's only route in Chiswick:

LK10 BXS/ VW1048 approaches Clifton Gardens nearing its journeys end to White City.

The 267's Omnidekka's:

YN55 NKX arriving at Turnham Green, having just started its  journey to Fulwell, Bus Garage where the route is operated from.

Sadly, my last photo for this post, the 440:

My first odd working caught on camera, an 8.9m E200 dart is caught working the 440 when the route is allocated 10.2m. These buses came from the E11 and this one above is in the form of SDE16/ SK07 HLU.

Sadly, this marks the end of another fantastic post, so as usual, we at WLBB hope you enjoyed this post and stay tuned!

First's current seat design as of January 2013

A rather short post, sorry about that, here brings you very limited seat designs from other comapnies.

London United's OLD seat design, noting that for some weird reason they are on 94's ADH's.

London United's NEW seat design, may be seen on 27's ADH's and 81/222/120's ADE's .

It's been a few days since I've written a post, so I thought today, I'd bring you this!

Route 207:

The oldest route out of 207,427 and 607, this route originally ran between Uxbridge and Shepherd's Bush Green until April 2005, back when it was operated from First's Uxbridge base. Prior to this, the route was using TNL's as it was Ealing's busiest route at the time.Then the former mayor, Ken Livingstone, decided to help out with the relatively congested route as buses were always overcrowded, was to trial out a few bendy-buses which could hold more people than a double-deck. A few bendy buses were tested out during the time, and the trials were proved successful. 

When the route's contract was retained by First, brand-new Mercedes Benz Citaros were introduced on the 207. However, these buses were 18m long and could not cope with the tight turns in Uxbridge Town Centre meaning that the route was cut back from Uxbridge to Hayes By-Pass with the Uxbridge section being taken over by then new route, 427 which would start at Acton Market Place, follow the 207 to Hayes By-Pass then go along the former 207 routing to Uxbridge. Also, on the same day, due to tight turns in Uxbridge meant that these brand new buses would be based at a new garage in Hayes(HS).

(C) Lewis N. A bendy on route 207 - The last day of operation.

In 2008, Ken Livingstone sadly lost the elections to Boris Johnson and as part of his campaign, Boris promised that he would axe all bendy-buses on the route as fare-evading was very common.

In the same year, the 207 was extended by two stops, along with several other routes, from Shepherd's Bush to serve the brand new White City Bus Station, where a new shopping centre opened up that's known as "Westfield".

On 10th December 2011, Boris stuck to his words about scrapping the articulated buses and 207's bendies were no longer to be seen, although 207's contract wasn't suppose to expire until April 2012. The 207 was also the last bus route to go through Bendy to Double Deck.  

Most enthusiasts were thinking that the route was getting VN's or DN's, First ordered SN's which is their coding for Scania Omnicity, which is weird due to the reason being that First have never gone with Scania before. The reason owing to this is because Alexander Dennis and WrightBus were jammed with orders and the buses wouldn't arrive on time, which is something Boris Johnson wouldn't approve of, as the buses wouldn't arrive until 2012, even though Boris did say he would end lives of ALL bendies by the end of 2011.

Like all "Know Your Routes" this one wouldn't be without a fleetlist:

SN36031 - YR61 RPU

SN36032 - YR61 RPV 

SN36033 - YR61 RPX

SN36034 - YR61 RPY

SN36035 - YR61 RPZ

SN36036 - YR61 RRO

SN36037 - YR61 RRU

SN36038 - YR61 RRV
SN36039 - YR61 RRX 
SN36040 - YR61 RRY
SN36041 - YR61 RRZ
SN36042 - YR61 RSO
SN36043 - YR61 RSU
SN36044 - YR61 RSV
SN36045 - YR61 RSX
SN36046 - YR61 RSY
SN36047 - YR61 RSZ
SN36048 - YR61 RTO
SN36049 - YR61 RTU
SN36050 - YR61 RTV
SN36051 - YR61 RTX
SN36052 - YR61 RTZ
SN36053 - YR61 RUA
SN36054 - YR61 RUC
SN36055 - YR61 RUH
SN36056 - YR61 RUJ
SN36057 - YR61 RUO
SN36058 - YR61 RUU
SN36059 - YR61 RUV
SN36060 - YR61 RUW
SN36061 - YR61 RUY
SN36062 - YR61 RVA
SN36063 - YR61 RVC
SN36064 - YR61 RVE
SN36065 - YR61 RVF
SN36066 - YR61 RVJ
SN36067 - YR61 RVK
SN36068 - YR61 RVL
SN36069 - YR61 RVM

Thank you for reading and hopefully, you've enjoyed this post!

This weekend, the Piccadilly Line was shut between Acton Town and Uxbridge, and the Metropolitan Line between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge. However, last minute cancellations stopped the closure of the Metropolitan Line, but all agreements had been completed by this time. So a limited shuttle service between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Uxbridge was introduced and the Rail Replacement supplemented this service.
With the already timetabled services from Central London terminating at Rayners Lane, the opportunity for a rare picture came along when the shuttle service to Harrow-on-the-Hill overtook the service to Baker Street which was sitting in the usual Piccadilly Line siding. Here it is:

21104 passes 21071 at Rayners Lane

Other Metropolitan Line photos below:

Rayners Lane side destination

The Uxbridge shuttle service departed from Platform 6 at Harrow-on-the-Hill

The long, high frequency Rail Replacement required buses from all over, including buses from Ensignbus, Carousel Buses, The Green Bus, Sullivan Buses and Go-Ahead London. Here are a few images of the buses on Rail Replacement:

Sullivan Buses WVL2 FJ57CYZ at Uxbridge

Carousel 920 PN02XCK at Uxbridge

Sullivan Buses ELV2 PN02XCR at Uxbridge

Although they don't look similar, these buses above came from the same original home!

Go-Ahead MEC5 BG09JJX at Uxbridge

Other observations at Uxbridge, including London and non-London buses are on my Flickr.
The best of which is this:

Arriva 3873 on 724 at Uxbridge

Thanks for coming by!

Since the 398 is my local route, I thought it would be best to start with that!

History of the 398

The 398 was introduced in January 1997, running between Ruislip and Islip Manor Park in Northolt, using Mercedes minibuses run by Sovereign from their Harrow (SO) base.

Sovereign M460UUR on route 398 to Northolt, Islip Manor Park
(C) Alican Reilly

In 2001, the route was extended to Westway Cross Retail Park in Greenford via Castle Lane and Currey Road, now using DPF-classed Plaxton Pointers.

Sovereign 551 V551JBH at Ruislip Station
(C) John Delaney

Sovereign 559 V559JBH at Northolt (Mandeville Rd)
(C) John Delaney

In September 2009, a decision was made to split the 398 in two, the Ruislip end still carrying the 398 badge, whilst the Greenford end was extended to Harrow via the H9 and coded the 395. The 398 now terminates in Wood End Estate, near to Whitton Avenue and Pett's Hill. From 2009, the route uses 10.2m Enviro200 buses coded DE.

Transdev London Sovereign DE56 YX59BYH at South Harrow Bus Station with a broken window
(C) Lewis N

In September 2011, the contract for routes H9, H10, H11, H14 & H17 renewed, and London Sovereign got some 38 more new buses. These are seen a lot on the 398.

London Sovereign DE89 YX11FZR at Wood End displaying blinds to South Harrow
(C) Lewis N

London Sovereign DE71 YX11GDA at South Harrow on a journey to Ruislip
(C) Lewis N

Timetable of the 398 is here

And, typical to West London Bus Blog, I have included a fleetlist. This fleetlist includes all the DEs at Harrow (SO) garage that run on the route. The DPS-classed buses do not run on route 398.

DE50 - YX59 BYA

DE51 - YX59 BYB

DE52 - YX59 BYC

DE53 - YX59 BYD

DE54 - YX59 BYF

DE55 - YX59 BYG

DE56 - YX59 BYH

DE71 - YX11 GDA

DE72 - YX11 GDE

DE73 - YX11 GDF

DE74 - YX11 FZA

DE75 - YX11 FZB

DE76 - YX11 FZC

DE77 - YX11 FZD

DE78 - YX11 FZE

DE79 - YX11 FZF

DE80 - YX11 FZG

DE81 - YX11 FZH

DE82 - YX11 FZJ

DE83 - YX11 FZK

DE84 - YX11 FZL

DE85 - YX11 FZM

DE86 - YX11 FZN

DE87 - YX11 FZO

DE88 - YX11 FZP

DE89 - YX11 FZR

DE90 - YX11 FZS

DE91 - YX11 FZT

DE92 - YX11 FZU

DE93 - YX11 FZV

DE94 - YX11 FZW

DE95 - YX11 FZY

DE96 - YX11 FZZ

DE97 - YX11 COH

DE98 - YX11 COJ

DE99 - YX11 CNJ

Many thanks to all those whose photos feature above!

SN09 CFD DN33590 on route E3 to Greenford Broadway.

The E3 is one of the 10 'E-line routes' that run in the London borough of Ealing. It starts at the highly-used Greenford Broadway where all the 'E' buses pass except the E8, then continues its way through Hanwell, West Ealing, Northfields, South Ealing, Acton, Bedford Park and Chiswick to terminate at Edensor Road where there's a roundabout for buses to turn around. It's the most used 'E' route and has a frequency of every 5 minutes during peak hours and 10 minutes during other times. 

My very first photo! DN33606/ SN09 CGF heads towards Edensor Road.

It is a bus route that connects several schools with popular destinations such as West Ealing, Greenford Broadway, Acton High Street and Chiswick High Road. Some people class the E3 as a 'School route that runs all day' and its also used by commuters to connect from housing estates to train stations such as Bedford Park to Turnham Green.

SN09 CDV DN335576 on route E3 to Chiswick, Edensor Road.

What vehicles it uses and who controls it:

As you may of guessed, it's First Centrewest who run the E3 as well as most of the 'E' line routes except E2,E6,E8 (Metroline) and E11(London United). 

First London run all their 'E' routes from the Greenford Garage and the E3 is no exception. The route uses DN's which is First coding for Alexander Dennis Enviro 400. The E3 shares its buses with the E1 who has the same allocation from the same batch. Although these buses nowadays escape onto 92 and 282 quite often, that's classed as an odd working as 282 should be using Trident 2/Plaxton Presidents whilst the 92 should be using newer DN's.  Although some are at Hayes (HS) to substitute for the VN's are faulty so these can appear on 427. Here shows a few more buses running the E3, some in Acton, others in Greenford.

SN09 CDV/ DN33576 on route E3 to Greenford, Red Lion.
(C) LondonBuses72

SN09 CEO/ DN33584 on route E3 to Chiswick, Edensor Road.
(C) LondonBuses72

DN33599 SN09CFP on E3 at Greenford Broadway

DN33585 SN09CEU on E3 at Greenford Broadway

DN33607 SN09CGG on E3 at Greenford Broadway

SN09 CEX/ DN33587 on route E3 to Greenford Broadway.

SN09 CFG/ DN33593 on route E3 to Chiswick, Edensor Road.

SN09 CFA DN33589 on route E3 to Greenford Broadway.

The Vehicles Used On The E3: Normal Allocation;

SN09 CDU - DN33575

SN09 CDV - DN33576

SN09 CDX - DN33577

SN09 CDY - DN33578

SN09 CDZ - DN33579

SN09 CEA - DN33580

SN09 CEF - DN33581

SN09 CEJ - DN33582

SN09 CEK - DN33583

SN09 CEO - DN33584

SN09 CEU - DN33585

SN09 CEV - DN33586

SN09 CEX - DN33587

SN09 CEY - DN33588

SN09 CFA - DN33589

SN09 CFD - DN33590

SN09 CFE - DN33591

SN09 CFF - DN33592

SN09 CFG - DN33593

SN09 CFJ - DN33594

SN09 CFK - DN33595

SN09 CFL - DN33596

SN09 CFM - DN33597

SN09 CFO - DN33598

SN09 CFP - DN33599

SN09 CFU - DN33600

SN09 CFV - DN33601

SN09 CFX - DN33602

SN09 CFY - DN33603

SN09 CFZ - DN33604

SN09 CGE - DN33605

SN09 CGF - DN33606

SN09 CGG - DN33607

SN09 CGK - DN33608

SN09 CGO - DN33609

SN09 CGU - DN33610

SN09 CGV - DN33611

Other Vehicles You Might See (Odd Workings):

LK03 NKC - TN33277
LK03 NKD - TN33278
LK03 NKE - TN33279
LK03 NKF - TN33280
LK03 NKG - TN33281
LK03 NKP - TN33282
LK03 NKR - TN33283
LK03 NKS - TN33284
LK03 NKT - TN33285
LK03 NKU - TN33286
LK03 NKW - TN33287
LK03 NKX - TN33288
LK03 NKZ - TN33289
LK03 NLA - TN33290
LK03 NLC - TN33291
LK03 NLP - TN33292
LK03 NLR - TN33293
LK08 FNE - DN33503
SN12 EHD - DN33756
SN12 EHE - DN33757
SN12 EHF - DN33758
SN12 EHG - DN33759
SN12 EHH - DN33760
SN12 EHJ - DN33761
SN12 EHK - DN33762
SN12 EHP - DN33763
SN12 EHR - DN33764
SN12 EHS - DN33765
SN12 EHT - DN33766
SN12 EHU - DN33767
SN12 EHV - DN33768
SN12 EHW - DN33769
SN62 AAF - DN33770
SN62 AAK - DN33771
SN62 AAO - DN33772
SN62 AAV - DN33773
SN12 EGY - DN33774
SN12 EGZ - DN33775

Thanks to Lewis for helping me out with this spectacular post and we both hope you enjoyed this post!

The iBus for E3:

E3 to Chiswick, Edensor Road iBus.

Key Points about the E3:

- Is run by First from Greenford Garage

- Is using Enviro 400's 

- Is highly used

- Is described as a school route "That runs all the time"

- Has a frequency of every 6 minutes during peak hours and 10 minutes at other times.

- Is due to go for re-tendering on the 28th April 2013.

Before I start this post, I and on behalf of Lewis, would like to give a HUGE thanks for tuning in all the time and for reaching the 200 views mark. Anyways, here's my first ever picture post! Hopefully, I can contribute some more photos to make more posts.

First London YR61 RTX is ready to depart Acton Old Town Hall bound for White City whilst working the 207.

Anyways, let's get on with today's post. Acton High Street is home to many of the West London Bus Routes as it features the "corridor" of West London, Uxbridge Road. Although most routes run on double-deck operation with one of them, the 207, converted to Double-deck not long ago relieving its Bendy-bus operation. Other bus routes such as parallel routes 427, which follows the 207 from Acton High Street to Hayes By-Pass then continues to Uxbridge along the former 207 section and express version 607 also use Acton High Street. High profile routes 266 (Hammersmith - Brent Cross) and E3 (Greenford Broadway - Chiswick, Edensor Road) appear alot on Acton High Street too. The remaining 2 single deck daytime routes are 70 (South Kensington - Acton, High Street) and 440 (Chiswick, Power Road - Stonebridge Park) are much less frequent and took me ages to get a good shot of both of them! 

3 Night Routes N7 (Northolt Station - British Museum), N11 (Ealing Broadway-Liverpool Street) and night equivalent of 207/427/607, N207 uses these corridors. 

Going in numerical order, here's the picture of the 70: 

First London YX12 AYF passes Acton Old Town Hall, just 2 minutes away before the end of the bus route. The 70 was gained by First Centrewest in June last year using brand new DML's from their Westbourne Park base (X).

The Pictures of 207:

YR61 RRV is bound for White City as it dashes through Acton High Street whilst working the 207.

The 2 Pictures For Route 266:

BG61 SXM leaves Acton Old Town Hall.

Here shows 2 Volvo B9TL/Gemini 2's working the 266. The one above shows BG61 SXM leaving Acton Old Town Hall whilst the one below shows sister bus BG61 SXL picking up passengers at Acton Old Town Hall. The route, like the 70, was won by First off Metroline! The route is operated from First's most recent garage, Atlas Road (AS).

BG61 SXL picks up passengers at the same location, just a few minutes later.

Here's the picture for route 427:

In a blur, not my clearest shot, BF10 LTE runs the 427 having just left its eastbound terminus, Salisbury Street where buses turn around.

Here's my clear shot of the 440:

SK07 DYC/DE75 picks up passengers on Acton High Street. The 440 is London United's only route which passes Acton High Street. These vehicles were originally ordered by former company, NCP Challanger who in 2009 were bought out by Transdev London who is now London United. 

Here's the 3 pictures for 607:

LK08 FMV/DN33513 picks up passengers at Acton Old Town Hall. This is one of my favourite shots as it's really clear and features an Enviro 400 which I personally would get on over any double-deck. These DN's take up a part of 607's allocation. These buses were former 23 buses however as 23 being First's flagship route, it happened to get newer DN's/DNH's.

LK55 AAJ/VNW32661 leaves Acton Old Town Hall on the 23rd Janaury 2013. This is one of the two allocations the 607 has, when these previously used vehicles were introduced last year.

Above is another VNW. This is LK55 ABF leaving Acton Old Town Hall, heading towards Uxbridge, which is another VNW part of the 607 batch.

Last, but by no means least, it's the E3. Here are 2 shots provided for you.

Above here is DN33583/SN09 CEK whizzing down Acton High Street.

Although a blur, I can remember that this bus below is DN33609 which is SN09 CGO. A batch ordered for the retention of E1 and E3.

E3 is suppose to go for re-tendering on the 28th April so who knows if these vehicles will run on the route from 2014?  


Well, that's the end of the post, but remember to stay tuned and hopefully you've enjoyed it!