Bus News: September 2013
Bus News continues on the blog, with the September update. It includes tenders, new buses and just general news.
Arriva London:
- A handful of new DW's are starting to appear at Heysham Docks, bound for Tottenham (AR) to take out the rest of the elderly buses. Interesting fact is that these buses are 63reg.
- Arriva London are proud to say they have retained route T31 with existing buses. Start date: 10th May 2014
London United RATP Group:
- An unidentified electric Optare Solo SR Demonstrator has made an appearance at Hounslow (AV) garage, although the use of it is unknown.
- The bus route 9 converts to NB4L operation next month, leaving the 04reg VLE's surplus. London United have decided to officially allocate these buses to route 57, possibly in Mid-November (?), making the 02reg TA's redundant and ready to leave London service, so if you are a fan of these buses, get on them whilst you still can!
First London:
- Last ever time First will have a segment in Bus News, but the date for 179 to transfer to Stagecoach has now changed. Instead of changing on the Saturday 19th October, it will transfer with routes 165, 252 and 365 on the 28th September instead due to an early delivery of the new E400's bound for 179.
Stagecoach:
- Stagecoach have successfully won routes 54 and 75 back from Metrobus with new Enviro 400's. It is not confirmed however if these will be hybrids or diesels. Start date for route 75 is 26th April 2014 and for route 54, the following Saturday; 3rd May 2014.
- Stagecoach are ordering E400H for route 96, which runs between Woolwich Aresnal and Bluewater, Shopping Centre making the Omnicities redundant. Not for long though, read below.
- Stagecoach has surprisingly retained routes 262 and 473 after 262 was voted the worst performing London bus route in 2010. The allocations are different however for these routes. Both of these routes will be using refurbished Omnicities from bus route 96, route 473 will have this as a full allocation whilst route 262 will have this as a partial allocation, but will also have some brand new Enviro 400 hybrids. Start date for both routes: 29th March 2014
- Stagecoach have also retained route 372, which runs between Hornchurch Town Centre and Lakeside Shopping Centre with brand new double deckers, very likely Enviro 400. Note that this route is currently single deck. Start date: 29th March 2014
- Stagecoach have also retained route 396, with current single deck buses. These may be expected to be refurbished. Start date: 29th March 2014.
- Routes 241 and 147 will be curtailed at Prince Regent once again, due to Crossrail Works. Use free "temporary" route 541 to reach Keir Hardie Estate.
Transdev:
- VH1-22 have all entered service, although VH23 is still in delivery, and should be in service soon. Note down that some of these buses have the new Transdev logo applied to it and should be on the logoless 11reg DE's soon as well.
Quality Line:
- MBK1 is due to leave the fleet soon. See the GAL segment for more information.
Go-Ahead London:
- Two BYD Electric buses have arrived for red-arrow routes 507 and 521. These will be in service soon.
- 24 hour route EL1, part of the East London Transit, was extended to Barking Riverside on the 7th September from it's Dagenham Dock terminus. A new timetable is in place due to this. Also, WVL454 from route 12 allocation has now moved to the East London Transit fleet to cover for the extension. It is now in service.
- Mercedes Benz float bus, MBK1/ BU13 ZVE is due to leave Epsom Buses and is to move to Go-Ahead's Camberwell (Q) garage for routes 355 and P5. This follows after the bus was described to be allocated to "the wrong routes" by fellow enthusiasts, which I also believe as a 10.5m bus shouldn't be allocated to London's longest route, X26 which comes every 30-60 minutes and is rather overcrowded.
- Temporary bus route 541 comes back to life for the THIRD time within 2 years next Saturday (14th September), however, this time round it will not be operated by Stagecoach, it will instead be operated by Docklands Buses from Silvertown (SI) using spare 52reg WVL's.
- A Gemini 3, the first of it's breeed, on a Volvo B5TL chassis has finally arrived at Heysham Docks. It is probably guessed that it will be running a Central London route, perhaps route 12?
Metroline Travel:
- Not all VW's have entered service at Alperton (ON) to help convert Metroline West route 245 to double-deck operation. Instead of sending the rest of the 62reg VW's to Alperton, Metroline have decided to to send VW1243-9 and VW1251 to transfer to Alperton (ON) instead.
- VWH1360 and VWH1361 have transferred to Willesden (AC) for route 52. This has allowed VW1393 and VW1394 come off public service for a while whilst they are transferred to Brentford (AH) for route E8's double-deck conversion. For route 245 double-deck conversion.
- A number of DE's are at Perivale West (PA) from Metroline West for routes 90 and E6 and can also be seen on route 395. A few are making the odd appearance on double-deck route 297. Post on this coming soon.
Metroline West:
- Route 245 is 80% double deck now, and most 58reg DE's have departed for Perivale (PA), although DE1619 has unusually transferred to Willesden Junction (WJ) instead. So 12reg DE's from route 224 and 61reg DEM's from 223 will be a much more frequent sighting until the 12reg VW's arrive from Holloway (HT).
On a different note, something new:
This has nothing to do with the London Bus industry, however TfL have released the first S stock train on the District Line between Earl's Court/ Kensington Olympia and West Ham on Monday. Unfortunately, Emma Clarke's recordings have been replaced with the new voice over announcer, Sarah Parnell.
Thanks for reading this post, stay safe and hope you've enjoyed!
Arriva London:
- A handful of new DW's are starting to appear at Heysham Docks, bound for Tottenham (AR) to take out the rest of the elderly buses. Interesting fact is that these buses are 63reg.
- Arriva London are proud to say they have retained route T31 with existing buses. Start date: 10th May 2014
London United RATP Group:
- An unidentified electric Optare Solo SR Demonstrator has made an appearance at Hounslow (AV) garage, although the use of it is unknown.
- The bus route 9 converts to NB4L operation next month, leaving the 04reg VLE's surplus. London United have decided to officially allocate these buses to route 57, possibly in Mid-November (?), making the 02reg TA's redundant and ready to leave London service, so if you are a fan of these buses, get on them whilst you still can!
First London:
- Last ever time First will have a segment in Bus News, but the date for 179 to transfer to Stagecoach has now changed. Instead of changing on the Saturday 19th October, it will transfer with routes 165, 252 and 365 on the 28th September instead due to an early delivery of the new E400's bound for 179.
Stagecoach:
- Stagecoach have successfully won routes 54 and 75 back from Metrobus with new Enviro 400's. It is not confirmed however if these will be hybrids or diesels. Start date for route 75 is 26th April 2014 and for route 54, the following Saturday; 3rd May 2014.
- Stagecoach are ordering E400H for route 96, which runs between Woolwich Aresnal and Bluewater, Shopping Centre making the Omnicities redundant. Not for long though, read below.
 |
| LX04 FXY/ 18232 on route 262 to East Beckton, Sainsbury's. (C) LondonBuses72 |
- Stagecoach have also retained route 372, which runs between Hornchurch Town Centre and Lakeside Shopping Centre with brand new double deckers, very likely Enviro 400. Note that this route is currently single deck. Start date: 29th March 2014
- Stagecoach have also retained route 396, with current single deck buses. These may be expected to be refurbished. Start date: 29th March 2014.
- Routes 241 and 147 will be curtailed at Prince Regent once again, due to Crossrail Works. Use free "temporary" route 541 to reach Keir Hardie Estate.
Transdev:
- VH1-22 have all entered service, although VH23 is still in delivery, and should be in service soon. Note down that some of these buses have the new Transdev logo applied to it and should be on the logoless 11reg DE's soon as well.
Quality Line:
- MBK1 is due to leave the fleet soon. See the GAL segment for more information.
Go-Ahead London:
- Two BYD Electric buses have arrived for red-arrow routes 507 and 521. These will be in service soon.
- 24 hour route EL1, part of the East London Transit, was extended to Barking Riverside on the 7th September from it's Dagenham Dock terminus. A new timetable is in place due to this. Also, WVL454 from route 12 allocation has now moved to the East London Transit fleet to cover for the extension. It is now in service.
- Mercedes Benz float bus, MBK1/ BU13 ZVE is due to leave Epsom Buses and is to move to Go-Ahead's Camberwell (Q) garage for routes 355 and P5. This follows after the bus was described to be allocated to "the wrong routes" by fellow enthusiasts, which I also believe as a 10.5m bus shouldn't be allocated to London's longest route, X26 which comes every 30-60 minutes and is rather overcrowded.
- Temporary bus route 541 comes back to life for the THIRD time within 2 years next Saturday (14th September), however, this time round it will not be operated by Stagecoach, it will instead be operated by Docklands Buses from Silvertown (SI) using spare 52reg WVL's.
- A Gemini 3, the first of it's breeed, on a Volvo B5TL chassis has finally arrived at Heysham Docks. It is probably guessed that it will be running a Central London route, perhaps route 12?
Metroline Travel:
- Not all VW's have entered service at Alperton (ON) to help convert Metroline West route 245 to double-deck operation. Instead of sending the rest of the 62reg VW's to Alperton, Metroline have decided to to send VW1243-9 and VW1251 to transfer to Alperton (ON) instead.
 |
| LK62 DNX/ VW1376 on route 245 to Golders Green. (C) Lewis JN |
- A number of DE's are at Perivale West (PA) from Metroline West for routes 90 and E6 and can also be seen on route 395. A few are making the odd appearance on double-deck route 297. Post on this coming soon.
Metroline West:
 |
| This photo is becoming a common sighting on the blog, but it's DE1619. (C) LondonBuses72 |
On a different note, something new:
This has nothing to do with the London Bus industry, however TfL have released the first S stock train on the District Line between Earl's Court/ Kensington Olympia and West Ham on Monday. Unfortunately, Emma Clarke's recordings have been replaced with the new voice over announcer, Sarah Parnell.
Thanks for reading this post, stay safe and hope you've enjoyed!
Just to add, Go-Ahead will soon acquire a B5TL/Gemini 3 bus for evaluation purposes.
ReplyDeleteVW1393 and vw1394 have gone to alperton according to london vehicle finder records so they are not as stated in the post "out of service waiting to be transferred to brentford"
ReplyDeleteAn edit has been made - VW1393 and VW1394 has been sent to Alperton for route 245 instead.
ReplyDeleteHi, you have found out lots of information! Where did you find this out?
ReplyDeleteThe staff on this blog have contacts at certain companies and also I have contacts at TfL. Hope that helped.
DeleteRight,yes it has helped-thanks
DeleteI think more companies should order the 10.5m Mercedes Citaro to replace some of the older E200.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with that. The Citaro, in my opinion, has to be the best single deck I know. The Enviro 200 model is ugly, overrated, boring and cheap.
DeleteThanks for your useful information..
ReplyDelete