November brings out many odd workings, tenders and other general news. News from a lot of companies, and from a lot of different areas. So, sit back, relax and enjoy!

Arriva London:
- BU13 ZVE, Citaro K 10.5m Demonstrator, is now at Enfield (E) garage for route 313. It will start service next week and remain for 2 weeks, operating Monday-Friday only. 

Abellio London:
- Route 235 is to be extended to Brentford, Great West Quarters on the October 9th November 9th December 7th 2013. 

GM03 TGM/ 8466 is seen on route 112.
This will be lost to Metroline West in Summer of 2014.
(C) LondonBuses72

- Route 49 has been gained by Abellio using 20 new hybrid double deckers from Battersea (QB). Start date 6th September 2013.

- Route 112 lost to Metroline West, see Metroline West panel below. This is to free up space for the new E1 contract at Hayes (WS).

Metroline Travel:
- Route 232 is retained by Metroline, using a mix of brand new buses and existing buses to be refurbished*.

-Route 611 retained by Metroline.

Metroline West:
- Route 112 awarded to Metroline West, with new buses, possibly from Alperton (ON) garage. This is part of a batch to be shared between 112 and 232.

London United:
- Route 49 lost to Abellio.

- Route 148 to convert to NB4L operation, 15th February 2013.

- Routes 71 and 281 retained by London United with existing refurbished buses. The TA's will be withdrawn, and is to be replaced by 2004 plated Vykings and 2008/ 2009 Scania Omnicities. 

- Tolworth (TV) have released 3 8.9m Enviro 200's to sister company Epsom Buses (Quality Line) to cover the new route S1 extension and contract. 

- 3 Darts have been purchased from Tower Transit.

HEA1 (SN62 DND), an Alexander Dennis Enviro400 hybrid
allocated to CT Plus route 388. This is CT Plus' only hybrid.
Queen Victoria Street, Blackfriars. ©London Bus Breh.

CT Plus:
- To cover the 388 extension to Stratford City next month, HCT Group have leased ex-Metroline TP365 (LR52 KWG) from Dawson's Rentals. This bus (LR52 KWG) can be seen on route W13 usually, for the school journey. This bus was withdrawn from London service in 2010, finishing with Metroline, but now will be restored with CT Plus on route 388.

Quality Line:
- Route S1 has received 3 existing 2008 Enviro 200's, released from Tolworth (TV) K1 contract. These buses are London United SDE3-5. SDE6-10 stay on route K4 and SDE1 and 2, and DPK624 and DPK625 have not been decided where they will go (still).

- Route S1 is to be extended to Mitcham Lavender Fields.

Tower Transit:
- Lea Interchange (LI) has acquired some 3 ex-London United Darts, which are very likely 2002 plated. These will be used on route 308's extension and for 339 to Whipps Cross, this route will use buses off W14, so DMC's will be more common on the route.

Sullivan Buses:
- PO54 ADU, ELV7 (Shown as VLE40 on London Vehicle Finder) has finally been refurbished and entered service quite some time back as a spare bus for Sullivan's school routes. Usually seen on the 688 and 683.

Go-Ahead London:
- Some 57reg E's have transferred to Bexleyheath (BX) for route 132 to replace some of the old PVL's.

Stagecoach London:
- Route 372's weekend service to be converted to double-deck operation starting from 30th November 2013 using Enviro 400's. The whole route will be double deck from mid-2014.

LX09 AFY/ 15085 is seen at Bluewater on route 96. This bus
will be part of a new allocation on route 262 and 473.
 This route (96) will receive new Enviro 400's
in February 2014. (C) LondonBuses72

- A large batch of Gemini 2's mounted on a B5LH chassis has been ordered for routes 54 and 75. This was intentionally suppose to be a batch of Enviro 400's, but a large batch of 73 buses (Also add the buses delivered for R5/R7/R10 and 261, and also outer-London services) have been ordered meaning too much pressure has been put on Alexander Dennis. So Stagecoach for now "have reached their purchase limit" and any new orders for tenders won or retained for new buses within the next few weeks may have WrightBus or other non-ADL buses specified.

- Route 261 is to start service with Stagecoach on the 30th November 2013 with brand new Enviro 400's. These have already been seen on some school services, and on route 53 as well.

- Route R5, R7 and R10 are to start service with Stagecoach on the 7th December 2013. The whole allocation has 3 buses (Which are Enviro 200's) shared between it, registered YX63 LGC/D/E. 

- Route P4 will have a partial allocation of Enviro 200's displaced from route 372 when it converts to double deck. Some of the Darts will be decommissioned.

- About Plumstead (PD)/ West Ham (WH) and Rainham (RM) receiving new Enviro 400 Hybrids next year, some has changed due to standardization. All 73 Enviro 400 Hybrids will instead be diverted to Plumstead (PD) for routes 53 (Part), 122, 472 and 96. 10 Enviro 400 Diesels, which are from 2011, will then move out of Plumstead, some for the new route 262 contract at West Ham (WH) and the rest to Rainham (RM) for 372 to be fully double deck.

LX11 BBO, one of Plumstead's Enviro 400's. This bus could move out, might not. A fleetlist will be released at a later
date.
(C) LondonBuses72

*112 and 232 are part of the same tranche, so the fact that 232 is getting new buses as part of a middle-sized batch (Around 15 buses??) along with 112, this could signal a new type of single-deck to be ordered for Metroline. Streetlites or Citaro K anybody? Stay tuned on the Busy Bus Buzz (On the chatbox) as we speak about this on the 1st December 2013, at 8pm! Remember this personal statement here is an assumption, not an official allocation or statement from the companies involved.

Don't forget if you want to know the nearest route changes, you can check our updates here. Thank you for reading this post and please remember to stay safe!

Today (26th November 2013) marks two years of route 79 being in service with Metroline Travel. We tell you the recent history of this bus route, from the streets of North West London.

LK61 BNB/ VW1210 on route 79 to Alperton, Sainsbury's.
(C) LondonBuses72

Route 79 operates between Alperton, Sainsbury's (Glacier Way) and Edgware Bus Station via (From Alperton), Alperton Station, where it makes it's way down Ealing Road to reach Wembley Central Station. But just one stop after Wembley Central Station, the bus turns into Park Lane, with fellow routes 204 and 297, before ditching the 297 and paralleling route 204 up the Streets of Preston Road (And Preston Road itself!) before making it's way around The Mall in Kingsbury, where the JFS is (Mentioned in School & Mobility Routes Spectacular). Just 2 minutes later, it reaches Kingsbury Circle for Kingsbury Station although doesn't stop at the station itself. The 79 speeds down Honeypot Lane until Queensbury Morrisons, where it waddles into the "Queensbury Station Loop" and returns to the Morrisons and continues north along Honeypot Lane via Queensbury Circle and goes to the end of Honeypot Lane, where at the junction of Wemborough Road/ Marsh Lane, it turns towards Canons Park Station and heads straight for the rest of the journey towards Edgware Station, where it terminates. All of this takes about 40 minutes, and is 9 miles long.

Route 79 is 9 miles long (Mentioned above) and is operated by Metroline Travel (Also stated above) using a mix of 11 and 61reg VW's from Perivale West (PA) garage/ CELF centre.

LK11 CYE/ VW1191 on route 79 to Edgware Station.
(C) LondonBuses72

Recent history takes us back to 1987, when the 79 was (not first, actually), "Secondly introduced". An older version of the route, also called the 79, ran from Colindale to Perivale Dawlish Avenue (Currently Perivale Tesco, near station) but was withdrawn in 1984. 3 years later, today's 79 started service, running between Alperton Station and Edgware Station from  Aplerton (ON) garage with a PVR of 5. One bus every 20 minutes? 

Shortly in 1991, the 79 was extended one stop from Alperton Station to the local Sainsbury's superstore where the route terminates today. Ever since, the route actually hasn't changed at all and has remained this routing for 22 years. What has changed is the vehicles allocated to the route though, which by now was running with Leyland Olympians. The peak vehicle requirement still 5.

In 1996, the route was awarded to Metroline, and was interestingly single-decked with Plaxton Pointer 1's. The PVR was raised to 9 due to this, and was operated from today's Park Royal (PK) garage although at the time was called North Acton (NA). A Sunday service was introduced at the same time. First Centrewest however still ran the school journeys. 

The year is now 1999, and 79 has had it's main allocation, along with the buses, moved to the now defunct North Wembley (NW) base with the changeover point at Preston Road East Lane. 

But First bidded hard, cold cash to earn themselves the 79 again from Alperton (ON) as before with brand new TN's (Trident Presidents), with the M-F service needing 10 buses, Saturday service 9 buses and Sunday 7 buses.  However, in 2006, First decided to allocate the 79 with Wright Eclipse Gemini 1's mounted on a Volvo B7TL chassis with ZF gearboxes (VNW). VNZ's were often used in practice as well, allocated to routes 83 and 92 at the time.

LK61 BMV/ VW1205 is seen at Alperton Sainsbury's on route 79.
(C) Lewis JN

On the November 26th 2011, the fight between Metroline and First got even more interesting. THIS time, Metroline won the route and upgraded the allocation to 12 Wright Gemini Eclipse 2's mounted on a Volvo B9TL allocation from Perivale East (PV). 

In 2012, Metroline announced that Perivale East (PV) was to close and that route 79 along with other routes was to transfer to different garages. Metroline allocated route 79 to Perivale West (PA).

That brings us to today, Metroline now shove 11reg VW's alloacted to route 105 and 297 onto 79 daily, taking up most of the allocation. 

Odd workings occur on route 79 too, being in the form of Scania N230UD/ East Lancs Olympus normally allocated to routes 7, N7 and 297 (Part). Here it is shown below:

LK07 BCF/ SEL756 on route 79 to Edgware Station. Sorry for poor photo, camera absent at time.
(C) LondonBuses72

The rear of SEL756.
(C) LondonBuses72

And the fleetlist:

LK11 CXJ - VW1175

LK11 CXL - VW1176

LK11 CXM - VW1177

LK11 CXN - VW1178

LK11 CXO - VW1179

LK11 CXP - VW1180

LK11 CXR - VW1181

LK11 CXS - VW1182

LK11 CXT - VW1183

LK11 CXU - VW1184

LK11 CXV - VW1185

LK11 CXW - VW1186

LK11 CXX - VW1187

LK11 CXY - VW1188

LK11 CXZ - VW1189

LK11 CYA - VW1190

LK11 CYE - VW1191

LK11 CYF - VW1192

LK11 CYH - VW1193

LK11 CYJ - VW1194

LK11 CYL - VW1195

LK11 CYO - VW1196

LK11 CYP - VW1197

LK11 CYS - VW1198

LK11 CYT - VW1199

LK11 CYU - VW1200

LK11 CYV - VW1201

LK11 CXJ/ VW1175 is seen at Edgware Bus Station.
©London Bus Breh.

These 3 buses below are actually a rare sight on the 79, although built to same specification and part of the 11reg batch, are strictly allocated to 105 and 297. The reason for this is unknown.

LK61 BJE - VW1202

LK61 BJF - VW1203

LK61 BJJ - VW1204

This is the batch actually allocated and built for route 79, although now mixed:

LK61 BMU - VW1205

LK61 BMV - VW1206

LK61 BMY - VW1207

LK61 BMZ - VW1208

LK61 BNA - VW1209

LK61 BNB - VW1210

LK61 BNE - VW1211

LK61 BNF - VW1212

LK61 BNJ - VW1213

LK61 BNL - VW1214

LK61 BNN - VW1215

LK61 BNO - VW1216

And finally, the 79 iBus for both Alperton, Sainsbury's & Edgware Station:

Route 79 to Edgware Station. (C) LondonBuses72

Route 79 to Alperton Sainsbury's iBus

A unique thing to note down is that route 79's iBus is unique. For unknown reasons, it says "79 to Edgware Station" instead of "79 to Edgware". All other Edgware-bound routes do say "--- to Edgware".

That brings us to the end of another interesting Know Your Routes post. A question I could ask is either way if route 79 stayed with First at Alperton (ON) after the 2011 tender, do you think new buses would be ordered for route 79 or buses drafted from elsewhere? 

Another question is would you prefer route 79 stayed with First (ON), and transfer to Metroline West or be with Metroline Travel. Either way, it had to go back to Metroline somehow....  Answer in the poll before the 10th Decmeber 2013 (if accessible) or drop a comment below this post about your thoughts of the post and this question.

Stay safe and I hope you enjoyed reading the post!

As seen in the photo and title, this post is about the bus route U10. Another suburban route in North West London that runs between Uxbridge Station and Ruislip, Heathfield Rise. Also note that U10 does not run on a Sunday.

LK53 FDM/ DMC41538 on route U10 to Ruislip, Heathfield Rise.
(C) LondonBuses72

U10 is a rather isolated route, but also very useful because of that reason. The route starts at the rather busy Uxbridge Bus Station, where it follows route U9 up to Roker Park Avenue, just south of Newyears Green. The route then dives onto Swakeley's Drive, a Hail & Ride Section now entering Ickenham to pass the isolated and small Ickenham Station.

After, the route then re-unites with other local bus routes, including route U1, E7 and H13 at Ruislip Station. From here, U10 makes a short leg up to Heathfield Rise, which it is the only bus to serve there.

U10 has a unique operational schedule, and does not run on Sundays. It also only runs until 1900, having started 12 hours earlier. People who aren't good at Maths, that's 0700. 

U10 has an allocation of Enviro 200 Darts, which was a full allocation before the takeover of Metroline. Nimbuses were quite uncommon, although made common after the takeover on 22nd June 2013. Mainly, any old single-decker found in Uxbridge (UX) is shoved onto route U10, which is Uxbridge's least focused route. 

These Nimbuses were an everyday appearance before 2008, when the first ever batch appeared at Uxbridge (UX), for routes A10 and 331. These became more common, when another larger batch was bought in 2010, for routes U5 and U1, which at the time was being extended to West Drayton Station. This applies below, where a 10reg Dart back in the First days is seen at the last stop in Uxbridge, The Pavilion.

YX10 BFJ/ DML44147 on route U10 to Uxbridge Station.
(C) Lewis JN

In 2013, a shocker came to us. On the April 9th, it was revealed that the smaller rival out of the two; Metroline and First, had gobbled up the bigger company (First). Fleet changes never took place, well at Uxbridge, no. Although all buses had the First legals, logos and fleet numbers removed and replaced with brand new ones, new Metroline West legals and and Metroline Logos.

Here is the fleetlist:
LK03 NLE - DC1540
LK03 NLF - DC1541
LK03 NLG - DC1542
LK03 NLJ - DC1543
LK03 NLL - DC1544
LK03 NLM - DC1545
LK03 NLT - DC1546
LK03 NFY - DC1547
LK03 NFZ - DC1548
LK53 FDC - DC1549
LK53 FDE - DC1550
LK53 FDF - DC1551
LK53 FDG - DC1552
LK53 FDJ - DC1553
LK53 FDM - DC1554
LK53 FDN - DC1555
LK53 FDO - DC1556
LK53 FDP - DC1557
LK53 FDU - DC1558
LK53 FDV - DC1559

LK08 FNF - DE1583
LK08 FNG - DE1584
LK08 FNH - DE1585
LK08 FKT - DE1586
LK08 FKU - DE1587
LK08 FKV - DE1588
LK08 FKW - DE1589
LK08 FLC - DE1590
LK08 FLD - DE1591
LK08 FLE - DE1592
LK08 FLF - DE1593
LK08 FLG - DE1594
LK08 FLV - DE1595
LK08 FLW - DE1596
LK08 FLZ - DE1597

YX10 BFA - DE1798
YX10 BFE - DE1799
YX10 BFF - DE1800
YX10 BFJ - DE1801
YX10 BFK - DE1802
YX10 BFL - DE1803
YX10 BFM - DE1804
YX10 BFN - DE1805
YX10 BFO - DE1806
YX10 BFP - DE1807
YX10 BFU - DE1808
YX10 BFV - DE1809
YX10 BFY - DE1810
YX10 BFZ - DE1811
YX10 BGE - DE1812
YX10 BGF - DE1813
YX10 BGK - DE1814
YX10 BGO - DE1815

YX60 BZN - DE1895
YX60 BZO - DE1896

Thank you for reading, and if you are reading this on the 14th November 2013 or before, please do vote in the poll before it closes! This can be found on the left hand side, near the top, under the chatbox. Stay safe!

To raise awareness of Remembrance Day, ten London buses and two London Underground trains have been wrapped with Poppy designs.