Stagecoach Shambles?

So you have seen our updates on the slide of our homepage dedicated to the Stagecoach hybrids, the operator introducing south London's first hybrid buses during.
Here's the long-awaited article summing up everything affiliated with what has been a disappointing but redeeming, annoying but welcoming, and dis-interesting but exciting year for Stagecoach London.

Announcing the service changes
No doubt all enthusiasts were brimming with excitement upon hearing the news that Stagecoach London would be introducing two batches of brand new hybrids early this year. It was an even more exciting prospect when it was revealed these new hybrids would be allocated to their Selkent division, hybrids currently only being a popular theme in central London thus we would have thought the new buses would be heading for Bow (BW), where central London routes 8, 15, 205 and N205 run under the East London division.

It was revealed late last year that Stagecoach: Selkent would be introducing Metrobus' Croydon (C) routes 54 and 75 from Catford (TL) with Wright-bodied Volvo B5L hybrids, an intriguing vehicle choice considering the partnership of Stagecoach and Alexander Dennis. It was later announced the operator were the first to introduce the new Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 with this service change. 

Meanwhile at Plumstead (PD), routes 96, 122 and 472 had their contracts retained with new Alexander Dennis Enviro400 hybrids from late January (96 and 472) early February (122), releasing most of the garage's abundant Scania OmniCity DD and Alexander Dennis Enviro400 buses respectively to East London garages West Ham (WH) for the retaining of route 262 and Rainham (RM) for the retaining of route 372, both contracts to start from 29 March. The cherry-on-the-top was a late decision to give route 53 a partial allocation of the new ADL hybrids being introduced in February for the 122.

The tender for Stagecoach: East London route 205 shortly followed. Rumours stating Tower Transit, the new Australian-owned operator succeeding a part of the sold operations from First London, had bid for the route were either falsified or shunted out of the window as Stagecoach retained the route with new Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5L hybrids. I was absolutely stunned by this choice of vehicle but highly anticipated their arrival. With all these gratifying service changes for Stagecoach London, this year was already becoming their year and we were only in January.

Indecisiveness ...
Until they got plagued with an aggravating bout of hyper-fastidiousness: the aforementioned original plan did not go ahead at all. 25 January 2014 was the initial date for the first hybrid arrivals for routes 96 and 472, however by then they were nowhere to be seen. Wishful thinking of mine suggested they would all arrive at the same time with the latter batch of hybrids for the 122 and partially for the 53 two weeks later, but I was immensely disappointed to hear nothing of the deliveries of either batches come 8 February 2014.

As the month progressed, specific dates for the arrival of this bus changed into specific months - all in all, the updates were becoming unreliable. And to exacerbate matters further, rumours were created stating that Catford (TL) would be gaining ADL hybrids with their initial Wright-bodied Volvo hybrids instead for the retained Plumstead (PD) routes. The rumours then fluctuated to say that the latter hybrids were solely for route 53 with more ADL hybrids being purchased for retained routes 122 and 472, leaving the outcome of route 96 a mystery until yet another confusing, seemingly pointless bout of news spoke of the current ADL Enviro400 buses on the 53 moving to the 96 (already an odd-working on the route). And what could make all of this worse? Stagecoach themselves confirmed the rumours.

Are you with me? Oh, well ... just follow from now. March arrived and the only news about the hybrids were that the batch for Catford (TL), that being Alexander Dennis Enviro400 hybrids for the confused, were to be fleet numbered 12261-92, and the Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5L hybrids numbered 13001-32. By now, I had already lost admiration of the idea of south-east London going green and carelessly thought, when they arrive, they arrive. I also ensured myself that whenever they arrive, they have to perform to the best of their ability to compensate for an abysmally elongated wait upon their arrival.

Selkent, Catford (TL)
12261 (SN14 TVW) was the first to enter service, on route 47. For each of the following four days, the bus was in service for 17-20 hours on the route and, being a new bus solely introduced into a route which already has a full batch of allocated buses and then some, this durable performance is not common.

I boarded this bus on the second day of service, but with no photos due to inconsiderate cyclists ignorantly parking themselves right alongside the bus where they could blatantly see my desperate self trying to get the right positioning before capturing the shot. I was left aggravated but I was still up for trying again the following day; by then, I had calm down from the previous day's misdemeanours. Inside, it was the same Stagecoach interior colours that we are accustomed to, but the legroom between each dual seats on both columns on the top deck was absolutely exceptional. Too many newer London buses have painfully insufficient legroom which cannot allow you to stay on the bus for too long without straining your legs, but given the time I would have been content to take this all the way to Catford.

12261 (SN14 TVW), bottom deck view facing backwards.
©London Bus Breh 2014.

12261 (SN14 TVW), top deck view facing backwards.
©London Bus Breh 2014.

The driver, who seemed to be the only one to be type trained as she drove it the previous day, had tremendous skill behind the wheel, taking turns and roundabouts with the perfect precision and breezed over the London Bridge, down Tooley Street and Jamaica Road and onto Surrey Quays Road on approach to Canada Water Station. I had never been on a 47 before, but it was one of the best hybrid bus journeys I had ever been on. With daytime traffic however, I wondered how much this statement would have been contradicted.

Although I was thoroughly impressed with my first experience of the new ADL hybrids of Stagecoach, I needed more experience including boarding the Wright-bodied Volvos, which had still not arrived as we entered April whilst Catford (TL) gradually entered their Alexander Dennis Enviro400 hybrids into service on routes 47 and 199, with a few workings on the 136.

I saw to the 199: mixed reviews, here a couple of times. I initially approved of hybrids on the 199 with the bus gliding through the residential roads linking Surrey Quays to Deptford with the air-conditioning overhead near behind overhead providing extra cooling comfort in the hot weather. However, the only time you can possibly enjoy your journey on these hybrids is when you are sitting on the right of the top deck where the air-conditioning has the most effect and this is not helpful when there are limited windows to open. Also, stubbornly ignorant drivers stuck in the common Deptford traffic spoiled my review on the hybrids on the 199, sticking their rear-ends onto the bus lane which, if the drivers could have positioned their cars better, could have sufficed bus passengers twenty minutes of waiting there watching the empty bus lane ahead!

Soon, we even had a few Catford (TL) hybrids sneaking onto Plumstead (PD) route 53 for a short while in the build-up to route 75 starting service at Catford. 26 April arrived, however I thought it more sensible to get the Borismaster introduction on route 10 and then routes 75 with the 54 when both routes would be together again the following weekend.

I managed a short trip on an Optare Olympus on the 75 a couple of weeks prior: because I have already experienced extremely fast journeys on routes 7 (Scania chassis) and 93 (Alexander Dennis chassis), respectively erratically thrilling and a smooth breeze, my route 75 experience albeit short (Lewisham to Catford) was bland and not as fun as it could have been, perhaps due to how busy the bus was. Therefore, the Alexander Dennis Enviro400 hybrids now had a strong chance to show their true worth after a postponed service entry.

The frequencies of all Catford (TL) services were terrible on the 3 May. After waiting around ten minutes for a 47 before being overtaken by one shortly after boarding, my driver then curtailed the bus to Deptford Church Street. Half an hour separated this 47 from the following one, so I decided to walk to Lewisham. Not knowing the area, if I had walked down straight away I could have caught one of the several buses on the 225 I saw passing by the main road. The poor passengers who waited at Deptford were much unfortunate if they were going any further than Lewisham because the 47 they waited thirty minutes for was curtailed to Lewisham Station. I then observed unreliable frequencies on route 75, to which I found out upon boarding 12291 (SN14 TXK) that the driver was ten minutes early, politely forcing passengers to switch for 12271 (SN14 TWJ) that followed us to Catford whilst he stood there to make up time. I was entertained by the driver raging at a cyclist down Lewisham before sharing a light-hearted chuckle with the car driver involved in the near incident where the cyclist cut across them to escape the traffic, as well as the generally fast journey the driver provided. The 54 looked to have been performing better than the 75 - they were much more frequent and the drivers seemed to be enjoying themselves, speeding to the limiter but to my watching disadvantage as I only managed to get two good photos of the new buses on the route, only in the direction of Elmers End.

After many observations and analysis, I conclude with this summary of batch 12261-12292: the only improvement they have made to the two former Metrobus routes are that they are now ran by more efficient buses. Performance, however, should have been even better than what Metrobus provided from day one of both routes' service with Selkent.

That was not all, with batch 12293-12303 being a partial introduction, on paper, to route 122. However, these buses preferred service on route 53 and even though I was a standee on my short experience of 12301 on the 53, it was still a journey I can't complain about. The splendid air-conditioning kept me cool amid my fellow standees on the bus, an unusual thing to say about standing on a semi-packed bus thus left me quite impressed.

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  Route 47

  Route 47 runs from Shoreditch to Bellingham (Catford Bus Garage). It introduced Selkent's first hybrid into service on 3 March 2014.
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  Route 53

  Route 53 runs from Plumstead Station to Whitehall (Horse Guards Avenue). Three hybrid buses were temporarily on the route from 21 April to 24 April for driver familiarisation.
• 

  Route 54

  Route 54 runs from Woolwich Arsenal (Public Market) to Elmers End. Introduced to Stagecoach: Selkent from 3 May 2014, it shares with the 75 the first hybrid buses in south London.
• 

  Route 75

  Route 75 runs from Lewisham Shopping Centre to Croydon Town Centre. Introduced to Stagecoach: Selkent from 26 April 2014, it shares with the 54 the first hybrid buses in south London.
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  Route 136

  Route 136 runs from Peckham to Grove Park. Less frequent hybrid workings began from 4 April 2014.
• 

  Route 199

  Route 199 runs from Canada Water to Bellingham (Catford Bus Garage). It joined route 47 in Selkent hybrid driving familiarisation on 10 March 2014.

Selkent, Plumstead (PD)
Amidst the delivery completion and service entrances of batch 12261-12292 saw a few of batch 13001-13032 being delivered and readied for service, and soon enough did we see Stagecoach London's first bus manufactured by The Wright Group enter service: to many's astonishment, on school route 602. And boy did Stephen G place the cherry on the top with a fantastic observational photograph (see following slideshow). During the April 2014 Tube Strike, a few more Wright-bodied Volvo hybrids entered service on routes 53 and 122, although only during the day as an unconfirmed extra service. Our hopes for the new buses to continue operating on the two popular Plumstead (PD) routes after the Tube Strike were short-lived as they did not continue service for long after the Tube Strike had been discontinued. Although, we only had to wait until the following week for them to re-enter service, proper service, official service, not extra like during the Tube Strike. And boy did I have fun!

After boarding a Scania on route 15 where the driver was extremely eager to keep his foot on the accelerator for as long as possible, I dropped into Whitehall to catch up with 13004 (BU14 EFZ). The driver acknowledged me taking photos and I received invitation to check out the interior of the bus off peak before the driver returned the displays to saying 'Whitehall Horse Guards' instead of 'Plumstead Station', having missed his arrival.

Thanking the driver and acknowledging each other as I boarded, the driver was held up behind a 211 along Westminster Bridge to the point where he had had enough of double-pedaling (in an unhelpful combination of matching the speed of the 211 and eager acceleration) and changed lanes on the bridge for the 211 to enter the same lane and block us again thanks to a few road blocks on the bus lane ahead. This was disappointing considering Westminster Bridge is one of the fastest and definitely the most scenic section of the route, the Thames and Big Ben gleaming as we (should have) breezed over into Lambeth. I had high hopes for Lambeth, its roads leading to Elephant & Castle, another fast section of route 53, and the driver did not disappoint. The speed was immense, he may have even been bobbing on the limiter yet the engine did not sound as if struggling to exceed the limited top speed - unlike most engines - as the bus glided along the road ... until it leapt over a nasty pothole which caught us all by surprise. The Old Kent Road was yet another high speed section of the route and the driver continued driving to the speed that would exceed the satisfaction of any passenger until I got off at New Cross where I shared a gestured acknowledgement with the driver upon our parting of the ways.

Luckily, 13011 (BN14 VZP) arrived in the other direction only a few minutes later, but the journey was much more disappointing to start off with. The driver seemed to be more cautious behind the wheel along the Old Kent Road, which is normally much faster in the direction of central London but this time around was not. It was not until the Camberwell approach that the speed started to match that of the driver of 13004 and the driver compensated for his earlier dawdling by the time we got to Lower Marsh. Turns out the driver of 13004 was on the duty's last service, so I think getting home was more on his mind than having fun taking the bus to its limits!

13004 (BU14 EFZ), bottom deck view facing backwards.
©London Bus Breh 2014.

13004 (BU14 EFZ), top deck view facing backwards.
©London Bus Breh 2014.

On both buses, I noticed the air-conditioning was impeccable: like the Wright Borismaster hybrid buses, it seemed to neutralise the outside temperatures with the inside temperatures to create the perfect temperature for onboard passengers, with the windows there just in case. The air-conditioning, the speed, the smoothness, the efficiency, the thrill, the overall performances of these buses then, are just incomparable! (A better Borismaster, if you like.) If only the Stagecoach Shambles didn't make us wait longer for these buses and speculate from which garage they would operate from - but Plumstead (PD) may have just brought compensation to the Stagecoach hybrid batches' postponements ... even if 13003 (BU14 EFY) experienced technical failures on its first day of service!

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  Route 53

  Route 53 runs from Plumstead Station to Whitehall (Horse Guards Avenue). Stagecoach London principally introduced their first buses from The Wright Group onto the route in May 2014.
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  Route 122

  Route 122 runs from Plumstead Bus Garage to Crystal Palace Bus Station. Stagecoach London introduced their first buses from The Wright Group partially to the route in May 2014.
•  

  Route 601

  School route 601 runs from Thamesmead Town Centre to Dartford Heath Schools. 13011 (BU14 EFY) entered service on this route. ©BexleyBus.
• 

  Route 602

  School route 602 runs from Thamesmead Town Centre to Townley Grammar School for Girls. 13002, 13004 and 13011 entered service on this route. ©Stephen G.

East London, Bow (BW)
To be retained with new Alexander Dennis Enviro400 hybrid buses, ranging from 12304-12333, from the end of August, the arrival of these new buses entered service over three months premature. I would think this was a way of compensating for the malarkey of Stagecoach arrivals earlier in the year, but being objective Alexander Dennis' annual break this summer might have meant they manufactured the buses early to avoid more Stagecoach Shambles.

I would not have selected this type of hybrid for a route that already has its fair share of 2011-built buses of the same design from route 15. Nevertheless, 12308 (SN14 TYD) was the first to enter service on the 205 on 12 June 2014. I took a photo that I was initially unimpressed with, but did not board the bus until the following day - a short journey - where more new buses were gradually joining 12308 on the 205.

Over the next few weeks, all the new buses arrived and saw service on routes 15, 277 and even the 24-hour route 5 which is allocated to Bow (BW) for its night duties as opposed to its main Barking (BK) home. The most surprising appearances came from route 8, where delayed arrivals of Wright Borismasters gave the new 205 buses a chance at route 8 for one week before the latter became a strict allocation of the ultramodern buses. That was not the case, however, as to this day we can still see a few conventional hybrid buses stray onto the service.

Meanwhile, it was late July where I encountered none other than 12308 (SN14 TYD) again completely by coincidence as I boarded it from Islington to Marylebone. The whole point of analysing batch 12304-12333 was to compare these buses to the previous batch of Bow (BW) hybrids allocated to route 15: 12127-12153, notable for their unusual green and yellow interior colours. What has been left unnoticed, or rather unacclaimed, is their speed in contrast to the new batch's lacklustre. 

I boarded a hybrid from the earlier batch in the evening of that same day: it was another short journey, but the driver could cruise with the accelerator with the bus responding with a nice breeze and that small bout of adrenaline as air resistance increased intensity with the speed. (It was that fast the driver missed the left turn towards Marylebone Station and skipped the complex wholly to continue down the Marylebone Road!)

With 12308, the driver was doing the same thing, even trying to go very fast down the long stretches of road leading to King's Cross from Angel, yet it did not feel like we were making much progress on the route. There was no adrenaline, there was no excitement, there was nothing new for me with these new buses. The only 'new' I could point out except for the obvious difference to interior from the previous batch and the improved air-conditioning (which all buses now have) was that the driver had his own fan screwed to the top right of his cab, which I thought to be very efficient and the best addition of the bus ... for its drivers. With all the new buses around the routeing alone, passengers won't notice an improvement to their bus route except for probably the white displays and the introduction of the official Stagecoach moquette for the first time since the route's arrival from Metroline. Notwithstanding, everyone should be accustomed to these two minor differences. I'd rather see route 205 with a refurbished allocation of Scania OmniCitys, but I stand by the initial Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 hybrid order as those should have been what we see on the 205 now.

Adamant of a change for the better from the service, I continued giving the 205 a try and kept receiving mundane performances for my gradually tiring perseverance. And the decreased reliability of the 205 since the new buses arrived was not helping matters, either. Until I took my first full route experience, an evening journey from Bow to Paddington. 12319 (SK14 CSX) was the bus, an hour was the duration, annoying was not being able to maintain speed because we literally had to stop at every bus stop, but happy I finally was alighting a new 205.

And again was I happy boarding its new buses when route 205X came into service during the Notting Hill Carnival. Being an extra service and an express route, the driver did not have to stop much so it was quite a fast journey and I didn't want to get off where I needed to.

Like a few routes in London, route 277 has an unofficial allocation to its evening service. As the now allocated Scania buses take a rest for the night after work on the day service, these new hybrid buses start service on the 24-hour route from nine in the evening until around four in the morning. Having took a new hybrid that had strayed onto the 8 the full route, which was just as great as journeys provided by its ultramodern allocation, I was ready for route 277 ... and it did not disappoint.

Deducing from my profuse analytic attempts to find some advantages to the new 205 service, batch 12304-12333 are one of those batch of buses which only impress on the unallocated routes they stray onto. But you know, for the average commuter, it is better to have a coasting hybrid bus with comfortable seat padding than a Scania bus with endowed agility at the cost of any seat padding! As one of these commuters, when not in enthusiast mode, I'd prefer the new hybrid buses any day!

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  Route 8

  Route 8 runs from Tottenham Court Road to Bow Church. A duty is covered at least weekly by a bus from batch 12304-12333 since 18 June 2014.
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  Route 15

  Route 15 runs from Trafalgar Square to Blackwall Station DLR. A duty is covered at least weekly by a bus from batch 12304-12333 since 13 June 2014.
• 

  Route 205

  Route 205 runs from Paddington (Cleveland Terrace) to Bow Church. It introduced the new batch 12304-12333 three months early on 12 June 2014.
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  Route 205X

  Route 205X runs from Aldgate Bus Station to Harrow Road (Elgin Avenue). It is allocated 12304-12333, starting from this year's Notting Hill Carnival.
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  Route 277

  Route 277 runs from Highbury & Islington to Leamouth. The 24-hour route has had an unofficial allocation of 12304-12333 for its evening service since 16 June 2014.
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  Route N205

  Route N205 runs from Paddington (Cleveland Terrace) to Leyton (Downsell Road). It has been allocated 12304-12333 since 22 June 2014.

Selkent, Plumstead (PD)
If you have noticed some buses missing from the article whilst trying to get your head around why the new buses are not where you expected them to be and, for the newbies, trying to memorise the names of the bus types rather than just the codes, your mentality, vigilance and multitasking abilities are on point.

12293-12303, a small batch of Alexander Dennis Enviro400 hybrids allocated (on paper) to route 122, was primarily phased into service on route 53 from 7 May 2014. It would not have been much of a surprise if you had not noticed their arrival as no-one was really adamant on trying them out for comparison with Selkent's batch of truly outstanding ADL hybrids. I, for one, felt that I was not going to get anything better than 12261-12292 from Stagecoach London.

I might have stumbled across a bus or two from the small batch for a few stops as a commuter (rather than an enthusiast analysing the bus) on route 53, but even then I felt nothing special about these buses. So by the time 12334-12363 had been delivered, it was long forgotten that there was one last batch to arrive to cater for the contract renewal of route 122 but primarily the 472. However, as these steadily entered service, it was not route 472 that was being catered with the new hybrid buses - it was again the more popular routes 53 and 122 stealing each other's and fellow contract renewed routes' buses.

With hybrid buses restricted to one on route 472 the day I went out to acknowledge the service change, I found myself at Whitehall waiting for my first full journey to Plumstead on route 53 since it got its new buses. What I had in mind was the allocated Wright-bodied Volvo hybrid buses - what I got was 12337 (SN64 OGK) from the new batch of ADL hybrids for the 472. If you enjoyed reading about my first experience aboard a new 53 as much as I enjoyed being aboard a bus with such a blessed driver, you should remember us being blocked from accelerating over Westminster Bridge by a 12 ahead. It was déjà vu aboard 12337, the driver being restricted to an estimated 15mph over the bridge by a bus on the 12 that just did not want to go any faster.

We managed to pass the 12 by Elephant & Castle, and now it was time for the driver to show his worth, which he did superbly. Traffic was sporadic along the Peckham Park Road, with other impatient road users indecisive as to whether to change lane or turn to take a shortcut. The driver of 12337 was manoeuvring such disorderly traffic without braking with such precision and this was instrumental in getting us to Plumstead just a few minutes over an hour after departing Whitehall, making this my fastest 53 journey. During the journey, we had a cheeky 13003 (which arrived to stand at Whitehall after 12337) running light from Whitehall to Old Kent Road in an attempt to overtake us, but as we caught up to it 13003 soon found itself behind, collecting crowds of passengers at New Cross for us. Be that as it may, it was funny how easy it was to catch up to 13003 on the 53, but we struggled to match the pace of E178 on parallel route 453 from New Cross to Deptford. Nonetheless, I arrived at Plumstead with a smile on my face, happy with what was a smooth and speedy journey to an area I infrequently but absolutely love visiting.

Getting myself re-familiarised with my few favourite photography spots along Plumstead High Street I used with my phone camera, I soon found myself easily able to enhance my photography capabilities with my bridge camera (first time with the camera in Plumstead) down Pettman Crescent, alongside the vehicle entrance to Plumstead Bus Garage and the well-positioned McDonald's sharing land with the garage (having not noticed a McD's there before). It was a beautiful tranquil Sunday evening, and after reminiscing nostalgically over past experiences of southeast London whilst munching away and quenching my thirst to McD's, I burnt the calories by racing 12303 (SN14 TXY) on route 472 to Plumstead High Street.

Yes, I couldn't even get a new allocated 64-reg on the 472; the last bus from the small batch of ADL hybrid buses at Plumstead (PD) was all I could achieve. The batch already being panned by myself as nothing special from an average commuter's perspective, I also received nothing special from an analytical enthusiast's perspective. Before trying out route 472 for the first time, I was told the route had the 'potential to be fast'. Damn good choice of words, because the potential was so evident with the spacious roads the route uses, but the 'fast' part was not at all achieved. 20mph on a bus with good acceleration but only one gear that maxes out at around 40mph is nothing, especially when you're on a road with three lanes for both directions. Not impressive at all. Okay, we accomplished 30mph thrice within the hour long duration it took to get to North Greenwich and back to Plumstead, but it was just not good enough. However, it was still a blissful and relaxing experience for the average commuter and the route saved 12293-12303 from being just as mundane as I think batch 12304-12333 generally is (both of which arrived into the Stagecoach London fleet at around the same time as each other).

I guess 12337 also saved 12303 from making this a negative review on Plumstead's ADL hybrid buses. Overall, I left southeast London with yet another indelible day to remember, a Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5L hybrid on route 53 taking me on a breeze back to central London to perfect the evening.

• 

  Route 53

  Route 53 runs from Plumstead Station to Whitehall (Horse Guards Avenue). It introduced batch 12293-12303 to service with 12294 (SN14 TXO) on 7 May 2014. The route also introduced batch 12334-12363 from 17 September 2014.
• 

  Route 122

  Route 122 runs from Plumstead Bus Garage to Crystal Palace Bus Station. It is allocated with batch 12293-12303, introduced to the route on 16 May 2014. It is partially allocated with batch 12334-12363, introduced to the route on 17 September 2014.
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  Route 177

  Route 177 runs from Thamesmead Town Centre to Peckham Bus Station. Hybrid buses have been covering duties on the route since 14 May 2014.
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  Route 472

  Route 472 runs from Thamesmead Town Centre to North Greenwich Bus Station. It is primarily allocated with batch 12334-12363, introduced to the route on 19 September 2014.
• 

  Route 601

  Route 601 runs from Thamesmead Town Centre to Dartford Heath Schools. Hybrid buses have been covering duties on the route since 16 May 2014. ©BexleyBus.

Stagecoach Shambles?

It's been eight whole months since we were stuck in animated conversation in the build-up to what looked like Stagecoach's year for service changes. Many of the new buses having postponed deliveries, we were tantalised for four months amid rumours of alterations to service changes and angered by the questionable reliability of gossip upon waiting with agonising patience for the new buses' arrivals. By the time the first new hybrid bus finally arrived at Selkent, we had lost interest, but our attention regained as batches for different the renewed routes were gradually delivered in smaller batches.

Interest clawed its way through the apathy, enthusiasts were fuelled to exert themselves for a day's trek to analyse the new buses which gave us compensating performances in return for our patience and in turn reignited our enthusiasm with praise. East London brought us further compensation by very prematurely introducing more new hybrid buses to the scene, but it is debatable whether these were the right choice of vehicles in the first place.

So balancing the postponed deliveries with the early deliveries, the agreeable bus type changes with the disagreeable type changes, the exciting journeys with the mundane journeys, the question is: is this Stagecoach London's year, or was this Stagecoach London's year?

It's a shame I have to plead for the latter.