It's amazing how fast one month can go! I apologise if next month there is no edition - there are no contracts being awarded and there are also not many deliveries in time for next month (December), so they may be pushed forward to the New Year. Apologies in advance as it seems it will be a relatively quiet Christmas this year in the bus scene. Nonetheless, let's end Year of the Bus edition of this series with a bang!

Arriva London:
- Route 137's conversion date has been pushed forward to Saturday 6th December 2014. The LTs have been delivered and are at Norwood (N) garage, Brixton (BN) garage and the outstation on Brixton Hill. 

Goodbye DLPs!

- The loss of route 34 and 192 at the start of the month has led to 192's vehicles being loaned to Go-Ahead. The DLPs on route 34 have all been withdrawn, these being the last of them in London. T3 (3 CLT) was the last Arriva bus on route 34.

- Other than route 137, Arriva have had a quiet month although Wright StreetDeck DW411 (LJ11 AEB) has returned to service, frequently seen on route 349, and occasionally route 279.

Arriva TGM:
- Cadets are making Cameo appearances on route E10. Also to note is that unfortunately the vehicles on route E10, well known and stand out for their yellow bands, are having them removed. 3425 and 3426 have had this treatment because of unreasonable and silly TfL laws, if you ask me. 

Abellio London:
- The takeover of route S4 between Roundshaw and St Helier Station (in the last edition I wrote St Helier Hospital by mistake) went smoothly, with all 7 Enviro 200s (8201-7) which are diesels with flywheel systems entering service within a week of takeover. These new vehicles have been highly commended by engineers and enthusiasts alike, along with the new vehicles on route 112 and 124.

- The next takeover will be route 109 between Brixton and Croydon after the new year, also from Beddington Cross (BC).

Go-Ahead London:
- The vehicles loaned for route 192 have been re-numbered TEN1-13. It is confirmed HYBRID StreetLites have been ordered for route 192 and shall arrive over the new year.

- Meanwhile on the street of Wood Green in North London, route W4 has resumed to operating as one route, and no longer operates in two sections (W4N, W4S). 

- Route 453 is fully Borismaster, except for LT282 which hasn't seen service. It is confirmed it will be in either an Android or Ugg advert. However, conventional vehicles can still be standing in for the meantime.

- Whilst on the topic of Borismasters and liveries, LT60 on route 11 has received a 'London General' advert in sport of Year of the Bus. Earlier this month we saw several RTs (and a RM) operate on route 11 as part of an event. 

- LDP198 (SN51 UAL) is on loan to Blue Triangle whilst route 364's Enviro 200s are refurbished - note that the new contract had started quite some time ago.

- The vehicles from route 453 have transferred to Camberwell (Q) where they will operate route 68, 468 and 185. This will release Volvos to Metrobus which will replace the 2003-built OmniDekkas.

- Route 100's new vehicles are still pending delivery.

- Last night on route 19 saw the presence of Enviro 400 Hybrid prototype EH5 (LX58 DDO) do a few workings. I must say that this has to be one of our workings of this year! Definitely worth mentioning. 

Metroline: 
- TEH915 was spotted on route 332 last Tuesday.

- In other news, more and more VWHs have been entering service on route 34 at Potters Bar (PB). Slowly, TEs loaned from Holloway (HT) (including TE925-34 which came from W, 926 coming from EW beforehand) have been moving back to HT. TE926 has already returned.

- There has been DSD and DEM workings on route 383 lately, which has been lost to Uno. Although 384 has common workings of these vehicles, 383 tends to remain strictly DES on most days. The reason for this is due to the absence of some DES vehicles, some at Greenford (G) on route E5, others at refurbishment. The DSDs and DEMs will help cover.

RATP Group:
- Not much to report from here, although it's worth noting ADH19 (SN60 BYR) has been spotted on route 27.

- Also worth noting is in the last week a DPS and DE have made an appearance on route K4, between Mansfield Park and Kingston Hospital. The route, usually allocated SDE6-10, saw curtailments to Hook Parade when these workings were in place.

- Quality Line lost route S4 on the 15th November 2014, OPL08 being the last bus in service.

Stagecoach London:
- New vehicles 10198-10205 are entering service at Catford (TL) to cover route 136's extension to Elephant & Castle. This means our beloved Y-NHK vehicles will very soon be withdrawn from London. Get your last rides and photos now!

Tower Transit:
- This ever-expanding company have purchased Whippets Coaches, taking over some TGM services in the Harlow and Stansted area. Meanwhile, the Stagecoach Tridents have entered service at Westbourne Park (X) for God knows why????? Perhaps vehicles will be released from X to AS to cover instead. One of the Tridents has a Lord Mayor's Appeal all-over advert.

- Two DNs are allocated to route 308 until the New Year as there is high demand for the service around the Christmas time for shoppers and visitors to Stratford City and Olympic Park.

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A nice, basic idea - showing you observations of buses from all corners of this great city. It will keep you up to speed on London's buzzing bus scene throughout the Summer and Autumn.

First up is Abellio's 8318 (BX54 DLU) seen on loan to Go-Ahead London who gained Abellio's route 100, between Elephant & Castle Newington Causeway and Shadwell Station.

The new buses should be arriving towards the end of November or the start of December.

Next up in line is Barking's (DX) T24 on route 135 seen at Isle of Dogs ASDA on a sunny day, owned by Arriva London. This is one of three Enviro 400s at Barking garage which has a special registration plate. This bus carries '324 CLT', although when delivered was LJ08 CUX for the start of then-new route 135. Next year, the route has been unfortunately lost to Go-Ahead. 

I did this route, and I think this is one of the best routes London has to offer, it's fast, frequent and definitely most interesting.

Seen after is recently acquired by RATP group, DE91 (YX11 FZT) seen on a quiet Sunday afternoon in Chaplin Road, Wembley whilst working route H17 towards Harrow Bus Station. The bus had gained new LS RATP logos.

This observation is an interesting one, as Ensignbus' RT8 (FXT 183) is seen parading about Tower Hill in the sunset whilst on Private Hire. Route 11, between Fulham Broadway and Liverpool Street Station, is to be operated by a large number (17, to be exact) of heritage vehicles on the Sunday 2nd November 2014. Could this be one of the vehicles used?

Go-Ahead London's ELS5 (YU02 GHD) on route 42 towards Liverpool Street Station. The bus had just crossed Tower Bridge. This is the only batch of East Lancs Myllenium Single Deckers, which are on a Scania Chassis.

Another Go-Ahead bus, this one is an ex-First London one, DMN5 is seen void of any destination blinds whilst serving route 193 at Romford Station towards what should be displayed, County Park Estate (Essex Gardens). The route 193 is allocated the one-door 8.9m version (DMS), however the longer ones intended for school routes 646 and 648 often stray every now and then.

Seen here is ex-Arriva London D13, then 3524 at Arriva Southern Counties acting as a spare on route 499 between Heath Park Estate in Becontree and Gallows Corner, Tesco. 

This photograph was taken at Queen's Hospital, Romford on the last official day of 3524's TfL operation. The bus has been since moved to the provinces. 

Seen here is recently refurbished TE1720 (SN09 CEA) on Bakerloo Line rail replacement duties at Sudbury, Bridgewater Road (Where buses stand as there is usually an enhanced service between Queen's Park and Wembley Central).

This bus prior to June 2014 worked on routes E1 and E3 which terminated at Greenford Clifton Road and Ealing Broadway (E1)/ Chiswick, Edensor Road (E3). However, both routes were lost respectively to Abellio and RATP Group. This bus will later take duties on routes 282 and 482, when 482 is taken over early next year. Meanwhile, other buses from this batch have received refurbishment whilst others have been transferred for a mere 6 weeks for route 91. TE1751 (SN09 CGV), the last of the batch has a 'Visit Dubai' advert.

To round off our post, here's something from the Docklands, Silvertown (SI) SE150 YX61 DTV on route D8 towards Stratford International is seen at Isle Of Dogs Asda, in Crossharbour. This is one of 5 actual E20Ds/ New-Style Enviro 200s at SI. These buses are specifically allocated to route D8 and is actually quite a rare find if you see them on 276, 549 or route D6. 

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Route 453 is now the second London General 'New Routemaster' route, the second ex-bendy bus route and my first local route to be allocated with the state-of-the-art buses.

Route 453 is one of our youngest London bus routes, introduced by Selkent on 15 March 2003 on the same weekend the congestion charge was introduced. Creating a south-east London link from Regent's Park and helping prevent overcrowding on fellow Selkent route 53 in the process, the 453 is a very useful route that parallels the Bakerloo Line from Marylebone, serving every station on the Bakerloo Line until its last stop at Elephant & Castle, meeting route 53 en route in Westminster. Route 453 then parallels the 53 until its terminus at Deptford Bridge Station, where the latter continues on to Plumstead Station.

Interestingly, the Deptford Bridge terminus today had been postponed from development for three years after the introduction of route 453. Consequently, buses were forced to run empty to Lewisham to turn around and stand off-peak. There was a proposal for the route to be extended to Catford Bus Garage to ease this longevity, but by the time the proposal could be consulted the Deptford Bridge terminus by the DLR Station had been fully developed for standing vehicles on the 453. One wonders what was there before that withheld the 'development' of such an almost effortlessly simplistic terminus.

Route 453 was awarded to London General from Selkent in 2008 with a
new batch of Mercedes-Benz Citaro O530G articulated buses (MEC).

Proposed to be a bendy-bus route from initiation, these buses were delivered a few weeks late, enabling double-decker Dennis Trident 2 buses to introduce the 453 to service until the articulated Mercedes-Benz Citaros could enter service.

On 16 February 2008, London General won contract to route 453 from their Mandela Way (MW) base with new articulated buses. Over three years later, the 453 was debendified with Alexander Dennis Enviro400 buses, some of which were late and covered by a few Plaxton President and Wright Eclipse Gemini buses until they entered service.

Late this summer, there were talks of route 453 converting to 'New Routemaster' operation in October. This was confirmed with a planned date for 4 October 2014. This being a year frequented with tardiness, this date was pushed to 18 October 2014. By this date, all buses from new allocated batch LT273-311 had been delivered. However, on the day, only six new buses had been introduced to service, following rumours of a further postponement by a week. Notwithstanding a limited introduction, route 453 is my first local Borismaster route hence I easily caught up with the route's new buses.

Route 453 was debendified with Alexander Dennis
Enviro400s (E163-201) on 24 September 2011.

Following route 8, my opinions of the controversial ultramodern 'New Routemaster' had become neutral. Yes, they are over-priced, over-advertised conventional buses with an avant-garde design, however recent batches have been progressive in performance, as seen with routes 8, 38 and 148. Be that as it may, I was a bit sceptical ahead of the 453 conversion, even if this was to be the first full batch of Euro VI LTs: the fact that these buses are implemented with their own interior livery and not that of the operator housing the buses (as is the case with every other bus type in London) was getting a bit boring now. The only differentiation between each conversion is literally a different route and depending on the operator, a different logo. Additionally, I had become accustomed to naming the LTs 'Wright Borismaster hybrid' buses (as they probably would have been called if not so 'special'), Wright being the manufacturer, Borismaster being a logical name for a bus initiated by Boris Johnson inspired by the Routemaster, hybrid the power running the bus. Transport for London confirmed the name of the buses as 'New Routemaster', something I don't agree with, hence (admittedly) stubborn inverted commas upon every mention.

And on the day, the weather was dull, dulling my mood, complete with initially dull photography attempts. Moreover, there were only six LTs on the 453 on its proposed first day of 'New Routemaster' service. This was not a convincing start to having a 'New Routemaster' on my doorstep ... that was until we left for Deptford. All we had to do was depart the route's stand and start on Great Central Street and turn onto the Marylebone Road for my mood to improve. The driver of LT278 was expeditious along Marylebone Road, traditionally my favourite section of the route for requiring speed just to maintain pace with traffic with its broad three lanes in both directions. However, the 453 was going through an unusually unsatisfactory frequency, meaning standing at bus stops was lengthy to pick up accumulating groups of waiting passengers. In reference to a showy new advert I heard on the radio the other day, the 'New Routemaster' having three doors was not benefiting stand times at bus stops!

The driver attempted to maintain a fast and comfortable drive en route to the West End, however our departure from the Marylebone Road was not as great as the arrival, with a cyclist holding us back from making the lights accessing Albany Street towards Great Portland Street Station. To make matters worse, an insect began irritating my attention of analysis, flying about with its uninvited presence. By the time I had reached the busy shopping district that is Oxford Circus, I was beginning to lose patience with this procrastinate assembly; encountered was the general ignorance of people in West End poking parts of their body onto the road in a personal battle to get to the next piece of pavement first, in doing so tempting us to run them over.

If you have read Stagecoach Shambles?, you will have noticed my déjà vu experiences on route 53 where a 12 would hold us up from accelerating over Westminster Bridge. Well, I had this yet again on the 453! However, our hold up was short-lived as the 12 double-indicated at Lower Marsh, so we overtook the bus with ease, a contrast to previous encounters with slow buses on the 12!

LT278 (LTZ 1278) parking at Deptford Bridge.

Other than the further elongated standing times at bus stops, one including a few people walking slowly towards the bus to make the driver think they were just average pedestrians, thus closing the doors on them, before protests forced him to undergo the exertion of opening all doors again ... sighs with exasperation ... the duration of Westminster Bridge Road was a thrill! Peckham Park Road was a treat, with less traffic to manouevre than last time with the 53, and soon I was off the bus at Deptford Bridge Station, taking plenty of photos after a scintillating bus ride.

After further gallivanting around southeast London, I returned to Deptford to make my way home on a 453. However, the aforementioned unimpressive service of the 453 that day meant, if I did not catch a 53 after approximately ten minutes of waiting, I would have been possibly waiting another ten minutes for an Enviro400 on the 453 to finally decide to leave its stand after a selfishly long break.

LT275 and LT294 entered service with Uggs advertisement a
few weeks after proposed conversion date, during in which the
453 service was still predominantly Enviro400 allocated.

The 453 has two buses fully painted in white with Uggs advertisement on. These entered service a few weeks after proposed conversion date, during in which the 453 service was still predominantly Enviro400 allocated. After getting a photo of one in Piccadilly Circus, I took a 453 home. This would be my second journey aboard a new 453 and this would have been a relaxing cruise home, if not for LT284 overtaking us along Regent Street; if not then for a one-stop in advance curtailment to Great Portland Street Station. Luckily, we kept up to LT284 to transfer onto that bus. As annoyed as I was having to run in the drizzle along the wet road surface, it was worth it: LT284 was a brief but brilliant journey home. I was a bit concerned about how the slightly longer length of the 'New Routemaster' would be able to get to the Great Central Street bus stand in Marylebone with a series of tight corners beforehand. However, the driver executed the turn-ins with ease and completed another scintillating bus ride on the 453, a luxurious way to arrive home.

With its smooth and speedy driveline, little AC noise pollution and clearer engine sound similar to that of a go-kart, the only problem I had with this bus was the addition of yet another unnecessary announcement. But not from the iBus this time, no, no: from the doors. 'Please mind clear of the opening doors.' There is barely any room near the rear platform to dive out of the way of the unexpected sharply inward opening door in the first place; that is unless you somehow maintain balance on the spiral staircase - as the G-force of the bus attempts to throw you around in the Marylebone Station approach - and then rocket forwards out of the door as quickly as possible just so the driver doesn't close the doors on you because the rearview mirrors are clearly as useful a presence as a Routemaster with no conductor. Yeah.

In Stage Eight, I was having difficulty placing route 8 in my Borismaster hierarchy. Between the last article and this one, I had been on route 8 again with its 'New Routemaster' buses a number of times, and these experiences were less exhilarating as a commuter than when I boarded them for the first time as an enthusiast. Therefore, there's no longer a chance for the 8 to be at the top when routes 148 and 38 respectively have been flawless. Where the 9 has not been fast all the time, they are still good buses on a good service, therefore the 8 slots in fourth just ahead of the 453, which has been let down not by arguably the best batch of buses in the LT fleet, but its service: many curtailments, some unexpected, and on the weekend in particular the service has been less reliable than it was before.

As for the bottom of the hierarchy, my opinion of route 11 continues to improve - maybe because glimpsing at a 'New Routemaster' on route 10 reminds me of the batch's lethargic existence, hence route 11 climbs further up the hierarchy. The 10 may even be giving the generally negatively reviewed conversions of routes 390 and 24 (in order of hierarchy position) a chance to surpass!

Next is Arriva London route 137 from Brixton (BN), with an unscheduled date this month. Its buses have already arrived, a Euro V batch presumably due to being built before the 453 buses. Do you think route 137 has a chance of knocking off the 453 in top five of our 'New Routemaster' performance hierarchy as it becomes our tenth 'New Routemaster' route?

I know we missed an issue last month. But Bus News is back!