Bus News: The Last Three Months of 2015

Happy New Year! Here's the latest......

A sneak peek of today's post.

Tenders:

Tranche 518:
- Routes 28, N28 and 328 have been retained by Tower Transit with a mixture of new buses and existing buses off 295.

- Route 31 and N31 received a two-year contract extension.

- Routes 631, H2 and H3 received a two-year contract extension.

The contract start dates for routes 28, N28 and 328 is 30th April 2016.

Tranche 519:
- Routes 95 and 337 received a two-year contract extension.

- Route 481 was retained by Abellio London with new buses, a PVR increase to 4 and a new Sunday service incorporating a frequency increase to 2 times an hour (currently once an hour).

- Routes E2 and E8 have been retained by Metroline Travel with existing (hybrid) buses (stated to be from route 168). Route E8 has been given a PVR increase to enable withdrawal from Commerce Road and an extension to Hounslow, Bell Corner via West Middlesex Hospital and Hounslow Bus Garage.

- Routes E5, E7 and E9 have been awarded to Abellio London from Hayes (WS) garage. Routes E5 and E7 will get new buses (E5 to get 8.8m, E7 to get 10.8m) whilst route E9 is to be double decked using existing buses off route 344. The Hail & Ride section in Barnhill Estate will be converted to fixed stops.

The contract start dates are 28th May 2016 for the E-routes, and 7th May for 481.

Tranche 520:
- Routes 86 and N86 have been retained by Stagecoach London using existing Euro 5 double deckers. Contract start date is 16th July 2016.

Tranche 521:
- Red Arrow routes 507 and 521 are retained with brand new electric buses as aforementioned. Start date is 27th August 2016.

Tranche 522:
- Route 25 has been retained by Tower Transit with it's existing Gemini 2 buses.

- Routes 26 and N26 have been awarded to CT Plus with Enviro 400 City buses.

- Route 30 received a two-year contract extension.

- Route 274 received a two-year contract extension.

- Route 377 has been retained by Arriva London with 4 new buses.

The start date for all contracts are 25th June 2016, bar the 377 which  is the 9th July 2016.

Tranche 523:
- Route 53 has been retained by Stagecoach London with brand new Enviro 400H MMC buses.

- Route 344 has been retained by Abellio London with new hybrid buses to be confirmed.

- Route 417 has been retained by Arriva London using the buses (which are on the route now) from route 341.

The start date for 53 is 23rd July 2016, and for 344 and 417 is 20th August 2016.

Tranche 524:
- Route 64 has been awarded to Arriva London from Thornton Heath (TH) garage using existing double deckers. It is said that the 59 will convert to Borismaster operation, and route 250 (following the loss of many routes at Brixton garage including 109 and 159) will transfer to Brixton garage. Route 250 will utilise the vehicles from route 59, releasing it's Enviro 400s to route 64 at Thornton Heath (TH) garage.

- Routes 146 and 336 have been awarded to Stagecoach Selkent from Bromley (TB) garage. Both routes will use brand new single deckers.

- Route R9 received a two-year contract extension.

Routes 146 and 336 change on the 20th August, whilst route 64 changes on the 27th August.

Tranche 525:
- Routes 57 and 85 are to swap operators (57 to Go-Ahead, 85 to London United) with 85 to get new buses, and 57 to get existing buses from Camberwell (Q) garage.

- Route 65 has been retained by London United, with it's current buses and an additional 4 brand new double deckers as part of a frequency and PVR increase.

- Route 213 has been retained by Go-Ahead with it's existing buses.

- Routes 265 and 371 have been retained by RATP Group with new buses (265) and existing buses (371). 

- Route K5 has been retained by Quality Line with a mixture of new and existing buses.

- Routes 105 and 467 have been received two year extensions. Route 105 is the most reliable route at Perivale (PA) garage.

All contracts start on the 2nd July 2016.

Tranche 526:
- Route 140 has been retained by Metroline Travel with brand new hybrid double deckers. PVR raised to 31 (from 30). The crosslink with 640 will still continue.

- Route 182 has been retained by Metroline Travel with brand new hybrid double deckers. PVR raised by 1.

- Route 340 has been retained by Arriva Shires & Essex with brand new diesel double deckers.

- Route 183 has been retained by London Sovereign RATP Group with it's existing buses and 6 new double deckers to oust out the Presidents on the route.

- Route 114 has been awarded to Metroline Travel with brand new hybrid double deckers. PVR raised to 18. We all saw that coming, right?

- Route 83 has been retained by Metroline West with it's existing Gemini 2 buses. The PVR will be decreased to 19. This is due to the 83 being withdrawn between Alperton Station forecourt and Ealing Hospital. New route 483 will run between Harrow Bus Station and Ealing Hospital via Wembley and Alperton, then the current 83 to Ealing Hospital subject to consultation (on the routing around Wembley and Alperton - it's been 'fixed' that 483 will be introduced). Route N83 will be introduced which is the current 83 routing between Golders Green and Ealing Hospital.

- Route 483 has been awarded to Metroline West. Guessed to be from Greenford (G) garage, the route will run Ealing Hospital - Ealing Bdy - Hanger Lane - Alperton - Wembley - Northwick Park - Harrow. The route will have a PVR of 25 and use existing double deckers in addition to an order of 5 extra brand new hybrid buses.

- Route H12 received a two-year contract extension, and will probably move to Edgware (EW) garage as route 114 is set to run from Harrow Weald (HD) garage. H12 will continue to use VPs until a later date, the latest being in time for it's new contract in 2018.

All contracts start on the 3rd September 2016, with the exception of routes 83 and 483 which will be introduced on the 10th September 2016.

Tranche 527:
- Routes 9, N9, 209 and 390 have received two year contract extensions.

- Route 72 has been retained by RATP Group with brand new hybrid double deckers subject to the strengthening works which will take place on Hammersmith Bridge next year. This tender award does not include the extra buses operating short journeys on the route, as that will be awarded as a completely new route, currently numbered as '239'.

The start date for route 72 is the 3rd September 2016.

Tranche 528:
- Routes 251, 398, H9, H10 and H11 have been retained by London Sovereign RATP Group with their existing single deckers. The DPS class buses on routes H9 and H10 will be replaced with the single deckers off route 72.

- Route 398 is to get a Sunday and late evening service running at a 2x an hour rate as it is right now.

- Routes H14 and H17 have gotten two year contract extensions.

All routes start on the 3rd September 2016.

Tranche 529:
- Route 117 has been awarded to Metroline Travel from Brentford (AH) garage with brand new single deckers. 

- Route 203 has been retained by RATP Group with it's existing Citaros, plus one new vehicle which is to be confirmed.

- Routes 697 and 698 have been retained by RATP Group with their existing vehicle arrangements.

All routes start on the 3rd September 2016.

Tranche 530 has yet to be announced.

Tranche 531:
- Routes 148 (RATP Group) and 156 (Abellio London) have been retained with their respective operators with the current vehicles allocated to both routes.

- Route 690 has been retained using a bus off route 133 at Arriva.

Route 148 starts on the 1st October, route 156 on the 10th September and the 690 on the 3rd September.

Tranche 532 has yet to be announced.

Tranche 533:

- All routes have been retained: 137, N137, 160, 199, 381, N381, P13. Route 660 has been awarded to Arriva Kent Thameside. Route 199 is to have a mixture of new and existing buses. Route 381 to use the hybrids off route 3 and 211. Route P13 to get a few new buses in addition to the existing buses used on the route.

All routes start on 17th September 2016, with the exceptions of 381 and P13 who start on the 8th October 2016.


Abellio London:
- The most significant news item from Abellio is that they took over route 159 earlier this month, on the 12th December. The route runs from Battersea (QB) garage and is allocated New Routemasters LT602-640, meaning we have reached the original 600 LT milestone.

- On the same day 30th November, 2474 (SN64 OEY) and 9475 (LJ09 OKH) were involved in accidents which were not related to each other.

- Route C10's buses should be arriving soon at Battersea (QB) garage. The buses from route C10 should be going elsewhere in the company to replace older rolling stock at other garages.

- Route 3 should be converting to Borismaster operation very soon, to allow the displacement of conventional hybrids to routes 344 and/or 381.

Arriva London:
Everything under Arriva will be branded as Arriva London as of New Years 2016.

- Route B13's new Enviro 200s are arriving into Dartford (DT) garage now, to replace the Cadets. They are blinded for E10, and are numbered ENR1-8. 

- Route 229 and 492's new buses are also arriving as the takeover is nearing now for Go-Ahead route 229. The buses are numbered T301-331 and will be housed at Dartford (DT) garage. These are Enviro 400 buses, but the 'original' version of the best-selling double deckers and are Euro 5 buses. They are identical to the buses at South Croydon (TC) garage.

- Route 469's takeover is also near, however the route will be taken over using the Enviro 200s ex-T31 which have been refurbished and are in storage. ENL1-9 from route T31 will be used, in addition to Barking (DX) ENL10.

- Route 347 has been off to a somewhat weird start in terms of the blinding of 4010, the bus allocated to Arriva. Weird blinds have been ordered, with incorrect spelling! 

- Route E10 is allocated 1632 (SN06 BPE) now, which sees irregular service. 

- Route 78 has been converting to Enviro 400 City operation gradually throughout the month, since the 7th December. Positive reviews have been given, especially in comparison to their Wright counterparts, the Borismaster.

- Two Darts from South Croydon (TC) have transferred to Garston (GR) as top-ups to aid the faulty Enviro 200s allocated to H18 and H19.

- VLA102 (LJ54 BCU) has transferred from route 123, which has seen displaced VLAs from Norwood (N) garage. The 54-reg VLAs are being withdrawn and are replaced with 03-reg VLAs.

- As route 149 converted to Borismaster operation, it released many buses around the company. The final phase of updating the rolling stock using these vehicles is that DWs have been sent to convert 341 to part DW operation. The Ts from 341 have allowed the 417 to convert to T operation. The VLAs have gone to 123 to replace younger (not as nice) VLAs.

That's the first part of this post.......