Giving the Go-Ahead to Abellio
South London route 270 is the latest route to change operators during lockdown, leaving the hands of Go-Ahead London and venturing to its new home at Abellio London.
Route 270 is a new-ish route, having only been about for almost 30 years. It was introduced in 1991 as a response to changes of the bus network in Wandsworth. Routes 219, 220 and 280 were cut or re-routed in a bid to aid reliability. Those that don't know or use the 270 will probably recognise it as the route in our website banner!
London General were the first operator of the route, running the route from their head office Merton (AL) garage with MCW Metrobuses. The route has been operating between Putney Bridge Station and Mitcham Cricketers following the same routing it has today via Wandsworth and Tooting.
10 years later, the route saw its first low floor double decker buses introduced in the form of Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs, falling under London General's 'PVL' class.
Other than a minor reroute in the Mitcham area, the route has had a fairly boring and limited history up until Saturday where it was lost for the first time. Rapidly growing London operator, Abellio, had won the route from their Battersea (QB) depot with brand new Enviro 400 MMC 'smart hybrid' buses. However, a 'last minute' change occurred with Abellio opting to mobilise the route from Beddington (BC) garage instead. No official reason for this was given, but spectators assume that Abellio may be using the spare space at Battersea (QB) to win more higher profile work from rival competitors, given their prime location and proximity to Central London. But of course, there's no substance to this so don't take it as gospel.
This was Abellio's third route takeover during the nationwide lockdown, which had severe ramifications on the bus network as a whole. One of the consequences is that bus manufacturers have had to pause output for several weeks, and even months, meaning many buses haven't been built and delivered on time. Route 270 was one of the routes impacted by factory shutdowns, with only some of the buses being delivered on time and the rest being held at the factory.
This has forced Abellio to temporarily pull a number of buses from across their fleet to cover the missing buses, mostly from their dedicated Rail Replacement fleet which consists mostly of the 2006/2007-plated Enviro 400s ex-route 452. The buses themselves haven't really made it to the 270, instead being placed on route 407. The newer, hybrid vehicles from the 407 have then made it to the 270 instead as demonstrated below.
The brand new Enviro 400 MMCs ordered for route 270 are equipped with ISA (an automatic, electronic speed limiter), lazzerini seats with the red Abellio moquette, USB chargers (as is standard with new buses) and are mirrorless too. Instead of mirrors, new cameras on the nearside and offside replace these, providing higher quality and clearer imaging for drivers. Many staff have hailed these as fantastic advances in technology.
Seen also at Putney Bridge is new bus 2024 demonstrating the 'mirrorless' rear-view mirrors (see the black compartments above the driver's windows).
Abellio have settled onto the route quite well. The company were quite excited to take over the 270 last weekend. The takeover also saw the route resume its Monday to Friday schedule for the first time in several weeks and is also taking fares again.
The fleet list for the route can be seen below:
We'd like to take a shout out to say thank you to all the transport workers putting their lives on the line in this time of difficulty. Please support them by following government guidelines - wear masks on public transport for the whole of your journey, carry disinfectants such as hand sanitiser and also wear gloves if possible. Don't take unnecessary journeys on buses and trains for the time being, as tempting as it is to. We will be reunited with our beloved big, red buses soon enough.
Just as a disclaimer, this blog does have key workers who do occasionally work very close to the 270 route and had covered this service change on the way from home to work. If it wasn't for this, the service change wouldn't be covered in respect to the transport workers and also to comply with government guidelines.
Also, this is post 300 - thank you for sticking with us for the last 7 years, and we hope you continue to stay with us for some more. This wouldn't have happened without you.
Thank you for reading this and please do stay safe, it's more important now than ever.
Route 270 is a new-ish route, having only been about for almost 30 years. It was introduced in 1991 as a response to changes of the bus network in Wandsworth. Routes 219, 220 and 280 were cut or re-routed in a bid to aid reliability. Those that don't know or use the 270 will probably recognise it as the route in our website banner!
London General were the first operator of the route, running the route from their head office Merton (AL) garage with MCW Metrobuses. The route has been operating between Putney Bridge Station and Mitcham Cricketers following the same routing it has today via Wandsworth and Tooting.
10 years later, the route saw its first low floor double decker buses introduced in the form of Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs, falling under London General's 'PVL' class.
 |
PVL375 (PJ53 NKM) is seen leaving Putney Bridge on route 270, almost 10 years ago. London Bus Breh |
Other than a minor reroute in the Mitcham area, the route has had a fairly boring and limited history up until Saturday where it was lost for the first time. Rapidly growing London operator, Abellio, had won the route from their Battersea (QB) depot with brand new Enviro 400 MMC 'smart hybrid' buses. However, a 'last minute' change occurred with Abellio opting to mobilise the route from Beddington (BC) garage instead. No official reason for this was given, but spectators assume that Abellio may be using the spare space at Battersea (QB) to win more higher profile work from rival competitors, given their prime location and proximity to Central London. But of course, there's no substance to this so don't take it as gospel.
This was Abellio's third route takeover during the nationwide lockdown, which had severe ramifications on the bus network as a whole. One of the consequences is that bus manufacturers have had to pause output for several weeks, and even months, meaning many buses haven't been built and delivered on time. Route 270 was one of the routes impacted by factory shutdowns, with only some of the buses being delivered on time and the rest being held at the factory.
This has forced Abellio to temporarily pull a number of buses from across their fleet to cover the missing buses, mostly from their dedicated Rail Replacement fleet which consists mostly of the 2006/2007-plated Enviro 400s ex-route 452. The buses themselves haven't really made it to the 270, instead being placed on route 407. The newer, hybrid vehicles from the 407 have then made it to the 270 instead as demonstrated below.
 |
| Abellio 2583 (YY67 GZD) is seen leaving Putney Bridge station forecourt on route 270. |
Seen also at Putney Bridge is new bus 2024 demonstrating the 'mirrorless' rear-view mirrors (see the black compartments above the driver's windows).
 |
| Abellio 2024 (SK20 AZO) on route 270 at Putney Bridge showing the new order. |
The fleet list for the route can be seen below:
SK20 AZL - 2022
SK20 AZN - 2023
SK20 AZO - 2024
SK20 AZP - 2025
SK20 AZR - 2026
SK20 AZT - 2027
SK20 AZU - 2028
SK20 AZV - 2029
SK20 AZW - 2030
SK20 AZX - 2031
SK20 AZZ - 2032
SK20 BAA - 2033
SK20 BAO - 2034
SK20 BAU - 2035
SK20 BAV - 2036
We'd like to take a shout out to say thank you to all the transport workers putting their lives on the line in this time of difficulty. Please support them by following government guidelines - wear masks on public transport for the whole of your journey, carry disinfectants such as hand sanitiser and also wear gloves if possible. Don't take unnecessary journeys on buses and trains for the time being, as tempting as it is to. We will be reunited with our beloved big, red buses soon enough.
Just as a disclaimer, this blog does have key workers who do occasionally work very close to the 270 route and had covered this service change on the way from home to work. If it wasn't for this, the service change wouldn't be covered in respect to the transport workers and also to comply with government guidelines.
Also, this is post 300 - thank you for sticking with us for the last 7 years, and we hope you continue to stay with us for some more. This wouldn't have happened without you.
Thank you for reading this and please do stay safe, it's more important now than ever.
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