On Saturday 30th March, route 396 in East London (Ilford - King George Hospital) changed operator. 

Another change saw small route 317, which operates between Enfield Little Park Gardens and Waltham Cross Bus Station make the leap from Arriva London to Metroline, joining sister route 231 which had also moved to Metroline a few months earlier. 

Go-Ahead London EN2 (SN58 CDZ) at Turnpike Lane Station, route 231.

Route 217 and co.
In 2017, Sullivan Buses gained their new and current flagship route: the 217, which operates between Turnpike Lane Bus Station in North London and Waltham Cross Bus Station in Hertfordshire, running along the length of the London leg of the A10 Great Cambridge Road. But let's not dwell on that particular service change, as you can read more about the 217 here.

To supplement the 217, there are also two 'feeder' routes that effectively run half the length of route 217 before joining the Southbury Road and terminating somewhere in Enfield Town Centre. Route 231 is responsible for supplementing the southern leg of the 217, operating between Turnpike Lane Station, Southbury Retail Park and Enfield Chase Station at a lower frequency of once every 15 minutes Monday to Saturdays and less so Sundays and evenings. 

The route up until the summer of 2018 was operated by Go-Ahead London from their Northumberland Park (NP) garage. The route shared a common pool of 2008-born Enviro 400 buses with route 191 which also operates in the Enfield area. One of the quieter tenders of its days back at the end of 2017 had revealed that route had been awarded from Go-Ahead London to Metroline, a sort of homecoming as prior to 2008 Metroline had operated the route until First London had won it for a five-year contract, before Go-Ahead retained it for another 5-year contract in 2013.

Go-Ahead's E67 (LX57 CJJ) makes an appearance at Enfield Chase on route 231.

Metroline returns to the Great Cambridge Road
Metroline won the route from Potters Bar (PB) garage using existing Enviro 400 buses scraped together that were displaced from other contract renewals. The conversion of route 113 at Edgware (EW) garage to hybrid operation saw a number of LK08 and LK59 plated Enviro 400s (TEs) make the move across to PB for the 231. Whilst these buses themselves don't appear on the route themselves, it allowed for newer Euro V TEs (TE1420-48) from route 134 to be released for this route. This batch is of significant interest in Metroline's fleet as the vehicles carrying LK62 registration plates are unusually, for a Metroline bus, equipped with Voith gearboxes.

Metroline TE1421 (LK62 DXP) at Turnpike Lane terminus, route 231.

A year later Metroline won the northern counterpart to route 231: route 317. This smaller and less busy equivalent runs between Enfield Town (the terminus is a stone's throw from Enfield Chase Station although TfL seem to have established it as two completely different places within Enfield; this one just being referred to as simply 'Enfield') and Waltham Cross. Route 317 is the least frequent route along the A10 corridor, operating at a mere every 20 minute frequency Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 30 minutes at all other times. 

A worthy observation that often comes up in discussions relating to route 317 is that it is the least used double decker route in London, and when you take a ride on it during most of the week it is actually easy to spot why. The route struggles to break through a million passengers a year in terms of patronage (see TfL data) - so why is this backwash route a double decker and why is it as frequent as it is?

A major college sits near Turkey Street Station that sees the 217 and 317 crush loaded every morning and afternoon during the school run. Whilst this enables a valid excuse for route 317 to be double decker, another question can be asked about why the school in question doesn't have dedicated school day routes? The answer is, it does - two, in fact. Both routes 617 and 629 run a number of trips each school day however it doesn't stop other local schools in the area from using the 317. 

The route also sees a wave of passengers during times of rail disruptions - it does pass near a number of railway stations served by London Overground, Great Northern and Greater Anglia who during the off-peak mostly provide a half-hourly services (although Great Northern as an example has recently ramped up the amount of trains on the line through Enfield Chase to one every 15 minutes). When one line is disrupted or closed for whatever reason, passengers will flock to the 317 to shuttle themselves between other local stations in the area.

Arriva London DW546 (LJ13 CKF) on route 317, Southbury Retail Park.

The route is one Transport for London is reluctant to scale back in terms of frequency, simply because due to its short localised nature and the way it provides a lot of handy local, direct, round-the-corner links between Enfield Town and the likes of Bullsmoor, Turkey Street and Carterhatch, rightfully so would residents go up in arms if basic convenience was to be lost.

The 317 has always been the more neglected route when it came to getting attention and for the allocations it has received for the last several years. Arriva London, the predecessor operator to incumbent Metroline had constantly dumped a micro-fleet of buses that were soon heading towards retirement until a mid-contract upgrade saw the introduction of more younger DWs being favoured to operate this route.

Arriva London T234 (LJ61 LKC) on route 317, Waltham Cross. 

Metroline as of March 2019 are now the custodians of route 317, operating this route out of Potters Bar garage once more alongside the 231. The pool of TEs has been expanded to allow the 317 to share this as an allocation. It was rumoured that Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 buses (VW-class) were due to operate this route, having been released from route 105 however this has now been proven false as route 134 gains new buses to allow enough TEs to be released to route 317.

The fleetlist for both routes are as follows:

LK59 DYY - TE976
LK59 DZB - TE978
LK59 DZE - TE980
LK59 DZF - TE982

LK62 DXP - TE1420
LK62 DXR - TE1421
LK62 DXS - TE1422
LK62 DXX - TE1424
LK62 DXY - TE1425
LK62 DYA - TE1426
LK62 DYC - TE1427
LK62 DYD - TE1428
LK62 DYF - TE1429
LK62 DYG - TE1430
LK62 DYH - TE1431
LK62 DYO - TE1433

*TE1423 is at Alperton (ON) on route 204; TE1432 is at Cricklewood (W) on route 266

TE1422 (LK62 DXS) on route 317 at Enfield

Thank you for reading this post. Enjoy your bank holiday and remember to stay safe!

When someone tells you to think of any 5 bus routes in Shepherd's Bush, chances are route 228 isn't one of those that you seem to remember. We all remember the big guns such as the 207, 607, 94, 148 and 49 - perhaps with a few others. 

Route 228 is one of that district's quieter, and newer, bus routes weaving in and out of the streets of Ealing, Brent, Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea.

It runs from Central Middlesex Hospital in Park Royal, to the more trendier area of Maida Vale sharing a terminus with Central London route 414 at The Chippenham Pub. Having only been created in 2009, a mere 10 years ago, 228 takes a unique approach at linking Harlesden, White City and Maida Vale.

It goes via the back end of the Jubilee Clock in Harlesden, before taking a right turn onto Acton Lane, going through the developing neighbourhood of Old Oak Common and entering itself into the streets of East Acton. Interestingly, it doesn't serve Du Cane Road but instead dives ahead past Savoy Circus, turning left onto the Uxbridge Road, and then transversing the Commonwealth Estate from south to north before abruptly ending up at the foot of White City Bus Station. Running around the now redesigned Westfield Shopping Complex through to Shepherd's Bush before taking to the leafy streets of Holland Park and then the home of the carnival, Ladbroke Grove. It crosses the Harrow Road before ending at The Chippenham.

It was created as a new route to cover some new roads previously unserved by buses along Old Oak Common Lane and Holland Park Avenue. The route may initially come across as lacking any major significance in our bus scene, with the odd enthusiast that I have come across so much so has suggested to scrap the route as it currently doesn't provide much.

However as aforementioned, Old Oak Common is an up and coming new settlement and major transport interchange which is planned to be serviced by several flagship rail links including the new Elizabeth line, the HS2 rail link between London, the Midlands and the North of England, the local London Overground network, Great Western Railway services to the West Country and even a potential terminus for Chiltern Railway services to and from Birmingham. As you can tell from this rather lengthy list, this area is planned to be one of the best connected interchanges in the whole of the UK, more so than the likes of Clapham Junction, Birmingham New Street or Stratford.

©London Bus Breh.

Between January 2009 and January 2019, the route was based out of Willesden Junction (WJ) garage. It's now on its third contract, running from 2019 to at least 2024, but the first one which ran for a length of five years with no performance extension exercised saw First London win the rights to operate the route. They ordered brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 200s in a mass order with other tender retains such as the 226 which operates in the same area. Interestingly, their blinds were ordered with incorrect destinations, showing 'Maida Vale, Shirland Avenue' of which Maida Vale is not served by route 228 and Shirland Avenue is a non-existent road! (There is a road called Shirland Road, however)

The 228 had a lot of operational struggles throughout its ten years, but perhaps they were the worst during the first year of operation particularly, as the route in 2010 (just a year in) was identified to be in the top 10 worst performing bus routes across the whole of London, according to Transport for London (TfL) statistics. Route 262 in East London took the lead for worst performing, but that route is subject to its own, probably interesting for all the wrong reasons post later this spring....

©London Bus Breh.

However the 228 being a new route didn't make it exempt to seeing older buses. Marshall Capitals are no strangers to the route, and in particular, two familiar faces DML41772 (X772 HLR) and DML41419 (LN51 DXC) were frequent visitors to the route particularly in 2012.

©London Bus Breh - embedded hyperlink preferred: https://flic.kr/p/dubKR8.

The year 2012 also bought the first StreetLite onto the 228, and into the streets of London - something two of our bloggers here remember very vividly. This was during an era when demonstrators seem to roam London far and wide, demonstrator and prototype buses of practically almost every bus model you could think of, so Wrightbus sent First London a StreetLite to test out on various Willesden Junction (WJ) routes. The bus had an Irish registration plate, DRZ 6181 (it was registered late 2011, so in GB terms would constitute a 61-reg), but spent most of its days split between route 226 and 228.

2013 saw First London run into financial difficulties, and to offset some of their debts, they sold their London operations to Metroline, new starters Tower Transit (who we will get to later) and Go-Ahead London. Willesden Junction (WJ) was included in the sale to Metroline West Ltd, which saw route 228 and its buses transfer along with the company from 22nd June 2013. Metroline renumbered their newly inherited fleet of buses from the cumbersome DML-class system to be standardised in line with their own 10.2m Enviro 200s, to the DE-class buses.

Given the poor operation of the route in 2014, and an operational performance bonus not being granted to Metroline, the route was put out to tender. It came as a bit of a shock to most enthusiasts at the time that Metroline had bidded well enough to keep the route despite the poor performance by them and First on the route - it may have helped to have existing 5 year old buses to place onto the contract. These were subsequently given a refresh, with an all over red paint job and an interior refresh into Metroline colours. New blinds were also ordered for most buses, with the correct destination of 'Maida Hill, The Chippenham'.

Metroline DE1670 stands at White City on the last day of Metroline operating 228.

In 2018, as TfL were providing cuts in spades to their bus network, decided that route 228 should have a major frequency cut from its once every 12 minutes (5 buses per hour) service that it once basked in, to once every 20 minutes (a mere 3 buses per hour) during the week and scaled back to half hourly late evenings and all day Sundays. This allowed for a PVR cut back to 9 buses.

It was also re-let for tender again, with Tower Transit announced as the new custodians of the 228 bus route with part new and part existing buses to be used on the route. The route would operate from Westbourne Park (X) garage, which lies only about three minutes from the Maida Hill terminus. This tender win would see the Wright StreetLite return to the route in mass this time round, with 4 brand new door front variants and 6 existing buses pulled from a PVR cut from route 236 and a part hydrogen conversion of route 444 at Lea Interchange (LI) garage to form this new allocation.

Tower Transit so far have done quite well on the route, with a schedule that is padded out as to not cause severe reliability problems on a low frequency route. What remains to be seen is the future of the 228, and how it will play an important role in the upcoming Old Oak Common redevelopment scheme.

Tower Transit WV46222 (SM68 ESG) at White City Bus Station during 1st week of operation.

The fleetlist can be seen below:

SK17 HGU - WV46215
SK17 HGX - WV46216
SK17 HGY -  WV46217
SK17 HGZ -  WV46218
SK17 HHA - WV46219
SK17 HHB -  WV46220
SM68 ESF -  WV46221
SM68 ESG - WV46222
SM68 ESN -  WV46223
SM68 ESO - WV46224

Thank you for reading this post and please do stay safe! Since the last post, we've also turned six years old - thanks to all those that have supported us through the years. We're committing to bringing more quality posts for time to come.