Wright, forget you Scania...

Written by LondonBuses72 on Tuesday, September 03, 2013
LJN: This post is what I like to call a 'combined post'. Jacob did start this one, and we worked together to complete it to an even better standard. We hope you enjoy our combined effort, and enjoy Transdev's new buses!

YN55 NKC/ SLE34 on route 13 to Golders Green Station
(C) LondonBuses72
YN55 NKJ/ SLE40 on route 13 to Piccadilly Circus
(C) Lewis JN
YN55 NJE/ SLE27 on route 13 to Golders Green
(C) Lewis JN
As most of us are aware, Transdev, now more commonly known as London Sovereign since the split with London United, are introducing their first ever batch of Wright Gemini 2 vehicles for flagship route 13. This will help oust out the SLE's to routes 114 & 292, allowing the withdrawal of most VLE's and VLP's.

London Sovereign are still sticking to their roots and as seen above are keeping themselves with Scania. It was a shock to us when it was announced that London Sovereign were opting for the Wright Gemini 2 bodied vehicles mounted on the Volvo B5LH chassis as many enthusiasts like ourselves thought that London Sovereign would opt for the E400 bodied hybrids instead based on the Transdev order for the 94 a few years ago and for the more recent delivery for the 27. Perhaps it was to differ themselves from London United...

It does call an end for Scania vehicles being ordered for Transdev due to the fact that Scania HAS stopped production of it's Omnicitys in the UK due to the fact that they were not popular buses and weren't making much money. This model, we always find, causes a lot of controversy among enthusiasts, you either love it or hate it. Lewis loves it, and wishes there were more, and Jacob likes the body but isn't so keen on the chassis for the double deck variants - Although he does love everything about the single deck Omnicitys. Most members of the WLTM Bus Blog don't like the model at all, much preferring the alternate Wrights or Alexander-Dennis.
New single-decker variants are evidently still being made, but only sparingly. In Sweden, where Scania was founded as Scania is a Swedish company, it doesn't seem to be the end of the line yet, as Scania is the most preferred single deck manufacturer.

Anyways, enough about our sob about Scania leaving the London market, a batch of 23 hybrids were ordered for route 13, here is the fleetlist:


BD13 OHU - VH1
BD13 OHV - VH2
BD13 OHW - VH3
BD13 OHX - VH4
BD13 OHY - VH5
BD13 OHZ - VH6
BD13 OJA - VH7
BD13 OJB - VH8
BD13 OJC - VH9
BD13 OJE - VH10
BD13 OHJ - VH11
BT13 YWK - VH12
BT13 YWL - VH13
BT13 YWN - VH14
BT13 YWJ - VH15
BT13 YWM - VH16
BT13 YWP - VH17
BT13 YWO - VH18
BT13 YWR - VH19
BT13 YWS - VH20
BT13 YWW - VH21
BT13 YWU - VH22
BT13 YWV - VH23




And so, here are the pictures!

BT13 YWW/ VH21 on route 13 to Aldwych Somerset House
(C) Lewis JN
BT13 YWO/ VH18 on route 13 to Aldwych Somerset House
(C) Lewis JN
BD13 OJC/ VH9 on route 13 to Golders Green Station
(C) Lewis JN
BD13 OHW/ VH3 on route 13 to Aldwych Somerset House
(C) Lewis JN
BD13 OJB/ VH8 on route 13 to Aldwych Somerset House
(C) Lewis JN
BD13 OHY/ VH5 on route 13 to Golders Green Station
(C) Lewis JN
BT13 YWU/ VH22 on route 13 to Golders Green Station
(C) Lewis JN
BD13 OHX/ VH4 on route N13 to North Finchley Bus Station
(C) LondonBusBreh

And just something a little bit special:
BT13 YWP/ VH17 on route 114 to Field End Road, Victoria Road
Thanks to the kind driver for changing the display!
(C) Lewis JN
BT13 YWP/ VH17 on route 114 to Field End Road, Victoria Road
Thanks to the kind driver for changing the display!
(C) Lewis JN
Yes this is the 114th Post, which we are very pleased about, and we hope we continue the blog for long to come! Thanks for reading this post, and if you haven't already journeyed on the new Sovereign Hybrids, we highly recommend you do!

 All photos here provided by LondonBusBreh, Lewis JN and LondonBuses72. Please do not reproduce these photos without permission. 

Lewis & Jacob :-)

7 comments:

  1. London Buses On The Go3 September 2013 at 10:19

    Very nice indeed! I absolutely adore the SP and I'm gutted that Scania have stopped making them. Infact, I'm riding one today!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3 September 2013 at 18:34

    A very fantastic post, I look forward to reading more posts from WLBB. ;) BTW I too hate Scania and prefer ADL (SC fan I am) . Good luck to the blog!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown3 September 2013 at 19:47

    I believe you can still get the chassis of the OmniCity (N230UD) with E400 bodies. Stagecoach has lots of them and I beleive Reading Buses has CNG versions of the E300 with K270UB Chassis.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown6 September 2013 at 19:35

    Also, found some 13 reg Scania OmniCitys here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66453358@N06/9688762482/in/photostream/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lewis J.N.6 September 2013 at 22:41

      Yes James, we did say that Scania still made the OmniCity in single decker form, such as the ones you have linked us to. You can get Scanias with Enviro bodies, but neither are TfL compliant (plus, operators tend to prefer the Trident chassis anyway).

      I have changed the 'Scania leaving England' to 'Scania leaving London', seeing as they haven't left the UK market entirely. London operators can of course order single decker models such as the Metrobus ones, but the likelihood is that they will simply go for the Enviro200, Mercedes Citaro or Optare buses instead.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous7 September 2013 at 16:06

    I think route 114 should get B5LH. They really suit the route.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous3 January 2015 at 21:03

    If you think a VH can just be blinded for the 114, they HAVE BEEN ON THERE. In fact, the route I've boarded VHs on the most.

    ReplyDelete

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