Yesterday saw Go-Ahead London renew their contract to route 11, operated by their London General subsidiary.

This would have marked the commencement of Borismaster service on the route, if not for LT59 (LTZ 1059) service as practice on Friday. Like the prototypes, the other Borismasters purchased for route 11 will be phased in rather than all of them coming into service on the first day in accordance to peak vehicle requirement - like the first Borismaster conversion on route 24. The plan is to get all new Borismasters phased into service in ten days.


LT43 (LTZ 1043) is being checked out by nearby construction
workers as LT62 (LTZ 1062) - which later leads LT43 en route
return to Fulham - follows to the distance left of the photo.
Liverpool Street Station, Sun Street Passage, ©London Bus Breh.

But what has happened since the last Borismaster post? A lot and a little. The Borismasters on route 24 have been quite controversial already, and they are only nearly into their third month of service! All over London newspapers, the Borismasters could be sighted for having an inside heatwave. As you should all know by now, the Borismasters have been showboated by Boris Johnson for not having windows but an efficient air-conditioning system as a replacement which neutralises the temperature inside his bus with the weather temperature outside. However, these air-cons suffered faults, much to the discomfort of route 24 commuters who experienced weather conditions equivalent to that of Malaysia inside!

 

Whilst solving the problem, the Borismasters seemed to be of such speciality that instead of getting replacement buses to cover the missing vehicles slots of route 24, the frequency instead suffered miserably. A bus enthusiast recorded an average of thirty minutes between each bus operating on the 24 during solution period.

 

And that was not all: the eight prototypes of route 38 became absent of conductors during the summer, meaning the rear open platform was also no longer a rear open platform at all because the door there was closed at all times, thus no resemblance to the iconic AEC Routemaster and defeating one of the two main purposes for the introduction of the Borismaster: to introduce a new Routemaster onto our streets.

So when I say a lot and a little: there have been a number of controversies, but little of everything else. The Borismasters on route 24 have not really been able to ignite the expected high amount of interest  from locals and tourists, considering the route being the first of the Borismaster converts.


LT59 (LTZ 1059) leads LT42 (LTZ 1042) on route 11.
Buckingham Palace Road, ©Lee Thatcher.

What about route 11? As stated earlier, LT41-LT68 will be phased into service, meaning that the full route conversion of route 11 will not occur on the same day. This is to ease driver training for the new buses. (The word 'phase' is the first part of the title's portmanteau. More on second part later.)

In comparison to when route 24 began Borismaster operation, there have already been quite a few curtailments - however, none that have really been caused by any road protests like last time. A couple Borismasters on route 11 have already been curtailed to Aldwych, Ludgate Circus and Victoria Station. And there's more, but let's leave that to later - for the sake of my composure.

How was my route 11 experience? Saturday 21 September 2013 would mark my first proper route 11 journey, so I was kind of anticipating this to be a nice day, route 11 being considered as the free tour bus for tourists and the route having just received new buses.

In Aldwych, I saw a Borismaster on the route towards Fulham Broadway  and was surprised to see just how empty it was. Are the Borismasters becoming less and less of an interest to the public eye, I thought to myself. I would go on to wait at Liverpool Street Station fifteen minutes for the LTs to arrive at Liverpool Street Station: LT43 (LTZ 1043) closely followed by LT62 (LTZ 1062) ... and a 133. Both LTs were reasonably filled with passengers, but not of such a quantity to say that they were packed. I then waited a further fifteen to board an LT on the 11. But it was all good, making the most of the wait with photography.


LT62 (LTZ 1062) arriving at Liverpool Street Station as near
construction workers smile and pose as they come to a
realisation that I am taking a photo of a new bus.
Liverpool Street Station, Sun Street Passage, ©London Bus Breh.

Making myself comfortable onboard this gleaming new bus, I took out my notepad in optimism that I would have a smooth, fast and comfortable ride to Fulham Broadway and maybe even visit the nearby Stamford Bridge afterwards. However, as soon as we exited Broad Street onto Wormwood Street on diversion towards the Bishopsgate road  (en route St. Paul's), we were met by gradually moving traffic. I was unable to make any notes of the ride because there was simply no ride. We were stuck in Bishopsgate for approximately twenty minutes before the bus managed to gradually escape the traffic towards St. Paul's. However, there was no real ride there either as the journey was quite slow. The only exciting thing I could jot down was that the bus had to drive on the wrong side of the road temporarily to dodge a cone that was obstructing ... yeah, I was that bored that I am able to describe this as exciting.

After what should have been ten minutes max but seemed like a decade, LT62 reached St. Paul's. Now, I was on the top deck, so I was unable to see what was going on downstairs for the bus to be forced to remain at the stop for yet another twenty minutes! I waited miserably as a record ten buses overtook me. My optimism had been crushed to a bout of anger and a hint of depression as the weather only exacerbated matters by getting cloudier. I knew we were on St. Paul's Churchyard, but I was not expecting a solemn funeral-like atmosphere.

And then when the bus did finally depart St. Paul's Churchyard (SH) towards Ludgate Circus, I got the worst message from the iBus System: 'The destination of this bus has changed. Please wait for further announcements. 11 to Sloane Square.' Wow.


LT55 (LTZ 1055) is seen curtailed to Ludgate Circus.
'People should give this bus a chance. It suits this route perfectly.
It is nice and quiet, not forgetting new,' says one passenger from Kensington.
Victoria Coach Station, Buckingham Palace Road, ©Lee Thatcher.

The bus ride seemed to get slower and slower as we approached Whitehall. I was expecting the bus to at least pick up the pace down the fast straight of Whitehall, but noooo. Not even down there did the bus go slightly faster (second part of title portmanteau). You know, the ride was that slow that a less accelerative Plaxton President overtook us midway towards the next bus stop. The only thing that was keeping me on this bus was the temperature - I did not want to get off and walk into the cold because the air-conditioning systems were actually pretty warming, thus making ride cosier. An improvement to the last batch of Borismasters for Metroline route 24, one should think.

LT43 (LTZ 1043), a Wright Borismaster allocated to route 11.
'We've seen three buses on the 11 today - all normal ones going
to Fulham. This one is our fourth, a new one stopping only
at Sloane Square,' were the remarks of two international passengers.
Sloane Gardens, Sloane Square, ©London Bus Breh.

Therefore, although the ride was as insufferably and melancholically fainéant as taking a lift from an aged person with a zimmerframe, I was pretty annoyed when I had to get off at Sloane Square. I was hoping for LT43 to arrive soon to take that to Fulham, but not only had I lost interest in doing so, it too was curtailed to Sloane Square.

I decided that whatever bus arrived first, I would take that towards home. Unfortunately, this was a Borismaster; LT62 again. Along with the agonisingly slow speed, I was now forced to listen to the iBus System talking unnecessarily about 'touching your Oyster or contactless card as soon as you board' ... like, who is that targeted at, the waiting passengers at bus stops who cannot possibly hear this message or the passengers on the bus who have already boarded and sat down, therefore unable to touch in 'as soon as they board' because they have already boarded and relaxed? That is if they haven't already done touched in as soon as they boarded. Also, people may not have even bothered due to the only Oyster card reader working being the one at the front - and if you boarded via the back, it was virtually impossible to get to the front ...

Slowly taking on the Trafalgar Square roundabout, I moved downstairs to get off. I was greeted by various discomforting stenches from the filled-over-capacity bus that made me start fidgeting with an inexplicable amount of anger which only got worse when the bus driver failed to open the doors inside the bus stop box until the queue of buses in front had departed and he was front of the queue. When he finally did open the doors, I released the anger with a couple of expletives ... or more.

Predecessor succeeds successors. Would not be the first time
I have photographed something like this. In fact, on all Borismaster
related occasions, it has been the predecessor that has looked more dominant.
Liverpool Street Station, Sun Street Passage, ©London Bus Breh.

I thought that this Borismaster conversion would be the most sensible one, seeing as it has been a decade since the last purchase of buses for route 11 (unlike route 38 which was selected to operate the prototypes when it already had over seventy vehicles allocated to it - being London's most frequent route; two minutes between each vehicle - and route 24 when it still has not even been a year since it bought new buses before the Borismaster purchase this summer).

However, I do not think that phasing them in has helped with the service, Borismasters holding more passengers than that of the specified highest capacity number today (as people were forced to sit and stand on the staircases). If Borismasters are to operate on route 11, then the peak vehicle requirement needs to increase now - even if there are still a few WVLs operative on the route.

Unfortunate for this to become a rant. Was hoping for so much more. Hopefully, with the route's PVR increased when all Borismasters have been phased into service, then I shall take another ride and hopefully it'll be as fun as I wanted it to be. But for now, disappointed rant over.

Still feel free to leave a comment and give a Reaction to this article.

LK07 AZC/ TE727 on route 204 to Sudbury Town Station at the end of Hay Lane.
(C) LondonBuses72

School Routes, numbered 601-699 (bar the express route 607) and Mobility Routes (901-999) are generally notoriously hard to capture as they run at difficult times, and not on every day of the week (mobility routes only run once or twice a week).

Anyways, Jacob, LondonBusBreh and myself have managed to gather a few pictures of both School Routes and Mobility Routes, which follow:



Metroline TP403 / LK03 CEJ on route 603 at Swiss Cottage.
©London Bus Breh.

Route 603: This route runs between Swiss Cottage and Muswell Hill Broadway, and was successfully recently retained by Metroline Travel from Holloway (HT). Before 2012, route 603 was run with the first ever low floor buses in the Metroline fleet, the elderly T-reg Plaxton Presidents that were on a Euro 2 Trident Chassis with a Voith Gearbox. After Metroline lost route C2 last year, these elderly buses were deemed no longer fit for passenger service in London, and now still remain at Ensignbus, in Purfleet, Essex. These are currently been sold although some buses have found a new home.

So what does the 603 run with now? Spare TP's, which are slightly younger, are often used and the occasional TE is seen. For a short amount of time, VWs could be sighted serving the route. Both observations here are provided by LondonBusBreh.

Metroline TE928 / LK58 KGJ on route 603 at Swiss Cottage.
©London Bus Breh.

Route 609: One of the shorter school routes and is rather unique in the TfL network which runs between Hammersmith and Mortlake/ Harrodian School, located in Barnes. The route crosses Barnes Bridge, just south of Hammersmith to get to the other side of River Thames where the route goes onto a "Hail & Ride" section located on Kilmington Road, Verdun Road and Lonsdale Road where it ends at the school. These journeys to Harrodian School only happen in the afternoons whereas in the mornings, buses continue from Harrodian school to Mortlake, Bus Station.

Metroline DE1002 / LK09EOD on route 609 at Hammersmith
(C) LondonBuses72

It is operated by Metroline from Brentford (AH) using 4 Enviro 200's in the morning and 2 Enviro 200's (?) in the afternoon.

Route 631:

YJ06 YRP/ 2468 at Golders Green Station whilst serving route 631.
(C) LondonBuses72

The newest school route in London, having started Mid-May this year, replaced school route H1. 631 runs between Golders Green Station and Henrietta Barnett School (Note the incorrect spelling on the blinds) using one Optare Solo that makes 8 journeys in the morning and 8 journeys in the afternoon. A total of 16 journeys! There is a bus every 15 minutes using the sole Solo as one journey only takes 5 minutes to complete, the bus goes around Hoop Lane and Bigwood Road via Finchley Road.

The route is operated by Arriva Shires & Essex from Garston (GR) using one 7.8m Optare Solo. The last H3 bus service turns into a 631 when it arrives at Golders Green at 14:45 each day. 

Route 632: Another school route, that supports a regular day service, route 32, that runs between Edgware & Kilburn Park. Route 632 has a PVR of 3 and runs between Kilburn Park to Colindale, Grahame Park. In the afternoons, the first journey runs to Kilburn Park whilst the 2nd and 3rd journey run as far as Cricklewood Broadway, The Crown only. The route is actually allocated ex-266 TA's, but with a couple of spare hybrids in fleet, TEH's are used instead. The route is run from Cricklewood (W) and is operated by Metroline Travel Limited.



Metroline TEH1238 / LK61 BLN in Kilburn serving route 632.
©London Bus Breh.

Route 635: Slightly longer than 609, the 635 runs between Brentford, County Court and St Paul's School. The route was designated to help out the St Paul's School loadings off 235, which is a single decker route whereas 635 is double deck. The route passed on to London United which Metroline had respectively lost. 

The route is operated by 3 buses, which are 3 TA's (9.9m Trident ALX400) although TLA's/ SP's based at Hounslow Heath (HH) where 635 is run from may also appear on the route. One 635 working is also interlinked with route H91 (Hammersmith - Hounslow West) so after the bus on HH #492 is finished on 635 in the afternoon, immediately it runs light to Hammersmith to start it's duties on H91. 

2 photos are provided below of route 635, both owned by LondonBuses72. 

London United TA217 / SN51SYW on route 635 at Brentford, County Court
(C) LondonBuses72

Our next route school route is route 698, which is operated by London United RATP Group, and runs between West Drayton station and Ickenham. The route uses spare TA's/ TLA's and SP's and is run from Hounslow Heath (HH) garage.

London United SP191 / YR10FFW on route 698 at Hillingdon Hill 
(C) LondonBuses72

Route 640: Like 635 and 609, the bus route 640 supports a regular day route, well in LondonBuses72's opinion, it supports the best route ever, the 140. 640 only supports 140 on the Harrow section where it starts at South Harrow station and follows day route 140 all the way to Harrow Weald, Bus Garage where the 140 terminates leaving the 640 to make the short climb up to Bentleywood High School, situated on Clamp Hill, in Harrow Weald (technically Stanmore, for some reason).

The route was lost from the hands of Metroline from the Harrow Weald (HD) garage, in 2009 when Arriva Shires & Essex took the contract from the Garston (GR) base which to a number of people thought was a stupid idea for TfL to allow a bid that far, the buses have to drive (In the mornings) about 9-10 miles to get to South Harrow station from their base OUTSIDE of London. Arriva won the contract with 2 new buses in the form of 6100 and 6101, which are the integral Wright Gemini 2's. These buses mostly appear on route 258, but do make appearances on the 640 fairly often.

Here are a selection of photos of 6101, one of the two buses for 640, all by myself:

Arriva Shires 6101 / KX59AEF on route 640 at Whitmore Road (LJN)

Arriva Shires 6101 / KX59AEF on route 640 at Shaftesbury Circle (LJN)

With the different vehicle types up at GR, other double decker buses always make appearances:

Arriva Shires 6041 / LJ05GLY on route 640 at Clamp Hill (LJN)

Arriva Shires 6036 / YJ55WOU on route 640 at Whitmore Road (LJN)

Arriva Shires 6016 / KL52CXH on route 640 at Whitmore Road (LJN)

And for those who are wondering, I know that Arriva Shires like putting single decker buses on the double decker routes when they have run out of buses, but this will never happen on the 640 as it is actually the biggest priority when the buses are allocated. The single deckers aren't even blinded correctly, anyway.

Route 183: Yes, most of us are aware 183 ISN'T a school route, however it does have a special school journey in the afternoon from Jewish Free School to Golders Green Station. The bus leaves JFS at around 15:55 and runs non-stop to Kingsbury Station where it then follows line of route to Golders Green. 

The bus can be any double-decker at Edgware (BT), a VLE to a VLP. Usually though, it isn't an SP that 183 is allocated.

LondonBuses72 catches up with the school working on 183:

YN55 NKJ/ SLE40 at JFS on 183 (LB72)

   

Route 628, 653, 683 and 688: We now move onto the next school routes of the segment, routes 628, 653, 683 and 688. It is 4 of the 7 TfL school routes that serve Jewish Free School (JFS) on The Mall, located in Kingsbury. 628 only operates in the afternoons and runs between Kingsbury, JFS and Southgate underground station and uses 3 buses. 

You're probably thinking why does 628 only operate in the afternoons? How do the school children get to school in the mornings?

The answer is the students use bus route 688, as the 628 follows route 688 for most of the journey, just that 628 doesn't serve Queensbury Station like 688 does and 628 doesn't serve Edgware, and instead serves Mill Hill Broadway.

Arriva lost the 628, 653, 683 and 688 last September to Sullivan Buses from their South Mimms (SM) depot where Sullivan used slightly newer buses. They had bought existing buses from a a variety of companies which were refurbished and reblinded for the new contract. Also note that "new" ELV's for route 626 are now in service - And can be seen on these routes.

The fleetlist for these routes are shown here:

PJ02 PZZ - PDL26 - Usually seen 688 mornings, 628 afternoons - Former GAL PDL26

EY03 FNK - TPL926 - Usually seen on route 688 - Former GAL vehicle

EY03 FNL - TPL927 - Usually seen on route 653 - Former GAL vehicle

LY02 OAX - ALX6 - Usually seen 688 mornings, 628 afternoons - Former Stagecoach 17548

FJ57 CYZ - WVL2 - Usually seen on route 683 - Former Commercial Services vehicle

FJ57 CZD - WVL3 - Usually seen on route 653 - Former Commerical Services vehicle

FJ57 CZE - WVL4 - Usually seen on route 688  - Former Commercial Services vehicle

PN02 XBR - Former GAL Vehicle - Usually seen on route 628/ 688

PL51 LGG - ELV3 - Former GAL vehicle - Spare

PN02 XBY - ELV4 - Former GAL vehicle - Usually seen on route 683

PL51 LGD - ELV6 - Former GAL vehicle - Spare

LondonBuses72 managed to catch up with most of the buses in service one day on the 628, 653, 683 and 688:

Sullivan Buses PDL26 / PJ02PZZ on route 628 at JFS (LB72)

Sullivan Buses ALX6 / LY02OAX on route 628 at JFS (LB72)

Sullivan Buses WVL3 / FJ57CZD on route 653 at JFS (LB72)

Sullivan Buses WVL2 / FJ57CYZ on route 683 at JFS (LB72)

Sullivan Buses ELV4 / PN02XBY on route 683 at JFS (LB72)

Sullivan Buses TPL927 / EY03FNL on route 683 at JFS (LB72)

Sullivan Buses TPL926 / EY03FNK on route 688 at JFS (LB72)

Sullivan Buses WVL4 / FJ57CZE on route 688 at JFS (LB72)

Routes B76 and B77 (Commercial, non TfL)

The existing TfL routes that serve Jewish Free School can't get all the students home conveniently, so Sullivan Buses provides 2 services, B76 and B77. The route B76 takes you to Carpenders Park and South Oxhey, whilst B77 takes you to Borehamwood and even as far as Radlett! These routes don't accept Oyster Cards, and are not run with the vehicles that are used on TfL contracts either. 

Sullivan Buses TN3 / PO51UMR on route B76 (non-TfL) at JFS (LB72)

Sullivan Buses WVL1 / GD52SYC on route B77 (non-TfL) at JFS (LB72)

Finally - Mobility Routes

London United DPK614 / SN51SXH on route 965 at Kingston Sainsbury's (LJN)

The 965 route runs between Riverhill and Kingston, Sainsbury's. It runs on a Tuesday and Friday using a 8.9m Enviro 200 as of 28th June and after this date, (This observation was made ALOT earlier this year, sometime in Spring). TfL would, as of 14th September 2013, now like to withdraw this route next month (October 2013) as use of this route is not popular and on average, 10-12 people only regularly use this service. Have your say on the consultation if you would like to save the route! 

Yes I know this route is non-existent now.
VN37782 blinded for route 972 at Ealing Hospital (LJN)

Former mobility route 972 used to run between Colindale, ASDA and Blackbird Cross, Birchen Grove. Due to a small number of passengers using this route, it was decided to withdraw it in 2010.

Thanks for reading!

Bus News continues on the blog, with the September update. It includes tenders, new buses and just general news. 

Arriva London:

- A handful of new DW's are starting to appear at Heysham Docks, bound for Tottenham (AR) to take out the rest of the elderly buses. Interesting fact is that these buses are 63reg.

- Arriva London are proud to say they have retained route T31 with existing buses. Start date: 10th May 2014

London United RATP Group:

- An unidentified electric Optare Solo SR Demonstrator has made an appearance at Hounslow (AV) garage, although the use of it is unknown.

- The bus route 9 converts to NB4L operation next month, leaving the 04reg VLE's surplus. London United have decided to officially allocate these buses to route 57, possibly in Mid-November (?), making the 02reg TA's redundant and ready to leave London service, so if you are a fan of these buses, get on them whilst you still can!

First London:

- Last ever time First will have a segment in Bus News, but the date for 179 to transfer to Stagecoach has now changed. Instead of changing on the Saturday 19th October, it will transfer with routes 165, 252 and 365 on the 28th September instead due to an early delivery of the new E400's bound for 179.

Stagecoach:

- Stagecoach have successfully won routes 54 and 75 back from Metrobus with new Enviro 400's. It is not confirmed however if these will be hybrids or diesels. Start date for route 75 is 26th April 2014 and for route 54, the following Saturday; 3rd May 2014.

- Stagecoach are ordering E400H for route 96, which runs between Woolwich Aresnal and Bluewater, Shopping Centre making the Omnicities redundant. Not for long though, read below.

LX04 FXY/ 18232 on route 262 to East Beckton, Sainsbury's.
(C) LondonBuses72

- Stagecoach has surprisingly retained routes 262 and 473 after 262 was voted the worst performing London bus route in 2010. The allocations are different however for these routes. Both of these routes will be using refurbished Omnicities from bus route 96, route 473 will have this as a full allocation whilst route 262 will have this as a partial allocation, but will also have some brand new Enviro 400 hybrids. Start date for both routes: 29th March 2014

- Stagecoach have also retained route 372, which runs between Hornchurch Town Centre and Lakeside Shopping Centre with brand new double deckers, very likely Enviro 400. Note that this route is currently single deck. Start date: 29th March 2014

- Stagecoach have also retained route 396, with current single deck buses. These may be expected to be refurbished. Start date: 29th March 2014.

- Routes 241 and 147 will be curtailed at Prince Regent once again, due to Crossrail Works. Use free "temporary" route 541 to reach Keir Hardie Estate.

Transdev:

- VH1-22 have all entered service, although VH23 is still in delivery, and should be in service soon.  Note down that some of these buses have the new Transdev logo applied to it and should be on the logoless 11reg DE's soon as well.

Quality Line:

- MBK1 is due to leave the fleet soon. See the GAL segment for more information.

Go-Ahead London:

- Two BYD Electric buses have arrived for red-arrow routes 507 and 521. These will be in service soon.

- 24 hour route EL1, part of the East London Transit, was extended to Barking Riverside on the 7th September from it's Dagenham Dock terminus.  A new timetable is in place due to this. Also, WVL454 from route 12 allocation has now moved to the East London Transit fleet to cover for the extension.  It is now in service.

- Mercedes Benz float bus, MBK1/ BU13 ZVE is due to leave Epsom Buses and is to move to Go-Ahead's Camberwell (Q) garage for routes 355 and P5. This follows after the bus was described to be allocated to "the wrong routes" by fellow enthusiasts, which I also believe as a 10.5m bus shouldn't be allocated to London's longest route, X26 which comes every 30-60 minutes and is rather overcrowded.

- Temporary bus route 541 comes back to life for the THIRD time within 2 years next Saturday (14th September), however, this time round it will not be operated by Stagecoach, it will instead be operated by Docklands Buses from Silvertown (SI) using spare 52reg WVL's.

- A Gemini 3, the first of it's breeed, on a Volvo B5TL chassis has finally arrived at Heysham Docks. It is probably guessed that it will be running a Central London route, perhaps route 12?

Metroline Travel:

- Not all VW's have entered service at Alperton (ON) to help convert Metroline West route 245 to double-deck operation. Instead of sending the rest of the 62reg VW's to Alperton, Metroline have decided to to send VW1243-9 and VW1251 to transfer to Alperton (ON) instead.

LK62 DNX/ VW1376 on route 245 to Golders Green.
(C) Lewis JN

- VWH1360 and VWH1361 have transferred to Willesden (AC) for route 52. This has allowed VW1393 and VW1394 come off public service for a while whilst they are transferred to Brentford (AH) for route E8's double-deck conversion. For route 245 double-deck conversion. 

- A number of DE's are at Perivale West (PA) from Metroline West for routes 90 and E6 and can also be seen on route 395. A few are making the odd appearance on double-deck route 297. Post on this coming soon.




Metroline West:

This photo is becoming a common sighting on the blog, but it's DE1619.
(C) LondonBuses72

- Route 245 is 80% double deck now, and most 58reg DE's have departed for Perivale (PA), although DE1619 has unusually transferred to Willesden Junction (WJ) instead. So 12reg DE's from route 224 and 61reg DEM's from 223 will be a much more frequent sighting until the 12reg VW's arrive from Holloway (HT).


On a different note, something new:

This has nothing to do with the London Bus industry, however TfL have released the first S stock train on the District Line between Earl's Court/ Kensington Olympia and West Ham on Monday. Unfortunately, Emma Clarke's recordings have been replaced with the new voice over announcer, Sarah Parnell.

Thanks for reading this post, stay safe and hope you've enjoyed!

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 :-)