Route 27, One Year Later

This blog has been most famous for it's excellent coverage of the 27 out of all blogs when the new '62reg' hybrids arrived last January. As the 27 is my (Jacob) second favourite route, and is London Bus Breh's favourite route and is favoured among others.

We are now going into the depth into the recent history of the route and will give you all the details you know, and I guess why we favour the route. Written primarily by Jacob, a small section is written and the new additional features to the article are introduced by the London Bus Breh.


Jacob: It is a coincidence that my first and second favourite buses in London happen to run the 27, in the form of London United's ADH45 (YX62 FSS) as my 1st favourite and ADH32 (YX62 FJV) as my second. These are the best buses in London as they have a splendid interior, bright and welcoming in London United's cool shades of blue, aqua, green and turquoise. The contain the ever-so-comfortable Esteban Civic V2 seating, with dark blue backing. 

Jacob's favourite bus: YX62 FSS/ ADH45 on route 27 to Chalk Farm. The bus was spotted in Turnham Green in April 2013 on a rather wet day.

The ride, you ask? Comfortable, soothing, quiet. I like it when it stops at a traffic light, like the one outside Chiswick, Business Park for Gunnersbury Station and the "bus turns off" to save energy. Smart hybrid technology that is. 

If you ever want to know what's on the blinds of the buses on these ADH's - Just ask a driver at Chalk Farm or the workspace at Chiswick, Business Park. The drivers are ever so friendly, keen on sharing information and views of the buses on the 27 and some are too enthusiasts. Most like the Enviro 400s, and practically sometimes come to blows over who gets to drive the 27. They are more than happy to change the blinds for you as shown below, in Jacob's favourite photography area, Chiswick Business Park.

The 27 at the Business Park: It's sort of like watching Shakespeare's plays at the Globe Theatre (In Southwark),and not watching Shakespeare at a different theatre where they don't go together.

"I love these buses, they are like big cars, but even better. They are so easy to drive, eco-friendly, modern and stylish buses to be on. I'm glad the OmniDekkas are gone, and were replaced by these. I always look forward to seeing and driving/ riding one of these" - Quoting from one driver on the 27

"The Chiswick Business Park is so beautiful and peaceful. I enjoy my breaks here"   - Another quote from a different driver

"It's like driving a car, but better. It's cleaner, greener and is comfortable." - Quoting from another driver. 

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  Route 94

  I really hope this one happens! The blinds display a curtailment on Shepherd's Bush (S) route 94 to Oxford Circus.
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  Route 267

  The blinds have been changed to show route 267, although this working has yet to happen due to the route being operated from Fulwell (FW).
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  Route 391

  Shown displaying blinds for route 391 to Richmond, this has only ever happened once at time of writing, although ADH38 (YX62 FMG) was performing the 391 service. This is the only route in this slideshow to, like route 27, be allocated to Stamford Brook (V).
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  Route N9

  The blinds have been changed to show route N9 from Hounslow (AV).
  

London Bus Breh: Since the purchase of 62-reg Alexander Dennis Enviro400 hybrids (ADH23-51) for route 27, journeys have gone from bumpy, boneshaking and completely bonkers to swift, smooth and soothing. Personally, the actual route alone adds to the pleasurable experiences with its many fast and insufficiently congested roads, cruising down to the Chalk Farm Road from the Chalk Farm Morrisons complex before briefly encountering traffic in Camden Town. Escaping the traffic, the route quickly finds itself at Mornington Crescent Station having skipped a couple unpopular stops prior to reaching here.

You get a real rush of adrenaline as the accelerator is stepped on as hard as it possibly can to reach the bus' limited top speed (hybrid buses have limiters due to their extreme acceleration) down Silverdale and the Hampstead Road. The speed is sustained along the Marylebone Road and before you know it, you're now in Paddington taking on its slightly faster diverted route - crossrail construction - en route Bayswater, Notting Hill, Kensington and Hammersmith Upper Bus Station.

And oh look, we're already on the Chiswick Road, passing Stamford Brook Bus Garage, Turnham Green and then another bout of fast-paced thrill to the Chiswick Business Park bus stand. This is a nine mile route and this only takes an hour on a normal journey such as the described above, with a frequency of about seven to twelve minutes and a peak vehicle requirement of twenty-eight buses.

As usual, trains are delayed meaning rail replacement bus services or increased bus route frequencies. 27 December 2013 and 30 December 2013 saw stations adjacent or nearby the 27 route closed; to ensure passengers were still able to get to their destinations on time, Hounslow (AV) transferred a few Alexander Dennis Enviro400 (ADE) and Scania OmniCity double-decker (SP) buses to make the 27 more frequent, the Enviro400s' momentary introduction to the route stirring great excitement among London United fans like myself. And there was more during this year's Tube Strike; check out the slideshow below to see the allocations since London United's reacquiring of the route in 2005.

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  Scania OmniDekka DD (SLE)

  These were the initial allocation of route 27 when purchased by London United in 2005. These used to also be allocated to route 9.
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  East Lancs Myllennium Vyking (VLE)

  Based on a Volvo B7TL chassis, these were common unallocated workings on route 27 from 2005-2012.
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  Scania OmniCity DD (SP)

  These were occasional unallocated workings on route 27 from 2005-2012. Scania OmniCity double-deckers are currently allocated to route 27 from 23:00 to 06:00 for the route's night service operated from Hounslow (AV)
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  Alexander Dennis Enviro400H (ADH)

  These are the current allocation of route 27, starting service from January 2013. These included two prototypes (ADH1-2) initially allocated to Hounslow Heath (HH) route H91.
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  Alexander Dennis Enviro400 (ADE)

  These were momentarily allocated to route 27 in late 2013 to increase frequency as replacement for closed stations along the route.
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  Alexander ALX400

  Seaford and District loaned some Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Trident 2 buses to an extra route 27 service during the 2014 Tube Strike.

The allocation consists of ADH1 and 2 (SN58 EOR and SN58 EOS) which both used to live on routes 482 and H91. They went to the 27 last year via the 94, and are rather different to the rest of the fleet. 

For a start, these buses still carry a 'green leaves' livery. This is a dying trend, which was placed on the prototype hybrids in 2008 and 2009. These were reduced to a large hybrid logo which still made buses look rather smart indeed until recently in late 2013 when a barely noticeable, plain hybrid logo was introduced. Another notable difference is the seats and the designs of the seats, they had the typical "Scania" interior seat design and the seats are similar to those on the Olympuses on routes 7 and 297.

One Year Later, these two amazing Trident Hybrids have been made much more reliable than previous, and are now in service almost daily whereas when they first entered service, these buses were unreliable and were only in service about once/ twice every 2 or 3 weeks.

Here are the photos, inside and out:



Interior design of London United's Alexander Dennis
Enviro400 hybrids (ADH23-51)

Interior design of London United's Alexander Dennis
Enviro400 hybrid prototypes.

And I even have a set for Chiswick, Business Park, as I was a regular visitor, and of ADH32 + ADH45 on Flickr, and here I present Chiswick Business Park first, excluding photos above and of ADH32 and ADH45:



First up is ADH41, YX62 FPC which is seen about to terminate at Chiswick, Business Park. This shot, entitled "Bug's Eye View", sees what the view is like at Chiswick, Business Park when taking a photo 2 inches from the ground. The slightly overgrown green is seen here, with ADH41 behind it just at the entrance of the bus station in May 2013.

Standby: ADH31 is seen on the same day at Chiswick Business Park and was bought into service in January 2013 towards the end of the month. This one was delivered with ADH23-32, with ADH33-40 bought in the following month. YX62 FJD, sister bus to ADH32, is seen on stand with ADH41 behind it.

Just Terminated: YX62 FTP, London United's ADH48, is seen at Chiswick, Business Park. Inside the Business Park's mini bus station, there is 3 bus stands, two currently open for buses, the last currently closed until Building 7 of the park has finished construction. The closed stand can hold about 3 or 4 10.2m buses and this stand pictured about 2 10.2m buses. The other stand, where ADH31 was above pictured is the last stand, can hold about 4 buses. That stand is officially for route 27.

Last of the Batch: London United's ADH51, YX62 FUU, is seen at Chiswick Business Park on the 27 stand, which is seen rather empty. Here the back entrance to the business park, official entrance to the bus station still remains under construction.  This is where proposed that the E10 was to be extended once the entrance, named 'Stanhope Way' is to open. However plans that E10 is to be extended seems unlikely at this stage. TfL did also propose that the 440, which passes on the other end of Stanhope Way (About 2-3 minutes from where this photo was taken) should do a loop here around the bus station both ways and then continue across the three surrounding railway lines.