Year of the Bus News: April & May 2014

Route 102, Arriva London. T264 in Brent Cross with
buses to remain on contract renewal.

Throw that fiesta again from last month, the Bus News April edition is finally here.
Many things have happened this month, from 6123 on route 288 (Well, actually there is more news on 6123) to the Tube Strike Extras. Read on!

Abellio London:
- Route E1's hybrids have been delivered, numbered 2444-2451. The route will be taken over tomorrow from Hayes (WS). The registration plates in order of fleetnumbers are: SK14 CTZ/ CUA/ CUC/ CUG/ SYY/ SYZ/ SZC. These buses do have blinds for 112 and some have been spotted on route 350.

Arriva London:
- Arriva have sold their five Gemini 2 HEVs (HW1-5) which used to run out of Wood Green on route 141, between London Bridge and Palmers Green, North Circular Road and rarely route 144. These are on sale at EnsignBus, costing £95,000 a bus.
- Route 102 has been retained by Arriva London with it's existing 2008 plated Enviro 400s to be refurbished. 

- Most of the Borismasters have entered service have entered service on route 38, with a few DWs still lingering about. N38 has also been converted partially. Some buses have been wrapped in an all-over advert for Adidas.

- The Gemini 2 DWs from route 38 haven't all been confirmed where they are going. However contacts from TfL have told me some news. A few buses will go to Enfield (E) for route 317, several will go to Croydon and some stay at Clapton (CT) on route 242.

- Routes 34 and 125 have been awarded to Metroline from Arriva London. The change for route 34 will take place on the 8th November 2014, and route 125 on the 31st January 2015. 

- Route 192 has been awarded to Go-Ahead London from Arriva London. The changeover will take place on the 8th November 2014. If anyone is interested in photographing these routes, they both pass/ near Angel Road IKEA, which is where they cross over.

Arriva Shires & Essex:
- 6123 LJ05 BKX has had a burnout at Edgware Station on Tuesday, whilst serving route 142. The bus set on fire due to a mechanical fault and caused the bus station to be closed until Early Wednesday Morning. It is not known whether this bus will be written off or repaired. A replacement bus may be coming from London soon.

Go-Ahead London:
- The Olympuses ex-routes 54 and 75 have been transferred to replace elderly fleet. Blue Triangle (BE) have most of the Olympuses for school routes and route 498, and the Enviro 400s will be retained. The rest of the Olympuses will go to Silvertown (SI) for route 474 and also on route 150D, the Go-Ahead London working on schooldays.

- Route 192 has been awarded to London General from Northumberland Park (NP) garage with brand new hybrid single deckers from the 8th November.

London Sovereign RATP Group:
- Operation has officially been transferred to RATP Group, and now buses across this division have had logos taken off however it may take a few weeks or months even to put logos on the buses. The LS name is still retained however.

Scania Omnicity of London United, this is the vehicle to
be on route E3. However this particular bus is not to be on
the E3 

London United RATP Group:
- Route E3 has been taken over from Metroline tomorrow. If anybody wants to photograph route E3  between Chiswick, Edensor Road and Greenford Broadway with refurbished Scania Omnicities tomorrow. A special post is well under way.

- LT148 (LTZ 1148) at Stamford Brook (V) garage is getting an all-over advertisement for Coca-Cola. This bus will be on route 10.


Metrobus:
- All buses, staff and garages will be under the 'London General' name starting from 1st June.

Metroline Travel:
- SEL763 (LK07 BDE) has been fully refurbished, in the same style as SEL746 (LK07 BBE). These buses are currently allocated to routes 7 and 297, however from next month they will be on route 79 as well, and cease operation on route 7. They will still operate route 611.

- Metroline VW1469 (BF63 HDG) has been delivered to CELF centre. It will be allocated to routes 79 and 297.

- Metroline VWH2001 and 2002 have been delivered, as Gemini 3s, to CELF centre in Perivale. These will be for route 7 and have Metroline livery as well as golden advert frames.

- Routes 34 and 125 have been awarded to Metroline Travel from Potters Bar (PB) garage. The double decker type is unknown at the moment. This in some sense can help the loss made today.

- The Optare Tempo Hybrids on route E8 have been sold off to EnsignBus.

Metroline West:

Abellio London 8470 (HX04 HTV) on route 112 at Neasden
on route 112 towards Ealing Broadway Station.

- Today is the last day of operation of route E1, E3 and E10 being from Greenford (G) garage. Tomorrow the routes split their own ways. Be sure to photograph them today because when the last bus of the day comes, there's no second chance for at least 5 years. The E1 and E3 are worth riding, the Enviro 400s are great, and a 12-reg TE is currently present, at time of writing, on route E1.

- Route 112 will be operated from Greenford (G) with brand new Enviro 200s, in the quantity of 10 buses. The buses will most likely be coded DE2024-2035. 

Stagecoach London:
- New Gemini 3 hybrids are now in service (13001-32) on route 53 out of Plumstead (PD) and sometimes the 122. Also some new Alexander Dennis Hybrids have entered service on route 54 and 53.

Tower Transit:
- Route 9H will be withdrawn on the 25th July 2014. Routemasters in best condition will be transferred to route 15H instead. SRM3 has been confirmed for transfer.

Tellings Golden Miller:
- Route E10 will be transferred to Heathrow (HE), a garage south of Heathrow in Stanwell Moor, on Bedfont Road. New Enviro 200s to a ZF specification have been ordered and will be on route E10 starting tomorrow. It is known that the buses were made at ADL Harlow, and part of the batch are numbered 3426-9 (YX14 RYP/S/T/U). However nobody has spotted the buses on driver training, or on delivery at the garage. How smoothly will this conversion go remains unknown.

Thanks for reading this post. Stay safe and we hope you enjoyed!

All photos are copyright to LondonBuses72.