Bus News: March 2015
Another post from your favourite series on this blog! A lot has gone on this month, and it's best to share the good news with you!
Abellio London:
- Most of you would've gone out to see or have seen photos of the brand new Enviro 400 MMCs on route 350 from Abellio's lovely Hayes (WS) depot. Some of the Tridents have been spotted on Tramlink replacement, although a few Tridents will stay at Hayes (WS) for the next week or so as the MMCs may suffer from teething problems.
- The rest of the MMCs will be delivered throughout the week, they have been spotted at Plaxton's plant.
- Route 415 was taken over by Abellio from their Walworth (WL) garage with the MMCs numbered 2514-2523. In addition '2400', YY64 GXG, the Diesel MMC demonstrator has been allocated to route 415 as well.
Arriva London:
- Route 149, between Edmonton Green and London Bridge, has been retained by Arriva London with brand new Borismasters. The 2010-plated DWs currently on the route will be re-allocated to route 349, who has also been retained by Arriva London. The remainder of the batch will be allocated to routes 264 and 317 who are due newer vehicles this year. This is expected to take place in the Autumn.
- Route 382 will be extended to Millbrook Park, NW7 this Saturday (4th April 2015) from Mill Hill East Station. The PVR of the route will be raised to 9.
- Routes 377 and 382 will be allocated the Enviro 200s, EN1-13, which are the vehicles ex-192. Route 382 will be allocated EN1-10, and 377 partially allocated Enviro 200s, with EN11-13. The buses will be refurbished and some can already be seen in service. They do look quite the part!
- LT356 still has yet to enter service.
- Arriva lost routes 415 and 444 on the 6th March. DLA273 was the last bus on route 415, and as a result of this loss more DLAs are quickly being taken out of service. The well known fleet of vehicles keeps getting smaller and smaller. As for the DWLs from route 444, they have all been withdrawn and are actually to be scrapped if our sources are correct.
- Route 432, between Anerley and Brixton, is lost to Go-Ahead London on Saturday 4th April. The departure of this route will write off a few more DLAs from London's streets.
- The Wright Streetdeck SW1 (LK64 DVV) entered service at Wood Green (WN). The bus is allocated to routes 144 and 221 and has not seen any strays, except for yesterday's stray on route W3. The bus, unlike the B5TL counterpart, is ordered to Arriva's livery and specifications. VGD1 still sees public service, however the pattern it seems is that the bus sees irregular service on route 221 as well.
- Route 73 is also in line to be Borismaster operation, although a set date has not been confirmed. The conversion is however expected from the summer. The current HV buses on the route will go to routes 141 and 253. The buses from 141 will update older stock elsewhere in the fleet.
Arriva Shires & Essex:
- Not much news to report, although DLA206 did perform a stint on route 305, considered rare, yesterday.
Arriva Southern Counties:
- Please note that Tellings Golden Miller (TGM) no longer exists and now will trade under the ASC branding. All route E10 information will be reported under this segment from now on.
CT Plus:
- Route 212 was lost on the 6th March 2015, with SD8 being the last ever CT Plus bus on the route.
Go-Ahead London:
- The destination for WSD1 (SN64 CTV) has not been confirmed as route 12 is converting to Borismaster operation. This means the bus would have to be re-allocated. Enthusiasts have taken a guess that the bus may be re-allocated to either route 45 or 345.
- Borismasters have entered service on route 12. The conversion, which started on Saturday 28th, will see buses LT417-56 form as the new allocation on the route. The route will become the third Go-Ahead route to run under this allocation. Buses are gradually entering service on the 12.
- After long confusion as to what route 432 is getting, it's now confirmed that route 432 is to get a small allocation of the Enviro 400s from route 87. The route will also operate from Stockwell (SW) as opposed to Camberwell (Q).
- Until now, the WVL class buses found on route 12 do not have a set destination with many rumours flying about. However it is confirmed that the Volvo B5LHs on the route will move to route 19 to fully convert the route to the type. In return the WVL class buses on the 19 will move to route 87 to replace the Enviro400s which were donated to route 432.
- Time for route 19 to steal the spotlight, as Go-Ahead has mainly been revolving around route 12 in the last month. Route 19 moved on Saturday, half of it's allocation from Stockwell (SW) to Northumberland Park (NP). It isn't exactly known which buses transferred up north as they all still carry Stockwell (SW) garage codes.
- Go-Ahead's 'surprise' Enviro 200s, 3 of them, numbers SE232-4 entered service at Rainham (BE) and are to a 9.6m length, having being built for route W19. This will see off the Wright Cadets on the route. The buses have only been on routes W19 and 376 so far. Their registrations are YX15 XMK/L/M.
- The Enviro 200s for routes 322 and G1 are on order. They will be given YY15 Cxx registration plates and may be the last 'standard' Enviro 200s to arrive in London as all arrivals after will be MMCs. SE235-241 are expected in London very soon for Plough Lane (PL) route G1.
- The Enviro 400 MMC bodied Volvo B5L Hybrids are expected during April for type training on route 135. The route is taken over on the 24th May 2015 from the Silvertown (SI) garage.
- SEN38 (SK07 HLO) transferred to Plough Lane (PL) for a week on the route 424, before transferring to route 315 from Stockwell (SW).
- SE213 (YY64 GWZ) is still not in service. This bus is the only one so far to get the flywheel fitted, so it clearly shows fitting flywheel can take months and is too time consuming. When it does enter service, it will be from Mandela Way (MW) on route 100.
London Sovereign RATP Group:
- The DE refurbishment for route H13 has begun, with DE50 and DE51 being treated so far from Harrow (SO). A number of Darts have come to cover for a while to help speed up the refurbishment as the refurbishment was suppose to be done a few months ago.
London United RATP Group:
- Some more HDEs have appeared on routes 216 and 391 since our last edition of the post at Fulwell (FW).
- Route 482 was lost to Metroline West, and the SPs from the route will now see service on routes 116 and 285. It may well be that the buses from 482 will be allocated to 116 for the new contract which specifies double deckers.
- The ADHs on route 94 are getting repaints as after all those adverts that have been applied, you can imagine it's wearing the colour off.
- The DEs on route 285 are to commence refurbishment soon, a spare Dart or two may come to cover as well at Hounslow Heath (HH).
Metroline Travel:
- TEH2072-2087 are still not in service. They have taken their merry time to sit in Cricklewood (W) and do pretty much nothing. Driver training is still in progress, however it is going very slowly and it is gonna take a while longer to put them in service. There's still the clash of whether the buses are for route 16 or for route 332. Well argue all you like, we'll just have to wait and see.
- 6 MCV Evolution bodied MAN 12.240s have been purchased by Sullivan Buses.
Metroline West:
- More TEs have appeared on route U1, particularly the SN09s that transferred a while back from Holloway (HT) garage.
- We will reiterate again, that route U4 is only going part TE operation, so some TPs will stick around for longer, as shown by TP1532 (LK03 UFP).
- Metroline West have been doing relatively well on route 482, which they took over on the 21st March, with TE1737 (SN09 CFM) being the first bus on the route. Buses actually ferry themselves between Southall T H and Greenford (G) for meal relief and their longer breaks hence there are so many substitutions throughout the day. So for those who question why there are 15 buses used on the same day for a route that needs 4-8 buses, that's the answer.
- Still on the 482, TE1996 (SN62 AAK) is/was on the route today. Buses have been re-blinded across the double decker fleet at Greenford (G), very few still are blinded for E1/E3. The new blinds also include route 95! Route 482 has been run well, although Southall has given the route a few bumps.
Stagecoach London:
- A top up Enviro 400H has arrived and entered service for route 122. Registered originally as SL64 JKN (Thanks to Portman for the information), the registration has changed to SN15 LRJ with bonnet number being 12264. The bus will be the last ever standard Enviro 400 to be delivered, this one is not an MMC.
- The Optare Tempo Hybrids have all been withdrawn from Catford (TL). In their place are the Enviro 200s from route 488, which will be allocated to route P4. Other transfers include the Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 Hybrids on route 56 at Bow (BW), all which have strayed to all routes but 215 and 275. These buses are from route 15, who has converted to Borismaster operation.
- The Scania OmniCities from route 56 have all gone off lease and are on sale. Sullivan, in fact have purchased 4 of them. Check out Sullivan's section.
- The 5 extra buses on route 15 have ended, and once again the whole route is allocated to Bow (BW). Instead the Tridents are now on route 277, whose allocation has had 5 buses re-allocated to West Ham (WH). This is due to CS2 works, there is increased pressure around Bow, so West Ham (WH) will relieve the pressure. The night service however will be at Bow (BW).
Sullivan Buses:
- Sullivan's fleet is expanding! They've acquired 10 vehicles in total, 6 single deckers and 4 double deckers. The following vehicles have been purchased:
LK57 EHW - MM786 - Will retain the fleetnumber
LK57 EHX - MM787 - Will retain the fleetnumber
LK57 EHY - MM788 - Will retain the fleetnumber
LK57 AYH - MM814 - Will retain the fleetnumber
LK57 AYS* - MM821 - Will retain the fleetnumber
LK57 AYV - MM824 - Will retain the fleetnumber
*MM821 is withdrawn from the road. The bus will not start at all and CELF have done all they can to switch it on. Instead, the bus will be used for parts for the other MMs.
LX59 COU - 15152 - New fleetnumber to be advised
LX59 CPE - 15153 - New fleetnumber to be advised
LX59 CPO - 15157 - New fleetnumber to be advised
LX59 CPZ - 15161 - New fleetnumber to be advised
The MMs will be refurbished and will be allocated to South Mimms (SM) route 306. They will not be retaining their equipment. The Scania OmniCities will be for routes 692 and 699, which you will have remembered that Sullivan won. They're awaiting to be picked up and shortly be seen on rail replacement services. Keep on a lookout for them!
The Darts currently on route 306 will be withdrawn.
Tower Transit:
- Routes 212 and 444 were taken over from CT Plus and Arriva London on the 7th March. Route 444 has been more settled than route 212, who sees too many curtailments. All the new buses have entered service. Read 'The New Transition' to find out more.
That's all for this month! Thanks for reading this post and do stay safe!
Abellio London:
 |
| New and Old 350s |
- The rest of the MMCs will be delivered throughout the week, they have been spotted at Plaxton's plant.
- Route 415 was taken over by Abellio from their Walworth (WL) garage with the MMCs numbered 2514-2523. In addition '2400', YY64 GXG, the Diesel MMC demonstrator has been allocated to route 415 as well.
Arriva London:
- Route 149, between Edmonton Green and London Bridge, has been retained by Arriva London with brand new Borismasters. The 2010-plated DWs currently on the route will be re-allocated to route 349, who has also been retained by Arriva London. The remainder of the batch will be allocated to routes 264 and 317 who are due newer vehicles this year. This is expected to take place in the Autumn.
- Route 382 will be extended to Millbrook Park, NW7 this Saturday (4th April 2015) from Mill Hill East Station. The PVR of the route will be raised to 9.- Routes 377 and 382 will be allocated the Enviro 200s, EN1-13, which are the vehicles ex-192. Route 382 will be allocated EN1-10, and 377 partially allocated Enviro 200s, with EN11-13. The buses will be refurbished and some can already be seen in service. They do look quite the part!
- LT356 still has yet to enter service.
- Arriva lost routes 415 and 444 on the 6th March. DLA273 was the last bus on route 415, and as a result of this loss more DLAs are quickly being taken out of service. The well known fleet of vehicles keeps getting smaller and smaller. As for the DWLs from route 444, they have all been withdrawn and are actually to be scrapped if our sources are correct.
- Route 432, between Anerley and Brixton, is lost to Go-Ahead London on Saturday 4th April. The departure of this route will write off a few more DLAs from London's streets.
- The Wright Streetdeck SW1 (LK64 DVV) entered service at Wood Green (WN). The bus is allocated to routes 144 and 221 and has not seen any strays, except for yesterday's stray on route W3. The bus, unlike the B5TL counterpart, is ordered to Arriva's livery and specifications. VGD1 still sees public service, however the pattern it seems is that the bus sees irregular service on route 221 as well.
- Route 73 is also in line to be Borismaster operation, although a set date has not been confirmed. The conversion is however expected from the summer. The current HV buses on the route will go to routes 141 and 253. The buses from 141 will update older stock elsewhere in the fleet.
- Not much news to report, although DLA206 did perform a stint on route 305, considered rare, yesterday.
Arriva Southern Counties:
- Please note that Tellings Golden Miller (TGM) no longer exists and now will trade under the ASC branding. All route E10 information will be reported under this segment from now on.
CT Plus:
- Route 212 was lost on the 6th March 2015, with SD8 being the last ever CT Plus bus on the route.
Go-Ahead London:
- The destination for WSD1 (SN64 CTV) has not been confirmed as route 12 is converting to Borismaster operation. This means the bus would have to be re-allocated. Enthusiasts have taken a guess that the bus may be re-allocated to either route 45 or 345.
 |
| WHV12 on route 12, Regent Street. |
- After long confusion as to what route 432 is getting, it's now confirmed that route 432 is to get a small allocation of the Enviro 400s from route 87. The route will also operate from Stockwell (SW) as opposed to Camberwell (Q).
- Until now, the WVL class buses found on route 12 do not have a set destination with many rumours flying about. However it is confirmed that the Volvo B5LHs on the route will move to route 19 to fully convert the route to the type. In return the WVL class buses on the 19 will move to route 87 to replace the Enviro400s which were donated to route 432.
- Time for route 19 to steal the spotlight, as Go-Ahead has mainly been revolving around route 12 in the last month. Route 19 moved on Saturday, half of it's allocation from Stockwell (SW) to Northumberland Park (NP). It isn't exactly known which buses transferred up north as they all still carry Stockwell (SW) garage codes.
 |
| WHV30 (LJ61 NVS) on route 19 at Piccadilly. |
- Go-Ahead's 'surprise' Enviro 200s, 3 of them, numbers SE232-4 entered service at Rainham (BE) and are to a 9.6m length, having being built for route W19. This will see off the Wright Cadets on the route. The buses have only been on routes W19 and 376 so far. Their registrations are YX15 XMK/L/M.
- The Enviro 200s for routes 322 and G1 are on order. They will be given YY15 Cxx registration plates and may be the last 'standard' Enviro 200s to arrive in London as all arrivals after will be MMCs. SE235-241 are expected in London very soon for Plough Lane (PL) route G1.
- The Enviro 400 MMC bodied Volvo B5L Hybrids are expected during April for type training on route 135. The route is taken over on the 24th May 2015 from the Silvertown (SI) garage.
- SEN38 (SK07 HLO) transferred to Plough Lane (PL) for a week on the route 424, before transferring to route 315 from Stockwell (SW).
- SE213 (YY64 GWZ) is still not in service. This bus is the only one so far to get the flywheel fitted, so it clearly shows fitting flywheel can take months and is too time consuming. When it does enter service, it will be from Mandela Way (MW) on route 100.
London Sovereign RATP Group:
- The DE refurbishment for route H13 has begun, with DE50 and DE51 being treated so far from Harrow (SO). A number of Darts have come to cover for a while to help speed up the refurbishment as the refurbishment was suppose to be done a few months ago.
London United RATP Group:
- Some more HDEs have appeared on routes 216 and 391 since our last edition of the post at Fulwell (FW).
- Route 482 was lost to Metroline West, and the SPs from the route will now see service on routes 116 and 285. It may well be that the buses from 482 will be allocated to 116 for the new contract which specifies double deckers.
 |
| ADH20 (SN60 BYS) on route 94 at Oxford Street. This batch of vehicles will all soon have been treated. |
- The ADHs on route 94 are getting repaints as after all those adverts that have been applied, you can imagine it's wearing the colour off.
- The DEs on route 285 are to commence refurbishment soon, a spare Dart or two may come to cover as well at Hounslow Heath (HH).
Metroline Travel:
- TEH2072-2087 are still not in service. They have taken their merry time to sit in Cricklewood (W) and do pretty much nothing. Driver training is still in progress, however it is going very slowly and it is gonna take a while longer to put them in service. There's still the clash of whether the buses are for route 16 or for route 332. Well argue all you like, we'll just have to wait and see.
- 6 MCV Evolution bodied MAN 12.240s have been purchased by Sullivan Buses.
Metroline West:
- We will reiterate again, that route U4 is only going part TE operation, so some TPs will stick around for longer, as shown by TP1532 (LK03 UFP).
- Metroline West have been doing relatively well on route 482, which they took over on the 21st March, with TE1737 (SN09 CFM) being the first bus on the route. Buses actually ferry themselves between Southall T H and Greenford (G) for meal relief and their longer breaks hence there are so many substitutions throughout the day. So for those who question why there are 15 buses used on the same day for a route that needs 4-8 buses, that's the answer.
- Still on the 482, TE1996 (SN62 AAK) is/was on the route today. Buses have been re-blinded across the double decker fleet at Greenford (G), very few still are blinded for E1/E3. The new blinds also include route 95! Route 482 has been run well, although Southall has given the route a few bumps.
Stagecoach London:
- A top up Enviro 400H has arrived and entered service for route 122. Registered originally as SL64 JKN (Thanks to Portman for the information), the registration has changed to SN15 LRJ with bonnet number being 12264. The bus will be the last ever standard Enviro 400 to be delivered, this one is not an MMC.
- The Optare Tempo Hybrids have all been withdrawn from Catford (TL). In their place are the Enviro 200s from route 488, which will be allocated to route P4. Other transfers include the Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 Hybrids on route 56 at Bow (BW), all which have strayed to all routes but 215 and 275. These buses are from route 15, who has converted to Borismaster operation.
- The Scania OmniCities from route 56 have all gone off lease and are on sale. Sullivan, in fact have purchased 4 of them. Check out Sullivan's section.
- The 5 extra buses on route 15 have ended, and once again the whole route is allocated to Bow (BW). Instead the Tridents are now on route 277, whose allocation has had 5 buses re-allocated to West Ham (WH). This is due to CS2 works, there is increased pressure around Bow, so West Ham (WH) will relieve the pressure. The night service however will be at Bow (BW).
Sullivan Buses:
- Sullivan's fleet is expanding! They've acquired 10 vehicles in total, 6 single deckers and 4 double deckers. The following vehicles have been purchased:
LK57 EHW - MM786 - Will retain the fleetnumber
LK57 EHX - MM787 - Will retain the fleetnumber
LK57 EHY - MM788 - Will retain the fleetnumber
LK57 AYH - MM814 - Will retain the fleetnumber
LK57 AYS* - MM821 - Will retain the fleetnumber
LK57 AYV - MM824 - Will retain the fleetnumber
*MM821 is withdrawn from the road. The bus will not start at all and CELF have done all they can to switch it on. Instead, the bus will be used for parts for the other MMs.
LX59 COU - 15152 - New fleetnumber to be advised
LX59 CPE - 15153 - New fleetnumber to be advised
LX59 CPO - 15157 - New fleetnumber to be advised
LX59 CPZ - 15161 - New fleetnumber to be advised
The Darts currently on route 306 will be withdrawn.
Tower Transit:
- Routes 212 and 444 were taken over from CT Plus and Arriva London on the 7th March. Route 444 has been more settled than route 212, who sees too many curtailments. All the new buses have entered service. Read 'The New Transition' to find out more.
That's all for this month! Thanks for reading this post and do stay safe!
Labels:
Bus News,
Post with Jacob
The following TfL contracts have been announced today:
ReplyDeleteTranche 494
174 re-awarded to Stagecoach East London with existing diesel double deck, PVR 21, start date 17 October
296 re-awarded to Stagecoach East London with existing diesel single deck, PVR 6, start date 17 October
339 re-awarded to Tower Transit with new and existing single deck, PVR 9, start date 31 October
347 awarded to Arriva Kent Thameside (currently Blue Triangle) with new diesel single deck, PVR 1, start date 17 October
385 re-awarded to CT Plus with existing diesel single deck, PVR 1, start date 17 October
496 re-awarded to Stagecoach East London with existing diesel double deck, PVR 8, start date 17 October
Tranche 496
173 re-awarded to Arriva London North with existing diesel double deck, PVR 15, start date 17 October
649/650/651 re-awarded to Blue Triangle with existing diesel double deck, PVR 7, start date 2 January 2016
673 awarded to Docklands Buses (currently Arriva London North) with existing diesel double deck, PVR 1, start date 17 October.
Indeed they have, I look forward to these new contracts commencing
Delete