Electrical Chingford

It still feels like yesterday when I wrote my first ever post for this blog, it was a post about Tower Transit's gains of routes 212, 444 and 488. Since then five years have flown by really quickly and routes 212 and 444 have moved on once again on tender, this time moving to Go Ahead London at Northumberland Park (NP). 

I can only apologise due to the lack of posts on the blog as of late. I have been really busy and have been struggling to fit in time for buses, coupled with the lack of service changes between December and March it's led to a "post drought" on the blog, however thankfully I have managed to find some time to cover the first service change of the year. 

BH63101 seen at Turnpike Lane
© EastLondoner

Tower Transit mysteriously had won the contract to these two routes back in 2014 despite their nearest garage, Lea Interchange (LI) wasn't particularly near either route. Soon it was made public that Tower Transit had applied for planning permission for a new garage in Edmonton which would be a good base to run both routes from, however routes 212 and 444 were operated from LI in the meantime. Some months later Tower Transit didn't continue to pursue the planning application for the site and routes 212 and 444 remained operating out of Lea Interchange (LI). Not much had actually changed about the routes since the team wrote a post 5 years ago on the matter. Although one major change did come in following the PVR reduction and subsequent withdrawal of route RV1 when the Hydrogen buses that were allocated to that route were deployed onto route 444. Both variants of the Hydrogen vehicles would appear often on the route, the Wright and VanHool variants. 

WSH62995 seen at Chingford on Tower Transit's last day of 444 operation
© EastLondoner

WV46204 seen on stand at Chingford on LI's last day
© EastLondoner

The Hydrogen vehicles were still supplemented by the Streetlites that were initially ordered for the route. Although some of the allocation did move on to Westbourne Park (X) for use on route 218 which was introduced in December 2019. The photo that I have included of the Streetlite isn't actually part of the batch that was ordered for the 444, but are actually part of a newer batch that was later ordered for the contract renewal of route 236, I never did get around to taking a picture of the Streetlites from the 444s own batch. However both batches did intermix quite frequently and there isn't a huge difference between the buses as a passenger. I'm not too sure what's in stock for the 444s batch of Streetlites that didn't end up going to Westbourne Park (X).

VH38106 seen at Walthamstow Bus Station
© EastLondoner

Route 212 didn't have as an exciting allocation as route 444 did under Tower Transit, it predominantly stuck with its allocated Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 buses throughout the contract, however there were common appearances of Gemini 2 B9TLs which were also found at the garage. In 2017 the newer style of Gemini 3 buses did also start making appearances when they were introduced to LI following a PVR reduction on route 328 at Westbourne Park. I have included pictures of both types of Gemini 3s on the route, however unfortunately. I do not have a picture of the Gemini 2s that did the route. The Gemini 3s that were allocated to route 212 are now heading off lease so are unlikely to see further use within the company. 

VH38115 seen at Walthamstow Bus Station
© EastLondoner

It didn't come as too much of a surprise when on the 31st of May it was announced that routes 212 and 444 would make the move to Go Ahead London. Route 444 was to get new electric buses while route 212 was to get new Hybrid buses....or was it?

Go Ahead London won/retained a few more routes the month afterwards and a few of the routes, 106, 230 and 357 were awarded with their bus type to be confirmed. A few months later it was confirmed that all three, alongside route 212 were to get brand new electric double decker buses. At the same time making Northumberland Park Western Europe's biggest electric bus depot. The electric order was for brand new Enviro200 MMC EVs for the 444, similar to those found on other routes in London and Enviro400 City EVs for the double decker routes, similar to those found on the 43 and 94. 

The Enviro400 Citys were delivered in time for the new contract, just barely however with some buses still arriving during the week of the takeover. Although Go Ahead did manage to avert any delay to service due to type training by using a demonstrator bus to type train the drivers in the weeks prior to the takeover. The brand new Enviro400 City EVs were to be coded Ee, similar to the SEe used for their single decker variants. 

Ee8 seen at St James' Street
© EastLondoner

I went out on the Wednesday after the take-over to see how the buses performed and how the service was getting along. I met the 212 at St James' Street, my bus was Ee2 and would be my ride to Chingford. Once we left it wasn't too long until we caught up the bus in front, and were made to regulate for 5-6 minutes to help even the service out. The bus was relatively lightly loaded through the journey, probably expected for a journey just after 1pm. Like all other Enviro400 City EVs these buses do not have any rear lower deck windows due to the placement of the batteries. Like all new buses from Go Ahead these buses are also equipped with wing cameras instead of wing mirrors in order to give the driver a wider field of view and to reduce the blind spot on the vehicle. 

Lower Deck Interior

The interior on these vehicles, apart from the lack of rear window is similar to all other Enviro400 City EVs like those you would find on the 43 and 94. Key differences between the standard Hybrid and EV versions include two sets in front of the stairs upstairs, and two seats directly behind the driver on the lower deck. There are also no rear facing seats on the lower deck due to the rear seats being placed on the wheelarch due to the space taken up by the batteries at the rear 

of the bus. This does also heavily reduce the legroom available at the rear seats, so that might be something to bear in mind should you be quite tall. The air conditioning on this vehicle also had made its presence known, something that actually made me quite happy to be wearing a thick jacket.

Upper Deck Interior

The buses themselves are wonderful to ride on, and in my opinion some of the best buses London currently has to offer. There are also still more batches to come for Northumberland Park (NP) for the gains of the 106, 230 and the retain of the 357. Arriva are also due a batch in early 2021 for route 319 out of Brixton (BN). 

Ee2 seen at St James' Street
© EastLondoner

Unlike the buses for the 212, the buses for route 444 were not all on time. Some of the batch arrived in time for the takeover however during the first few days, and as I write this post some existing Enviro200s are helping make up the majority of the allocation on the route alongside a few new electric buses. The existing Enviro200s have come from route 364, which recently got an allocation of new buses. These should soon be replaced as the new electric buses continue to arrive. 

SE29 seen on stand at Turnpike Lane
© EastLondoner

SEe110 seen entering Chingford Bus Station
© EastLondoner

On the first day of Go Ahead London's operation it became apparent why the 444s electric buses were running late. They were to be the first buses of a new design to further optimise the layout of the vehicle for operation. Key changes included making the battery pod at the top of the bus a bit shorter, however now spanning the entire length of the bus and making the bus slightly longer from 10.8m to 10.9m. There is also an upgraded heating and air conditioning system which uses less energy, and this in turn allows the range of the vehicle itself to be extended. This signifies further development in the successful partnership between Alexander Dennis and BYD with both sides working together to optimise the vehicle to suit the needs of its customers. 

SEe110 seen at Chingford Bus Station
© EastLondoner

When I went to do the route thankfully I didn't have to wait that long for the bus to turn up as SEe110 was already on stand. Automatically upon boarding I noticed the effectiveness of the new air conditioning system which was doing a good job in keeping the bus cool. It wasn't that long until we left. The bus itself is similar in ride quality to all other BYD Enviro200 EVs found throughout London, something I am becoming increasingly used to due to the popularity of the vehicle among operators. As we approached Chingford Mount the air conditioning showed no sign of slowing down and I was getting uncomfortably cold in the bus so I decided to get off there. It's no doubt that the improvements are working well - maybe too well!

Something which took a few people by surprise over the first few days was the presence of a mysterious WVN when the route was searched on LVF. It was later confirmed that this was actually SED1, an Enviro200 MMC demonstrator which had previously been used on route 39 and route W14. I managed to come across it when waiting for SEe110 to depart Chingford. I'm not sure how long this bus is expected to be around, so if you want a ride on it this time around you might want to head for route 444 sooner rather than later, the same can also be said for the diesel Enviro200s that are temporarily plying the route alongside the electric buses as these are expected to be gone from the route within the next two weeks. 

SEe110 and SED1 seen at Chingford
© EastLondoner

Overall routes 212 and 444 have each gained a great batch of buses for the next 5, or maybe 7 years. Service currently on both routes does leave a bit to be desired however it's still early days and no doubt Go Ahead will get used to the route and hopefully will be able to provide the locals a service that is of the standard to match the buses. 

Thank you to all our readers for being patient with us due to the current lack of posts. All the bloggers are unfortunately really busy with other commitments, we do still plan to post articles on further changes however they might be late and there might be large gaps between posts.