Taking you through the years: 2014

Another week has gone by, more time everyone has hopefully spent indoors. Continuing from our last post we are looking back at what happened a couple of years ago in order to lighten everyone's mood at home! Today we focus on 2014, the 'Year of the Bus'.

© EastLondoner

January

2014 was off to a slow start. The most notable change was the eventual entry of the 319s then new Volvo B5LH buses finally entering service after being delayed from November 2013. At the time the buses were split between route 319 and 59, as the 59 was more Central London - TfL really wanted Hybrids in Central London back then! However since then the 59 converted to New Routemaster operation and route 319 got its full allocation of B5LHs back. Route 319 is now in line for an electric conversion with brand new Enviro400 City EVs next year.

February

New Routemaster conversions were still particularly special back in 2014, route 148 became the latest route to receive the vehicles in February. This was big news at the time as route 148 was to become the first route with no PA operation at all, operating as a three doored bus at all times with no rear platform. That of course was very unique at the time but we all know how that ended...

March

The first major change this month was when route 159 was still back at Arriva - the section between Paddington Basin and Marble Arch was withdrawn. TfL claimed the route wasn't being used very well hence the withdrawal. This however did conveniently remove a sharp turn from the route...I wonder if that was related to a future change coming up.

15087 at Beckton
© EastLondoner

Stagecoach over at West Ham (WH) retained the contracts to route 262 and 473 with existing buses. The existing buses were to be Scania OmniCities released from the conversion of routes down at Plumstead (PD) in the form of routes 122 and 53 to Hybrid operation. Route 53s case was especially special as it was due to receive Stagecoach's first Wright bodied buses in the form of Wright Eclipse Gemini 3s. Since then Stagecoach stood the buses down in 2019 following the expiration of their 5 year lease and these buses are now found at Palmers Green operating on routes 34 and 102 under Arriva. 

April

April saw two changes, the first of which was another New Routemaster conversion. This time the route chosen was the late route 10 between Hammersmith and King's Cross. This released the Scania Omnicity buses on the route to another route later in the year. However as we all probably know route 10 subsequently got withdrawn in 2018 and now the New Routemasters that were ordered for it are found on route 27. 

The second change was a "homecoming" when Stagecoach won back route 75 from Metrobus. Brand new Enviro400 Hybrid buses were placed into service on the route. The first week even saw a Trident appearing on the route just like old times - however following this appearances became extremely rare. 

May

889 seen on the 75, the bus moved afterwards to BE
© LondonBuses72

Like route 75 a week ago, route 54 also returned to its traditional home of Stagecoach at Catford (TL) the route was also allocated with a batch of Enviro400 Hybrid buses which it was to share with route 75. The Scania Olympi which used to be allocated to the 54 (and 75) made their way to Rainham (BE) at Blue Triangle where they were put to work on school routes in an attempt to modernise the fleet. 

On the 10th of May a huge change occurred. Route 136 was extended to Elephant & Castle to help out the overcrowding of route 343 following years of complaints. This extension over the years became extremely successful and route 136 now has higher patronage figures than the 343! which is very unique considering it was only sent there to help in the first place. 

May also saw interesting changes over in Ealing. Greenford (G) hadn't done themselves too well on tendering and had lost the E1, E3 and E10 to different operators. The E1 was going to Abellio, the E3 was going to RATP and E10 was going to Tellings Golden Miller - a subsidiary of Arriva. The E1 was to use brand new Enviro400 Hybrids, the E3 was to use the Scania OmniCities made free from the 10 while the E10 was to get London's first Euro6 Enviro200s. Since then the E10 has moved once again and is now found under Abellio's roof.

Tellings Golden Miller 3425 on route E10 - note the yellow band -
at Greenford Broadway in the first week of operation out of Heathrow.
© LondonBuses72

Route 38 became a fully allocated New Routemaster route, with CAs only partially operating on the route between Mildmay Park and Victoria. It was the first route to have a system like this and would become the only route to have such a system. 

Route H98 became an enthusiast attraction as four Optare MetroCity electric buses were introduced to this route. 

June

Route S1 became a star this month as it became home to London's first production batch of Optare MetroCitys. These were to be London's only batch Diesel MetroCitys and are still plying the route to this very day. 

Metroline at Perivale West (PA) started a brand new contract on route 7, which led to them introducing their first batch of Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 buses, making them the second operator to have a batch of them (after Stagecoach). The Scania Olympi on this route got subsequently allocated to route 297 and route 79. Route 7 has since had those buses replaced with more Gemini 3s while the buses originally ordered for the route are now at Holloway (HT) on routes 4 and 17. 

LT248 seen in Bow
© EastLondoner

Stagecoach route 8 became the latest New Routemaster conversion, and the first for Stagecoach. It became the second New Routemaster route to operate with no conductor at any point.

Quality Line introduced a few new Euro6 Diesel Enviro400s on routes 406 and 418. These two routes since have gained a Hybrid allocation and are now found at Tolworth (TV) garage. 

July

This was a relatively quiet month. One service change occurred with route 286 moving from Arriva at Dartford (DT) to Go Ahead at New Cross (NX) with Enviro200s. The Enviro200s have since moved onto route 170 and the route is now allocated Wright Streetlites. It is also now based at a brand new garage at Morden Wharf (MG) in Greenwich. It is expected the route will soon transfer to Bexleyheath (BX) garage. 

August

TA647 seen at Brent Cross
© LondonBuses72

Route 112 was to change operators this month, moving from Abellio at Hayes to Metroline at Cricklewood. Brand new Enviro200s were ordered however these buses were late being delivered and then even later entering service. A temporary allocation of ALX400s and Enviro400s was scraped together to run the route for the first few weeks until the Enviro200s were ready to enter service. 

Stagecoach retained the contract to route 205 this month. The Scania Omnicity buses were reallocated to route 277. The 205 gained brand new Enviro400 Hybrids which are still found on this very day. 

September

The star of this month was no doubt route 49, which made a move from London United at Shepherd's Bush (S) to Abellio at Battersea (QB). Brand new Enviro400 Hybrids were introduced on this route and they are still on the route today. The route is up for tender later this year so we will soon find out what the future holds for this route!

© EastLondoner

Something unique this month was the appearance of a few transferred Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 buses at Harrow Weald (HD). For years the garage had nothing but Plaxton President Volvo B7TLs so these provided an interesting change. They were to be allocated to newly won route 640 with crosslinks onto route 140. Route 640 has since moved onto Sullivan Buses operation.

Route 100 made a move from Abellio London at Walworth (WL) to Go Ahead at Mandela Way (MW). Its Enviro200 buses were late arriving so Go Ahead temporarily loaned the existing Abellio Darts and Enviro200s. Route 100 moved to Silvertown (SI) when Mandela Way was closed and then moved to Camberwell (Q) at the end of 2019. It is now allocated electric Enviro200 EVs, its Enviro200s ordered for the route at found at Metrobus at Orpington (MB) and Morden Wharf (MG) on route 386.

8517 on route 201
© Unorm

October
Following some time, route 453 became the next New Routemaster conversion. It too was fully driver operation only.

Abellio continued a good year for them with a win on route 201 with brand new Enviro200 buses introduced on the route. Although they were a bit late arriving so existing Enviro200s helped out temporarily drafted in from elsewhere in the company. 

Route 112 finally got its promised Enviro200 buses after two months worth of delays. These buses still ply the route today, although are now topped up by a few Enviro200 MMC buses after they were incorrectly ordered for route 393. 

November

DEL2070 seen at Brent Cross
© LondonBuses72

North East London had a few changes this month. Route 192 made a move from Arriva to Go Ahead at Northumberland Park (NP). New Streetlites were ordered but the buses arrived late so Go Ahead had to temporarily hire the existing Arriva Darts and Enviro200s. Since then route 192 has moved back to Arriva operation and is now found allocated with Enviro200 MMCs. Its Wright Streetlites are to move to Metrobus at Orpington (MB) for routes 354 and R7, while a few will stay for the impending gain of route 456.

Arriva's bad luck continued with the loss route route 34, unexpectedly to Metroline. This brought Metroline to Walthamstow for the first time. The route was to get brand new Wright Eclipse Gemini 3s, however some of the buses were late arriving so the first month saw mixed operation with the new buses and some existing Enviro400 buses. Since then Arriva has also won this route back and it is based at Palmers Green (AD).

PDL139 finishes a journey on route 192 at Tottenham Hale.
© LondonBuses72

Abellio's winning streak continued, route S4 became the latest win. This was quite a blow to Quality Line who had provisionally ordered Enviro200s for the route's tender...although these then got switched to route S3 instead. 

December
This month was relatively quiet to end off a busy year. Route 137 became the last New Routemaster conversion of the year before everything quietened down for Christmas. 





We thank you for reading this post. Stay safe, stay indoors, save lives. We'll see you soon to look at 2015.