The Scottish Tower

There are some routes that just can never stay with one operator. 7 years later we revisit route 135 which has yet again made a change of operator, this time moving from Go Ahead operation to Tower Transit operation at Lea Interchange. 

We have previously written about route 135 on this blog, although that was covering the change from Arriva to Go Ahead. A lot of the route's history can be found on that post, but since then the 135 has also had its fair few changes, but that can all be read about on a post that I wrote in 2016. For a short route it's no doubt had its fair share of history!

This post however will focus on the most recent change the route has undergone from Go Ahead London operation to Tower Transit operation. When the route's tender came up towards the end of 2021 it was probably given that having a relatively young allocation complaint with the Central London Ultra Low emission Zone would mean Go Ahead would have a comfortable time retaining it. At most Stagecoach and Arriva could potentially provide some competition, although it certainly took many people by surprise when Tower Transit were the operator that came out victorious. Bidding to run the route out of their Lea Interchange garage using buses that were previously found on route 328, but had made a quick stop at Stagecoach to cover for the delivery of late electrics in south London. Although prior to take up of route 135 they ran on temporary route 733 which operated between Oval and Moorgate to cover for the Northern Line closure (as seen in the above picture). 

A selection of vehicles which appeared on route 135 during Go Ahead's tenure

Go Ahead's time on the 135 ended pretty uneventfully in the early hours of the 21st of May, with EHV6 being the last bus to run on the route. Tower Transit picked up service the next morning. Tower Transit didn't have the smoothest start to operating the route, with extreme traffic down the A13 making gaps in the service and short turns very evident. I did go out later in the afternoon to experience the route, thankfully a quick gander on Google maps gave me adequate warning to avoid the Central London portion of the 135 and instead confine my trip predominantly within the Docklands. Upon arrival at Canary Wharf I didn't need to wait long to get a photo of VH38113 on its way into the City, proudly displaying the updated final destination of "Old Street, Provost Street" that TfL had now mandated. Whether this more specific destination is of use to anyone is another question considering many people don't seem to know where Provost Street even is. 

The journey was relatively unremarkable, those aware of my preferences know that the Volvo B5LH and Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC combination is one of my favourite bus types currently in operation in London, while I was sad to see them go from route 135, the newer Tower Transit vehicles are no doubt a worthy replacement. Amazing care from Tower Transit's engineering team at both Westbourne Park and Lea Interchange has resulted in these buses still looking and feeling brand new. 

VH38112 seen on stand at Crossharbour

Like many operator changes, there's not much else to say about the route...or is there? Usually at this point in the post I would make a comment about the future of the route but in this case we already know vaguely where the future is heading with this route. It was announced on Friday the 27th of May that Lea Interchange garage, along with all its routes and buses have been sold to the Scotland based Stagecoach group, and shall be absorbed into Stagecoach London's bus operations, all due to be finalised on the 24th of June 2022. This means that route 135 will be making yet another operator change hot on the heels of the last one and shall become a Stagecoach route, but this time will be staying at the same garage and keeping the same fleet of buses. 

Tower Transit haven't had the smoothest start, but no doubt there'll be room for improvement as time goes on. They don't have particularly long left on the route, with just a couple of weeks remaining. But hopefully the route has a bright future, both under the temporary Tower Transit reign and the more longer term Stagecoach reign on the route that is yet to come. 

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