South takes on North

10 years of this blog, who knew we'd still be here all this time later! It's been a while since the last post, but here's one today. We are focussing on route 91 and its recent move to Go Ahead London operating obscurely out of Stockwell (SW). 

Yes, the route that runs between Trafalgar Square and Crouch End is being operated out of a garage in South London. There's a multitude of reasons for this, however the most widely acknowledged one is the crippling driver shortage at Northumberland Park (NP) up in North London (which was the garage which actually won the route) meant they were not in a position to take over the route. Stockwell garage isn't suffering as badly so were able to take the route on for now. 

Go Ahead are a new operator to this route, but if we look back into history the original plan where the 91 was meant to operate out of Northumberland Park isn't a completely new idea. The route is a relatively young one, starting operation in October 1992 running between Crouch End and Trafalgar Square via Holloway, Kings Cross, Euston, Russell Square and Aldwych. This is the same route that is in operation today. In 1992 when the route was introduced, it ran out of Holloway (HT) garage, at the time part of London Northern (Later MTL, and later Metroline). 1997 saw the route move to Northumberland Park (NP) under Capital City's (later First London) and in 2009 the route returned to operating from Holloway (HT) where it remained until Go Ahead took on the contract recently. 

© LondonBuses72

The previous two contracts at Metroline saw the route have an interesting allocation with it being allocated Enviro400s, then New Routemasters which were removed due to a variety of incidents on the route before using a mix of Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 and MCV EvoSeti bodied Volvo B5LH. The Go Ahead contract was won using existing hybrids, and these were soon after confirmed to be the unique EHVs that were previously allocated to the 135. Unique in the sense they are the only Enviro400 MMC bodied Volvo B5LHs in the Go Ahead fleet, and are part of only three batches in London completely. After being relieved from their duties on the 135, the EHVs initially made their way to Merton (AL) to provide cover for some grounded Optare MetroDecker EVs on the 200. They were then found on other routes at Merton before making their way to Stockwell. 

© EastLondoner

The Enviro400 MMC as a type are iconic to say the least, being present in almost every area of London, and you're never far from one. But I had special interest in doing the 91 on its first day at Go Ahead as the EHVs were the first MMCs that I rode. I made my way to Crouch Hill then grabbed a ride on the W7 to Crouch End broadway. I had to run to the bus stop to make my bus, which was going to be EHV8. Internally the bus felt like new, the refurbishment had very clearly been carried out to a very high standard. The ride itself was nothing out of the ordinary, we didn't have much traffic throughout the journey but this did have the negative effect of needing to stop three times to regulate the service. I wasn't too bothered about the regulation, but there was a large portion of people who got off my 91 that when the regulation announcement went off rushed off the bus and piled onto the 259 behind. Before I knew it we were along the Strand, stuck in traffic from the inevitable weekend closure of Whitehall due to a protest. 

While EHVs are to be the mainstay of the 91s allocation for the foreseeable future, Stockwell do have a variety of Hybrids available that can run the route. The first day itself saw WHV50, a Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 make an appearance on the route. 

© EastLondoner

I believe the eventual intention will be to move the 91 to Northumberland Park (NP) when the circumstances permit, so you may be limited in your time if you'd like to ride the route while it's operating out of Stockwell (SW). 

Go Ahead have been managing alright on the route so far (it's only been 2 days!), hopefully the operation remains consistent under their operation, and matches the standard set by their predecessor for the next 7 years!