The Arriva Calamity

20th of January 2024 saw Arriva once again on the receiving end of a tender blow, with route 133 making its way to Transport UK (previously Abellio London) at Battersea (QB) and route 333 returning to Go Ahead operation at Stockwell (SW). 

Routes 133 and 333 both operate in South London. Route 133 operates between Streatham Station and Holborn Station and route 333 operates between Elephant & Castle and Tooting Broadway. Their previous contracts saw them both with Arriva London operating out of Brixton garage (BN) with route 333 being allocated Alexander Dennis E40H Citys and route 133 was allocated with a mix of E40H Citys and Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B5LHs. 

© EastLondoner

Route 133 has a long history from prior to 1934, originally operating between Croydon and Liverpool Street via Elephant & Castle, Brixton and Streatham. 1942 saw the route cut of the main day service from Croydon to Streatham, but evening variations of the route continuing to Croydon continued for a while alongside a short lived Hendon extension on Sundays. 1971 saw the route permanently cut to Streatham in the South while Liverpool Street continued to be the northern terminus. 1985 saw the route restructured to run between Tooting Broadway and Liverpool Street. 2003 saw the route cut back to Streatham, St Leonard's Church from Tooting with that section being replaced by brand new route 333. 2012 saw the route extended from St Leonard's Church to the new bus terminus at Streatham Station. Further change didn't come until April 2023 when route 133 was rerouted at Bank via route 8 to terminate at Holborn, taking it away from the Liverpool Street area for the first time in its history. 

Unlike the 133, route 333 does not have such a long history, as mentioned above it was introduced in 2003 to replace the 133's Tooting leg. The only change to its routing ever came in 2008 when it was rerouted between Brixton and Oval via Stockwell. 

 © EastLondoner

Both routes 133 and 333 were awarded to their new operators on the premise of using brand new electric buses. Go Ahead London opted for their mainstay, the Alexander Dennis Enviro400 City bodied BYD electrics while Transport UK chose their new standard, the Wright Electroliner. Needless to say that both routes at the time of writing do not have their allocation in place due to production delays of the vehicles alongside time required to prepare the garages they operate out of for electric operation. Route 133 in the meantime is using a mix of Electroliners from elsewhere in the fleet, New Routemasters and Alexander Dennis Enviro400H MMC buses while route 333 is using MCV EvoSeti buses.

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I went out a few days after the new operators took over to grab a few rides. My ride on the 333 was MHV70, which judging by its state had a very rough morning with the passengers with litter all over the bus and a very weird smell on board, but other than that there wasn't much to report. My ride at midday meant that I pretty much had the entire bus to myself and had a relatively quiet journey with minimal traffic apart from at Brixton, I'll savour those when I get them as with the increasing presence of LTNs within the borough of Lambeth it won't be often we'll be getting fast journeys such as this. It certainly wasn't long until we reached the last stop on the route at Elephant and Castle. 

© EastLondoner

© EastLondoner

Upon disembarking I made my way to get the 133, hoping to get one of the Electroliners on the route that were borrowed from various other routes within the Transport UK fleet. Much to my luck I got 3034. The bus was to the new higher TfL specification, with high backed seats and an updated iBus display. The bus also had wood effect flooring and glass pillars at the front instead of the standard opaque ones. But journey wise this was the complete opposite to the 333 that I had earlier, we were travelling really slow and got caught up in traffic all over the place. We regulated for a while at London Bridge before slowly trundling through the City despite an obvious lack of traffic. One thing I was certainly glad for was the high backed and more padded seat, a small consolation in the grand scheme. 

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After what felt like forever we eventually made it to Holborn Station where I was the only passenger left on the bus. My journey today had given me two completely different experiences, a mediocre bus that was worn down and desperately needed a clean, but a very fast and seamless journey which was then followed by a nearly brand new bus with all the bells and whistles that you'd want but accompanied by a really slow and painful journey. I'll leave it up to you, the reader, to decide what you'd prefer out of the pair but I can certainly say that when I want to get somewhere I'd much rather be there in a timely manner and maybe have a less comfortable journey rather than having a comfortable journey just to arrive with a higher than average blood pressure and later than you expected.

© EastLondoner

My rides showed the past and the future. Both routes will get their permanent allocations over the next few months. If you'd like a ride on the 133 and 333 before the electrics (fully) take over on the routes you will need to get a move on! The future is most certainly zero emission.