It's amazing to think that five years ago that we had a huge array of changes on the last day of April. We had the 345 going to Abellio, the 368 going to Arriva, the 35 and 40 going to Go Ahead while there were many new retains throughout London. It's often forgotten that during that time of huge change, among the changes were renewals to routes 28 and 328 by Tower Transit while they also started a new contract on the 69, which got advanced to February due to other circumstances and it ended up missing out on all the attention at the end of April it probably would have got. 

Two brand new electrics at Canning Town
© EastLondoner

5 years is either a short time, or a long time depending on how you view it. Things can change very quickly, but then it can also only feel like a day has passed. But I think Tower Transit would have wished otherwise. While they saw great success in 2016, retaining the 28 and 328 and winning the 69, 5 years later in 2021 it was a disastrous sequence of events for them. The summer of 2020 was certainly not a good time for them, losing two major contracts of routes 25 and 425, but a few weeks following the 425 loss they got further blows. A tender announced in July saw routes 28 and 69 both lost in a single round, with the 28 making a surprising move to RATP while the 69 was lost to Go Ahead from a new expanded base in Silvertown. Most notably, route 328 was missing from this announcement, prompting speculation about major alterations to the route, alongside a possible loss following on from the 28 and 69 awards. 4 long months later, the worst was confirmed for them, with an award in November seeing the 328 awarded to Metroline out of Cricklewood. 

This blow was not softened by the fact that the 28, 69 and 328 were all going to leave on the same day, the 1st of May 2021. While it was clear soon after the 328 award that the route would be heading to Cricklewood (W), there was some doubt over the 28 and 69 awards. RATP did have a garage not too far from the 28, in the form of Park Royal (RP), but the award was actually to RATP: London Sovereign, suggesting Edgware (BT) were the garage taking it on. Although a couple of months passed, and it was made public that the Original Tour depot (operated by RATP) in Wandsworth would be re-opening to TfL services following a reduction in tour buses following the pandemic. This garage however is no stranger to TfL services, operating the 337 many years ago for Arriva, when they owned the Original Tour garage under the code of WD. Although times have changed now, RATP are at the helm and with it comes a new code, JE for Jews Row. This wasn't the only new garage here though. Go Ahead had been on the lookout for new land in East London, following the news that half of River Road garage was being taken over by the council for redevelopment into a multi-purpose business centre. A new site was scouted out not far from the current Silvertown (SI) garage and would be home to the 69, there was some doubt initially over the garage opening on time, but that problem seems to have been overcome. 

VN37953 seen at Wandsworth
© EastLondoner

Starting off with route 28, a route which has a huge amount of history with Westbourne Park (X) was no doubt a major shock to many enthusiasts. The route's history goes back beyond 1934, with Westbourne Park (X) playing a role in the route's operation since 1938 when it had a partial allocation out of the garage as a Wandsworth Bridge - Golders Green route. A couple of years later, the route was extended further into Wandsworth Town Centre, forming a Wandsworth to Golders Green route which would last an extremely long time until 1999, when route 328 took over the section to Golders Green and the 28 was cut back to Harrow Road. Although in 2006 the route was extended from Harrow Road to Kensal Rise which formed the current route in operation today. In 2011, the route had to temporarily move out to a base in Park Royal (AS), although this was only temporary due to building works at Westbourne Park, the route returned there in 2017. The latest change of operator from Tower Transit to RATP marked the first time that the route would not have an allocation out of Westbourne Park (ignoring the phase AS had) since 1938. The last contract under Tower Transit saw the route allocated with Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied B9TLs, supplemented by a few Wright Gemini 2 bodied DB300s. 

I went out a couple of days following the takeover to see how the 28 was doing under RATP. The new allocation was made up out of Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B5LH buses which were previously found on route 139 before that route was lost to Metroline in 2020. These buses were known to be in a notoriously poor state during their time on route 139, they had since undergone an extensive refurbishment. Although interestingly the refurbishment was carried out to different standards on each bus, some buses were fitted with completely new poles which can be easily identified with the new turquoise colour, while some buses continued with their orange poles which were resprayed. While initially confusing, it was later revealed that the refurbishment contract of the buses were split between two companies, Hants&Dorset and Thornton Brothers who each carried out refurbishments to a different standard. Both sets of refurbishments involved fitting of new moquettes to seats along with a deep interior clean. From my experience, the buses rode like new buses following their refurb. Certainly a major improvement from their previous state, I wouldn't even be surprised if people would mistake it for a completely new bus.

VH45119 is seen at Kensal Rise
© EastLondoner

VH45192 at Kensal Rise
©EastLondoner

The new allocation, as mentioned earlier comes out of Wandsworth (JE), which operates as an outstation for Stamford Brook (V), which as a result means any heavy maintenance is carried out there alongside any checks the buses will require. As a result buses may rotate between the two garages, and there's one allocated journey each day which goes back to Stamford Brook garage at the end of the day as opposed to Wandsworth to allow for routine maintenance. For this reason, some of Stamford Brook's own allocation will often appear on route 28. The day I did the route there were quite a few Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 buses out on the route. These buses are likely to appear on route 28 every couple of days should any of its own allocation require maintenance that results in it being out of action for a few days. Service on the route so far has been of a good standard, and all that's left is to hope that this good standard of service continues over the next 5, or maybe 7 years for this route!

VH38132 seen at Chelsea
© EastLondoner

As I mentioned, the lost section of the 28 to Golders Green was replaced by route 328 which was introduced in 1999, making this route a lot younger compared to its sister. It was introduced in 1999 as a Chelsea to Golders Green route and has remained as such ever since. The route was based at Westbourne Park (X) since inception, although it too did move out to the temporary site in Park Royal during the building works at Westbourne Park in 2011 before returning in 2017. Its most recent contract saw it allocated with Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5LHs which were brought for a retained contract in 2016. These buses are similar to what it will eventually be allocated at Metroline, although currently they are on route 7 as that route waits for the introduction of Hydrogen buses. 

A loaned TT bus on the 328
© EastLondoner

However, due to a delay with the Hydrogen buses, Metroline found themselves in a sticky situation where the buses the intended to use on the route would not be ready. Due to spares not being available elsewhere in the fleet, the decision was taken to loan the buses from Tower Transit in order to start the service out of Cricklewood (W), with them gradually being replaced by the intended allocation of native Metroline Gemini 3s as the buses became available following the introduction of the Hydrogen buses. When this will happen at the moment is unclear, the pandemic has delayed the Hydrogen programme considerably and it could range from just a few weeks to many months until the buses are ready. Despite the loaned buses are the exact same allocation as Tower Transit, the move to Metroline did mean that native Metroline buses kept at Cricklewood (W) can appear on the route. Workings of native VWHs, TEHs and MMC TEHs have already happened on the route.

TEH2087 seen at Elgin Avenue
© EastLondoner

Arguably the most notable change of the trio was to that of route 69, which was the only route to get new buses. Unlike the 28 and 328, this route has managed to bounce around operators quite a bit. It still feels like yesterday when I wrote the post about route 69 making the move from Stagecoach to Tower Transit and it's already changed operator once again.

DN33653 seen at Walthamstow Central
© EastLondoner

Route 69 under Tower Transit was often a route that left a lot to be desired, bunching all over the place and unreliable service made the route very infamous among the local demographic. Therefore despite coming at a time when Tower Transit were suffering many route losses, it was probably a very welcome award. Fittingly, the move to Go Ahead was to bring brand new electric buses to the route, following on from the virtual electric buses that the route used to have a partial allocation of under Tower Transit. As expected, the preferred order was to be ADL BYD Enviro400 City EVs, a type that is becoming increasingly common in London. Currently as I type this the orderbook for that type alone exceeds 150 across all operators for London alone. Alongside the virtual electric buses, the majority allocation were standard Alexander Dennis Enviro400s. These buses have now been predominantly withdrawn from the TT fleet, although two are expected to remain at Lea Interchange (LI) for spares. 

DH38503 seen at Canning Town
© EastLondoner

Ee50 seen at Canning Town
© EastLondoner

The new garage operating route 69 was given the code DS, and is being referred to as Henley Road, presumably to avoid confusion with other garage a few units down. Prior to the announcement of River Road's downsizing, the intention was for Henley Road (DS) to actually be a fully electric operation, although that's no longer happening, planning documentation says the intention is for it to have a fully electric fleet in the future which makes it London's first purpose built garage for electric bus operation. This shows us increasingly where the future of London buses now lies, despite fully electric routes were once a pipe dream, they are now very much a reality and route 69 is just one addition to a growing number of routes. The buses themselves are not too different from the other electric BYD double deckers in London, although for some reason they have the middle seat at the rear of the lower deck blocked off. Other than that there's nothing special about the batch compared to other Go Ahead examples. 

Ee56 seen at Walthamstow Central
© EastLondoner

While these three routes all show promising future at their new operators, what does the future hold for Tower Transit? Every operator has its ups and downs, we only need to remind ourselves of the time when Stagecoach lost the 5, 15 and 115 all on the same day to Go Ahead just to bounce back a couple of years later taking on the 25 and 425 from Tower Transit. Arguably Tower Transit are having a far rougher patch, due to their small size. Routes 212, 444, 25, 425, 28, 328 and 69 have all been lost since the start of 2020, with only the C3 coming in as a result. Although route 414 will be making a move to Westbourne Park (X), it doesn't make up for the losses faced by the company. Routes 308 and 488 have been welcome retains for the company since the start of this year, however routes W15 and 13 are both due tender results over the next few weeks. Can they keep a hold of them and maybe win some additional work? Time will only tell. 

One year we will all certainly remember throughout our lives will be the year of 2020, when everyone was trapped inside, unable to ride buses as frequently as we did and unable to go about our normal lives. However while we were stuck at home, advised against public transport use many operator changes did take place. I managed to get the 25 covered as I live local to it so could get to it without using public transport, however relaxation of restrictions meant that I could finally catch up with a few changes in North London. 

© LondonBuses72

Routes 67, 106 and 230 have made a move from Arriva London to Go Ahead at Northumberland Park (NP) while route 191 has made a move from Go Ahead to Arriva at Enfield (E). Route 191 is using Wright Pulsar Gemini 2 buses made free from Arriva's losses while Go Ahead have added to their growing fleet of electric buses at Northumberland Park. The changes all initially had different contract start dates, with the 67 and 106 due to move to Go Ahead on the 25th of April, route 191 due to move on the 1st of May and the 230 due to move on the 20th of June. However due to the pandemic the changes on the 25th of April and the 1st of May were both postponed to take place on the 6th of June instead.

LT236 seen at Dalston Junction
© EastLondoner

Route 67 was no doubt going to be the quietest change out of all the routes that changed in this round. Under Arriva it had received an updated allocation of New Routemaster running out of Stamford Hill (SF) buses around a year before the contract change. This meant that the route would continue with a similar fleet of buses under Go Ahead, although the buses would move garage and would now bear the logos of Go Ahead as opposed to Arriva. Route 67 was introduced in 1961 running between Northumberland Park and the London Docks (just near Aldgate). In 1966 the route was extended from the London Docks to Wapping and in 1971 the route was withdrawn between Northumberland Park and Stamford Hill which remained the case until 1979 when the route was cut back from Wapping to Aldgate Station and extended from Stamford hill to Wood Green. The route then remained like this until 2019 when the route was cut back from Aldgate to Dalston Junction as part of the Central London bus changes. 

LT172 seen on stand at Wood Green
© EastLondoner

The changes the 67 had weren't too noticeable on the date of contract change. It was just like most other changes that were underwent bu routes operated by New Routemaster buses. A few logos were changed on buses and that's pretty much all that was changed to the public eye. The most unique feature about this change was the fact that the new Go Ahead logos applied to the buses were yellow, like the ones initially found on the LTs for route 11 as opposed to being fully white which became the standard for New Routemaster buses afterwards. Other than that there's not much to say about the route change apart from the fact I hope Go Ahead have a successful five, or maybe seven years on the route.

DW520 seen on stand at Whitechapel
© EastLondoner

The only change on the 6th of June that called for new buses was route 106 which ran between Finsbury Park and Whitechapel. This route has an extremely long history, dating back records beyond 1934. In 1934 it was a route that ran between Finsbury Park and Chittys Lane in Becontree running via Clapton, Roman Road, Mile End, Burdett Road, Canning Town, Barking By-Pass, Movers Lane, Barking Town Centre and Longbridge Road. The route remained in that state until 1971 when it was withdrawn between Becontree and Poplar and then in 1989 cut back to Mile End apart from a few journeys which would continue to the Isle of Dogs. In 1993 the route was rerouted from Mile End to Whitechapel where the Royal London Hospital was and has remained like that since. 

Ee6 seen at Finsbury Park
© EastLondoner

The previous allocation of the route under Arriva saw it with the early 2010s standard of Wright Pulsar Gemini 2s on the VDL DB300 chassis with the route running out of Ash Grove (AE). These buses have now moved to route 191.The new allocation under Go Ahead was to be brand new electric buses in the form of Enviro400 City Electric buses on Alexander Dennis' E40H City body on BYD's electric chassis. This type was previously already seen on route 212 which operates out of the same garage and also come with similar technology installed including the Intelligent speed assist system which limits a bus to the speed limit of the road it is travelling on along with new cameras instead of wing mirrors which are designed to improve the visibility for the driver and reduce blind spots. 

While route 67 and 106 went from Arriva to Go Ahead on the 6th of June, route 191 which runs between Edmonton Green and Brimsdown went the other way from Go Ahead to Arriva operation. 

EN15 seen on the 191
© LondonBuses72

Route 191 started off very different to what it is today. The route was introduced in 1954 running between Chingford Hatch and Lower Edmonton, 1966 saw the route extended from Edmonton to Enfield Town running via Ponders End and Nightingale Road. In 1981 the route was withdrawn between Chingford Hatch and Chingford Station, with that part being taken over by route 212 and in 1982 the route was withdrawn between Chingford and Lower Edmonton. 1985 saw the route being extended to Brimsdown from Enfield. The most recent change to the route happened in 1998 when the terminus in Lower Edmonton was shifted to the bus station at Edmonton Green.

WVL359 seen on stand at Edmonton Green
© EastLondoner

Its last contract saw the route running out of Ex First Garage Northumberland Park, when Northumberland Park garage was sold by First to Go Ahead in 2012 route 191 was one of the routes included in the sale, as a result its allocation was predominantly made up out of Ex First vehicles, although refurbished into the Go Ahead variation of the livery upon the contract renewal of the route in 2015. However alongside the Ex First vehicles standard Go Ahead vehicles would also regularly stray onto the route so I've included pictures of both types in this post. Route 191 also was the last full time route Go Ahead operated in Edmonton, previously having a huge presence in the area. Route 616 is now their last route in the area which itself will be moving to HCT Group in the future. 

DW567 seen at Edmonton Green
© EastLondoner

The new allocation under Arriva is made up out of Wright Pulsar Gemini 2 bodied VDL DB300 buses, which were previously found on route 106, these have also been topped up with examples from elsewhere in the fleet Arriva operate the route out of Enfield garage in Ponders End which the route passes and who also operated the route in the early 1990s up until around 1996. Route 191 has a challenging nature to it, crossing the major A10 road a couple of times in its convoluted route which in the past which certainly made Go Ahead's operation on it rocky, and it will no doubt take Arriva some time to get used to the route and the challenges that it presents. I wish Arriva all the best of luck with it as it's something that they are certainly going to need over the next five or maybe seven years operating the route. 

DW573 seen turning into Edmonton Green Bus Station
© EastLondoner

DW545 seen at Tottenham Hale
© EastLondoner

The final operator change in this round wasn't due to take place the same day as the others, instead happening two weeks later on the 20th of June. Route 230 which runs between Upper Walthamstow and Wood Green made the move from Arriva London to Go Ahead. Route 230 was introduced in 1973 running quite a different route to what it does today between Manor House and Stratford via Leyton, Tottenham Hale and Seven Sisters. In 1981 the Stratford terminus was adjusted to become Whipps Cross alongside an extension to Finsbury Park and in 1982 the route was extended to Leytonstone. In 1987 the route was diverted to terminate at Wood Green, this remained the case until 1996 where the route was diverted to terminate at Upper Walthamstow instead of Leytonstone forming the same route in operation today. 

Ee38 seen at Wood Green
© EastLondoner

The most recent tenure of the route at Arriva saw it allocated with Wright Pulsar Gemini 2 bodied VDL DB300 buses, much like the 106. The route was operated out of Tottenham garage (AR) which it passed. There's not much else to say about this change, effectively being a repeat of the 106 and 212 changes which had taken place prior with pretty much identical buses now on the route, as a result this bus mixes and matches the bus type with routes 212 and 106, alongside recent convert route 357 as well. Like most other routes in this round of operator changes, route 230 poses a challenge to operate being susceptible to traffic along Hoe Street and Ferry Lane approaching Tottenham Hale however so far Go Ahead have proven themselves well on the route and offering a reliable service. 

The rear of a BYD Enviro400 City
© LondonBuses72

Overall these changes have been good news for Go Ahead, one loss in the form of route 191 was cancelled out by the gain of three routes. It's also nice to see the rapid shift towards electric buses on newly gained routes as well as the ever growing fleet at Northumberland Park (NP). Sadly Arriva fared much worse with this round of changes, losing three routes and only gaining one in return. The company has in the past few days just announced the closure of Stamford Hill garage to reduce overall operating costs in order to remain competitive in an ever more increasingly competitive market.

As for the electric fleet in London, this is now only going to grow. There's a few more Hybrid buses to trickle into service on various routes however more electrics are soon expected later this year for routes 173 and 174 at Stagecoach and route C3 at Tower Transit so there's plenty more to look forward to over the forthcoming months.

The current situation we are in has led to many delays. However, one substantial delay occurred to a change that was meant to take place all the way in January and has only just been completed. Route 323, which runs between Canning Town Bus Station and Mile End Station in East London, has just finished its conversion to electric buses. 

29201 seen alongside a 147 at Canning Town
© EastLondoner

36364 seen at Canning Town
© EastLondoner

Before we go into some detail about the buses, let me go through some history of the route.  This very short route has a fittingly short history. It was introduced in January 2003, running between Canning Town and Mile End via Manor Road, Stephenson Street, Prologis Park, Twelvetrees Crescent and Bow Common Lane. This is still the same route followed today. The contract, however, was initially held by First London, operating out of their Hackney garage. The route was transferred to Lea Interchange (LI) when Hackney garage was forced to close, but was then lost to the East London Bus Group out of West Ham (WH) in 2010 which had conveniently opened up on the line of route a few years prior where the route has remained since. The East London Bus Group was purchased by the Stagecoach group in 2010 and the 323 is now a Stagecoach London operation.

29201 seen at Mile End
© EastLondoner

The renewal in January 2020 called for brand new electric buses (29201-29205) to be introduced on the route. There was no sign of them in January. January became February, and February became March, before they finally got delivered towards the end of March. However, by this point, the Coronavirus pandemic had started to cause havoc through the country and entering these buses into service was not the biggest priority at hand. Time passed and it was only on the 20th of June that these buses finally turned a wheel in service due to the various delays that the pandemic had caused. However I can certainly tell you that the wait was worth it!

High back seats
© EastLondoner

Unexpectedly, the buses were delivered with a few unique features that nobody thought we'd see anytime soon. The most obvious one being the inclusion of high back seats throughout the bus. These could be found on some seats on Stagecoach ALX400s and Abellio Enviro400s, but it was not normal to see them span the whole bus. However, that was not the only additional feature that the buses had, as they also came with phone holders on the back of seats along with the now expected USB port. Certain seats also had a more accessible stop bell on their rear, although from my experience they weren't the smoothest to push. 

An example of how the rear of the seats look, including a USB port, stop bell and USB charger
© EastLondoner

29201's rear
© EastLondoner

Due to the increased size of the seats, the rear row only consists of 4 seats. I couldn't get a picture of them as someone was already sitting there and I wanted to adhere to social distancing guidelines so you'll have to take my word on it! The exterior design of the buses is to the new updated design of the Enviro200 EV that was introduced initially with the brand new batch of buses for the 444, including a battery pod that spans the whole length of the roof of the bus as opposed to just a small portion. Although this does also mean that the rear number display is also slightly off centre for some reason - although I'm sure there's a logistical reason behind it! 

29201 seen at Canning Town
© EastLondoner

Overall these buses are a great addition to the London bus network, bringing brand new features to their passengers - albeit buses out of London have had these features for a long time. It's unclear whether these features will become standard on future deliveries, we'll have to wait and see for that. But for now it's great to see TfL take baby steps on improving on board facilities for passengers - hopefully they get to the service aspect next!

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.

The Go-Ahead Group continue to establish a platform for the electric bus market as route 360 becomes the first in London to have three different zero-emission bus types in its allocation.

Go-Ahead convert routes 507 and 521 to fully electric buses in association with Alexander Dennis-BYD, a new manufacturing partnership.

Route 69 is a route in East London, running between Walthamstow central and Canning Town. It is one of the many routes in the area to recently undergo a service change. This route transferred from the operation of Stagecoach London to operation with Tower Transit from Lea Interchange (LI) garage.

10108 on the 69 takes rest in Canning Town Bus Station

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On the 7th of October 2015, it was announced that the route had been awarded to Tower Transit with existing buses made free from the loss of route 26 to CT Plus. The change was initially due to take place on the 30th of April, however it was negotiated to take place on the 2nd of February instead. This was due to a forthcoming trial of Virtual Electric Enviro400 MMCs on the route. 

The Virtual electric Enviro400 MMCs were initially due to enter service with Stagecoach, however the buses were transferred to Tower Transit when they won the new contract for the route. The buses are a special type of Hybrid bus, which can operate as an electric vehicle for a considerably longer time than a conventional hybrid. The bus would charge at either terminus using wireless electromagnetic charging pads installed on the ground at the bus stand. Upon hearing this news, I was pretty excited to finally get some form of electric bus operating in my area with the added excitement of the bus type chosen was my favourite bus body currently available on the market. 

© EastLondoner

The virtual electric buses entered service during November 2015, while the route was still under Stagecoach London operation. Tower Transit operated the Virtual electric buses as an extra service on the route. During the first few days of operation the buses were running without ibus on, making them extremely difficult to track down and ride. During December the buses started appearing on ibus, and therefore much easier to track using the London Vehicle Finder. A few days before Christmas on December 22nd, I went out to Canning Town Bus Station to get a glimpse of these buses. However once I snapped the bus, the bus pulled up on stand and the blinds started scrolling to blank. However I have to say that I did part expect that to happen due to the unpredictability of the bus's operation. 

I didn't pay much attention to the route after that, the virtual electric buses continued to be very difficult to hunt down. It was on the 2nd of February I found myself going after the route again, the day the whole service transferred over to Tower Transit. Existing ALX400 buses were hired by Tower Transit from Stagecoach London as the buses destined for the 69 were still on route 26. However a few of Tower Transit's own buses were out, including one 12reg bus transferred over from route 23s allocation at Westbourne Park (X) garage. 

DN33639 seen on Tower Transit's first day of operation at Stratford Bus Station
© EastLondoner

© EastLondoner

Service on the first day was pretty much expected. The 69 is not an easy route to operate due to its traffic hotspots, and any new operator on the route will need some time to get used to it. I did take a quick ride on DN33639 (pictured above) however the bus was quite late and part of triple bunching on the route and was very crowded. I did find it very weird that I was on a 69 that was not operated by Stagecoach London, my whole life I have been using the route as a Stagecoach London route. 

As some weeks passed with route 69 at Tower Transit, more and more buses were transferred over to Lea Interchange (LI) from Westbourne Park (X) and Atlas Road (AS) garages, made possible by the conversion of route 328 to Volvo B5LH. These buses started outsting all the Tridents left operating on route 69, and by the start of May all the Tridents had returned to Stagecoach London (and they have since left) with the 69 being operated fully by Tower Transit's own buses. 

In June I went back out to judge how the 69 had been performing under its new operator. By this point the Virtual Electric buses were also operating as part of the main schedule for the route, and therefore much easier to track down and board. Upon arrival at Canning Town Bus Station I was greeted with a full 69 stand. There was also a bus standing at the 69s pick up stop, which then proceeded to break down and block the stop completely. However apart from that little slip up, service was operating better than my previous experiences with the route.

After a slight wait, the virtual electric Enviro400 MMC had arrived and pulled up on stand. A wireless charger was due to be installed at Canning Town Bus Station but there was no sign of it. 

DH38503 takes some stand time at Canning Town Bus Station
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High back seats on the DH
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When I boarded the bus, the first thing my attention was drawn to were the high back seats, extremely unusual for a London bus however they were a most welcomed addition. I took my seat at the front of the bus, and we started moving on our way to Walthamstow Central. For the first part of the journey, we were stuck in typical Barking Road traffic, and after that the route uses side roads where you can't really see the potential in the bus. We eventually reached Stratford where the bus started to get very crowded. I was hoping for the bus to convert to operating in Electric mode at around this point in the journey but it continued to behave like a normal hybrid. We travelled along Stratford gyratory before turning off towards Leyton and Maryland. We did get stuck in a bit of traffic here and for the first time in my journey the bus showcased its stop-start ability. 

We then had empty road ahead of us, however my bus did not exceed 20mph. Something I found quite disappointing. The bus was also starting to get pretty stuffy due to the crowd aboard the bus, the high back seats also made the bus feel slightly claustrophobic. We eventually reached Baker's Arms where we were met by traffic which took us all the way to Walthamstow bus station. 

DH38503 sits on its charger at Walthamstow Bus Station
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Upon disembarking the bus at Walthamstow Bus Station I did feel quite disappointing, the bus did not remain in electric mode for any long period of time, behaving for all its journey just like your standard Hybrid bus. The bus was crawling for most of its journey despite having a few traffic free roads. A very disappointing experience aboard the bus for me, especially for a bus type I was so excited to ride initially.

Overall the service has improved on the route since Tower Transit's early days on the route. But if you are considering riding the Virtual Electric Enviro400 MMC I would not recommend you to keep it as a top priority of yours.