We've been around for about 7 years and a bit now...and counting. It's been a rough start to the year for the world because of that c-word so how about something to lift those spirits by strolling down, past the better times, to Memory Lane.

Phwoar, remember this!
First London TN33191 on route 607

2013
The way buses look has really changed
The year was 2013 back when we started, right at the beginning of it. The country was still on cloud nine following what was a rather successful 2012 Olympic, which London itself was proud to host for the third time. Times were different then in the transport industry, several bus routes were still around that aren't now, and likewise, a number of bus routes didn't exist at the time.

A massive difference which I am sure you will remember is also the fact that transport giant First operated a good chunk of bus routes in London, having built a massive empire particularly across West London. The shock that came to many of us that all of this was to be sold practically overnight on the 22nd June.

On the left is a type we sadly no longer have in London anymore, quite literally the President of buses. A Plaxton President bodied Dennis Trident 2 operating limited stop route 607 - since this photo was taken, the route had been upgraded to a mixture of Wright Eclipse Gemini 1 buses and Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s shortly after. What's more shocking (where has the time gone?!) is that the route has now been upgraded once again to new MCV Evoseti bodied Volvo B5LHs.

This is a prime example of how much even the specification of buses has changed since the 2000s. London buses are not allowed to have operator logos or decals either side of the destination display as shown here, something First were well known for doing.

TP411 (LK03 CFE) on route E2 in Northfields

Something else that has massively changed is the mass-disappearance of skirts on all TfL buses. It perhaps could be viewed as a shame and a loss of colour across London's busy roads, only to be done in favour of a uniform 100% corporate red on all new and refurbished buses regardless of operator. In 2020 we have very few buses left with skirts, notably the odd older-generation Go-Ahead London bus but it may be very likely that after this year we will have reached a state where every bus is fully red.

Demonstrating what it is that we're talking about, is TP411, now long since withdrawn, a Plaxton President bodied Dennis Trident 2 with the famous Metroline blue skirt and white band and the original logo with the orange stripes through the 't' (it's the little things!) on route E2 in Northfields. The last of these types were replaced by more Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 buses around 2015-2016.


Some routes have really changed operators countless times...

Route 266, between Brent Cross and Hammersmith (or so it was at the time!), has changed countless times in the last 7 years. When we started in January 2013, the route had only been settling in at it's new home, Atlas Road (AS) (remember that?!) under a shock tender win when First had nabbed the route in May 2012. The route was to use a mixture of new and existing (but even they were only a few months old) Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs that were in use on flagship route 23 at Westbourne Park (X) garage.

The route has changed a lot since then and we'll probably see it again later in this series of commemorative posts but only in brief. But to sum up all the changes, Atlas Road (AS) had been purchased by then-new Australian bus operator Transit Systems, who would trade in London as Tower Transit. This would be the deal for the remaining 4 years of the contract until Metroline nabbed the route back from Cricklewood (W) garage in 2017 using 10-year old Enviro 400s - the exact same ones that had operated the route 2007-2012.

Photography skills were not great at the time - but here is VN36292
at Horn Lane in Acton back in January 2013. This bus has since been withdrawn
from TfL service and now lives in Bath with an independent bus operator.

This was a short-term special contract that was only to last 2 years as the network of buses across West London was to be massively redesigned in the anticipation that Elizabeth line services would start in 2019. However, as we know how that story ended, the £15bn railway had gained a new name, the £18bn railway and was delayed into the early 2020s and depending on the impacts of this virus, it is nearly definitely to be delayed again as construction work has ground to a halt.

Despite all of this, TfL still pushed ahead with the planned bus network changes and so on the 7th December 2019, route 266 was cut so that it only ran between Brent Cross and Acton, Old Town Hall. The section between Acton and Hammersmith would continue to be served at night by a newly created N266, and during the day by new single decker route 218 (Tower Transit, North Acton to Hammersmith) and double decker route 306 (RATP Group, Acton Vale to Fulham, Sands End). The new contract was also timed to start on this day, which saw Metroline lose the route again to RATP Group using a mixture of existing diesel and hybrid vehicles from the 81 and 94.

As a bit of trivia, is route 266 the route that has changed operator the most in the last 10 years? Let us know in the comments if you find another route that can beat this.

WVL417 (LX11 CWZ) on route 425 at Stratford

Route 425 is another route that will have changed operators a couple of times. When we first started, Go-Ahead London had been operating the route from their Docklands Buses base in Silvertown (SI) using a mixture of Gemini 2 and Scania OmniCity buses. The route was introduced in 2008 as a successor to route S2 (Stratford - Bow - Clapton) and was a local service running about every 12 minutes between Stratford, Bus Station and Clapton, Nightingale Road.

First had won the route upon tender in 2013 with brand new Enviro 400 buses. However this may be one of the more weirder tender wins in the history book, as First had submitted the bid in 2012 and had won the route from Lea Interchange (LI) garage for a contract starting August 2013. But as they were keen to sell up and move away from the London bus scene quickly, the depot had been sold to Transit Systems by the end of June that year. This meant that along with all the assets they took over, the 425 contract automatically had been novated, with Tower Transit using the buses First had procured (in their livery and interior fit out too) using the same contract terms and obligations that First had won the route on. So despite winning the route, First never actually operated the route even for a day.

Fast forward several years later to 2018 and an interesting turn of events occurred. Route 425 had been chosen to be extended from Stratford, Bus Station along the A118 Romford Road to Ilford (paralleling routes 25 and 86) in a bid to boost capacity and connectivity but also merge the route with the short journeys route 25 had to Mile End. This saw Gemini 2 buses return to the 425 as a part of the allocation as the route became a high profile trunk route.

Later this year, the route alongside sister route 25 will start a new contract at Stagecoach from Bow (BW) garage with brand new buses. The contract start date may be liable to change. If this does happen, our tenders page will be immediately altered to reflect this.

There's a lot to get through in 2013, and we're a big believer in a picture paints a thousand words so for the rest of this post, here's some photos that sum up the bus scene 7 years ago.

Route 207 was host to a unique (and well missed!) batch of Scania OmniCities. These were the last production batch built for London and the only ones that First had ordered, to enable the double decking of route 207 from articulated bendy bus operation. First wanted to order Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 or Enviro 400 buses however given that the book orders were full up with Olympic 2012 deliveries, they decided to sample Scania buses instead. These have since been withdrawn and some can be found with Ipswich Buses. Route 207 is now operated by Abellio London after Metroline lost it in April 2019.

Route 185 was awarded to London Easylink in 2001 using 20 Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs - numbered VP1-20 from a garage just off the Old Kent Road. This was short lived as just over a year later, the company goes into liquidation. East Thames Buses, the arms-length company owned by TfL, took over the failed routes from their depot in Belvedere (BV) alongside a few others as this happened. In 2009, ETB was sold off to Go-Ahead London along with the routes, buses and staff and ever since, the 185 has operated from Camberwell (Q) garage. The VPs interestingly were never re-classed as PVLs, but the buses were given a charcoal skirt and Go-Ahead logos until their withdrawal a few days after this photo was taken. Route 185 uses newer hybrid buses.

SLE34 (YN55 NKC) is seen on Oxford Street on a wet day in late May, 2013. This was back when
Transdev's London operations had not been purchased by RATP Group. The same summer would see their flagship route 13 from Edgware (BT) garage be upgraded to Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B5LH buses (VHs) - with reg plates of the buses even altered affectionately to have 'BT13' as the first 4 digits. The OmniDekkas were then moved to route 292 to displace older Plaxton President buses. As for the 13...the route was withdrawn in 2017 (Golders Green to Aldwych) and replaced by an extended 113 and 139. Overnight also saw route 82 (North Finchley to Victoria) renumbered as the 13.

In compensation of the original 13 being discontinued, the 139 was taken over by RATP Group (on the 13's contract, it gets very complicated). Route 139's own contract had expired on the 1st April 2017, and so did route 82. This summer, route 139 (still on the 13's contract that started August 2013) will return home to Metroline's Cricklewood (W) garage using buses displaced off route 34.

Sticking with the theme of routes that were altered in the 'Finchley Road' scheme of 2017, TA640 (LK05 GFX) is seen on a one-way Baker Street approaching Oxford Street. Diesel buses are no longer allowed in regular TfL service into the ULEZ area which mostly covers Central London but this was taken at a time long- predating these rules. Route 266 as aforementioned in this post had left Cricklewood (W) for Atlas Road (AS), leaving behind 22 7-year old TA-class buses. Whilst they found new homes on routes 32 and 210, it was still somewhat normal to see them stray on Central London routes. Route 189 has since been cut back to Marble Arch and has been converted to Borismaster (LT) operation.

Until 2018, route 36's allocation - truthfully, if it did actually have one! - was somewhat of an interesting combination. Buses of all ages, makes and models seemed to have frequented the route and it was effectively pot luck on what bus would turn up. One of the more veteran residents of the route out of New Cross was PVL159 (X559 EGK). As you got further into the 2010s, it became somewhat a phenomenon to actually see a bus with a skirt, the original London Central logo (and not the standard Go-Ahead London one) and a 6-point destination blind! What may have rounded this off would be the destination in full capital letters. The bus was withdrawn in 2016 and the route in 2018 eventually received a standard allocation of brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC Hybrids.

First's DMV33404 takes a breather at Brent Park, Tesco only a few months after taking over route 206 from Metroline. The route received new longer buses and at the time was one of the first routes in London to be allocated 10.8m Enviro 200s - this practice soon became the standard practice, in order to maximise available capacity. The irony is, only just over a year after the 206 had left Metroline...it returned back home to Metroline after Willesden Junction (WJ) garage was sold to them. The DMVs were re-classed as DELs, complying with Metroline's fleetnumbering system and can still be found on the route today.

E209, covered in a Vodafone 'Freebees' all-over advert wrap, comes into Victoria on route 436 to Paddington. This was taken a couple of years after the 436 was converted from bendy-bus operation to double deckers following our now PM, Boris Johnson's, mayoral election promises. Go-Ahead London decided to allocate the route with a partial allocation (in 2010/2011/2012 this was the norm) of new Enviro 400 diesel buses, and the remaining allocation to be new Enviro 400 hybrid buses. However a few years later, TfL took what was widely regarded as a bizzare choice to withdraw the 436 away from Central London and send it to Battersea Park instead. At the same time, Go-Ahead London ousted the part diesel allocation and replaced it with WHV-class buses released from route 12.

Another route that has changed operators - and at the time of posting is actually the last operator change we've had - is the 482. From its inception in 2008, it has gone between 3 different operators. At the time this as taken, RATP Group operated the route from Hounslow Heath (HH) garage using Scania OmniCities SP16-25. However a unique type in London is shown here, SP3, which is one of 15 low-height Scania OmniCities with an N94 engine (normally found on the older OmniDekkas). Following the creation of the N230 chassis soon after 2006, this combination was quickly no longer produced.

The route was lost in 2015 to Metroline West from Greenford (G) garage using cast-off Enviro 400s released from the loss of routes E1 and E3 only for the route to be awarded to Abellio in March 2020 with brand new Enviro 400 MMC 'smart hybrid' buses.

© EastLondoner
This was taken on a day when First at Dagenham (DM) were operating a rail replacement service through the Blackwall Tunnel, requiring the single deckers from routes 165 and 368 to be used. In turn the 165 and 368 used double decker allocations, and at the time this was very unique on the 368. However since then the 368 has been fully converted to Double Decker operation but is now found under Arriva's roof at Barking (DX) with Enviro400s and Wright Pulsar Gemini 2s.

© EastLondoner
17846 stands at a temporary stand at Tottenham Court Road. This was taken at a time when the 8 was temporarily cut back to Tottenham Court Road from one end and to Old Ford at the other end. Since then the Tottenham Court Road curtailment was made permanent, and on top of that the 8 has now temporarily been cut back even further to Holborn Station. The Tridents are now long gone with the 8 being operated by New Routemaster vehicles.

© EastLondoner
DLA213 crosses Westminster Bridge with the London Eye in the background. The 159 used to be allocated similar VLA class buses and also used to operate back to Paddington Basin. The route has since succumbed to one of TfL's Central London cuts and now only operates as far as Marble Arch in Central London. Soon after this the 159 made a very surprising move from Arriva London to Abellio London and is now found at Battersea (QB) allocated new Routemaster vehicles. 

We hope you found this post interesting - thanks for reading and share your memories of buses in the comments below on our Twitter @LConnectedBlog. Hopefully we'll have some more memories on the way shortly to share with you. Stay safe. Stay indoors. Save lives. Protect the NHS.

It's fair to say that the rail industry has been really interesting as of late. To celebrate the 5th year, we take a look at one of the biggest rail projects of the decade.

ThamesLink 700010 at London St. Pancras.

If I was to ask you what London rail project is to unveil later this year that has been in the works since the turn of the millennium, chances are you'd say Crossrail (or the Elizabeth line). But how many of you actually said the ThamesLink programme? But why does this project keep being side-stepped, particularly in reference to Crossrail when it's just as big, if not bigger?

Let's talk trains
Due to officially and gradually open later this year, the ThamesLink programme is a massive rail project to connect more towns and cities in the West Anglia and Bedfordshire, through the heart of London and to spawn out the other end in Kent and Sussex in a north to south format. There will be an array of regional commuter and metro trains involved, providing a first time direct link from Cambridge to Brighton and Maidstone, and Luton to Rainham (not our one, the one in Kent) via Bluewater, Dartford and Gravesend.

As a regular traveler on the ThamesLink and Great Northern rail routes, the difference over the last few years is black and white. Although whilst the companies have been constantly named and shamed for their poor reliability and other issues within that field, we have to remember the much more grim days of First Capital Connect. That said, I'm pretty sure that along with sister company Southern, that whole TSGN franchise is up there again for the worst train operating company (TOC) in the country award again by Which? for the 3rd year running.

The stations were often grotty and were slowly falling apart, not maintained well, dirty and lack of staff presence across the network. Now that's flipped around with the grey and pink being dashed out everywhere (and grey and blue, but not as much). But ThamesLink, maybe not Great Northern as much, has come quite a long way and I've always believed that credit does need to be given where its due.

So what is the final result of the ThamesLink programme?
On the internet, the exact answer to that has always been quite difficult to find, especially when it comes to finding out service frequencies and destinations as these keep changing over the years during several consultation periods.

ThamesLink 700018 at Streatham.

From what I've gathered, the services that have always stayed on each consultation period for ThamesLink:

• The current Bedford to Brighton service via St Pancras, London Blackfriars, London Bridge and Gatwick Airport.
• The Sevenoaks to London Blackfriars service, also dubbed 'The Cinderella line', will be extended to Kentish Town (or truncated from West Hampstead Thameslink, depends how you see it) for most of the day. It gets a much needed frequency increase to 4 trains per hour. The Orpington service will complement this as well.
• The Luton to Sutton via Wimbledon 'Metro' service will be cut back to terminate at St. Alban's City. The current St. Alban's City to Sutton via Mitcham will continue to terminate here. 

With Great Northern, through the soon to be opened Canal tunnel from St. Pancras to Finsbury Park, it connects the ThamesLink line and the East Coast Main Line. This will allow trains every few minutes to run through here allowing the direct connection from the Anglia region to Sussex.

Great Northern:

• The current Peterborough to London King's Cross service will be re-routed to London St. Pancras International, then continues via London Bridge and Redhill to terminate at Horsham.
• The current Cambridge stopping and semi-fast services to London King's Cross will be re-routed to London St. Pancras International, then continues via London Bridge to either Brighton or Maidstone East*.
• The King's Lynn to London King's Cross 'fast' services, that run non-stop from Cambridge will not run via the ThamesLink core. It will be one of the few, if only, remaining regular service at London King's Cross during the day**.
• The Welwyn Garden City Metro service will, during the peak, be extended to Sevenoaks.

*First small print is that this had originally been planned to be two trains an hour to Brighton, and two trains an hour to Tattenham Corner. However, many stakeholders saw this as a waste of resources (the choice was random, even we have to say) and available paths, and decided to send the trains to the much bigger town (and as a destination too), Maidstone East. 

Interestingly, ThamesLink has taken a short-term decision to not run trains beyond Finsbury Park to Maidstone East on Sundays, where trains, as now, will run into London King's Cross at an hourly frequency instead. The Brighton variant of the service will continue to still run through the core.

**The second small print is that it was intended for the ThamesLink programme to make it all the way to King's Lynn. However, due to infrastructure issues, particularly relating to the platform lengths (a few stations on the line can only hold 4-cars) and power supply restrictions that would not be able to handle 8 or 12-car trains, it's put a dead end to what was a promising view for the Fen Line passengers. In the short run anyways, we can only hope.

As a result, the London King's Cross to King's Lynn train will continue to be operated by the class 387 'Electrostar' trains that have just been introduced last year.

Another interesting addition is a brand new route from ThamesLink. As aforementioned, a new metro train service from Luton to Rainham in Kent calling at all stations (it runs fast Mill Hill Broadway to West Hampstead ThamesLink) every half-hour using brand new dual-voltage trains. This service would run through North, Central and South London before making its way out via Bluewater [Greenhithe], Gravesend, Gillingham (Kent, not Dorset - but you should have figured that out by now) before terminating at Rainham. 

This replaces the London Charing Cross to Gillingham semi-fast service currently operated by Southeastern using class 465 Networkers and also the Sutton loop trains north of St. Alban's City. 

Moorgate station, rather grim.

Did we mention it runs at night too?

ThamesLink is one of very few operating companies to run trains throughout the night. The only other ones I can think of whilst writing this is sister company Southern (who withdrew half of their services late last year anyways), Transpennine Express (does this really count when it's once every 3 or so hours?) and the newly introduced night London Overground which only runs weekends. Oh, and of course the Caledonian Sleeper franchise too.

Trains will continue to run hourly, with the option to pursue a half hourly service in the future, calling at all ThamesLink stations between Bedford and London Bridge, followed by East Croydon, Gatwick Airport and Three Bridges.

Give them credit, they were here before the night tube, 7 days a week too.

Improvements to stations

Bar the broken promise with King's Lynn and the Fen Line, all stations will see an improvement in reflection of the fact that their rail services are majorly improving. Some of the flagship work has taken place around the biggest stations in Central London, a headlining one being Network Rail's London Bridge station. Others include the relatively new (2007) London St. Pancras International, London Blackfriars (2012) and City ThamesLink (1990s - but it still looks the part nearly 25 years later). 

The platforms at London Blackfriars station

A futuristic look has been given to them, but when I say that, it's not like the dull metal display that you'd find on the Jubilee line extension. Maybe St. Pancras' is to an extent but otherwise it's a carefully thought, well-designed, light, airy and modern design that even has a reflective vibe surrounding this. I still argue to this day that the renovated London Blackfriars station has to be one of the best stations you can find in London. The shell is mostly made of glass, with the platforms hovering above the River Thames (possibly the only station in the country to do so) spanning the full width of the river. It allows for an undisputed view of London's biggest waterway, bridges and myriads of well identified office buildings and of course the South Bank. 

The grade listed station at Farringdon, together with the London Underground, has had its original engine shed roof from when the Metropolitan Railway first started restored to its former glory. Mass expansion, particularly of the platforms, has allowed for more capacity during the rush hour and when the programme fully opens up (blocking off access to the City Widened lines to Moorgate - that explains the abandoned platforms at Barbican and Moorgate). What's more important is that Farringdon has lately seen an overhaul on the London Underground side, but now the ThamesLink Programme and Elizabeth line are planned to interchange here. In over a year's time you can get a train to Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton Airports from here!

The new entrance at London Bridge.

Part of the station forecourt at London Bridge.

The new London Bridge station had in fact opened another entrance following the New Year's, being the final leg of the station renovation project. Whilst some platforms remain closed until May as no trains will operate from [them], it has adopted an airport style concourse. Yes, it's equipped with gates that have lit arrows and crosses above them to show what gate you can go through and can't. The new arcade as well is quite grand and has quickly caught the attention of enthusiasts and passengers alike, no doubt that Network Rail really took pride in this particular station - the 4th busiest in the whole country.

GONE: Repainted ThamesLink 319444 'City of St. Albans' at Farringdon.

A full fleet of new trains
To help maximise and modernise the extent of this revolutionsed rail network, the Department for Transport (DfT) commissioned for a fleet of 115 brand new dual-voltage electric trains to be ordered. Dual voltage, because the ThamesLink line is one of few unique railways in the UK where trains in passenger service have to switch between overhead lines and third rail to obtain their power at Farringdon.

German manufacturer Siemens had won the contract to do this, building two new depots at Three Bridges in Sussex (that's just south of Gatwick Airport) and Hornsey in North London to station this huge fleet out of. A promise was made to hire more people into the engineering aspect of this company expansion with apprenticeships making up a percentage of their work fleet. 

These new trains are essentially the rivals to the class 345 Aventra trains, were classified as the class 700 Desiro City. This 'variant' of the series - the more appropriate way to put it - was its debut in the United Kingdom based on the success of the much-loved Desiro trains that have been in service since the early 2000s. They come fitted in either 8 or 12 coach fixed formations, walk-through, fully air-conditioned, toilets, charging points and at-seat tables and a first class section. The trains were built in two batches, with the 700/0s being 8-cars and found on the Metro services via Sutton and to Sevenoaks and Orpington, and the new service to Rainham and Maidstone East. They are currently found during the day working the Bedford to Brighton route as well however this won't be the case as much when the programme is in full swing, as this line, alongside Cambridge to Brighton will use the 12-car trains. 

ThamesLink 377510 in repainted neutral purple and sporting the
newer ThamesLink/ logo at Farringdon.

[These] replace the 30 year old class 319 trains that were withdrawn last summer from ThamesLink, which came in a 4-car formation. Enthusiasts find this particular class to be like marmite, either you love it or you hate it, so their farewell saw mixed reviews. It's not just the 319s they replace though, they also replace the class 377 'Electrostar' trains built by Bombardier as these move to Kent and work with Southeastern on their mainline routes as part of an enhancement programme. 

The first of the two depots to be opened was Three Bridges, and subsequently the first train was sent there and in early summer 2016, the first class 700 started service after a public exhibition to showcase the new design to the public was unveiled months earlier, 12-car 700108 ran a service from Brighton to London Bridge. Subsequently, after few teething issues, more quickly entered service and within about a year the whole ThamesLink fleet had been converted to class 700s including on the Metro services.

Passengers praise the trains for their more comfortable seats in comparison to the Aventra ones. The 700 is a train with more facilities doing the same distance as a typical Crossrail train on a Metro service. The passenger information system (PIS) has been noted for temporarily fuzzing out and being out of sync from time to time, however it tells you how busy the train is, live tube updates, the status of the toilets, safety notices and the calling pattern of the train. 

The displaced class 319s have now either gone to storage, or are being converted into class 769 Flex bi-mode trains for use up north on partially electrified lines (similar to the class 230 D train from our old D-stock). Some 319s are also getting a new lease of life as increasing more and more are coming to new operator London Northwestern Railway (West Midlands Trains) to enhance capacity on the southern stretch of the West Coast Main Line between Northampton and London Euston, particularly when a new, revised and higher frequency timetable is introduced this December.

Brand new 700031 at London St. Pancras.

ThamesLink to Horsham and Littlehampton
In the last timetable change during December 2017, ThamesLink took over, using class 700s, some of Southern's diagrams from London Bridge to Horsham via Redhill and to Littlehampton, a spur off the West Coastway line.

Two trains, via Redhill, runs approximately every 60-90 minutes all day Monday to Fridays between London Bridge and Horsham as ThamesLink. This allows for a smoother transition when this service becomes more high frequency and is extended to Peterborough via Finsbury Park. 

The service to Littlehampton runs just twice a weekday under the ThamesLink flag in each direction in the peak direction of travel. Majority of services, and all stations continue to be operated by Southern. 

Some trains are currently stored on the East Coastway as well down at Eastbourne, providing a useful berthing facility overnight.

The Northern City line to Moorgate
A separate line to the rest of the programme but happens to be getting its upgrade right now and does interwork its way into this, as it's operated by Great Northern. There are two lines right now, from Moorgate to Welwyn Garden City and Moorgate to Letchworth Garden City via Hertford North. Majority of trains terminate at Hertford North.

Great Northern 313123 at Finsbury Park bound for Moorgate.

However, due to the sheer intensity of the ThamesLink programme, track and capacity space is being utilised to its breaking point around the Stevenage area and a proposal set forward to relieve this issue is to cut the Letchworth services back to Watton-at-Stone and provide a reverse enabling facility (i.e. crossover). A bus would then run the rail replacement service until further notice between Watton-at-Stone and Stevenage where passengers can connect to rail transport once again. 

More capacity is being provided with an additional 30 Siemens Desiro City trains being ordered for the Moorgate services, all of them to a fixed six-car length and of similar design. However, they will be equipped with cab door exits in the event of an emergency in the Moorgate tunnels and will be standard class throughout. These will also be stationed at Hornsey. These variants are called the class 717s and will mainly be confined to this line replacing the class 313s, the oldest EMU mainline trains still in service. 

The ThamesLink, Northern City and Northern lines

An interesting conflict arose this week between ThamesLink, the press and Transport for London (TfL) for not showing or advertising the ThamesLink programme throughout the duration of the works, or displaying this on pocket tube maps. Several parties who had commented on the matter stated that it was 'secretly' in interest to protect their revenue, which had been falling over the last year, and did not want to lose London based competition to a rival company, even though ThamesLink is considered the second 'Northern line' essentially. It does go from Tooting to Mill Hill, though.

So far, this is the story of a Cinderella line. After billions of investment, and station upgrades, new trains and better connectivity, this one ugly duckling will be sure to turn heads when it rolls out later this year.

We would like to send a huge thanks to all our half a million and counting readers who have kept the blog alive for the last 5 years to this day! 

And now that you've read this post, why not visit the amazing London Buses: On The Go who also turned 5 today!

If you go back more than a year, you might remember my post on the extension of route EL2 to Becontree Heath. In today's post we re-visit Barking in another addition to the Borismaster Watch series, something which many might not have expected!

It's my first time writing a Borismaster watch article, and I must say The London Bus Breh has left a lot to live up to! Many of you may not know my opinion on the vehicles as a whole. I personally dislike the vehicles, I feel that it was a great concept executed very poorly. I was very supportive of the return of the open platform as well as the return of open boarding. However both concepts would only work effectively if there was a second member of staff on board the bus, which was the case for the first few conversions but as the second member of staff was dropped for all conversions taking place after route 38, the usefulness of the bus type also dropped.  All this was not helped by the other problems that this bus had, such as the infamous air conditioning and lower capacity than standard buses.

© EastLondoner

On the 29th of July 2016 I was simply minding my own business, however when I picked up my phone it was full of notifications. Realising that tenders had been released that day I immediately went to check them out. It wasn't until I reached the bottom of the long list of routes that I realised that the East London Transit routes had been awarded with the addition of new ELT route EL3. All routes were to be operated by Go Ahead London with New Routemaster buses. Route 387 was to be withdrawn. I didn't know what to say about the results, should I be sad? Should I be angry? or should I be optimistic?

19778 seen at Cambridge Road in Barking
© EastLondoner

I've already given you lot some information on the EL1 and EL2 in the post that I have linked above, but let me run through some information about route 387. Route 387 operated between Little Heath (a green area in Goodmayes) and Barking Riverside. It was run by Stagecoach London from their Barking garage. The route started in Barking Riverside and made its way through Thames Road, River Road and Movers Lane to reach Barking. Once it left Barking it would continue up Longbridge Road until Goodmayes Lane, then it would go up Goodmayes Lane until Green Lane. It would then continue up Goodmayes Road and Barley Lane and double run King George Hospital before making its way to Little Heath. 

The route was allocated with Enviro400s during its last few months of operation, however Enviro400 MMCs and Dennis Tridents worked the route almost everyday. Below I have included some photos of those buses on the route...

10332 is seen turning onto North Street, route EL3 doesn't serve this area

© EastLondoner

17904 is seen at King George Hospital a week before the changeover
© EastLondoner

However the the 387 isn't the only route involved in this set of changes, nor is it the only route in the area getting New Routemasters. As I mentioned earlier routes EL1 and EL2 are also being allocated with the vehicle type however, they are currently undergoing a phased conversion as opposed to an on the day conversion like the EL3 had. As I've already given you the information on those routes in the post linked at the top, let me just catch you up on happenings since then. Route EL2 nw runs between Becontree Heath and Dagenham Dock while route EL1 runs between Ilford Station and Barking Riverside.

WVL348 seen near Barking Station
© EastLondoner

The EL1 has certainly seen a huge increase in its passenger numbers, as has the 169. The EL2 has seen its popularity growing, with many people south of Barking also using the new link it provides (including me!) as well as people north of Barking using it as an alternative to the 5. Unlike the 387, routes EL1 and EL2 have almost no variety to their allocation through their 7 year history. Since inception in 2010 the routes have been allocated with Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 buses on the Volvo B9TL chassis. Every now and again over the years a few Optare Olympuses and Volvo B7TLs/Wright Eclipse Geminis have crept out onto the route (albeit with no blinds). 

WVL334 seen near the Weavers Quarter development
© EastLondoner

Coming back to more information on the change itself. The EL3 timetables were in place at bus stops more than a week before the service change, with all 387 tiles removed and replaced by EL3 tiles at the bus stop the Wednesday before the service change. Stagecoach London concluded the operation with 19777 performing the final trip to Barking Riverside early in the morning on the 18th of February. Route EL3 then started operation with the first bus running at 0500 on the morning.

With the EL3 being very local to me, I went out at around midday to take a ride on the route. The bus turned up a few minutes after I had arrived at the bus stop. LT911 was going to be the bus which would form my first two rides on the EL3. I boarded it going towards Little Heath. As soon as I boarded the "New Bus Smell" made itself known to me. The front two seats were empty, so I took the opportunity to sit there. There was a scrolling message on the iBus screen informing people about the changes to the 387. We set off from the stop and immediately went onto the route's new routing through Barking Town Centre, following the routing of EL1 and EL2 rather than the 387s previous routing around the town centre going via North Street and London Road. 

LT911 seen at Little Heath
© EastLondoner

We then swiftly moved onto Barking Station, where for the first time I saw some people boarding through the rear two doors as opposed to the front door. We then continued our journey up Longbridge road, barely picking up anyone until the end of the road just before the bus took the slight left onto Goodmayes Lane. We eventually reached Green Lane, an area I was anticipating because of the turns the bus has to perform here. The bus performed then with ease before over the bridge and across Goodmayes High Road onto Barley Lane. We then reached King George Hospital, the turn into the hospital grounds was quite tight here and we just about humped the curb, but the bus pulled all the other turns in the hospital grounds with complete ease. It should then be plain sailing to Little Heath...so I thought. Upon leaving the hospital grounds we were met with a traffic jam, reaching the A12. We took about 10 minutes just going the distance to the bus stand, in reality that should take 30 seconds. Upon arrival the position of the traffic along with the size of the bus stand meant that the 11.3 meter LT was not going to fit in at all, so the driver let us get off at the alighting point before proceeding to the first stop of the route to stand. 

I then used the opportunity for a few pictures before boarding the bus for the return trip to Barking Riverside. For the first part of the journey I filmed the bus from the lower deck (video can be viewed here) before making my way upstairs. We eventually reached River Road and entered Barking riverside. Most of the roads here are usually flooded with parked cars due to the various industrial areas as well as the bus garage located in the area. The bus navigated most of the turns and roads pretty impressively. As we entered the various housing estates in the area the turns started to get a bit tight, the bus continued to pull most of these off except the last turn from Galleons Drive onto Mallards Road, which to be fair is challenging in a normal bus. 

LT911 seen on stand at Barking Riverside
© EastLondoner

After spending some time at Barking Riverside with some fellow enthusiasts, I boarded LT881 for my journey back home. Overall a very good first day, considering the lack of turns on the route - as is common for a first day not to mention the decent service. There were a few gaps in the service but that will no doubt wear out eventually as Go Ahead get used to operating the route.

For the first few days of the EL3s operation, routes EL1 and EL2 which were also due to convert to the controversial bus type continued on with their existing Volvo B9TLs until more New Routemasters became available. It wasn't until the 2nd of March when the EL2 started its conversion to the bus type. I went out the next day to take a ride on the route, the route was converting pretty fast with only three Wright Eclipse Gemini 2s out on the day.

LT885 seen at Becontree Heath Bus Station
© EastLondoner

I made my way to Becontree Heath Bus Station to get the route. The bus station was overcrowded (like usual) with LT885 parked on the western side of the bus station prior to departure. After a few minutes the bus departed and we set off on our journey to Dagenham Dock. The bus didn't attract as much attention from any of the passengers like route EL3 did during its first few days of operation. We made our way around the corner onto Wood Lane before being met with the traffic lights at Dagenham Heathway. At this point the driver got a call from the garage to turn the bus to River Road, Waverley Gardens (The turn for River Road Bus Garage). We made out way down Wood Lane, past Valence Avenue and Bennetts Castle lane before being greeted with a hefty amount of traffic at the Lodge Avenue junction. After a lot of waiting we made it through the traffic lights and continued along Longbridge Road at a steady pace towards Fair Cross. Around this point we started to get quite a handful of fare evaders, no doubt who had become used to the presence of these buses on route EL3 which parallels the route along this section. We made it to Barking Station, however I got off at Vicarage Field Shopping Centre to get some lunch, and so that I could wait for another EL2, which would be doing the full route. 

LT909 stands at Dagenham Dock Terminus
© EastLondoner

Upon getting off, I realised that LT907 which was behind also was turned to River Road, as well as the bus behind it. I then gave up waiting for the next bus to Dagenham Dock which was going to be over 30 minutes away. So far from my experience, the EL2 was just continuing business as normal with its new allocation. Nothing much had changed about it, the route didn't feel too different to how it felt when it used Gemini 2s and the passengers didn't really care about the "state of the art" buses that had started to appear on the route. It wasn't until many weeks later I got around to riding an EL2 down to Dagenham Dock. LT909 was my bus, we set off from Barking with me as the only passenger until Movers Lane where a few more people boarded. The bus made the turn onto Bastable Avenue far better than I expected. All the other passengers got off along this stretch, leaving me the only passenger as we went onto Renwick Road and then Choats Road on our way to Dagenham Dock. This part of the route is very industrial, although it did give me an opportunity to see how far the development of Barking Riverside had come. The new Riverside school building was taking shape very nicely, as well as a new bus stand (more on that further on in the post). We reached Dagenham Dock Terminus a few minutes later. I was the only passenger on the bus by this point and it wasn't surprising to see why. There's literally nothing there besides a train station with a service every 30 minutes. However when more housing is built, this link could very well become more popular.

LT907 takes stand time at Becontree Heath
© EastLondoner

Route EL1 was to be the last ELT route to convert to New Routemasters. The EL1 was going to be the route which would show how the New Routemasters could really benefit the ELT service. The route is very popular at Barking and Ilford, ferrying people between the two major town centres. Most of the time a bus would arrive at its second stop in Ilford and not be able to depart until the next bus would roll up behind it due to the sheer time it took for the huge crowds of people to board the route. The open boarding on New Routemasters could potentially solve this issue. 

LT889 seen on stand at Ilford Hill
© EastLondoner

It was on the 8th of March when the first New Routemaster crept out onto the EL1 for three hours in the morning peak, however due to other commitments I didn't even notice this was out until the evening. In the days following more New Routemasters started performing duties on the route, however this was mostly in the evening. It was on the 27th of March when I made it to Ilford on my way home to be granted with LT889 on stand at Ilford Hill. It wasn't too long until the bus departed and we were on our way towards Barking. When we arrived at the infamous Chapel Road bus stop (known very well locally for its crowds and never ending stream of people) people used all three doors to board. I did initially worry about this as the never ending stream of people could mean the driver would struggle to close the doors, however it certainly wasn't the case. The bus loaded up much quicker than the Gemini 2s did. It wasn't too long before we set off and made our way down Ilford Lane towards Barking. This is probably the most popular part of the EL1 route despite only being around 6 stops long in total, but the EL1 itself isn't a very long route at only 4 miles. Many people along Ilford Lane made use of the open boarding and dwell times at bus stops were greatly improved. I got off in Barking as time wouldn't allow me to ride the EL1 down to Barking Riverside. 

LT883 seen in Barking
© EastLondoner

Since my first ride, on the EL1 I've caught many more New Routemasters on the route, sometimes being intentional, but mostly being completely unintentional. Even before the EL1 became a New Routemaster operated route, I'd always suggested that it should be an open boarding route. It carries a huge amount of people for short distances. It's high frequency and huge crowds used to lead to buses constantly bunching throughout the route. With the New Routemasters this is no longer an issue, people board the bus within a minute and the bus sets off from the stop. I may hate to admit it as I'm still not a huge fan of the bus, but the New Routemasters are right at home on the EL1. 

When the initial consultation results were released for the introduction of the EL3, TfL did announce that all vehicles on the ELT network would be branded, much like how the Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 buses that previously worked the routes were. When the New Routemasters were introduced, they all entered service without any branding, fully red. However through July and  early August the advert frames on the buses were removed, showing that the buses were still going to be branded. LT939 was the first bus to be branded, it entered service with its branding on the 7th of August 2017. The branding is similar to that previously used on the old allocation, although modified slightly to accommodate the design differences of the New Routemaster.

LT939 showing off its branding on the EL1
© EastLondoner

The final stage to these set of changes were to happen on the first week of September. The routes were to be extended further into Barking Riverside, past the location of the new Riverside School building to stand where the new Barking Riverside Station would eventually be opened in the early 2020s. Route EL3 was going to be rerouted slightly so that it would run along Minters Road (a new road) and most of Thames Road would be left unserved. The extension to routes EL1 and EL3 would also involve a new busway, something quite rare for London (the only other busway is found at North Greenwich and it is to be removed soon) as well as a new road called Drovers Road.

LT927 is seen in Barking on the EL2
© EastLondoner

Although as has probably become expected by this point, the roads were not finished on time, route EL1 would become the only route to be extended and that would only be as far as Riverside school. Route EL3s extension was delayed until June 2018 which was the new date set for the opening of the new roads. Route EL1s extension would also only be effective on weekdays between the hours of 6am until 9pm, and at other times the route would be curtailed at its current stand. However due to the operating times of this extension, and the fact I'm usually occupied during the times of its extension I have been unable to grab a photo of the area there. However do keep an eye out for another post next year when the EL1 and EL3 are extended further into Barking Riverside.

LT925 seen in Barking on the EL3
© East Londoner

Meanwhile, what's next for the New Routemaster buses?

The much anticipated (or maybe dreaded) final bus is approaching. These buses are expected to form the bulk of the allocation for another suburban conversion - route 267 which operates between Hammersmith and Fulwell. However with all the cuts TfL are making to bus routes in Central London don't be too surprised to see another one in the future.