This post is long overdue but other things in life take priority over this hobby of mine. I do sincerely apologise for its delay and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it.

Friday the 29th of April marked the final day of Go-Ahead London operation of route 345. A route they have had under their operation since privatisation of London buses in 1996, further back if you want to include the old London Central as the route operated under today's Go-Ahead garages since 1983 when the 45A was formed from trunk route 45. The route is now operated by Abellio London with a batch of Euro 4-engined Euro 5 with AdBlue Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodied Dennis Trident 2s, coded 9428-9455.

The 345 is a route I have spent my whole life on, growing up with it, it has grown to me and become a personal favourite of mine along with its long-time operator, Go-Ahead. It came as a massive shock to me last year when it was announced the 345 would be moving to Abellio, it was something I could not quite fathom and refused for months. However, now that the change has happened I look at it like a breath of fresh air, it's a new start and a new batch of buses for me to love. Fortunately for me, the current buses are almost the same as the old batch of buses that roamed the route for 7 years.

The 345 runs between South Kensington, Natural History Musuem and Peckham Bus Station via Chelsea, Battersea & Clapham Junction, Clapham Common, Stockwell, Brixton, Loughborough Junction and Camberwell Green! It has a fairly high PVR of 26 and operates out of Abellio London's Walworth WL Garage.

Enough of me, let's look at the route's history. As I mentioned earlier, the 345 is just the renumbering of the old 45A which itself was just a section of the 45 renumbered to reduce the length of the route. The 45 once ran from South Kensington all the way to King's Cross with a Sunday extension to Archway via the current 345 and 45! Imagine that in today's traffic, hectic. Eventually, this was then cut short with the 45 being divided into two sections with the western end gaining an A at the end and running between South Kensington and Elephant & Castle and the eastern end staying as the 45 and running between King's Cross and Brixton, both routes operated out of Camberwell Q Garage with mostly Titans. A few developments later saw both routes altered, the 45 being extended to 'Streatham Hill, Atkins Road, now known as Clapham Park, and the 45A being withdrawn between Camberwell Green and Elephant and being sent to Peckham, forming the 345 we know today.

A few years after, September 1995 to be precise, the 45A was renumbered to the 345 and it then underwent a few garage allocation switches and most stupidly a single-decker conversion. Somebody thought it was necessary for a long-standing double-decker route to lost half its capacity overnight, I'm still unsure why and I doubt I will ever find out why so if you do know please let me know in the comments. Anyway, with this single-decker conversion came a batch of Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 2s and multiple garage transfers/allocations with a record 9 in the 2001 calendar year, these garages were New Cross NX, Peckham PM, Stockwell SW and Camberwell Q. These LDPs is where I record my earliest memory of the 345, years back on an 8.9m Dart, our driver had stopped too close to a 10.2m Dart in front of us which prompted my driver to reverse the bus and then overtake - the experience for me as a very young enthusiast was amazing and it still remains one of few times I have had a bus reverse whilst I was on it.

Moving on, the route re-gained its double-deckers in May 2002 and it introduced the first thirteen of two-hundred and seventy-two Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TLs to Stockwell SW Garage as well as a further twelve Transbus President bodied Dennis Trident 2s. These buses were great, I have many memories of both batches and they definitely had a large influence in me remaining a bus enthusiast going into my early teens. Sadly for me and I'm sure many others, the PDLs were withdrawn in 2009 as they were no longer required due to fleet upgrades in Stockwell SW, the 345 being one of them, as it gained its third batch of new buses in 12 years in E100-128, the last Euro 4 Enviro400s delivered to the company.

• 

  My last 345

  E121 prepares for its final 345 trip.
• 

  Second to Last

  With only WVL262 behind, this was the last southbound 345
• 

  WVL143

  Decent 4-speeder.
• 

  WVL258

  06-reg WVL as standard
• 

  Rare Enviro400

  E67 making a rare 345 appearance, nice bus this was.
• 

  B9TL 345

  Extremely rare B9TL working, at the time.
• 

  PVL 345!

  PVL328 making a rare appearance
• 

  BEST til last

  One of the best buses to work the route, WSD1 SN64CTV.

Now I know I have just said that the previous 345 allocation had a role in my enthusiasm, but the Enviro400s most definitely had a larger role in retaining my interest into my early adult years, haha! Competing with the batches on the 156 and 344, E100-128 were amazing to use on a daily basis, I love these buses, their difference in sound to most other ZF Euro 4s and their overall performance. They were the perfect buses to succeed the Euro 3 vehicles. In April 2012, the 345 transferred to Camberwell Q Garage and subsequently, London Central, in a move that made space for the 19 at Stockwell SW. This reunited the 345 with the 45 but it did mean that the variety on the route would be withdrawn with just the odd 68/468 WVL making an appearance, which wasn't a problem as these are excellently maintained and were a pleasure to ride on.

Nearly two years later, the 53-reg WVLs from Stockwell SW transferred from route 11 to the 185 at Camberwell Q with these immediately finding themselves on the 345. Not as good as the existing WVLs but it was the variety that was needed on the route, even if we were only peaking at 4 non-Es a day. Further reinforcements followed with the 61-reg Alexander Dennis Enviro400s from route 453 transferring to the 68 and a bit of the 468 in late 2014, bringing a return to the Euro 5 Enviro400 workings the 345 used to see at Stockwell SW - however, like the WVLs, the 61-reg were not dominant on the route straight away UNTIL the first tube strike of 2015, a turning point in the 345 allocation, that day saw the route operate with unallocated buses and this became a thing for a few months after with 90% of its allo
cation being unallocated - it was the variety I had so long desired for, however this meant that my journeys on its allocated buses became very limited. They do say be careful what you wish for...

Progressing into the year, the 345 tender result was nearing and to be honest, I never really had any doubts that the route would change operator, I made myself believe it was impossible because of its history and how well the route operated despite the many traffic hotspots, this alone had me hyped for the possibility of new hybrids for the route, a fourth batch lucky, maybe? Not quite, on the 18th of August 2015, it was announced the 345 would move to Abellio London with EXISTING vehicles found on route 35 and 40, with the 35 and 40 gaining NEW HYBRID vehicles with Go-Ahead. I think the hardest thing to accept was the fact that the route would gain the beaten buses on the 35 and 40 whilst they gained brand new hybrids, I refused to believe it all. Eventually I began to accept the change and instead looked at the positives from the mood such as having MMCs and eVoSeti's a few minutes away and the possibility of MMC workings on the 345 from route 415, hybrid workings from the QB-transferred hybrids for route 381.

few months of Go-Ahead on route 345 were hard to take and I tried to enjoy every journey possible, of course, these months went ridiculously quick as it's now June and I remember the day I read the tender for the first time like it was yesterday. The final week approached and I boarded a 345 every day whenever I could just to soak it all in for the last time with my last journey being E128. At this point in time, it was now over and soon after, 2420 arrived on the second-but-first-to-reach-Kensington 345 and that became my first 345 under Abellio and my first since Go-Ahead, it was quite a difference and the ride was surreal, it had not fully sunk into my mind that my beloved buses had left me for good.

• 

  Hybrid 345

  Abellio's 2415 SN61DGY resting on Cromwell Road.
• 

  Across the Road

  2428 SN61CXZ on Cromwell Road
• 

  Refurbished

  One of few refurbished on time, 9442 LJ09CCE.
• 

  2420 Again

  2420 departing for Peckham
• 

  The first 345

  2420 performing the first-but-second 345 to South Kensington.
• 

  Major Model Change

  Abellio's 2532 YX15OXB as the second MMC.
• 

  Another MMC

  2517 YX15OWF on Fulham Road

One month on, I'm in love with my new 345, everything I had hoped for leading up to the change has happened; excellent refurbished buses, heavy Euro 5 hybrid workings and MMCs. I guess I can look at this change as a sign that my childhood is over with no buses that I grew up with left. The future is bright for Abellio and their start has been promising, I look forward to these next 7 years with them. I hope you enjoyed this post and as a thank you, I have provided a fleetlist and a video below - thanks:

Fleetlist

9428 LJ09CAA

9429 LJ09CAE

9430 LJ09CAO

9431 LJ09CAU

9432 LJ09CAV

9433 LJ09CAX

9434 LJ09CBF

9435 LJ09CBO

9436 LJ09CBU

9437 LJ09CBV

9438 LJ09CBX

9439 LJ09CBY

9440 LJ09CCA

9441 LJ09CCD

9442 LJ09CCE

9443 LJ09CCF

9444 LJ09CCK

9445 LJ09CCN

9446 LJ09CCO

9447 LJ09CCU

9448 LJ09CCX

9449 LJ09CCY

9450 LJ09CCZ

9451 LJ09CDE

9452 LJ09CDF

9453 LJ09CDK

9454 LJ09CDN

9455 LJ09CDO

And on the subject of things being over, I would like to use this post as my farewell. I've been debating with myself over these last few weeks and I have decided that I will call it a day with blogging. It's not a decision I made easily but as my life progresses, I'm finding it harder to find the time to fit buses - I've enjoyed my time working with LondonBusBreh, LondonBuses72 and WVL10/Rush on London Connected and I wish them all the best and I'm sure they will continue to provide you all with quality posts. I would like to thank LondonBuses67 for first giving me the opportunity to work on his blog those years ago and without him I do not think I would have had the opportunity to contribute to this amazing blog today and I also want to thank GloriousWater for his contributions and support over the years. Last but not least, EastLondoner, thank you for everything and it has been an utmost pleasure to work alongside you for the last three years and as I mentioned above, I'm sure he will, along with the other admins, continue to prove why London Connected is the best bus blog on the web.
Thanks,
FG

The landmark of the May Day changes was the fact that a new breed was introduced to the London market: the MCV Evoseti.

MHV11 crosses London Bridge on route 40.©Kieran

As the sun rose at dawn, the manufacturers were at the ready to finally showcase their brand new Euro 6 range buses to be the successors to their Euro 5 counterparts. The first of these 'new-generation' buses was the Wright Gemini 3, who somewhat resembles more features of the Borismaster. The smaller windows, more black than red. Wright really did take pride in that bodywork, and also worked with Volvo to formally introduce the Volvo B5TL chassis, calling for an end to the Volvo B9TL chassis and Wright Gemini 2 bodywork. Metroline and Stagecoach were amongst the first to order these buses, found on Perivale (PA) route 7, and Plumstead (PD) route 53.

Wherever there's a Wright, there's an Alexander Dennis. Their Trident counterparts decided to also call revisions to their successful Enviro 400 bodywork, and complete with facelifts, a new, more airy interior, much improved air conditioning - yet it still is loud, and the end to the plastic wheel-arch seats that would serenade you in discomfort if you sat in them more than you should have. Abellio were the first to catch this breed, on Beddington Cross (BC) route 109, and Walworth (WL) route 415 and Hayes (WS) 350.

But hold on.....someone else has bought their game to the market. Putting aside the boring Wright vs Alexander Dennis war, MCV were ready to up the game. They do have a somewhat hidden yet known presence in London, particularly with the 100 or so MCV Evolutions roaming around all 4 corners of London on either the MAN or E200 engines at Go-Ahead or Metroline.

MHV16 is seen at Clapham Junction. ©EastLondoner

But the Egyptians have never really been around for the double decker share of the market. Oh no, but if anyone remembers, two outstanding buses were manufactured and registered for the years 2011 and 2012. Both in London numbered VM1, the 2011 one being based with Docklands Buses on routes 474 and D7, whilst the London United 2012 one based at Hounslow (AV) garage for route H32. They provided both buses with a Volvo B9TL chassis, and a hint of charm.

But there was something that really attracted me to the DD103. It was a different bus. The main competitors were the standard Enviro 400 and Gemini 2. The bonded glazing windows which actually worked on this model unlike the Gemini 2. The capacity was a lot better than on the Gemini 2 especially, the Gemini series being renown for the fact that they get suffer poorly capacity-wise whilst their competitors delivered better. The Enviro 400 tried to deliver oh so many seats, however failed at providing decent legroom. However MCV matched these poor features, and changed them to polar opposites with the DD103.

The air conditioning also stood out. I loved it, the fact that they spread throughout the entire bus: both sides, both decks. And the ride? Smooth. None of the features made such a racket, the bus barely rattled or vibrated. The air conditioning wasn't loud. Unfortunately the series was discontinued upon the new dawn.

So I was obviously ecstatic to hear that MCV were returning to the double decker market with a brand new bus. The MCV EvoSeti they called it. And you can imagine the look on my face when I heard within a year of production, the first models would be arriving in London for Go-Ahead's wins of routes 35 and 40 from Camberwell (Q) garage on the 30th April. Delivered as part of a 20-strong batch, I was out to the streets of South London to try out these vehicles in mid-May.

Upper saloon of the Evoseti. ©Kieran

Lower saloon of the Evoseti. ©Kieran

Having arrived at Clapham Junction some Saturday Afternoon ago, quite bored by the last few buses I had gotten (to tell you the truth, the scene isn't all that interesting in Battersea), using London Vehicle Finder I had noted that majority of the MHVs that day were on the 35 diagram as opposed route 40 (which they were technically ordered for), whilst the other route used the Enviro 400H MMC buses also ordered for the routes.

Letting an EH-class bus on route 35 go, a 14-minute wait definitely paid off as MHV16 (BU16 OZA) was my bus to prove the Evoseti's name glory. With several people embarking at The Falcon, our bus was slowly on it's way touring through the suburban streets of Clapham. There is a small hill just as you leave Clapham Junction town centre on the 35, and MHV16 quickly gained pace, in a similar manner to my closer-to-home SEL buses that I do adore. That had already started to tick my boxes. At the 'top' of the steep incline, the speed that the bus had gained was maintained through Long Road. The speed was somewhat hovering around the 30 mark, and for a densely populated and high built area like Battersea, it was impressing me.

So 10 minutes into the assault course, we arrive at Clapham Common station, notorious for the island platform underground, above ground a bunch of junctions are presenting themselves. And with all the hustle and bustle of cars being stuck in yellow boxes and the bus seconds to being stuck at a red light, MHV16 weaved through the presented agility course, through the several cars that would otherwise be obstructing our path. Now heading for Brixton, parked cars, bollards and traffic islands were the second part of the agility course. Running alongside E67 (LX57 CJJ) on route 45, the side-to-side maneuvers by the bus were rather swift and made the journey exciting.

Brixton, now. Several people had interests to alight here, and the stop bell, which is a 3 second beeping tone you get accustomed to on long journeys quite like my one. Traffic was slowly starting to increase here, however the small peak had died down as the traffic had died down and we were back on the back streets once more. Although that didn't stay for long as we were back to the traffic just after Loughborough Junction Station. Efficiency was the new agenda here, as the bus was stuck in first gear as the traffic was getting pretty slow for over 15 minutes as we approached King's College Hospital. The parallel circuits provided by Volvo on this chassis were clearly making their worthwhile, saving energy and fuel consumption.

MHV16 is seen at The Elephant and Castle. ©LondonBuses72

Past Denmark Hill now, the bus was flying through the streets of Camberwell and other areas of the Southwark borough. We were provided with a bus lane for the majority of the length of the road leading up to Elephant & Castle. It was quite like being on a tram. The quick and stop-start acceleration gave myself quite a thrill. Taking over 70 minutes, as route 35 is quite a long route (if you haven't got the time, the 40 is much shorter), my journey to Elephant & Castle was a worthwhile one, I having been satisfied by my trek to the other half of London.

Although I still think the MCV DD103 is slightly better, from the Euro 6 range offered by London's buses, I definitely think the hype for the Evoseti was worth it. They maintain majority of the features that the DD103s had, the good looks and the comfort (excluding the Rowan Telmacs Go-Ahead specified). Go-Ahead also agrees with Evosetis being a good breed of buses, as they, hence the title, have ordered in total (including this batch) over 60 buses. The next batch will be for routes 63 and 185. So, heads up London!

I would recommend anyone to try out these buses, they bring variety and an edge of unique to London's streets. Leaving you with a fleetlist, hope you enjoyed this post and stay safe!

BU16 OYJ - MHV1

BU16 OYM - MHV2

BU16 OYL - MHV3

BU16 OYK  - MHV4

BU16 OYN - MHV5

BU16 OYO - MHV6

BU16 OYP - MHV7

BU16 OYR - MHV8

BU16 OYS - MHV9

BU16 OYT - MHV10

BU16 OYV - MHV11

BU16 OYW - MHV12

BU16 OYX - MHV13

BU16 OYY - MHV14

BU16 OYZ - MHV15

BU16 OZA - MHV16

BU16 OZE - MHV17

BU16 OZC - MHV18

BU16 OZD - MHV19

BU16 OZB - MHV20

Following on from a recent trend of service changes in East London, route 147 which operates between Ilford and Canning Town Bus Station is the latest route to have a change.

A line of 147s stand at Canning Town Bus Station
© EastLondoner

On the 7th of October 2015 it was announced that route 147 would lend its long standing with Stagecoach London and move onto a new life with Go Ahead London. The contract was awarded to the Docklands buses subsidiary. This was quite a shock to many, especially me as for my whole life I had known route 147 as a route operated by Stagecoach London and as a route operated by Tridents.

17490 is seen at East Ham
© EastLondoner

The 147 route itself is a very popular route, providing very unique links through the places that it serves. However this does make it slightly indirect serving places such as Ilford, East Ham, Newham University Hospital, Prince Regent Lane, Royal Victoria and Kier Hardie Estate before finally entering Canning Town from the south. 

Route 147 is quite well known among enthusiasts and regular users for being a regular victim to diversions and curtailments due to Crossrail works. Quite often the route has been cut back between Canning Town Bus Station and Prince Regent due to Crossrail works taking place at Custom House Station. This has affected the 147 4 times in the past 5 years!  

17889 is seen at Ilford during the time the route was cut to Prince Regent
© EastLondoner

Stagecoach London had operated the route from their West Ham (WH) garage which was fairly near to the route (whenever it served Canning Town). Go Ahead London were going to run the route from a brand new garage which was situated along River Road in Barking Riverside, hence it receiving a garage code of (RR). They had won the contract using existing Enviro400 buses which had been displaced from Camberwell (Q) garage following the conversion of route 68 to New Routemaster buses.

E182 is seen at East Ham on the first day of Go Ahead operation
© EastLondoner

The route moved operator on the 7th of May 2016, and there probably couldn't have been a worse day for the change to take place. With a sinkhole opening up in Barking Road, West Ham playing home and the Lodge Avenue flyover closure all causing endless mayhem in East London. The 147 was placed on a diversion as well as being severely affected by traffic. I had a ride on E182 from Newham University Hopital to East Ham on the first day. The bus was refurbished, not that you'd be able to tell as the buses still looked new prior to their refurbishment. A lot of the public were commenting on how there was a new bus, as expected for a first day the service was dreadful however that should eventually improve as time goes on. 

Below you will find a fleetlist of the buses that are now allocated to the 147 for the next 5 years, or maybe 7 years of its life with Go Ahead London. 

E163 SN61BGF
E164 SN61BGK

E165 SN61BGO

E166 SN61BGU

E167 SN61BGV

E168 SN61BGX

E169 SN61BGY

E170 SN61BGZ

E171 SN61BHA

E172 SN61BHD

E173 SN61BGE

E174 SN61BHE

E175 SN61BHF

E176 SN61BHJ

E177 SN61BHK

E178 SN61BHL

E179 SN61BHO

E180 SN61BHP

E181 SN61BHU

E182 SN61BHV

E183 SN61BHW

E184 SN61BHX
E185 SN61BHY

E181 seen in East Ham on its way to Canning Town
© EastLondoner

E178 seen in Ilford heading to Canning Town
© EastLondoner

It will take me a couple of weeks to get used to this service change as I have known the route to be under Stagecoach operation for my whole life. The quality of service is still fluctuating as can be expected with many operators on the first few weeks of a new contract on a route. But overall there isn't much to say about this service change as it is just your average operator change so there isn't actually much to say except wishing River Road garage good luck with operating London buses and maybe they can win many more routes in the future.

We are back with Part 2 of "Barking Mad" and today we will explore two recent changes that have taken place in Barking. Both of these are to do with two Single Decker routes going Double Decker to handle capacity issues and to provide capacity on these routes for many more years to come. The two routes which have been converted from Single Decker to Double Decker operation are routes 62 and 368. Route 62 runs between Barking, Gascoigne Estate and Marks Gate while route 368 runs between Barking, Harts Lane and Chadwell Heath.

Some Brand new MMCs are seen lined up at Barking Garage
© EastLondoner

Route 62 and 368 are both pretty similar routes in the fact they are both almost wholly contained in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham with just an extremely tiny proportion of their route in the London Borough of Redbridge. Today's post will be split into two parts, one for each route.

19854 takes some stand time at Gascoigne Estate
© EastLondoner

Route 62 is operated by Stagecoach London from Barking (BK) garage which it passes. Prior to its double decking it was allocated with pretty much everything that you would find in the garage on a normal day, even an 8.9m Pointer has been on the route before! during different days you could get a different mix of buses on the routes, some days it would almost fully be Double Decker whereas other days it would be Single Decker fully. 

The 62 has a lot of history behind it as a bus route. It is remembered by many enthusiasts for being the last RT operated route in all of London, mainly because the bridge at Chadwell Heath needed widening before any wider buses were used. The route also used to run between Little Heath and Chigwell Row via Barking back in the 1930s, with it then being extended to Ilford in the 1950s making it a long spiral of a route.

25310 takes stand at Gascoigne Estate
© EastLondoner

By the 1960s the route started to unwind from its spiral and it got cut between Barking and Little Heath, with the section being replaced by route 238 and which is now part of today's 387. Then furthermore in the 1970s the route was withdrawn between Marks Gate and Ilford while also being diverted at its other end in Barking to serve Gascoigne Estate. It was in 1993 when the route was downgraded from Double Decker operation down to single deck midibus operation, and since then it has always been, on paper, a single decker route. However Double Deckers did continue to work the route and they do still continue to work the route very frequently.

36285 is seen along the A13
© EastLondoner

However as times changed and places developed, the 62 ended up serving a lot of residential areas as well as a lot of schools. It was the only route serving many of the places that it went, with help from other routes every now and again. Many people relied on the route to get them to the train station in the morning so that they could get to work, and many children relied on the route to get to school. With this growing demand the Single Deckers that ran the route were very soon no longer fit for purpose.

With Crossrail soon coming and with it many more people, not to mention the various housing developments taking place in Gascoigne Estate and Chadwell Heath, the decision was taken upon tender to reconvert the 62 back to Double Deck operation just like it was in the early 1990s, albeit with a higher frequency suited to the needs of today. With the new contract came a higher Sunday frequency as well. Up from 20 minutes once to 15 minutes once.z

Brand new Enviro400 MMC buses were ordered for the route on the E40D chassis. The batch for the 62 are coded 10308-10325 following on from the previous batch of vehicles which were ordered for route 294. The first of the buses started to arrive at West Ham (WH) garage for preperation and commissioning during the end of March, with the deliveries continuing into April. Some new Enviro400 MMCs started to appear at Barking (BK) garage on the morning of 8th April for driver training. 

They surprisingly started to enter service two weeks early the 14th of April, with the first journey performed by 10331 (SN16OKO) as BK duty 234. I, being a local to the route went out the see if I could have a quick ride on the bus.

10331 sits at Gascoigne Estate on Stand
© EastLondoner

As I was waiting for it I started to get very impatient. Once the bus pulled up in what felt like ages, my heart sank after looking at the blind display for the route which are specified to TfL's new blind standards. Despite that I was still very anxious to board the bus, while still trying to take into my brain the fact that an Enviro400 MMC was on the 62. 

Upper Deck interior of 10331
© EastLondoner

The bus itself felt much more roomy than your average Enviro400 and ALX400. I spent my first journey on the bus sitting downstairs. While sitting at the back the Voith gearbox that is found on the buses make their presence clear very well. Most people that boarded the bus realised that it was a new bus, with a surprisingly lot of attention given to the extra perpendicular step that is found on the staircase. The ride itself was very smooth, just like all Voith Enviro400s are, however they are much faster than the standard Euro5 ones also found at Barking (BK) garage. However, throughout the whole lower deck you can hear the various noises of footsteps and things being dropped on the upper deck floor very loudly, which can be pretty irritating.

I went out again to ride this bus on the 15th of April. This time the bus was much faster than it was the previous day, and was a much more fun ride. The bus handled speed bumps and tight turns very well, something that I did not pay much attention to in the previous day.
 

10331 seen at Barking Town Centre
© EastLondoner

Below you will find a fleetlist for all the new buses that are allocated specifically to route 62. There are more buses in this batch, however are allocated to routes 145, 294 and 496.

10308 SN16OJM

10309 SN16OJO

10310 SN16OJP

10311 SN16OJR

10312 SN16OJS

10313 SN16OJT

10314 SN16OJU

10315 SN16OJV

10316 SN16OJW

10317 SN16OJX

10318 SN16OJY

10319 SN16OJZ

10320 SN16OKA

10321 SN16OKB

10322 SN16OKC

10323 SN16OKD

10324 SN16OKF

10325 SN16OKG

Barking (BK) garage have a reputation for having a very relaxed allocation, and already the new buses for the 62 have been straying on many of the other double decker routes in the garage. Including route 238, which has moved its night service from West Ham (WH) garage to Barking (BK).Overall I do think that these buses are a wonderful addition to route 62 apart from the terrible blind display. The Double Decker conversion is indeed most welcome and the buses suit the 62 very nicely. The next 5 years are, in my opinion, looking very bright for route 62.

10330 sits on stand at Marks Gate
© EastLondoner

Moving onto the other service change in the area, Route 368 has recently transferred from Go Ahead London, Blue Triangle at Rainham (BE) garage to Arriva London North at Barking (DX) garage. 

SEN31 turns onto High Road, Chadwell Heath
© EastLondoner

Route 368 was allocated with 2011 Enviro200s originally purchased by First London, they are coded SEN30-SEN37 and generally only stayed on the 368 during their time at Rainham (BE). However the 368 did see its fair share of workings durings its time at Rainham (BE), from standard Enviro200s ordered by Go Ahead to Plaxton Pointers.

Route 368 has had quite a life, frequently changing hands between operators, even when its contract is not up for tender! In comparison to the 62, it is a fairly young route starting back in 1993 running between Chadwell Heath and Barking Station via Becontree Avenue. It was operated by Docklands Transit before moving operation to Stagecoach London at BK during 1997. In 2001 its contract was awarded to Blue Triangle at Rainham (BE) garage, Blue Triangle then lost it to Docklands Buses at Silvertown (SI) garage. Then in a stroke of luck, both Silvertown and Rainham garages were purchased by Go Ahead London, and it made sense to transfer route 368 back to Rainham garage. However this didn't stop them losing it to First London in 2011, this time it was going to be operated from First's Dagenham (DM) garage using Enviro200s. But in another stroke of luck, First London had sold up and Go Ahead London purchased route 368 and it went back to operation at Rainham garage. It continued to operate using the Enviro200s that First had purchased for it back in 2011.

T169 seen in Ilford prior to taking up duties on the 368
© EastLondoner

However in 2015....yes, you guessed it...Rainham garage lost the 368 AGAIN, this time to Arriva London North at Barking (DX) garage. The route was going to be converted to Double Deck operation upon transfer to Arriva at Barking, using the Enviro400s that were previously used on route 168 from Ash Grove (AE) garage. The buses transferred to Barking garage by the end of 2015, however they lacked blinds and only strayed on the school routes. However as they went off to refurbishment, they returned featuring new blinds as well as a fresh coat of paint and newly padded chairs. They were found on routes 150 and 173 before the 368 came over to Barking (DX), intermixing with the Enviro400s on those routes.

However, while Arriva were getting ready to take over the 368, down over at Rainham (BE) the service of the 368 for the average passenger was going from bad to worse with buses regularly being late and looking like they had just had a ride through a swamp. The maintence standards on the buses was also falling fast, with many buses making funny noises from the engine. I was starting to find it extremely difficult to rely on the 368 to get me to where I needed to be as it was extremely unreliable and buses often coming in bunches of twos or threes. I was starting to get really excited for the takeover by Arriva, not so for the buses but for the fact that I may once again get a decent service, as well as decent buses.

SEN32 is seen at Barking Town Centre on route 368
© EastLondoner

As expected, Arriva took over the service on the 30th of April. everything happened as most people expected it. The Enviro400s that were transfered in from Ash Grove (AE) garage were the staple allocation, with two buses from route 173 batch of 09reg Enviro400s joining in on the fun.

T173 is seen at St Paul's Road in Barking on route 368 on the first morning of Arriva operation
© EastLondoner

The first day was less than smooth, as probably expected by many enthusiasts on the first day of a new operator on a route. This was not helped by the closer of the Lodge Avenue flyover which caused Barking to go to a standstill. However many local people on the area were commenting about the route's conversion to Double Decker and they seemed to welcome it happily.

A Dennis Trident ALX400 (TNA) on the 368
© EastLondoner

In my mind I was wondering how the 368 would be like with Double Deckers operating on it. The route made some pretty tight turns and many of the roads it used were covered with trees dangling over them. However these new buses are not the first instance of Double Deckers operating on the 368. Back in 2013 when First London operated the route there was a weekend the route temporarily converted to double decker as its single deckers needed to be utilised elsewhere. To the left you can see one of my very early pictures of buses. One of the types that operated the route was a TNA.

With the 368 being part of my daily commute, I thought it would be the best to try out the buses then, to see how they handled the school crowds. I had my first proper ride on the 368 on the 3rd of May all the way to Chadwell Heath. Many people who boarded were very happy about the sight of a double decker finally on the route after many years. However the service itself wasn't the best, as is to be expected for the first few days of a new operator on the route. Upon arrival at Chadwell Heath there were 4 buses on stand! 

The buses themselves were very good, they were nice and fast as well as being great fun to ride on. I might as even go as far as to say they are the best batch of vehicles that Barking (DX) garage have in my opinion.  

T172 sits on stand at Chadwell Heath
© EastLondoner

Below you will find a fleetlist of buses that are now allocated to route 368...

T168 LJ60AUT

T169 LJ60AUU

T170 LJ60AUV

T171 LJ60AUW

T172 LJ60AUX

T173 LJ60AUY

T174 LJ60AVB

T175 LJ60ATZ

T176 LJ60AUA

T177 LJ60AUC

T178 LJ60AUE

T179 LJ60AUF

T174 is seen at Barking on its way to Chadwell Heath
© EastLondoner

It will take some time for me to get used to seeing double deckers on the 368 and Enviro400 MMCs on the 62. However both these changes are very welcome, especially with the population in Barking and Dagenham expected to see rapid growth in the forthcoming years following further development in Barking Riverside as well as Crossrail starting to open in stages. 

So what do you think? Do you think the double decking of these two routes was needed? Please leave a comment below as to what you think.