London Buses On The Go: Random Observations- 06/08/14

Hello readers, sorry it's been such a long time since the last edition. There have been so many contract renewals/changes recently that have been prioritized, but I finally have time to do one of these posts. Hopefully, there will be some photos from East London in this edition, so look forward to it!

Interior of ADH40, on route 27. Despite the buses being 2 years old, they still have that new, rubbery smell to them and are still in a pristine condition.


On May Day (5th May), there was a running day on routes 15H and 9H, which I didn't know about until on the day. I was covering route 10, and then I saw lots of extra Routemasters on the 9H, and then a First Berkshire Volvo Hybrid Single Decker appeared working route 15H!

Many Scania OmniCity's working route 205 have been fitted with white on black blinds, so route 277 destinations can be fitted. The 205 is supposed to use new E40H's, but the Scania's continue to appear.

PVL151, an ageing Volvo President works route 68 run from Camberwell (Q) garage. This bus probably won't be on the road for much longer, considering it is thirteen years old!

A working now possible, thanks to London United for re-blinding most of the Scania's at Fulwell (FW) garage. Here, SP38 works the normally single deck route 110....

.....Some have not been fitted with new blinds, and SP163 is still waiting for the treatment. Here it is working route 267 on Chiswick High Road.

This bus looks rather old, doesn't it? Here is 9001, the first ever B7TL/Gemini delivered to Abellio London.

Am unusual order placed by Go-Ahead London has seen three 11.7m Enviro 400s being used for its Commercial Services Fleet. Here is one on Rail Replacement duty in New Cross.

Another protest march on Whitehall meant the 12 was curtailed to Westminster Bridge Road for the day. Here is a Gemini 2 B5LH demonstrating the short journey.

A trio of buses arrive at High Street Kensington. Inevitably, there is a cycle rack.

The 23 is meant to be 100% Enviro, but here a DB300/Integral Gemini 2 has managed to escape onto the route. These buses are allocated to route 328, and they don't stray that often.

A Trident/ALX400 works route 175 in Romford.

An 11-reg Enviro works route 174 outside the station, on a very warm day in June.

10163 is one of nine Enviro 400s ordered for the contract renewal for route 175, but they managed to escape onto every other Romford (NS) double-deck bus route.

The rear of an Enviro 200 working route 499.

The 5 is a high frequency route that runs from Canning Town-Romford. It does have a dedicated batch of ALX400s for the route, but Enviro's are extremely common too.

A refurbished Scania OmniCity works route 365, from Orchard Village-Havering Park. This vehicle used to work route 106 until the route was lost to Arriva, with new DB300 Gemini 2s.

Here is a new Enviro 400 ordered for the contract renewal of route 252. Scania's also appear on the route.

Here is another 365, gleaming in the morning sun.


Here is one of the ALX400s that are allocated to the route.

The 86 runs from Stratford-Romford, and is meant to help out the 25 between Stratford and Ilford. However, the 86 gets extremely overcrowded itself, suggesting another route needs to be put along this corridor. An Express route from Oxford Circus-Romford might work.

An ALX400 finishes a route 247 journey at Romford Station.

Here is a Scania/Olympus transferred from Metrobus when the contract of routes 54 and 75 was lost to Stagecoach. The buses work routes 498, 474 and every other school route at Rainham (BE). The buses still retain the Metrobus interior.

Here is the exterior of one working a route 498 journey to Brentwood, which is in Essex, not London...

An E200 works the eclectic route 62, which can see Optare Versas, Enviro 200s, Trident/ALX400s, Dart Pointers, and Enviro 400s! Here is an E200, stopping to pick up passengers with shopping bags.

Here, an Evolution single decker works route 167, in Ilford.

Here is one of the Olympuses on the 474, a brilliant route which goes from Manor Park-Canning Town. The view around London City Airport is amazing.

The 474 also uses Wrightbus Gemini 2 buses, and here is one in East Ham.

Route 541 is a temporary route from Canning Town-Kier Hardie Estate. This route has been re-introduced twice, and Go-Ahead are having a go at the moment. Here is SO2, with no valid destination blind.

Here is the interior of OS27 on route 309, which is a very overcrowded route that runs through estates in Poplar.

Here is one of the two door Optare Solo's that works the route.

The D3 is like the 309, except it doesn't run through estates, and it uses longer buses. Here is 36367 at Crossharbour.

An Arriva London double decker sets out on a 135 journey to Old Street Station. The blind needs to be changed to read Old Street Station.

The 78 is meant to use Enviros, but Gemini's from route 106 appear regularly on Sundays.

Here is a Go-Ahead Gemini 2 on route D7, which goes around the whole of the Isle Of Dogs. It takes about 30 minutes to do so, which isn't surprising, and then there's also the bit to Mile End.