New Logos, New Buses

With a recent surge in new buses entering service within the main RATP fleet, consisting of subsidiaries London United and London Sovereign (Quality Line also got some MMCs for the 470 but I sacrificed covering that for the tube strike), some traditional vehicles which have been the face of the company for many years are disappearing rapidly, whilst some brand new types have been introduced, potentially triggering a change in which manufacturer the company opt for with new contracts. First of all, the main focus will be on one particular older bus type, where daily appearances are reducing to single digits, spread over four or possibly three garages by the time you read this.

London United TLA3 is seen in Kingston on route 71 - this vehicle is now withdrawn.

 The type in question is the Trident ALX400 and all of the longer versions have already been withdrawn, with the biggest blow being the introduction of Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LH vehicles onto route 94. Since then, a few remained and one managed to work route 220 until the end of April, although sadly that too has been removed from London service. This type, along with Volvo ALX400s and Presidents, dominated the double deck fleet across RATP garages during the 2000s and even though the first type ebbed away a few years ago and the second only exists in hybrid form as a result of modifications, the latter still had a considerable number left not so long ago. This type was one I grew up with throughout childhood and whilst it wasn't initially one of my favourites, as they have started to disappear I've now realised how much they will be missed when they leave ; the quieter hybrid buses which now dominate most of the London United routes won't ever make up for the famous growl of the powerful Trident engine, which was really tested on fast-paced routes like the 65 which I have used regularly throughout life. I could spend ages talking about my memories with the older buses, but there is other important information about them I would like to convey and also where you can find them if you've left chasing the vehicles late, like I normally do.

London United RATP TA40229 is seen on one of its last ever trips on route 65.

Out of all the Trident routes, the 65 was certainly the one I used them most on, for fairly long distances too as the route is the only example travelling a substantial distance South of Ealing. Initially I was looking forward to the prospect of new vehicles, in the form of Scania OmniCity buses, but when they were first introduced I found them to be woefully disappointing in comparison to the Tridents and whilst I've grown to love the SPs now, in a drag race most of them will easily be outpaced by an ALX400. Withdrawals at Fulwell (FW) garage, where the 65 is based, have been noticeably rapid in the past couple of years and it's uncertain whether the two survivors, which remained for considerably longer than the rest, will return given that both of them haven't seen service since Monday and that was on a school duty. Incidentally, TA213 (the new numbering system is too complex and I still don't use it) held the title of the oldest London bus in service for a substantial amount of time, although whether a Go-Ahead Dart Pointer will take on the responsibility is unclear. The other vehicle, TA229, took a greater liking to the 65 than the slightly older ALX400, although in the past couple of months they've mostly worked route 281 and if these buses do resurrect this is probably where you will find them for their final few days in service.

TA230 is seen in Hounslow West sporting the iconic capitalised qualifier.

There are no Tridents at any London Sovereign garages and a limited number of London United ones retain them. No examples can be found at Hounslow Heath (HH) garage anymore, nor at Shepherd's Bush (S) with the final batches for routes H91 and 94 disappearing last year. Stamford Brook (V) haven't had any for as long as I can remember, whilst Twickenham (NC) closed many years ago. With the uncertainty surrounding the remaining two at Fulwell (FW) garage, that leaves three garages with a couple of Tridents still clinging on, although a drastic frequency reduction on route 94 should theoretically release a number of Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LH vehicles to replace them soon and your chances of catching one on a weekend are very slim now. Even though the 71 is probably the most difficult route to get to, the three Tridents at Tolworth (TV) garage remain dedicated to the route and make daily appearances so it is probably one of the safer examples to try. There are actually seven Tridents still in use at Hounslow (AV) garage, but on a typical weekday you won't see more than three or four, usually on school services or the H32 route between Hounslow and Southall, which is actually the route I took my last Trident ride on, in the form of TA230, one of the more dedicated examples at the garage. When the bus turned up I was delighted to find the traditional, partially capitalised blinds and the older, much rarer moquette which emphasised the lack of any recent refurbishment. Nevertheless, the bus seemed perfectly healthy and provided a delightful final journey, with even some kickdown along the bridge across the M4 in Heston and a generally fast-paced journey, so if you're after specific powerful buses TA230 is quite a good bet. The final garage sporting Tridents is Park Royal (RP), with a couple there acting as refurbishment covers whilst the 220s E400s are at the workshop. Their appearance on such a prolific route is quite surprising at these later stages but also makes catching one very easy given that it goes through zone 2, although they are also the most inconsistent batch around, with some days having zero Tridents present whilst on others there will be three or four. My advice would be to consult the London Vehicle Finder and track down specific buses to avoid waiting around, but please let me know if you have any difficulty using this website. However, if you love Tridents and want to make sure you take a farewell ride on one of the most iconic buses in London before another operator loses all of them, make sure a trip to West London is a top priority, as I bet in a fortnight the last one will have been stood down, marking the end of a quite glorious era.

London United VH45257 is seen at Hounslow West on route H91 to Hammersmith.

Most of the Trident replacements have appeared in the form of Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LH vehicles, which have been extremely popular recently with Metroline and RATP ordering them for almost every contract requiring new buses, although interestingly both operators seem to have switched to MCV and ADL respectively, raising concerns as to what has diminished the attractiveness of the Wrightbus product. Nevertheless, this type is responsible for withdrawing the last batch of RATP Tridents in Central London (although curiously a short version temporarily allocated itself to the 94 for a period of time in March) and the last few at Hounslow Heath (HH) garage, with a small batch of three buses recently entering service for a contract retention of route 635. Since then, all of them have transferred to either Edgware (BT) or Park Royal (RP) garage, meaning that the presence of the "frog-face" Gemini 3 on Hounslow Heath routes was very brief and now the garage once again only has old-style examples. The buses didn't like spending much time on the 635 and preferred the more mainstream 285 and H91 services, introducing a brand new type to both of them. Even though this batch is certainly not substantial, these 67-reg Gemini 3s are incredibly fast and far superior to the older examples at Hounslow Heath - my only journey aboard one on the H91 consisted of the vehicle being floored to bits down the Great West Road and its a shame these vehicles can't showcase their potential much now that they mostly appear on traffic-filled Central London routes like the 18 and 139. Nevertheless, I'm glad I did manage to have one ride on what is possibly the best batch of Gemini 3s RATP have and could be their last if ADL impress the company with the bigger batch arriving for routes H12/14 in September.

ADH45261 is seen at Brent Cross on route 142

The shift to ADL started rather tentatively, with a batch of four new E40H MMCs expected for the route 258 contract, marking the first batch of this very popular type for RATP. The 258 contract was moved to September instead of February, but the new buses were ordered for the latter starting date, so the first few months of the new 258 contract consisted of existing vehicles only. However, towards the end of February the first of the brand new ADH-class vehicles entered service at Edgware (BT) garage, initially on school services, returning this classification code to the company after five years, with the previous examples of ADL double deckers being on the 27. They certainly look the part in regards to the exterior, with the lower part of the front bodywork being reminiscent of the MMCs in Birmingham, whilst the new sleek "S-stock" RATP moquette looks stylish with the layout of the ADL product upstairs. In general, these buses have had good reviews from enthusiasts and whilst my ride on the 142 wasn't speedy, the buses are comfortable and in my opinion are a great addition to the London Sovereign fleet - I'm looking forward to further examples entering service. At the moment, the buses can turn up on a variety of Edgware (BT) routes, although the 142 and 258 are good candidates. It seems that these buses have added to the wide range of types found at this garage, although with a very limited number of Scania OmniDekkas buses left and the only Volvo Presidents being hybrid now after a Vantage conversion, it won't be long before another post will be published documenting the demise of more classic types under RATP.
 

Thanks for reading and stay safe!