Metroline Fly Solo In The Garden Suburb

Some of London's quirkiest bus services lie in the Golders Green area, serving the community of Hampstead Garden Suburb. For the past twelve years they've been operated by Arriva The Shires, but Metroline managed to steal all three for the latest contract, which commenced on Saturday 9th June 2018. Even though these routes are pretty small compared to some of the monstrosities found on our bus network, this change certainly wasn't an easy transition.

Under the old...

The H2 is the only substantial bus service in Hampstead Garden Suburb, operating a circular route between the extensive residential area and Golders Green. It undertakes a ridiculously complex routeing in an attempt to serve as many streets and houses as possible, but is surprisingly busy considering the overall wealthy status of this locality. Vehicles are sectioned off from the main bus station at Golders Green, with a little lay-by alongside Finchley Road being appropriate for these tiny buses which would feel intimidated by the towering double deckers in the other part. There are some really tight turns involved along the route and whilst it is pretty much all residential, the narrow streets and fancy houses, frequented by vegetation, mean the external surroundings are always attractive. In addition, this route skims the Hampstead Heath Extension and goes past some stunning churches and graveyards, so if you have 28 minutes spare in Golders Green I'd certainly recommend taking a circuit on the H2. Conveniently, halfway through the journey it links up with the mainstream 102 service at a stop called Market Place. It runs every 12 minutes from Monday to Saturday, with this requiring three buses, whilst on Sundays and during the evening the frequency reduces to every 20 minutes. Due to the aforementioned difficult manoeuvres en route, the tiny 7.8m Optare Solos have to be used and these routes are essentially prohibited from having odd workings from the rest of the London fleet. The capacity restraints are also the reason why the H2 has such a high frequency, considering the proportion of residents who use the bus is presumably minimal. Arriva The Shires operated this service, along with the 631 and H3, from Garston (GR) garage and generally the reliability was very good, with hardly any disruptions being possible on these services. However, as you might've guessed, the garage was quite some distance from the terminal, so the dead mileage costs can't have been cheap.

I know its only a little h, but East Fincley isn't the destination!

If you thought the H2 was bizarre, try the H3. It runs at an hourly frequency, Monday to Saturday only, from 0900-1400, with an extra morning peak commuter journey, but just gives up on Sunday and during the late afternoon/evening. Its peak vehicle requirement is for one vehicle, which is crosslinked to the 631 service. This route runs at school times and was formerly known as the H1, making four trips to and from the Henrietta Barnett School, with the journey time being around five minutes. Interestingly, the route is two-way in the afternoon. The H3 is a fair bit longer, with a Golders Green-East Finchley-Golders Green circuit taking around 50 minutes to complete. It is one of my favourite single deck services in London, but not only because of the weird operational hours. Upon departure from the sidecourt, it uses some of the fancy narrow streets of Hampstead Garden Suburb like the H2, passing the incredible church and cemetery en route, before using Hampstead Way with very fancy homes hidden behind hedges. On Wildwood Road the homes become mansion-like, with multiple fancy cars in the driveway, along with large recreational areas of woodland which seem to be underused. There is a brief connection with the 210 bus at Kenwood House, but after this the H3 uses The Bishops Avenue, colloquially referred to as "Millionaire's Row", as it is littered with enormous mansions that form some of the most expensive property in the country. It's hard to believe that this is still zone three and surprisingly the homes aren't glamorous either, with most of the homes being deserted and derelict, whilst others are a building site. It must be very rare to have a passenger request the bus along this incredible stretch, which is over all too quickly as the bus arrives at East Finchley Station and its modest high street. The last section to Hilltop isn't as extravagant as Hampstead Garden Suburb, but it does generate most of the H3's usage and the streets the bus uses to turn around are quite fun nevertheless, with parked cars on both sides making it a really tight squeeze. I hope my brief marketing has been successful, as I would strongly encourage you to take a ride on the H3. There is absolutely nothing like it in London and is enjoyable even if you're not a bus enthusiast.

Ehh? What's that? All will be revealed...

Metroline assumed operation of the Hampstead routes on Saturday 9th June 2018, from Cricklewood (W) garage, which is conveniently only ten minutes away from Golders Green. As the older Optare Solos were too old for another five year contract, some brand new examples of this type were ordered, numbered OS2499-2504, although these are the SR model. However, they didn't arrive until September, so initially Metroline were forced to loan the ex-Garston buses from Arriva and use them on the Hampstead routes until the new buses arrived. The first day of operation wasn't too bad, with only a couple of service issues, although the buses were identical to their appearance under the old contract, apart from the stickers in the windscreen stating that the bus was on loan to Metroline. The operator didn't bother with replacing the Arriva logos. These old Optare Solos weren't particularly healthy though, with a combination of poor maintenance as well as exhausting dead runs from inner London to Hertfordshire resulting in terrible reliability levels. They were breaking down all the time and on most days the H2 was operating with only two buses instead of the designated PVR of three. Those ex-GR buses certainly did sound questionable from a passenger perspective and eventually a photo emerged of OS70 with a completely burnt out rear. Service levels fell off a cliff and something drastic had to be done, as the performance was unsatisfactory for such a theoretically easy set of routes. In the weeks leading up to the takeover date, an anonymous white Optare Solo SR demonstrator had been sighted at Cricklewood (W) garage for type training purposes. However, a few weeks after it was returned, the bus re-emerged on the H2, but in service this time! After having been at Ellenvale Coaches for a while, this non-TfL vehicle was used on the Hampstead routes all through the summer and even had an oyster machine and assault screen fitted, although iBus technology was not installed. Initially, the vehicle was banditised, but after a couple of days the LEDs were programmed for the routes, suggesting that it would be staying for longer than we initially thought. It proved to be a lifeline for Metroline, with it being used intensively on almost every H3 duty, as well as some H2 evening runs and even then the latter route was falling short of PVR on most days. Even though I wasn't initially going to bother going up to Hampstead until the new vehicles arrived, it isn't every day that a non TfL spec vehicle is put into service on a London route - the bus even had seatbelts!

Not red and with no blinds!

My first experience of Metroline on the Hampstead routes was very telling indeed, with the operator really struggling to produce any sort of service given the circumstances. When I arrived it was quite worrying to see only two vehicles (OS68 and OS71) in service on LVF, with the H2 still being a bus down despite the Ellenvale (unevenly) bridging what could've been a 36 minute gap. To make matters worse, the driver for the scheduled 1300 H3 departure simply vanished and after 22 minutes of waiting, it became apparent that this trip wasn't running at all, which is very poor for an hourly service and I can assure you the other punters were not amused! A circuit on the Ellenvale (H2) to waste time was an interesting experience, with one passenger commenting on how the newer model has a lower capacity than the ex-GR Solos. Upon arrival at Golders Green, OS68 was still abandoned in the forecourt, but there were also saw unusual tailbacks on Finchley Road. After walking up the road, I found OS71, the only other bus working the H2, broken down in the middle of the Finchley Road, effectively making it a one way street - what an awful position to give up! This meant that there was only one active vehicle out of a requirement for four buses. After 15 minutes OS71 got going again, but it did sound awfully unhealthy.

At this point, the Ellenvale switched to the H3 so that the last departure of the day could actually run, whilst the driver of OS68 returned so the H2 could at least operate a two bus service. I also found out from the driver that the white demonstrator had broken down earlier in the day on The Bishops Avenue! Perhaps Metroline had stretched their backup bus too far... It was working properly on my trip at least, so it was a shame the driver wasn't route trained and we ended up doing a U-turn in the middle of Hampstead Garden Suburb after missing a turn! Thankfully, as these buses are so small, getting out of there wasn't too difficult and after some directions from passengers, we did actually make it to the Hilltop. After some awfully tight squeezes, the circuit was almost complete, but the driver made another wrong turn, this time too soon rather than too late, so we had to endure the entire circuit again and were twenty minutes late upon arrival at Golders Green. I don't really know who to blame here, as it could be Arriva for not maintaining their Solos properly, Optare for being so late with the new batch, or even Metroline for the shoddy state of affairs on my visit, but what was certain is that they were desperate for their new buses...

No way! They actually exist!

Being three months overdue, it was rather surprising when some of the new Optare Solos actually showed up at Cricklewood (W) garage in the middle of September. Apparently the reason for them being delayed so heavily is that they were specifically designed for the H-routes, although I am clueless as to what modifications have actually taken place.  For whatever reason, it wasn't possible to fit conventional blinds to this batch of buses, so TfL were forced to make an exemption and permit the use of LEDs on the new Solos, which are informatively programmed for the Hampstead routes and maybe the 268 if worst comes to worst - Garston (GR) garage did throw their Solo's on that route from time to time! They're also currently carrying "CW" garage codes, when in fact Cricklewood is simply known as W. Maybe this is the sign of things to come.... Before entering service, one made a surprise visit at Holloway (HT) garage for its open day on Saturday 15th September 2018, although due to misdemeanour from certain members of the public the bus ended up broken before it had even hit the road. A couple of days later, two sneaked out into service on the H2 and H3 and by the weekend all bar one had made their debut. However, due to an unknown issue which is reliant on a timetable change in October (one would assume this would be the smaller capacity of the new Solos), they are currently banned from the 631. It also explains why an extra bus was ordered as part of the tender specification, which suggests its PVR will be rising. I must say that the vehicles look incredibly smart, with the immaculate Metroline livery suiting the curved bodywork and I was very excited to finally sample them after so much anticipation.

So buses are allowed to apologise for not being in service.

I am of the opinion that the LEDs look fantastic, although at times they are quite difficult to read as the text displaying "via Hampstead Garden Suburb" is so condensed, whilst in rainy weather they're not perfectly clear in photos. There also seemed to be a technical glitch with the iBus programming, as my bus just displayed "H2 to Golders Green" for the entire journey, whilst on LVF the buses refused to show stops outside the area surrounding the terminus. Nevertheless, the seats provided are very comfortable, with the vast majority being high-backed too. It really was quite refreshing to see a bus that wasn't unbearably worn out on these Hampstead services. They sound quite different to the Ellenvale demonstrator for some reason, with the London buses having more of a growl to their engine, whilst the Ellenvale had attributes of an E200 MMC engine. Despite being quite noisy for a new bus, they're very quick off the mark and offer a smooth ride, whilst the driver on my journey was truly superb. She greeted every single passenger and offered them brilliant customer service, being one of the friendliest drivers I've encountered for, well, years. If anyone high up in Metroline reads this, it was OS2501 on Saturday 22nd September 2018 at around 3pm and please pass on my praise! These buses gave a really relaxing journey and I'm really looking forward to having the Solos as part of the future London fleet, they're top notch in my opinion. Hopefully, now that Metroline have a more dependable fleet, the operation of the Hampstead routes can improve - they have run them before so hopefully have the advantage of experience too! I see the potential.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Garston Garage, No More

Arriva The Shires have operated TfL routes for a while and even though in more recent times their red bus services were officially known as under Arriva London, they were still run from Garston (GR) garage, which is even further North than Watford, the current boundary for where TfL buses operate. However, after losing the two closest routes to the depot to London Sovereign (flagship 142 and 258), then the 268, 631, H2 and H3 to Metroline, the future did look uncertain. The final blow was where upon tender, every single service apart from the 340 was lost to London Sovereign, which almost confirmed the garage was doomed. Even though they had quite a substantial profile not too long ago, the high dead mileage costs couldn't have been feasible and especially in the last few months the quality of buses and service had deteriorated significantly. A popular farewell event took place on Saturday 25th August 2018, which saw lots of vintage buses operating around the area, whilst the garage itself closed exactly seven days later, during the early hours of September 1st. This post covers the large number of routes which assumed RATP operation on this day, as well as the smaller change to the 340, whilst the heavily delayed Hampstead routes will have their publication next week.

Hybrid buses can now operate on the 340.

Since keeping a garage open for a solitary route was understandably deemed unsustainable, the 340 was forced to find a new home within the company, although this happened a couple of months before Garston closed. Rather awkwardly, this has become Palmers Green (AD) garage, which is even further from the termini than Garston (GR) once was, leading to some pretty nasty dead runs. The allocation of ten Wrightbus Streetdeck double deckers did transfer with the route and have been re-blinded, appearing on routes 102, 141 and 329 since this was achieved. In a similar fashion, it was not too long before vehicles already at Palmers Green started to appear on the 340, with ADL Enviro 400s from the 102 and 329 as well as Wrightbus Gemini 2 B5LH vehicles allocated to the 141. Both types can be found on an almost daily basis alongside the Streetdecks, with the hybrids taking a particular liking to Sunday duties. Interestingly, despite the route being very urban in nature, no hybrid vehicles had operated the route before the transfer and whilst older ALX400s and Gemini 1s appearing the route is sadly no longer possible, some more modern variety is arguably better than none at all. Whether Arriva will retain the route upon tender with its inconveniently placed garage is hard to say, especially as London Sovereign and Metroline have depots along the line of route, although for now the route continues to be operated well and hopefully it remains this way at its new home.

This type is now extinct in London.

Right until the very end of the contract, Garston (GR) employed an eclectic mix of generally older vehicles on its routes, with two types becoming extinct after the changes and a third being endangered as we speak. The allocation was also pretty much common user, especially after the Hampstead routes left, with double deckers appearing on single deck services and even vice versa from time to time, which was very inconvenient if you happened to intercept one of those trips. Chronologically, the first route Arriva surrendered was the short 288, running between Queensbury Morrisons and the Broadfields Estate. In order to serve the latter destination buses complete a loop around the housing area, before serving Edgware as the intermediate destination. After a double run into Edgware Bus Station, it takes a direct route via back roads to Queensbury, with a typical end-to-end journey time of around 30 minutes - the 288 is only four miles in length. A peak vehicle requirement for seven vehicles satisfy the intensive Monday-Saturday frequency of every 10 minutes - this drops to 4bph on Sundays and every 20 minutes during the evening.

The 288 seemed to run pretty well under Arriva, with the relatively trouble-free routeing resulting in a generally reliable service despite the tight timetable. Until the very end, this route took a preference to the last batch of Wrightbus Cadet vehicles in London and whilst they were very problematic and slightly worse for wear, these DWL-class buses soldiered on to form the last ever service operated from Garston, which was inevitably filled with enthusiasts. These buses certainly gave the 288 some character and it was under the old that I rode the route from end-to-end ; after that farewell ride I certainly will miss the Cadets in London - even though on some of them the bus would start shaking when exceeding 20mph they were still quite fast. As a route the 288 isn't bad, with wide roads throughout and down-to-earth houses dominating the external surroundings, although there is an urban interlude in Edgware, with the short end-to-end journey time preventing any overriding sense of boredom. It will not, however, be the same without these old buses, or indeed the occasional double decker strays which Arriva provided. One B7TL ALX400 was out on the very last day, but other than that it was fully Cadet.

The temporary allocation at Edgware Bus Station, complete with a spelling error...

 Chaotic is certainly an appropriate word to describe the initial takeover from Arriva, due to a number of reasons. London Sovereign were planning to open a brand new outstation in preparation for the extra volume of work, located at Parr Road in Canons Park, although due to ground contamination this wasn't going to be ready for September 1st, which meant that some of the buses were temporarily being based at a site in North Wembley owned by Brent Council. It seems that Canons Park (CP) garage is open now, with four out of the seven buses coming from this outstation whilst the other three are actually from Edgware (BT). A second problem was the absence of a large pool of brand new ADL Enviro 200 MMCs the company ordered for routes 288, 303, H18 and H19, with maybe one or two at most being in service on the first day. A few slightly older examples of this type were loaned from Fulwell (FW) and Tolworth (TV) garages, having already been at London Sovereign a few weeks prior to the change for driver training purposes, although the majority of the 288s current allocation is only a little younger than the Cadets which previously ran the route. Conveniently, a decent number of 07-reg "classic" Enviro 200s had been made redundant at Tolworth (TV) garage following the introduction of new buses on the K2, so these were swiftly transferred up North and are still in use on the 288 and 303, with a couple also straying onto the 251 which is based at the outstation too. It is hard to tell when the rest of the new buses will trickle into service, but with a short-term solution at least the operator won't be under too much pressure.

One of the newer MMCs is seen in Broadfields Estate, with the correct spelling this time!

Saturday 1st September 2018 was the first day of London Sovereign operation and it produced a 50/50 split of new E200 MMCs and the loaned classic models. At least one of the newer vehicles was banditised, hinting that they were rushed into service. Existing buses found at Edgware (BT) garage have also appeared in the past couple of weeks, but this operator do seem far more strict regarding double deckers. The service had its ups and downs on the first day, but it was tolerable and by now it seems London Sovereign have got the hang of operating the route well. Regular passengers, particularly those in Broadfields Estate, did notice the new buses and the rubbery smell on the MMCs, with most commending the immaculate interior, but the stop-start technology was predictably unpopular. Despite this hardly being a smooth introduction, I only have one bone to pick at London Sovereign regarding vehicle presentation and it isn't even the lack of blinds on one of the new buses, but rather a discrepancy regarding the destination. The newer vehicles informatively display the

Banditised...

correct terminus points of "Broadfields Estate" and "Queensbury Morrisons", although the older classic vehicles simply display plain old "Queensbury", although this is too ambiguous for my liking as the bus doesn't serve the area surrounding Queensbury Circle at all. The biggest issue though is that on the loaned buses the front destination is misspelled, proclaiming that the terminus is "Broadfield Estate", whilst the side blind says "288 via Broadfields", which is self-contradictory as a bus route cannot have its terminus as an intermediate destination! I understand that this was a last-minute affair, but surely spending 30 seconds looking at the route on a map or even the perfectly valid displays of the incumbent operator would've been better than the sloppy look at the moment. Appearances aside, however, it seems that the 288 should be in safe hands for the future, with the more conveniently placed garage(s) surely being an advantage for London Sovereign, even if their new allocation will always be viewed as inferior to the old by enthusiasts.

Credit to Transport For London and their production of this map.

If the 288 was confusing enough for you, I'd advise taking a break before tackling the 303 and 305. As well as changing operator, these last two services were merged into one route on Saturday 1st September (with the former number remaining for the new service), complete with two diversions and a temporary timetable. The 305 was a very quiet bus route and was largely duplicated by more substantial services like the 302, whilst the equally short 303 which conveniently ran in the vicinity could have some tweaking in order to pick up the exclusive stretches. The map probably explains the changes in routeing much better than I ever could, but essentially the 303 would only run along the half of Deansbrook Road it served on its own, before diverting down Deans Lane (ex-305 territory) and regaining the line of route at Mill Hill Broadway. After Colindale Superstores, pending the completion of a new link road, the 303 would be extended along Princes Avenue to Kingsbury Circle, the old 305 terminus. It's a pretty cunning way of saving money, with no roads actually being deprived of a bus service, but a fair few links being broken in the process. However, the 305 wasn't very popular in its days of existence and I would much rather routes like this received the chop than something as ridiculous as the 48. Originally, the 125 was said to be receiving an extension to Colindale on September 1st, but this has been postponed for whatever reason.

Arriva The Shires ENL105 is seen at Edgware on the old 303.

Under Arriva The Shires, the 303 ran only between Edgware and Colindale Superstores, although the key intermediate points of Mill Hill Broadway and Grahame Park remain the same. The route was fairly popular for local journeys and towards the end of the contract it was customary to have two or three double deck vehicles on the route each day, quite often including Volvo/B7TL ALX400s and the last remaining VLW-class Wrightbus B7TL Gemini in London. On the single deck front, newer 11-reg ex-Stagecoach "classic" E200s took a liking to the 303 instead of the older models, although even the Cadets and Pointers did appear pretty regularly. Since the changes, the route is now seven miles in length and takes around 40 minutes from end-to-end, soaking up eight vehicles for the quarter-hourly Monday to Saturday frequency, with drops to 3bph on Sundays and 2bph during the evening. Even though my completion would be invalid the next day, I felt obliged to sample the service with a double decker as this potentially wouldn't be possible under the new contract and I was fortunate enough to receive a powerful Volvo/B7TL ALX400 for this. Although the reliability was pretty shoddy on the last day of Arriva, I really enjoyed my journey and observing areas such as Field Mead, the RAF Museum and Deansbrook Road were my three highlights. Funnily enough, the last ever VLW-class bus worked its last journey in service on the 303, which means this fairly insignificant back street route now has historical significance too!

Arriva London PDL152 is seen on the dead route 305.

 If you thought the 288 and 303 were short enough, this cute little route took no more than 23 minutes from end-to-end, which meant a peak vehicle requirement of four buses could satisfy the 15 minute Monday-Saturday frequency, which was inevtiably halved during the evening and on Sundays. Its termination points were Kingsbury Circle and Edgware, going via Princes Avenue, Burnt Oak and Deans Lane in the process, with the majority of the middle section being shared with the 302 to Mill Hill Broadway. As this route was never busy, double deckers were much rarer, although they did still appear alongside a wide mix of single deckers. The two ADL Dart Pointers at the garage did seem to take a liking to the 305, but typically the other vehicles were anything from Cadets to the ex-Stagecoach E200s. On its last ever day of operation, Friday 31st August 2018, only three buses were actually in service, portraying a sense of premature abandonment, although my very brief end-to-end ride on a Wrightbus Cadet was saddening enough, given that the route wouldn't be operating in less than eight hours time. It'll be interesting to see if the number pops up again on a London route in the distant future, but for now there is no such thing as a 305 in TfL land.

A loaned DE is seen at Quakers Course.

In terms of vehicle allocation, the 303 is broadly the same as the 288, except that all the vehicles are based at Parr Road (CP) for the time being. On the first day all bar one of the buses were loaned 07-reg DEs, with the correct displays this time, although one new E200 MMC was knocking around. Since then, a few more have appeared on the route, but the route remains largely "old" for now, with a couple of E200s allocated to the 251 bringing an intermediate level to the vehicle panel. In terms of service, London Sovereign performed surprisingly well considering this combination of roads has never been used on a London bus service before, although its relaxed schedule with a lot of stand time at Edgware Bus Station might've contributed to this. However, the route buses are currently taking isn't even what is shown on the map above - typically the removal of the width restriction on Capitol Way hasn't taken place, so buses are on a rather lengthy diversion via Edgware Road and Hay Lane, missing out Colindale Superstores altogether, which managed to irritate a load of passengers on my journey. A second diversion is currently in operation around Grahame Park, where buses are skipping the housing development area at Corner Mead due to parking issues which prevent the longer new vehicles from serving the street, which means that a lot of homes are isolated from the bus network. This was particularly infuriating on the first day where only one bus out of a PVR for eight vehicles would've actually been affected! A temporary timetable is in operation, with a helpful frequency of every 16 minutes until further notice, making the new service even more baffling and unattractive.

The only new vehicle on the 303.

To make matters worse, TfL were truly horrendous in publicising the changes properly. There wasn't even a scrolling iBus message on 303/305 vehicles warning passengers of the changes in advance, whilst posters on the bus stops were only put up a day before the changes would take place, which is extremely poor notice! On the first day, none of the bus stop flags had been updated, which meant that along the entireity of the old 305 routeing a non-existent service was being advertised, whilst passengers travelling to Edgware on Deans Lane would've been waiting on the wrong side of the road. Secondly, during the week following the changes, TfL Bus Alerts were still proudly proclaiming that the 305 was available for passenger use, even though the route had been dead for a few days. This grossly unacceptable so-called preparation resulted in some completely baffled members of the public, with most having a fairly lengthy conversation with the driver regarding where the new route would take them, with a surprisingly high number of unsuccessful journey's. We can only hope that these road layout changes are sorted out promptly, as the wonderful start London Sovereign have produced has been completely overshadowed by TfL's incompetence to inform the general public that their bus services would be changing. With all this confusion and mistrust, no wonder bus ridership is falling...

VLA116 was one of the older double deckers in regular use until the end of the contract.

Circular routes are pretty hard to find in London, but surprisingly Harrow Town Centre boasts two sets. The H18 and H19 run clockwise and anti-clockwise circuits respectively, serving the areas of North Harrow, Headstone Lane, Harrow Weald, Belmont Circle and Kenton in the process. Both routes run every 20 minutes from Monday to Saturday, with the evening/Sunday frequency dropping to every 30 minutes and the maximum number of buses required at any time is eight vehicles, with these being shared between the two services. The 8 mile circuit takes around 50 minutes to complete, although when I sampled the route the bus managed to achieve an end-to-end journey in 42. I decided to sample the H18 under the old because of the presence of double deck vehicles, which made the journey all the more satisfying. VLA116 was a very fast bus and the driver floored it throughout my trip through the more affluent parts of Harrow - whilst being predominantly residential the H18 offered frequent green spaces and shopping parades to complement the pretty housing, making it a very decent route and it is a shame that viewing these lovely areas is no longer possible from the top deck. Reliability was pretty decent under Garston (GR) operation, whilst the allocation was probably the most varied out of any route based at the garage towards the end of the contract. There was at least one Volvo/B7TL ALX400 every day, along with a selection of native Arriva and ex-Stagecoach E200s, although older Cadets and Dart Pointers did fill in occasionally. It was no surprise that London Sovereign were able to pick up these routes too, as their Harrow (SO) garage is conveniently placed on the circuit.

A "classic" E200 is seen at Harrow Town Centre.

Although the H18/H19 are based at a different garage to the 288 and 303, their allocation of new buses would be of the exact same type and there were punctuality issues with this batch too. Only one Enviro 200 MMC actually went into service on the first day, banditised too and this disappeared by midday. The rest of the vehicles were existing "classic" Enviro 200s already based at Harrow (SO) garage, with most of these coming from the H14 which conveniently converted to double deck operation on the same day. Bar the solitary new bus, vehicle presentation wasn't too bad on the first day, although
for some odd reason the quality of blindwork deteriorated rapidly afterwards, with almost the entire allocation having paper blinds on some days. A couple more fully blinded new ADL Enviro 200 MMCs managed to make it out within a few days, although progress has still been slow and there's still probably one bus running around with paper displays today. The reliability has been decent though, which is perhaps understandable considering London Sovereign are already quite familiar with the Harrow area, which the H18/H19 never leave. I do hope that the locals are happy with their slightly newer buses, even if I view this change as a downgrade as there are no more double deckers!

One of the newer buses on the H19 is pursued by a 183.

In conclusion, the introduction of London Sovereign to various routes in North-West London hasn't been particularly smooth. Although the eclectic allocation system at Garston (GR) may have appeared unorganised at the time, the incorrect destination displays and presence of banditry make Arriva look like perfectionists! TfL were even worse with their lack of information regarding the 303/305 changes - what could've been a fairly decent saving has become a mess thanks to the confusion and arguably unnecessary diversions in place. On the plus side, in due course there will be a full complement of new buses for regular users to look forward to and London Sovereign have been doing very well in regards to service provision, but when taking on such a large volume of work there were bound to be a few hiccups. I wish this operator the very best for the next few years, although even with a brand new garage making its mark, the absence of Garston (GR) will be very difficult to fill, being a garage like no other.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Stagecoach Sacrifice, Stop & Start

Some slightly smaller changes involving Stagecoach London have occurred over the past three months, involving two single deck services in South-East London. One has moved onto pastures anew, whilst the other has received a batch of brand new buses within the company, which have actually entered service prematurely. You don't get that often in the London bus scene. Chronologically, the loss took place first, so we're heading to the 386 to start with.

Representing the old...

The 386 runs between Blackheath Village and Woolwich, via an infamously indirect routeing which passes Greenwich, Blackheath Royal Standard, Kidbrooke and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Whilst the route is genuinely quite busy for a single deck service, providing lots of useful round-the-corner links as well as serving unique territory, an end-to-end journey can probably be achieved three times faster on the 54 service, whilst walking between Blackheath Village and the Royal Standard will still put you a good fifteen minutes ahead of the bus. Nevertheless, a peak vehicle requirement for 11 vehicles satisfies the 15 minute frequency from Monday to Saturday, with the obligatory drop to three buses per hour on Sundays and during the evening. Clocking up nine miles, the typical journey times are just over an hour during the day. Having ridden the service from end-to-end, I can tell you the 386 is one of the better single deck routes in London - the housing part in Kidbrooke is admittedly a bit dull but the rest is genuinely interesting stuff. I really like the architecture around Woolwich, whilst the greenery of Blackheath is always lovely to admire from the bus. Greenwich Town Centre is equally enjoyable, whilst the extremely steep Vanbrugh Hill is always very testing for the vehicles and my bus, 36333, was overtaken by pedestrians during the struggle! The uphill direction is towards Woolwich by the way.

Stagecoach operated the route from Plumstead (PD) garage, which is only a few minutes away from the Woolwich terminus, although during the past few months it actually moved to Catford (TL) garage as the space at its former home was required for the win of route 161. Inevitably, this resulted in a couple of odd workings, not all of them blinded...There were relatively few complaints reliability-wise and generally it seemed like the company looked after the service well. The allocation did have some level of variety, with the 9.3m ADL Enviro 200s (all 58-reg bar a 13-plate top up) being officially rostered for the service, although these frequently ended up on the 291. Since the 386 changed hands, the E200s now appear exclusively on this service. Previously, the 291 was allocated mini Dart Pointers and these could quite often be found on the 386 too, often outnumbering the E200s as the higher capacity of the latter type was favoured for the overcrowding on the 291. Unfortunately, this batch of Pointers have now been withdrawn. With the 291 joining the 386 at Go-Ahead in December, the future of the E200s also remains uncertain, although the newer top up bus is expected to re-enter service on the 193 when that route is acquired by Stagecoach. The company waved goodbye to the 386 in the early hours of Saturday 2nd June 2018, when the route experienced its first ever operator change.

When I took this photo the chance of rain was 1%. You can probably tell from the clouds that I ended up soaked.

Funnily enough, the old Enviro 200s are being replaced by the exact same type, although in fairness the Go-Ahead ones are slightly younger than their predecessors. The vast majority previously worked route 299 in North London, but when Sullivan Buses grabbed this in February, it made sense for the batch of eight vehicles to transfer to another route and as the 9.3m combination is fairly unusual, the 386 seemed perfect. During their time off, an extensive refurbishment was carried out so that the buses did actually look presentable from day one. To make up the numbers, however, a few newer 64-reg E200s made redundant from the route 100 cutback are also allocated to the 386. It'll be interesting to see those tackle the steep hill with their temperamental ZF gearboxes! As well as these two batches, a couple of rogue vehicles have appeared too, including the longer SE152 as well as SEN29, which is almost identical to the ex-299 buses but has appeared at over seven different garages over the course of a year and never seems to actually settle in anywhere. The 386 is operated out of the recently opened Morden Wharf (MG) garage under the new contract, which is a few minutes away from the Maze Hill area which the 386 passes through en route.

One of the former 100 vehicles at Woolwich.

Go-Ahead certainly had their ups and downs on the first day, with some rather promising signs at first, but there were a few occasions, particularly in the afternoon, where the operation just fell to pieces. In general though, there has been an improvement since then and whilst the occasional slip-up still happens, the new company seems to be on the right track and within a year I'm sure the service will be as rock solid as it was with Stagecoach. There's been a lack of odd workings so far and I suspect everyone is waiting for a Wrightbus Streetlite, allocated to the 286 officially, to sneak out as that does actually introduce a new type to the 386. Nevertheless, I wish Go-Ahead the best for the next five years and hopefully they continue to build on their strong foundations.

The terminus at Shirley is quite pretty.

 This is simply a case of a route being retained with the same operator and given a new batch of buses, which turns out to be 9.0m Enviro 200 MMCs with stop-start technology in the case of the 356. This service weaves its way around back roads in South-East London, but also conveniently turning up in town centres en route. In between Shirley and Upper Sydenham, points of interest include Eden Park, Elmers End, Anerley, Penge, Lower Sydenham and Forest Hill. This nine mile journey soaks up seven buses during rush hour, which caters for a 20 minute frequency from Monday to Saturday. This drops to half hourly on Sundays and in the evening. Stagecoach London operate this route from the newest garage in London, Kangley Bridge Road (KB), which opened in March as an outstation to Catford (TL) garage, which is where this route formerly ran from. Whilst the previous batch of 58-reg E200s were the only vehicles short enough at the depot, buses from Catford allocated to the 124 and 273 frequently stepped in and will presumably continue to do so. Officially, the contract renewal is on Saturday 15th September 2018, although conveniently a couple of the new E200 MMCs actually began to enter service at the end of August and the route has almost fully converted. Rather embarrassingly, one of them debuted on the 284, which is allocated much longer vehicles and therefore wasn't on the blindset, so the new bus wasn't even fully blinded for its first run out on the road. I do hope that the 356 users appreciate their new buses though and hopefully Stagecoach continue with the good performance they've shown over the years (I hope I don't regret saying this - there seems to be a curtailment at this unholy hour!) for their next contract.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Stagecoach Hybrids - The Smart Choice?

During the past three months Stagecoach have inherited a substantial batch of smart hybrid double deckers, although at the start of May, when they were meant to start work, these new buses were nowhere to be seen. On paper, most would be going to West Ham (WH) garage and a small number would end up at Barking (BK), although in reality an almost 50/50 split has occurred, with the other half ending up at Catford (TL) garage instead of Barking.

The 169 is still using its branded Enviro 400s for now.

Route 169 runs from Barking to Clayhall (via Ilford, Newbury Park and Barkingside), with the six mile journey soaking up fourteen buses in peak periods. During the day buses run up to every 10 minutes, although this reduces to quarter-hourly on Sundays and three buses per hour in the evening. Stagecoach London managed to retain the route from Barking (BK) garage upon tender, although the allocated batch of branded Enviro 400s would not be staying with it, being destined for the 247 in Romford. There were always going to be some complications with the contract renewal of the 169 though - unlike the other three Stagecoach services in this tranche, this route does not operate from West Ham (WH) garage. Given the new technology associated with the large batch of smart hybrids ordered for the 169, 241, 330 and 474, it would logistically make much more sense to keep the pool of buses together, so even though the 169 contract was ordered with the intention of introducing brand new double deckers, in reality most enthusiasts were sceptical this would be the case. Now that half of the smart hybrids have ended up in South London, there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding the future allocation of the 169, but it could well be existing Enviro 400s (currently found on the 136 and 199) not dissimilar to the ones already running the route, except without the splashes of green. Some of the current batch have had their branding removed already, whilst the much older Trident ALX400s continue to make regular appearances. Eventually, there might be some change in the regular diet of the 169, but at the moment the route looks exactly the same and unless Stagecoach change their mind again, it looks like there won't be new buses anytime soon.

The 241 still uses Tridents for now.

Now that the anomalous 169 is out of the way, we can swiftly move onto the three routes at West Ham (WH) garage, with the first being the 241. At present, this runs from Canning Town to Stratford City, passing through Keir Hardie Estate, Custom House/Prince Regent and Plaistow in the process, with the peak vehicle requirement for 10 Trident ALX400s supporting the 10 minute frequency from Monday to Saturday. This is halved to every 20 minutes on Sundays and during the evening - the route is only five miles long. The contract specified that this service would be receiving brand new smart hybrid ADL Enviro400 MMCs to replace the rather elderly Trident ALX400s which have solidly worked the route for years and at the time, in conjunction with the introduction of the Elizabeth Line, a major restructuring was proposed. It would be withdrawn between Canning Town and Prince Regent, but extended to Here East from the Stratford City end, although after the consultation results were published the latter part of the proposal seems to have been cancelled, making the route even shorter than at present. Additionally, even though the route does run from West Ham (WH) garage, its allocation of new buses, along with the 169 batch, have been diverted to Catford (TL) garage in order to operate the 136 and 199 services which traverse "green bus corridors" in Lewisham. It is expected that in return the 169 and 241 will receive their existing ADL Enviro 400s to compensate, although with the latter route the appearance of smart hybrids is still theoretically possible, just from the 330 and 474 batches instead. In summary, the 241 has taken a bit of a battering in recent times, with the route cut back and being violated of its new buses. Due to the slow introduction of the smart hybrids at Catford (TL) garage, the old ALX400s are still around, which is at least a good thing for enthusiasts hunting down the type before its extinction.

11001 pictured above is technically a 169 bus.

For some reason the smart hybrids were delivered out of sequence, which means that the higher numbered buses are on the 330 and 474, despite entering service first. Two of the lowest numbered vehicles, 11001 and 11006, have actually hit the road at Catford (TL) garage, although the rest should follow shortly. What makes these different from the conventional E40H hybrids offered by ADL is that the engine sounds just like an integral diesel Enviro 400, except that it's been fitted with a super capacitor. My hopeless knowledge of Physics means I can't explain how this makes the bus cleaner at all, but the prominent whining noise when the bus is braking is presumably these capacitors working their magic. These vehicles also have stop-start technology, where the engine is turned off whilst the vehicle is stationary, but other than that they're essentially just standard E40Ds with a few layers of high-pitched "whee" sounds. They're meant to be just as effective as conventional hybrids though, and a whole lot cheaper, which is why they've been chosen to work the Catford (TL) routes which travel along green corridors. However, the allocation system is very flexible at this base, with the first one entering service on the 47 - whilst they have worked the 136 and 199 the most, I ended up sampling my first smart hybrid on the 54. Interestingly, there have been mixed reviews from the enthusiast community regarding the performance of these MMCs, with some contrasting experiences of their ability to tackle hills, although I found that my bus (11001) was competent. It reached some decent speeds through Blackheath and had no trouble at all with the steep inclines of Charlton and their repeated use on the challenging route 54 shows to me that they're clearly just as capable as the E40Hs. The air cooling system works very effectively and I really enjoyed the relaxing journey I took from Woolwich to Lewisham and look forward to my next opportunity to ride one.

These buses were the normal allocation of the 330 only a few weeks ago

Numerically, the 330 is the first out of the two West Ham (WH) routes to actually use smart hybrids after all the fleet movements. It is one of London's shortest bus routes, being four miles in length, running from Canning Town to Wanstead Park (for Forest Gate) via Upton Park. It serves the very busy shopping district of Green Street and is one of the most densely used routes in London, with buses often being packed out despite the short length. There is, however, a modest extension planned for the 330, which will be implemented in December 2018, which means its new Southern terminus will be in Pontoon Dock, at the end of North Woolwich Road. This is basically in the middle of nowhere and going one stop further to London City Airport would be nice for onward connections, but TfL will do anything to prevent the new PVR from reaching any higher. You'll find out why this change and the 241 curtailment is actually happening in the 474 section, where all should become clear.

A peak vehicle requirement for 8 vehicles satisfy the 12 minute frequency which applies from Monday-Saturday, although this drops to 3 buses per hour on Sundays and during the evening. Like the 241, its former allocation of Trident ALX400s had been the mainstay of the route for many years, with strays generally being few and far between, but even since the introduction of the smart hybrids a couple still venture out onto the route occasionally, usually coming from the 241. The route managed to convert pretty quickly and the two batches of smart MMCs frequently intermix. A lot of enthusiasts have said that the 330 is a very appropriate service for using the smart hybrids, given that most of the time is spent stuck in traffic and theoretically the diesel engine should barely be used, whilst the 474 should be much more fast-paced. After initial teething problems are addressed it'll be interesting to see how these buses perform in comparison to conventional hybrids and whether more will be ordered in the future by the company, especially for slow-moving routes like the 330 where hybrid technology is particularly effective.

One of the quirkier types under the old contract, a Scania Olympus.

Unlike the other three routes which were straight retains, Stagecoach London actually gained the 474 from Go-Ahead London, making it a contract change. Yes, shock horror, West Ham (WH) garage actually won a route as opposed to their relentless stream of losses over the years... The 474 runs between Canning Town and Manor Park, serving Silvertown, London City Airport, North Woolwich, Beckton and East Ham en route and is comfortably in my top 10 favourite TfL bus services, purely because the views offered and communities served are incomparable to any other bus route. Riding the 474 between Cyprus and Canning Town is always a treat and I would definitely recommend trying it before December, when they send it away from the fast section in Silvertown. Instead, between London City Airport and Canning Town, it will run via Connaught Bridge, Custom House (for Crossrail) and Keir Hardie Estate, with the purpose for this being to provide a link to the Elizabeth Line from the airport. As the 474 will serve Keir Hardie, the 241 is being removed to avoid duplication, whilst the 330 extension provides Silvertown with a bus service, even if most of the long-standing links Eastbound are disposed of. I have mixed reviews regarding the new routeing - although I'm gutted about the route no longer going through the desolate area of Pontoon Dock, it does mean the 474 will cross the Connaught Bridge too, which offers even more beautiful views than Bascule, whilst Keir Hardie is quite fun for a housing estate because of how narrow it is. At present, a peak vehicle requirement for 14 vehicles is sufficient to operate a 12 minute frequency from Monday-Saturday, although this drops to 4 buses per hour on Sundays and during the evening. Its new routeing is slightly longer and theoretically should require an extra bus, but TfL will probably just cut the frequency instead. At the moment though, the 474 is only five miles long and runs 24/7.

Gemini 2s were the most common type under Go-Ahead London

Despite running wholly in East London the 474 has never been operated by Stagecoach until now, who have dominated the area for many years. Blue Triangle ran the route since its creation and although they were absorbed into Go-Ahead London a few years ago, this transfer to a completely different company was a big deal. Although the service wasn't perfectly reliable, I did really like the former operator, purely because of the variety of bus types used on the service. For the past seven years, the bulk of the allocation consisted of Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TL vehicles, but all sorts of oddities appeared alongside them, including the Volvo MCV demonstrator VM1, the last centre staircase Plaxton Presidents in London, some B7TL Geminis which I've had floored to bits on the 474, as well as my favourite type in London, the Scania Olympus. I completed my first end-to-end journey on this last model and perhaps unsurprisingly it contributed to the very high rating awarded. I was, however, secretly hoping that Stagecoach London would win the route, based on the assumption that they would order E400 MMCs and they are my favourite modern double deckers at the moment. My wish was granted and whilst I will miss the eclectic mix offered by Go-Ahead, the reliability did need some sorting. However, this change was far from a smooth introduction, as the smart hybrids turned up two months late and unlike the other retentions, simply continuing with the current allocation wasn't an option.

These existing E400s still work the service occasionally.

Sourcing buses from the existing fleet wasn't too much of a problem, given that many Stagecoach garages have spare Trident ALX400s which aren't necessarily allocated to a specific route. However, using these rather old buses on the newly acquired 474 wouldn't look particularly impressive, so instead most of the ALX400s were used on other West Ham (WH) garage routes like the 158, 241 and 330 to begin with. Apart from one which managed to sneak out early in the morning, on Saturday 5th May 2018, the first day of the new contract, the route was fully worked by 11/12-reg ADL Enviro 400s. This was slightly disappointing - whilst only being an interim measure these voith gearbox buses are hardly renowned for their ability to reach high speeds. My point was proven two weeks later, where I decided to sample the service under Stagecoach and had my worst 474 journey to date - there was far too much regulation for my liking, along with a bus which crawled through the fast section in Silvertown. It also rattled and squeaked so much I had a headache upon arrival into Beckton Bus Station, so I couldn't even appreciate the views properly. Thankfully, these buses don't work the 474 much anymore as I would've been pretty hacked off having to see these through a full contract term. Whilst appearances of Trident ALX400s were infrequent at first, within a couple of weeks it became quite common for them to appear regularly, which excited many enthusiasts.

A quick trip to East London in the evening peak was necessary to grab a shot of these.

Even though I have rotten luck with this type of bus, apparently they can be really fast and some people were lucky enough to have them thrashed through Silvertown. The main reason I was glad about their emergence though is that they will always be the flagship type of bus for Stagecoach, so seeing them on the route really emphasised the introduction of the new operator - a warm welcome, if you like. Once the smart hybrids arrived the Tridents vanished completely, but it was nice having them for a couple of months at least. In terms of service, bar the first day which inevitably had its ups and downs, the route seems to be pretty reliable. The only weakness I've identified is that when East London grinds to a halt (the accident-prone A13 and M25 mean this is often the case), the 474 falls apart much more easily than under Go-Ahead, with the new operator being seemingly reluctant to dish out curtailments, although I'm sure simply a little practise will have this resolved in no time. Interestingly, in addition to the major re-routing which will be implemented in December, a smaller amendment was introduced under the new contract, which involves Eastbound buses using a side street (Store Road) to access the North Woolwich Ferry, rather than undertaking a double run. This avoids the traffic queues and therefore saves time, which is a thumbs up from me. The first smart hybrids were spotted towards the end of June and debuted on the 474 in late July, although they did venture onto the 330 only a couple of days after.

Notice any difference?

As they're part of the same batch as those now working Catford (TL) routes, performance-wise there shouldn't be much difference at all to the one I sampled, although six buses at West Ham garage (11033-11038) have even more technology to show off. Due to the increasing unreliability of bus blinds, which TfL still insist on using, these vehicles are part of a trial which involves the use of LED displays instead. However, they're much more advanced than the dot matrix examples typically found out of London, in the sense that they can almost replicate the traditional Johnston font and are fitted with sensors that adjust according to light levels, which means they are easier to see in sunny weather but are also crystal clear at night. They can also easily adapt to the space available, so the size of the number depends on the length of the destination.  From photos, I initially thought that they looked disgusting, although after seeing them running around in real life I'm beginning to really like their appearance and ability to emphasise the route number, if possible. As swanky as they are however, these LEDs are very expensive, so it'll be fascinating to see if TfL are willing to put up with the higher costs for the promised improvement in reliability. For selfish reasons I really hope they're not implemented en masse - due to the extremely high refresh rate photographing them is no easy task, especially on a phone where the shutter speed can't be adjusted easily without the use of a third-party app and for this to be effective, you usually end up spending money. After taking around 700 photos of the 474 above at Canning Town, not a single one portrayed the entire display correctly and I ended up having to cheat in order to produce a clear shot. Luckily, I had a picture where the top half alone was displayed and another where only the bottom half was shown, so after sticking the two together on preview my picture doesn't look so bad. These LEDs are still time-consuming though and if the trial is successful that's some of my expenses down the drain - you never know, I might persuade myself to purchase a proper camera and all the benefits that come with it...

Thanks for reading and stay safe!