The Wembley Neighbours

The dominance of RATP in Wembley and Harrow continues, with Metroline losing out again on two closely-related single deck services this time.

Metroline West DE1808 is seen at Wembley Central.

The 223 runs between Harrow and Wembley Central, absorbing Northwick Park Hospital, South Kenton, Preston Road and Wembley Park in the process. A peak vehicle requirement for six vehicles satisfies the 7 mile route, which takes around 50 minutes to complete from end-to-end. From Monday to Saturday the service runs every 20 minutes, with the frequency dropping to every half an hour on Sundays and during the evening. Previously, Metroline operated it from Alperton (ON) garage, with a batch of ex-First ADL Enviro 200s - until now the 223 has always operated from this base. There were never too many issues with reliability; the operator were very familiar with the testing territory it serves, although the batch of vehicles were looking slightly worn out towards the end of its time at Metroline. Interestingly it did receive a vehicle upgrade mid-way through the contract, as the 9.6m E200s (which were required at Potters Bar) were swapped with 10.2m models, whilst incidentally under the new contract 10.8m buses are now being used, which is a real struggle around some of the residential streets around Preston Road! Nevertheless, the last day (Friday 12th October 2018), passed for Metroline and a new era began for an operator slightly further away.

The new look for the 223.

As far as I'm aware, RATP are running late with their ADL Enviro 200 MMCs again, so the legitimate batch for the 223 is nowhere to be seen. Although a few examples of the type did appear on the first day, the London Sovereign logos gave away that these buses are probably destined for the 288 and 303 instead, which are still using a handful of "classic" E200s at Edgware (BT) garage. To make up the numbers, some existing 11-reg classic E200s at Park Royal (RP) garage, the new base for the 223, have been reblinded and now work this route alongside the H17 and 398. Astonishingly, there were no examples of banditry on the 223. In regards to reliability, London United haven't had a brilliant start, with the first day consisting of bunching and some pretty nasty gaps, whilst the rest of the week hasn't shown anything more promising. However, it is still early days and given how much of a nightmare the Wembley part of the route is operationally, I don't doubt that it'll take some time to get used to. Hopefully, once the intended allocation arrives, it'll be slightly easier to deal with in that respect also.

Coincidentally the stand is familiar to this vehicle as it is shared with the H17.

On Saturday 13th October, I decided to sample the 223 from end-to-end in coincidence with the first day of RATP operation. My vehicle for this completion was one of the new MMCs and unfortunately they are probably the worst examples I've ridden so far ; the stop-start technology was inevitably going to drive me nuts but the quality of the journey was absolutely terrible. The vehicle was changing gears really violently and in the most random places - it also had a habit of overrevving excessively completely out of the blue - this resulted in being sent flying around the bus, so the trip was hardly relaxing. The congested nature of the Southern terminus on a Saturday afternoon also meant I spent over 20 minutes just getting from Wembley Central to Wembley Stadium, which is walkable in half that time, but despite the slow pace it was quite pleasant to see the urban realm thriving in such a way. After the rapidly developing Wembley Park, the route became residential and a lone wolf (bar a short interlude at Preston Road) and in all honesty this section wasn't bad - the houses were quite aesthetically pleasing and a wide variety of green spaces and trees helped to bridge the gap when necessary. Admittedly, despite the route allegedly serving South Kenton Station I still have no clue where the pitiful entrance actually lies, although this part of the route with the railway bridges, commendable inclines and sweet public houses was probably my favourite. The approach into Harrow was pretty calm, with a wide road and a variety of independent business, whilst the double run into Northwick Park Hospital gave an almost rural feel to the journey despite its annoyance. Overall, for a single deck route the 223 was decent - there was nothing particularly interesting about it although generally I was entertained throughout which justifies a 6/10. I wish London United the best in operating this route and alas we move on to the second service, which is numerically straight after the 223.

The former look of the 224. I don't know how Ealing Road was so quiet when this was taken.

The 224 is infamous for being one of the most indirect services in London, taking up to 80 minutes to complete an end-to-end journey which can be walked in around 25. It also undertakes four double runs in a single trip, which must be the most on a London bus service and undoubtedly infuriating for passengers. Its termini are Wembley Stadium and St Raphael's Estate, with key intermediate destinations including Alperton, Stonebridge Park, Central Middlesex Hospital, Harlesden and Brent Park. It runs at a 20 minute frequency from Monday to Saturday and typically this reduces to half

Crazy route!

hourly on Sundays and during the evening, with the number eight matching both the peak vehicle requirement and length in miles. Like the 223, Metroline operated this route from Alperton (ON) garage and the route itself has been based there since birth - under the previous contract, "classic" ADL Enviro 200s were the only type to appear on the service. Generally, reliability was quite decent considering the operational challenges this route has to contend with, being significantly longer than the 223 but also having to deal with Wembley Town Centre. In terms of usage, the 224 is one of those routes which seems quiet in the middle but busy at both outer ends, especially since the frequency was reduced from four to three buses per hour in recent times. Conveniently, Metroline lost the route on the exact same day as the 223, which made tracking them down much easier for enthusiasts.

In the middle of what can almost be described as a double run within a double run...

As per usual with brand new ADL Enviro 200 MMCs ordered by RATP, this batch were invisible at the start of the contract, whilst the spare buses that have been drafted in are quite elderly now and are in a rather sorry state. These were meant to be stood down months ago after the K2 at Tolworth (TV) garage received new MMCs, but have recently been covering the 288 and 303 before settling in on the 224. They've already made some appearances on other Park Royal (RP) routes like the H17, which must've been quite amusing with all the challenging hills that service has to tackle. On day one operation was hit and miss, with certain times of the day throwing up some uneven headways, but since then it hasn't been doing badly at all. My only criticism is the almost inevitable large number of banditised buses present on the first day, which don't exactly give the new operator top marks for first impressions. A slight inconvenience that's come about as a result of the switchover is the driver changeover point is now at Park Royal Asda, which makes the excessive double run here even longer than before ; it took ten minutes to travel from Central Middlesex Hospital to a bus stop around the corner on my journey! Although there were initially plans for the 224s new MMCs to be used on the 440 instead due to navigation problems at Iveagh Avenue, double yellow lines have been painted and I believe the 224 will receive its new buses after all, so regulars can at least recognise some sort of upgrade.

Home-made blinds, complete with a missing apostrophe and spelling error. I saw Wembly Stadium too...

In conclusion, the 223 and 224 changes could've been a lot worse. The service, as expected, hasn't been top notch but it is still week one after all and as these routes are what I'd call small fry, it surely wont' take too long for decent operation to be resumed. I'm just hoping that the new MMCs for the 224 don't have such a clunky gearbox as 80 minutes of being bashed around sounds like torture, especially with the poor road conditions around the industrial parts of the route! Oh, and there's one more thing which happened in relation to these changes...

I don't know why this looks so blurry on blogger as on my phone it came out just fine. Hopefully just me!

In an attempt to fill the void created by the departure of routes 223/224 at Alperton (ON) garage, the double deck 204 service, formerly based at Edgware (EW) garage, has been transferred over. The type of bus which makes up the main allocation does in fact remain the same, in the form of ADL Enviro 400s, with some actually being from Potters Bar (PB) garage rather than the ex-Edgware vehicles. However, reblinding of other double deckers at Alperton, which are Gemini 2s that work routes 83/483 primarily, has already taken place, thus allowing these Wrightbus B9TLs to venture out onto the 204 from day one, which happened to be Saturday 13th October 2018. This does bring a brand new vehicle type to the 204, making it slightly more varied and hopefully some of the E400s it took down to Alperton can begin to sneak onto the currently 100% Wrightbus 83 and 483.

Unfortunately, I end this post with on a rather negative note. Essentially, you can expect very little content over the next few weeks as currently I have an overwhelmingly large number of other commitments which, due to forthcoming events are taking priority. Health-wise I've also felt really rotten recently, but pending medication hopefully I should be back on form very soon and taking those crazy 12-hour trips again. I am planning on doing a summary post discussing the events of this month in a couple of weeks, but apart from that, it's adios until December.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

An Extra Deck For A Greener Harrow

A rather rare form of service change has occurred in recent times, with a route actually being upgraded from single to double deck operation in these financial dire straits. Also in this part of London, RATP have acquired a new service from Metroline on the same date, although the ride certainly hasn't been easy for them.

Metroline Travel VP627 is seen at South Harrow.

 The H12 runs between South Harrow and Stanmore Station, travelling through Rayners Lane, Pinner, Hatch End, Headstone Lane and Harrow Weald in the process, offering some unique local links and skillfully making its way across North-West London whilst avoiding Harrow Town Centre itself, which is what makes the service so popular. Under Metroline Travel operation, the route conveniently went straight past its garage, Harrow Weald (HD), and the main allocation consisted of ageing Volvo/B7TL Presidents which lasted right until the end of the contract, surviving the extreme cull when new hybrid machinery entered service on the 140/182 at the same base. These Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LHs did provide the Sunday service single-handedly though and in the last couple of weeks Gemini 2 B9TLs also started to appear, with these being the examples transferred in for the introduction of route 186 operation as you might've seen in the previous post. There weren't many problems in regards to the service, with Metroline being very experienced having run the H12 for 14 years, whilst traffic delays aren't too much of an issue on this predominantly back-road service. Having sampled the H12 from end-to-end under Metroline, I can definitely say I will miss the former operator - their Volvo Presidents were surprisingly healthy and having one floored throughout the journey was very satisfying - we somehow managed South Harrow to Pinner in 10 minutes! As a route it's decent too, passing through quite affluent and varied housing areas, pretty high streets like Pinner, Hatch End and Stanmore, along with fast-running sections surrounded by forestry, which are contrasted by the narrow roads in the development site at Clitheroe Avenue. I would really recommend it, in hindsight I'm quite surprised at how enjoyable such a residential route was.

VH45298 is seen at Hatch End on the first day of operation.

Saturday 1st September 2018 saw London Sovereign assume operation of the H12, from Edgware (BT) garage. Typically, the batch of new buses ordered for the service were nowhere to be seen on the start date, although conveniently the kit for the 79 contract (which starts in November) was already available, presumably because Wrightbus have had such a low rate of orders in recent times. Therefore, to begin with, the H12 was operated with new vehicles, but these were in the form of Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LHs instead, with the rush to get them into service evident by the amount of banditry and incorrect blindwork on the first day - some buses were displaying numbers like the 79 and 139 on the first day! Talk about spoilers... There were also a couple of temporary loans, including a smiley-face Gemini 3 from Hounslow Heath (HH) garage, which was actually fully blinded but returned home a few days after. Eventually, some buses already found at Edgware (BT) depot began to venture onto the H12, initially without blinds, although I believe at least the Gemini 2 B5LHs and E40H MMCs do have proper displays for the route now and can be seen regularly. Now that the actual new buses for the H12 have entered service (later in post), theoretically the Gemini 3s can start preparing for their 79 contract, although whether this actually happens is another matter as due to the Chiswick High Road emissions corridor they may be traded with the Scania OmniCity vehicles on the H91. Why does everything have to be confusing with RATP and vehicles...

This should've been a nice spot but my camera seemed to decide bus was a tomato. Here's the smiley-face loan.

With the new contract, the H12 actually received a frequency reduction, to every 12 minutes (Monday-Saturday daytime) instead of the 6 buses per hour provided under Metroline. On Sundays and during the evening there is a commendable 15 minute frequency. A peak vehicle requirement for 10 buses satisfies the 9 mile route, which takes around 55 minutes from end-to-end in typical conditions. Since London Sovereign took over, the service hasn't been brilliant, with the route bunching noticeably more than under the former operator. Gaps of well over twenty minutes have become really common and buses often run in packs of two or three, with the really tight schedule and turnaround times not helping matters at all. One advantage of this is that buses are generally always thrashed on the H12 now, but I'm sure locals aren't happy with the deterioration in service quality, as there are times where the provision has been woeful. Hopefully London Sovereign can match the standards of their predecessors soon, as out of all the routes they took over on September 1st, this is by far the worst.

The actual new buses for the H12....

Exactly six weeks after the contract date, the first two brand new ADL Enviro400H "smart hybrid" MMCs entered service on the H12, typically running right behind each other for much of the afternoon! It is expected that the whole batch will follow shortly. Based on my experience, riding from South Harrow to Headstone Lane, I'm definitely a fan of these smart hybrids, being vastly superior to the earlier examples at Go-Ahead London. Unlike my last attempt at noticing the difference between these and normal E40Hs, the H12 buses actually entered electric mode and there are definitely some subtle whines audible which aren't present on the other models. Their acceleration is extremely rapid, even faster than your standard E40H and they absolutely fly with no difficulty whatsoever. For some reason they do struggle on rather bog-standard hills, but flat out they are definitely the winners. With brilliant air cooling, an immaculate and well-appointed interior, they're some of my favourite buses in London at the moment and as the driver left South Harrow 14 minutes late, they absolutely caned the hybrid, reaching over 40mph on several occasions. In conclusion, there's a lot of work to be done with the H12, although with the new buses present now hopefully London Sovereign can prove themselves as the worthy winners of the contract, maybe even with the current schedule which offers some superb journeys that you could only dream of on most other services.

Before the upgrade...

Running between Northwick Park Hospital and Hatch End, the H14 is one of London's shortest bus routes, being only four miles in length. It travels through Harrow Town Centre and Headstone Lane in the process. A 10 minute frequency is provided during the daytime from Monday to Saturday, although this increases to every 8 minutes during rush hour and drops to 4 buses per hour on Sundays and during the evening. The peak vehicle requirement for 8 buses is provided by Harrow (SO) garage and the contract with London Sovereign was retained for another five years on Saturday 1st September 2018. Previously, the route ran with ADL Enviro 200 single deckers, although some trips associated with the school run and rush hour were operated with a double decker and due to chronic overcrowding this vehicle type now forms the full allocation of the service. Even though on the first few weekdays after the contract was renewed some single deckers did appear, enough spares have been drafted in to allow full double deck operation and hopefully the new batch of ADL smart hybrid MMCs, just like the ones which have debuted on the H12, will give the route a proper allocation shortly.

Shows how long ago this was taken...Bake Off must almost be finished now!

On Saturday 1st September there was a full turnout of double deckers, with one Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LH and the rest of the buses being Scania OmniCity vehicles officially allocated to the 183, with only one of them banditised! Although this particular outing was really hectic just for photographing all of the changes, I made sure that completing this end-to-end with a double decker was a priority

Gemini 3...

and I was really glad to have a Scania for it too. As a route it is really lovely, with the unique section of Harrow View being quite hilly and offering stunning panoramas of the countryside towards Hatch End, whilst the multi-coloured assortment of terraced housing was equally attractive. The road also has no bends whatsover, so late night trips must be very fun. Hatch End is quite a pleasant area too, especially near the stand where it becomes very leafy and I was gutted when the journey was over so quickly. What I also noticed on my trip is what could be the justification for double deckers - the route is already extremely popular for linking residents to Harrow Town Centre and it seems to be one which constantly spawns passengers out of nowhere, but there's also a huge development site near Pinner Park Avenue, with hundreds of new homes being built, which will definitely increase demand further. I would certainly recommend giving the H14 a try though, especially if you're not a fan of long distance services!

Double trouble at the hospital. In hindsight I shouldn't have been so lazy and taken so many pics here!

 In more recent times, the unusual batch of six short New Routemasters, with only two doors, one staircase and a B5LH engine, have deviated from their usual jaunt on the 183 and seem to have taken a liking to the H14 - last Saturday 2/3 of the PVR was made up of these buses. Service-wise, there doesn't seem to have been any difference in the quality which has generally been pretty good, although the only real difference in timetabling is the morning peak where the additional DD school trips have now been withdrawn given that every bus now boasts the higher level of capacity. As usual with double deckers, the route does seem to be even more attractive now, with one bus on Saturday being fully seated upstairs and that was against the peak flow of passengers. Hopefully this supportive step will allow the H14 to prosper as a route and it's a real shame this can't happen for more services as the extra floor really does bring in more passengers.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Postscript: let me know in the comments if you can spot the two photos in here taken with my new phone and resultant camera, which I'm just about getting to grips with now! I'll be very impressed if you can.

Metroline's Transferring Shananigans

This post doesn't really cover any significant route changes, but instead focuses on some minor allocation adjustments Metroline have made to a few services in North-West London, with a chain of garage transfers starting at Holloway but eventually ending up at Harrow Weald. It's also a little on the technical side.

Infesting the suburbs too?

With Holloway (HT) garage being the recipient of electric technology, with routes 43, 46 and 134 converting fairly soon, some extra space is required at this base. Therefore, it makes sense to ship one of the heavy duty routes out to Cricklewood (W) garage, which is still nearby and is a site the route is already familiar with. The 168 is expected to change in October, bringing its allocation of New Routemasters along for the ride too, although conveniently there is also a common user arrangement of NRMs at the new base. Unfortunately however, despite being head office Cricklewood does not offer unlimited storage space, which means moving the 168 in comes at the expense of chucking something else out. As of Saturday 1st September 2018, the 32 service has migrated to Edgware (EW) garage, which is a few miles further North than its previous site. Its allocation at Cricklewood was arguably much more interesting - whilst ADL Enviro 400s were dominating the last remaining Trident ALX400s in the Metroline fleet were frequent visitors, whilst in the last year New Routemasters made redundant from a PVR cut on the 16 also worked the route on a daily basis. It is expected that these spare buses will work the 168 when it comes over, so perhaps a few of its current batch will remain at Holloway to sort out the very high number of conventionals which work the 91. The ALX400s are now found almost exclusively on the 210, which does theoretically make tracking them down a tad easier. At Edgware garage, the 32 uses ADL Enviro 400 hybrids (classic model) as well as some diesel versions as a top up, but the allocation is certainly more bland than previously. However, if you share a loathing of the New Routemaster, it at least ensures a decent bus will always turn up on the route. There has been one interesting stray since the route transferred - conveniently we move onto this topic now.

A brand new VMH2433 is seen on its first day in service.

 You may have wondered where the E400 hybrids now allocated to the 32 have come from. Your answer to this question is, indirectly speaking, the 43, which was supposed to receive a brand new batch of MCV/EvoSeti B5LH vehicles. However, with its forthcoming electric conversion next year, I believe its holding onto its existing allocation of ageing Volvo Presidents for now, whilst the shiny VMH-class buses have been sent to Edgware (EW) garage (I've also been told that the 43 will receive EvoSeti's temporarily through some means, but if someone could clarify through the comments that'd be great as I'm totally baffled on the distribution of these buses). They are officially allocated to the Central London 113 service which runs between the depot and Oxford Circus, which means the latest emissions standards are met. It also allows the E400 hybrids, which are exhausted after running up and down the dual carriageway with only one gear, to find a route with a slightly slower pace, so the 32 fits the bill perfectly. Although the first EvoSeti debuted at the end of August, only a few more have entered service since then and the 113/N113 remain largely ADL for now. Whether Edgware (EW) garage will be strict with their new kit is uncertain - only the 32 and 606 received strays for the first couple of weeks but a couple of rogue appearances on the 204 and 240 have happened since then. I have only sampled these vehicles for one stop along Oxford Street (the initial plan for a longer ride was abandoned after sighting a rare working across the road), but they seem to be of a high quality and hopefully cope with the demanding speeds a tad better than their predecessors.

The joys of a double run...

Another service which has been robbed of ADL Enviro 400s is the 186, which takes an infamously indirect route between Northwick Park Hospital and Brent Cross, via Edgware. Some of its former allocation has also been donated to the 32, as this service has taken up valuable space at the garage. Conveniently, on the same day that the 32 moved in, route H12 from Harrow Weald (HD) garage was lost to London Sovereign and this base is (almost) as close to the 186 as Edgware garage was, so the transfer was a no brainer. The only real operational differences are that the base is now a lot closer to the Western end of the route rather than being exactly in the middle, although this doesn't throw up too many issues if scheduled appropriately.

A new, Wright look. Sorry about the shadows, I'm really trying to avoid these for future photos!

To make sure the 32 still had an allocation after its transfer, the ADL machinery formerly allocated to the 186 didn't transfer with it. However, Metroline managed to scrape together a load of Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TL vehicles, from various sources, to complement the total vehicle requirement for the 186. This type isn't completely new to Harrow Weald (HD) garage either, as the 140 had a partial allocation of Gemini 2s a few years ago. Most of the buses have come from Perivale West (PA) garage, although there are rogue examples from Brentford (AH), Perivale East (PV) and a couple of other bases too. A decent number sneaked out onto the 140, 182 and H12 before September 1st and since then these diesel vehicles have kept up regular appearances on the first two services. Bizarrely, some buses from Edgware (EW) garage, mostly diesel E400s, have appeared on the 186 for a rounder or two even after its transfer and unfortunately I don't really know what was going on there.

Amphibians on the 186 too?

Allocations are fully interchangeable at Harrow Weald (HD) garage now as the large pool of Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LH vehicles for routes 140 and 182 have been reblinded and work the 186 regularly, bringing more variety and introducing Volvo hybrids to some areas for the first time. As this service does spend a decent amount of time on the dual carriageway, it'll be interesting to compare the performance of the hybrids compared to the B9TL Geminis, especially as I've had some very promising rides out of the VWHs on the arguably slower 140. Thankfully, there haven't been any examples of the branded vehicles straying onto the 186 and hopefully that remains the case for the foreseeable future. On day one the service was a little shoddy, but since then things seem to be improving and I'm sure Harrow Weald will welcome the 186 into their small but well-established set of bus routes.

No more ADL for the N5...

To prevent the compact base of Harrow Weald garage from overcrowding during the night, the allocation for route N5 also transferred over on September 1st. This means that it no longer terminates at its depot, although some careful crosslinks to the 140, 182 and 186 will make the dead runs worth it. This means that the N5 has also ditched the ADL products it has used for years on end, with Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TLs and Gemini 3 B5LHs becoming the regular diet. As photography at silly o'clock is not something I undertake frequently, I only have a photograph to showcase the old, but hopefully at some point within the next couple of years I'll be able to update the page with a representation of the new too.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!