The Great Fire Of Orpington

On Thursday 22nd November 2018, a horrific incident occurred at Orpington (MB) garage early in the morning, where a fire broke out and engulfed eleven buses in the process. Fortunately, no one was injured as a result, but I don't doubt that it was a very traumatising experience for both workers at the garage and local residents who were undoubtedly disturbed by such an alarming event.

Unfortunately the Mercedes Citaros at this base were affected quite badly.

It is believed that the fire started with one Enviro 400, but then spread to many other vehicles. The fire brigade were forced to spend a couple of hours tackling the blaze due to its severity, but all was under control by around 8:30am. Eleven buses are no longer roadworthy and have been completely written off:

E60, E94, E211, E224, EN33, EN37, EH18, MEC54, MEC54, MEC60, SEN21

Recovering from such a demoralising and difficult event certainly isn't an easy job, but Metrobus must be credited for their excellent efforts in restoring a full service by mid-morning, something not even the locals expected. Having a fleet of buses awaiting formal entry into service (not actually allocated to any routes at the time) certainly helped, but a more permanent solution did have to be drafted in post December 8th.

One of the survivors, E95, passes through Bromley South on a route 320 journey into the countryside.

 Most of the casualties were in the form of Enviro 400s, with seven allocated to routes 51, 320 and 353 completely destroyed, although the former service wasn't even operated by the garage at the time. EN33 and EN37 had been recently purchased by Go-Ahead, with these buses previously working Tower Transit services in North-East London. They received a full refurbishment, with the snazzy modified moquette to complement the First poles, but never entered service under the new operator as a result of the fire. Three buses allocated to the 320 were destroyed (two diesels, one hybrid), whilst two older E400s which were only recently transferred in for the 353 also didn't make it. Out of the four single deckers which were wiped out, three of them were 12m Mercedes Citaros, a fairly unique and very popular type in London, which were allocated to the 358, whilst a solitary Enviro 200 rostered for the R11 also ceased to exist.

If it wasn't for the fire, this type would be extinct within London.

Given that full-length 12 metre buses are quite rare in London, finding appropriate replacements for the 358 victims should've been very difficult. Coincidentally though, the only other route operated by Go-Ahead with diesel 12m vehicles was lost to London United in September, which meant the Scania OmniCity single deckers had no work and really should've been withdrawn. One did transfer over to the 358 anyway as a spare, but after the fire two more were drafted in and are now the official replacements for the Citaros. They fit in rather nicely as the 358 did previously have a full allocation of these buses and it's certainly good news for enthusiasts, who were gutted when the 293 contract expired and the type were about to leave forever. No newer vehicles have been ordered specifically for the 358 yet, so these could be sticking around for a while, which gives more variety and means I can spend more time riding some of my favourite single deckers in the capital.

The fire also meant more double deckers on the R9, which made it much easier for me to intercept one!

A much more complex job was finding replacements for the deficit of seven Enviro 400s, especially in the long-term. Before the fire, the eleven refurbished ex-Tower buses were sitting around doing nothing, but for over a week almost all of them hit the road prematurely to make up the numbers.

Routes 320 and 353 received their fair share, but a few also worked the 126 and R9, which helped cover for the solitary loss in the R11 fleet by freeing up single deckers. This solution seemed almost perfect, but it could only work for so long as on Saturday 8th December, the intensive route 51 would commence its operation at Orpington (MB) garage and it would be pretty embarrassing to run only half the service on a first day. Although this operator seemed adamant on removing all their Scania machinery, going back on their footsteps was probably the only option. It also resurrected another extinct bus type and one which I really regretted not riding during their time in service. Conveniently I was bailed out here, but generally as a rule try not to leave things until the last minute - you might not always get a second chance!

A Scania OmniDekka is seen on Orpington High Street.

These Scania OmniDekka vehicles, being the only ones in London to have an N230/UD configuration as opposed to the more commonly found N94/UD variant on this body, previously worked route 405 in Croydon and were earmarked for withdrawal after their stint on the route. However, they have found a new home at Orpington (MB) garage which allows them to see service for a short while longer.
Generally, the 320 is keeping the remaining Enviro 400s, whilst the 353 has the more interesting allocation. Most of them are Scania OmniDekkas, although the last Scania Olympus at Go-Ahead also works the route regularly, along with a 06-plate Trident E400 which should've been withdrawn after the 196 was lost to Abellio. Given that Go-Ahead have now purchased a further eight Enviro 400s, this time from Abellio, there is only limited time for having fun on the 353. All three exotic types I've mentioned are worth going out for and as the route is really relaxing, making more than one trip on it per day won't do any harm. Once a new allocation is sorted, three types will be gone from the Go-Ahead London bus scene just like that.

Although the contract changes on Saturday 8th December 2018 don't have much to do with the fire itself, they do portray the development of Orpington (MB) garage so the relevant ones will be included here.

Under the old...

 The R5 and R10 services definitely fall under the eccentric end of the London bus spectrum. They both originate at Orpington Station and follow the same route until Green Street Green, where the R5 undertakes a complete clockwise circuit, with the R10 doing the same thing but anticlockwise. Once the loop (and a shared double run in the middle) is complete, both services return to Orpington Station via the same routeing as before. Rural settlements and villages are served within the circuit, including Cudham, Halstead, Knockholt and Pratt's Bottom, which are home to extremely tight roads generally surrounded by woodland or large houses. You might get a convenience store or a pub if you're lucky. Both services run every 2.5 hours and after combining them a 75 minute frequency is provided, which is basic but probably adequate considering the usage levels. Driving the R5 and R10 requires a great level of skill, involving both community spirit and the ability to tackle challenging road conditions. Stagecoach London, under the old contract, managed this very well and the enthusiast community were saddened that the dedicated team of drivers were, in most cases, not transferring with the route. Bromley (TB) garage operated the routes with short Enviro 200s, although occasionally an MMC model would appear as seen above. Whilst there weren't too many problems with the service, Go-Ahead are able to provide a much closer base at Orpington (MB), reducing costs associated with dead running to the terminus. Although the ability to obtain buses for the cheapest possible price is usually a significant factor, forking out an existing solitary vehicle probably wasn't too difficult for even an operator on the other side of London.

Luckily this shot worked out, otherwise I would've had to wait for a very long time to try again!

Metrobus are very experienced with the R5 and R10, having operated the services before for several years and even though it was expected that a solitary mini E200 would transfer over to meet the vehicle requirement, there are enough compatible buses in the existing pool for this to not be necessary. The operator commenced their contract on Saturday 8th December 2018 and predictably there haven't been any issues with the quality of service provided. Funnily enough, the vehicles now used on the R5 and 10 are older than those under Stagecoach, but they're still in a good condition so shouldn't be too much of a burden for the locals. For me, the most important factor is that the drivers continue to interact properly with the regular users of the service as I'm sure they really appreciate it and ultimately their enthusiasm makes these rare services as special as they are. I wish Go-Ahead the best for the next five years and hopefully they do develop sincere relationships with everyone living in the Kent villages which somehow deserve a London bus service.

Damn lamp post again...

A much more substantial loss for Stagecoach (and gain for Go-Ahead) was the 51 change on Saturday 8th December. Under the former operator, it was based at Plumstead (PD) garage and ran with an eclectic mix of vehicles ;  Scania OmniCitys were the most common type. Occasionally, older Trident ALX400s would turn up in addition to newer kit like E400 hybrids and Gemini 3 B5LHs. The route itself runs between Orpington Station and Woolwich, essentially acting as a South-East London long-distance trunk service and is becoming ever-popular. Intermediate destinations include St Mary Cray, Sidcup, Welling and Plumstead Common, although it spends a surprisingly large amount of time in residential areas rather than crawling through town centres. A peak vehicle requirement for 19 vehicles satisfies the 12-mile long route, with typical end-to-end journey times being around 80 minutes. A 10 minute frequency is provided from Monday to Saturday, with a slight reduction to 4 buses per hour on Sundays and during the evening. Considering how challenging this route is to operate, Stagecoach London managed it remarkably well and its a shame to see genuinely good operators lose out on so much work to those who become ever-dominant but sometimes sacrifice the quality of service in the process.

This 51 was curtailed to Perry Hall Road but somehow ended up at the Walnuts Centre, with baffled passengers on board!

Go-Ahead have continued with the theme of variety for the new 51 contract, with a split allocation consisting of the ex-Tower Transit E400s which you've already seen, along with Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TL vehicles, which have been fully refurbished but were with the company all along. This vehicle choice was rather interesting as it introduced a brand new type to the garage, but as long as all the relevant type training takes place it's fine by me. Although the frequency remains the same, under the new contract the 51 has received a PVR cut by two, which means less recovery time at either end and is presumably the method operators like Go-Ahead use to undercut others in the market, leading to a

cheaper bid overall. At the moment, I'm sceptical that this tighter schedule will be executed successfully in the long-term as the service provision at the moment has been woeful. I understand that it's only the first month and it does mean there's a good chance for Go-Ahead to improve, but seeing frequent gaps of over 30 minutes doesn't bode well for the future and is likely to irritate regular passengers. What's more concerning is the sheer number of curtailments being pulled out, emphasising the lack of stand time, with destinations including "Woolwich Covered Market", which I'm not even sure exists (local help please) and even more commonly Orpington Perry Hall Road, where sometimes 50% of Southbound buses end up terminating. Whether a new schedule is implemented in the future or not is hard to say, but hopefully when the latest performance figures are released they should act as a wake up call for Metrobus to sort this out - the 51 is a major arterial route and messing it up will have dire consequences.

Is that Abellio in Orpington?

I briefly mentioned earlier that some additional Enviro 400s have been purchased by Go-Ahead as permanent replacements for the fire victims, this time coming from Abellio. Most of them are off for a refurbishment first, which might even result in a third variation of the mainstream Go-Ahead moquette, but a couple have emerged prematurely as spares, only on the 51 so far. This means that for a limited amount of time, some vehicles in the heart of South-East London are running around in full Abellio livery, minus the logos, which isn't something you'll see again for a very long time (rail replacements don't count). Whether these vehicles will stay on the 51 or move to the 353, which is technically where they're meant to be, is unclear, but I'm sure they'll be a welcome addition to the fleet at Orpington (MB) garage and does make their assortment of vehicles, on average, slightly more modern too.

I wish Go-Ahead all the best in operating routes 51, R5 and R10, as well as a full recovery from the fire, which seems to be going very well at the moment.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!