United In Standardisation

In happier times, London United were rather well-known for their eclectic mix of exotic vehicle types which, albeit in small numbers, were popular with enthusiasts. Unfortunately, in recent times this operator has decided to ruin the fun for everybody and order a load of monotonous Enviro 200 MMCs to wipe out almost all of their variety. Here's an attempt at explaining the rather long-winded process of cascading the more interesting vehicles, although there won't be too many pictures representing the "new" as there are far better things to be doing than photographing a bus type which probably has near 1000 vehicles in London already.

That construction on the pavement made getting off the bus slightly awkward...

We start off with Park Royal (RP) garage, who have already featured on the blog in recent times for their new E200 MMCs which work the 223. Since then, two more batches have arrived for the 224 and H17 - initially the former route was meant to stick to "classic" Enviro 200s due to a tight turn but somehow that's been dealt with using the power of drawing lines on the road. The H17 was a contract renewal and as its former allocation of classic E200s were still pretty young, many enthusiasts were quite surprised that the route was being niced with new vehicles again. Inevitably, the E200 MMCs turned up really late, but they've now settled in nicely and form a large common user pool with those on the 223 and 224, as well as some more recent appearances on the 440. I do wonder if the stop-start technology that these buses possess will be a nuisance on the H17 because of all the steep "hill-starts" around Harrow School, but as a compulsory installment to single deck vehicles now there's no getting around it. With the 283 buses (see later) and eventually more E200 MMCs for the 440, the garage won't have any other single deck types by June 2019 except for a couple of classics for the 398, but I predict that they'll be replaced anyway.

One of the ex-H17 buses is seen on the bridge which prevents the 72 from having double deckers.

These buses which used to work the H17 have started to receive a refurbishment, which looks pretty horrid as the current green "S-stock" moquette has been fitted without changing the orange London Sovereign poles, which leads to a rather gross colour combination. Nonetheless, their transfer to Shepherd's Bush (S) garage has been swift and they now work the intensive 72 service instead, which holds the title of the busiest single deck route in London and only uses these buses because Hammersmith Bridge will collapse with anything heavier. I'm not kidding, if you walk along the bridge and a bus gingerly trundles past the whole structure starts shaking and there's even a barrier system in place so only one vehicle in the same direction can cross at a time. The weight restriction also prevents the 72 from receiving new single deckers as the MMCs are too heavy, so "classic" E200s were the best solution. Although this won't work in the long-term, the bridge will probably have to close to traffic soon unless some cash is found to strengthen it. This certainly poses a problem for the 72, which is the only "through" route across the bridge - all the others terminate at Hammersmith Bus Station which is just on the other side. This route runs from Roehampton, Bessborough Road to East Acton and is hugely popular because of how quickly it travels from South-West to North-West London. A diversion via Putney Bridge will make journey times considerably longer and undoubtedly put off passengers. Amphibious buses, anyone?

This type was commonly found in its heyday. Now it's almost extinct.

The aim of this conversion is to oust the remaining Dart Pointers in the London United, which are becoming rather old and worn out now after their stint on the 72. Even though this is an inner-London service, it somehow held the title of being the last route officially allocated Dart Pointers and has become rather famous in the enthusiast community for that reason. Unfortunately, this could only happen for so long due to low emission corridors and despite a couple of stragglers which have survived for considerably longer than the rest, the 72 is now almost fully E200 whilst the remaining Pointers have only a couple of days left, maybe none at all. For whatever reason, the night element of the 72 almost always had a Pointer on it until the very end despite the vehicle requirement only being for three buses and the fact that they cause a racket when starting up in the quiet residential estate pictured above. It's very telling about driver's preference in regards to new vehicles.

An Optare Versa is seen causing a traffic jam on Du Cane Road.

As a route, the 283 is a little bizarre now as it spends 70% of its time duplicating the 72. Previously it also crossed Hammersmith Bridge and ran South to the Wetlands Centre in Barnes, but in an attempt to reduce the number of vehicles using the unstable structure the route has been curtailed to Hammersmith Bus Station, running between this destination and East Acton. Intermediate points include Shepherd's Bush and White City Estate, with the latter location being the only reason why the 283 survives. Although the East Acton to Westway and Shepherd's Bush to Hammersmith sections do follow the 72, as it'd so busy some support does come in handy, but the main purpose of the 283 is to deviate from the main route to Westfield and serve the aforementioned Estate. It does this in a rather complicated way due to one-way streets and turning restrictions, but is very popular in this area which does currently have a very poor public transport accessibility rating - the 4 mile 283 warrants an impressive 8 minute frequency for a 35 minute end-to-end journey time, soaking up 14 buses in the peak.

Alright alright here's an MMC, already looking rather grubby at Hammersmith.

Park Royal (RP) garage are responsible for the 283 and until recently used an allocation of Optare Versas for the service. Although these are generally unpopular with enthusiasts due to their unreliability and excessive vibrations when idling, the withdrawal of this batch means London United only have one group left. The 283 hasn't actually had a contract renewal recently, but as this operator are adamant on being spoil-sports they ordered some new buses anyway. The conversion took place very quickly, with all being over in around three weeks and now the route is solidly MMC. Hopefully the locals do appreciate their new vehicles, even if the enthusiasts don't...

The surviving batch of Versas are at Fulwell (FW) garage. Here's one turning out of the stand.

After the number 10 service was withdrawn in November, a void was created at Stamford Brook (V) garage and as it's conveniently placed for so many routes, transferring something else in compensation seems like a sensible decision. The 391 is the chosen one, but type training all the drivers on Versas was deemed to be a waste of time, so it has stolen the 33's Enviro 200s instead. This is only a temporary measure as more new E200 MMCs have been ordered for the 391, which means the 33 can have its buses back and ultimately results in the withdrawal of the Optare Versas, which the 33 has been using temporarily. A large number of them have been running around with missing destination blinds recently, which emphasises the neglect that Fulwell (FW) garage show towards these poor vehicles. To my understanding, both drivers and passengers on the 33 aren't too pleased with the downgrade, which is once again shown through the night element which almost always 100% E200 despite there being eighteen Versas available for a PVR of 3. When the MMC revolution progresses even further, I hope the locals appreciate that their slightly less rattly vehicles have caused the extinction of a bus type in London, although I'm not convinced this will be the case.

Conveniently, whilst waiting for a rare on the 222 this double decker turned up.

Back in September, when the long E200 MMCs for the 293 were late, this route borrowed some Optare Tempos from Hounslow (AV) garage, which meant the H37 had to take Mercedes Citaros from the 203, which had to convert to double deck operation temporarily. This was usually in the form of Scania OmniCity vehicles and as the 20-minute frequency on the 203 is inadequate, the extra capacity was greatly appreciated. Even though the Optare Tempos have returned, double deckers still work the route on a daily basis because of how busy it gets. Riding the 203 from upstairs is a brilliant experience as it uses some rather wacky roads - some are narrow residential streets whilst others are open dual carriageways, with urban high streets, industrial zones and airports being some of the backdrops available. Unfortunately when I rode the route on a DD the bus broke down at Ashford Hospital so I have to do the whole thing again, but hopefully this shouldn't be too difficult if the decker appearances continue. The route itself runs from Hounslow Bus Station to Staines, via Hounslow West, Hatton Cross, Stanwell Moor and Ashford Hospital, with the 10 mile service soaking up 7 buses in rush hour. End-to-end journey times are usually around an hour and the route is particularly important in the summer months, as taking the tube to Hatton Cross and then catching the 203 to Staines is a much cheaper method of reaching Thorpe Park than forking out for a train ticket.

Whilst waiting for the rescue bus an Optare Tempo turned up for the camera going the other way, so it wasn't all bad.

The future of the 203's allocation is unclear at the moment. All we know at the moment is that a batch of long Enviro 200 MMCs have been ordered to replace the Optare Tempos at Hounslow (AV) garage, which will make my favourite type of single decker in London extinct - I definitely recommend taking a ride on one before they go. Although the MMCs should theoretically work the H37, at the moment the 203 is using the Tempos every day alongside double deckers, whilst its Citaros are now stuck to the H37. Having sampled one recently after refurbishment, I'm not surprised at all that they avoid the 203, being incredibly sluggish and often stalling before pullaway. Although I've had some incredibly fast H37 trips, it is a much more urban route and unlike the 203, doesn't use any dual carriageways. This unofficial switch-around raises the question of where the MMCs will end up and what's actually going to be withdrawn - it seems silly to dispose of perfectly healthy Tempos and keep the Citaros which can't even handle their allocated route anymore. My theory is that both types will go and the 203 will use spare double deckers, perhaps the OmniCity vehicles from the E3, but what's clear is that those MMCs need to arrive pronto before the Citaros can't handle anything.

No longer fit for purpose?

The reason for all these complex manouveres is standardisation - maintaining and finding spare parts for exotic vehicles is becoming increasingly difficult and clearly for London United it's more viable to just invest in new buses than faff around trying to repair the old ones. Although you might be too late for some of them, the 33, 203 and H37 still have their fair share of interesting buses, so get out there and take your farewell rides while you still can.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!