Brightening The Uxbridge Road

On Saturday 6th April 2019, the Uxbridge Road corridor received some changes to its bus routes, including a modified allocation and a complete operator change, along with some other money-saving tactics from TfL.

VW1822, under the old operator, is seen at a location no longer served by 207s.

The 207 is one of London's busiest bus routes, running in almost exactly a straight line from Hayes By-Pass to White City, along the heavily oversubscribed Uxbridge Road corridor. It runs every 6 minutes from Monday to Saturday, with this frequency dropping to every 8 minutes on Sundays and during the evening ; the peak vehicle requirement is now 29 buses, but this used to be much higher. It generally takes around 70 minutes from end-to-end, being 9 miles in length. The route is somewhat famous since it was the last in London to operate with bendy buses ; after this First London's only batch of Scania OmniCity double decker vehicles made their debut on the 207. They had a pretty good reputation within the enthusiast community, offering some thrilling experiences in the late evenings and were later assumed by Metroline West in June 2013, when First London sold their London operations. It continued to operate out of Hayes (HZ) garage until this closed in 2017, coinciding with the loss of route 427 to the ever-dominating Abellio London down the road. This resulted in route 207 moving to Greenford (G) garage and, rather sadly, losing the Scania vehicles in favour of Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TLs. Given that this garage have a habit of losing work upon tender, (E1, E3, E5, E7, E9, E10, 195 all in the past five years), many speculated that the 207 would follow this trend and indeed this prediction turned out to be correct. Whilst Metroline have made smaller gains elsewhere, letting go of the 18 and 207 recently (both in the top 10 busiest) can't have been easy, with only the 'invincible' garage terminating 140 left representing the operator in this elite group

VW1284 is seen at North Common Road on a beautiful spring afternoon.

From April 2017 to April 2019, the 207 saw a split allocation, although this was fully comprised of VW-class Gemini 2s. Some were originally allocated to the 427 and transferred without refurbishment, maintaining their old First London livery, whilst the rest came from Holloway (HT) garage and are native to Metroline. It is expected that these buses will be used for the takeover of route 81 in July (Hounslow is a location where this operator has done particularly well in contrast), whilst the ex-427 vehicles are currently in storage or floating around several garages to cover for refurbishment programmes or shortages (see later). Occasionally, some ADL Enviro 400s from the 92/282 escaped onto the 207, especially in the afternoon peak, which provided some light relief from the seemingly relentless number of B9TLs I had to use during the commute. One feature of the old contract which has been removed is the two afternoon schoolday trips starting from Twyford Avenue and running through to Hayes By-Pass, which became gradually emptier over the past few years since the bus would often simply not show up. That aside, on the whole Metroline managed the 207 pretty well given its demanding nature. During the morning peak the buses would generally show up, but the schedule was tight enough to offer fast journeys, which offset the tedious loading times at certain stops. It didn't crumble under the pressure whenever an incident occurred en route and towards the end of the contract, I started to feel very apprehensive about using this corridor after the changeover.

Whilst Great Tichfield Street seems like the ideal spot, it only works for Eastbound buses at night.

Though the 207/N207 did change operator together, the night route's appearance under Metroline was slightly different to the daytime counterpart. It is extended from Shepherd's Bush to Holborn and certain trips continue further West to Uxbridge, essentially acting as a stopping service for the entire corridor. There's no denying that passenger numbers decreased once the night Central Line was introduced (which prompted an obligatory frequency cut), but the N207 is still relatively busy. At Metroline, it was initially operated with Scania OmniCity vehicles that were crosslinked from the day service, but instead of migrating to Greenford (G) the N207 decided that Uxbridge (UX) garage would be its new home, providing an even more diverse allocation. ADL Enviro 400s from the U4 and 607 were the backbone of the service, but they were supported by Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LHs (114) and rarely, some of the 607s Wrightbus Gemini 1 B7TLs. Since it was more practical for buses to crosslink from the 207, these vehicles appeared on the day service during the evenings. On the very last night with Metroline, a very rare working in the form of a 607 B7TL worked the 207, which resulted in all sorts of excitement. Interestingly, the N207 was one of the final routes to convert to hybrid operation in obligation with the ultra low emission zone, only going green once Abellio (who have breached the regulations twice) took over, which was just days before its introduction. Overall, whilst many were sceptical Abellio would achieve acceptable service levels with the worryingly low new PVR, it would at least give the corridor a fresher look, with some of the Metroline vehicles being extremely worn out by the end.

On the first morning of operation, 2515 works the final N207 trip to Uxbridge.

I only have one picture of the N207 under Abellio, so we might as well get this out of the way before the post becomes even more technical. Enviro 400s from several batches have been scraped together to form the 207s allocation, although only the hybrid ones can work the night service. To prevent any accidental diesel crosslinks, the 'permitted' buses have a green running number card at the front for both services, rather than the traditional use of yellow. Fortunately, there are now loads of clean buses at the garage which means the risk of shortages and fines shouldn't occur, whilst the service seems to be holding up pretty well. A few unwanted timetable changes have been introduced with this contract change, but on the whole the N207 has genuinely improved. It has a much more modern allocation, whilst the reliability doesn't seem to have been compromised, with buses evenly spaced even on the first night. The schedule is probably a little looser than pre-2017 days, where the route was renowned for formula 1 style driving, but I managed to get a very fun ride out of 2515 seen above. If you're more into the sounds that buses make, these 15-reg are particularly enjoyable as the whooshing noises are much more apparent on the earlier MMCs.

Genuine congratulations if you get one of the smart hybrids ; on my daily travels I've only had two!

As usual with Abellio West London, there's always amazement at just how their latest route gain can possibly fit into the tiny bases that they have at Hayes and Southall (the latter is only temporary and was opened very recently) and it usually results in some services being shunted to Fulwell (TF) even if they don't run anywhere near  ; the U7 and E10 certainly raised my eyebrows. However, a brand new depot was promised to be ready for the 207s contract almost perfectly en route ; it will be known as Southall (GW) and can be found at the Great Western Industrial Estate, currently unserved by public transport. However, the 483 will eventually terminate almost outside the new base, so perhaps Metroline's presence in Ealing will decline even further in the future. Typically, the deadline for this new location was missed (it should be opening at some point in July hopefully), so the 207 is somehow running out of Hayes (WS) garage and a load of local routes were kicked out in time for the first day. For the new contract, in addition to the removal of the school trips, the overall frequency was reduced and the peak vehicle requirement is a whole six buses lower than previously.

These diesels were rare to find on day one, but now provide the bulk of the allocation.

The official allocation for the 207 under Abellio is messy, to say the least. Most of the buses are diesel ADL Enviro 400s, which originally worked the C2 before it was withdrawn in March. They have received an extensive refurbishment, although the programme took a little longer than expected so not all of the vehicles were available for day one. Conversely, a couple were actually available slightly early and appeared on routes like the E9 and U5. The second largest batch of buses are from route 415 at Walworth (WL) garage, in the form of ADL Enviro400H MMCs, with this route partially converting to New Routemaster operation in turn. These mix with almost identical 17-reg examples which are officially allocated to the 427, but in practise any MMC can turn up on either route. Although they only make up a tiny proportion of the 207 fleet, five brand new buses were actually ordered for the contract and are probably the most dedicated vehicles at the garage ; it's very rare to not have all five out simultaneously. These are in the form of 19-reg ADL Enviro 400 MMC smart hybrids, which are technically very different from conventional hybrids. From what I've picked up, they essentially have a whinier diesel E400 engine, with this additional noise stemming from the supercapacitators which make the bus more efficient, somehow. Nonetheless, they're very nice to travel on and much quieter than the other MMCs.

2413, sporting an unusually large Abellio logo, is seen at Dean Gardens.

There are also some oddballs which are officially rostered for the 207, although many have returned to their home garages as more ex-C2 buses became free. Two of these were 2401 and 2413, which unlike all the other E400s are still found in the previous Abellio livery and are much less pleasant to travel on, in my opinion. The former still works the route every day, as a top-up since the proposed curtailment of route 207 to Shepherd's Bush has been postponed. Not having to run to and from White City Bus Station manages to shave off an entire bus, which Abellio certainly took advantage of when their bid was proposed. Its presence does mean the commute is even more varied, albeit a little grim when the bus is crowded. Some 14-reg E40Hs from the E1 also work the 207 pretty regularly, whilst some loaned buses from Battersea (QB) garage appeared for the first couple of days only.

9419 is the oldest bus to work the 207 under Abellio ; it was dormant for a month before randomly resurfacing on the route a few days ago.

Two months into the contract and I must be honest, Abellio's performance has been pleasantly surprising. It's far from perfect and still inferior to Metroline, but it's still early days and I don't doubt that with every experience they will learn and strive to become even more successful in operating the route ; my eventual hope is that the reliability can be maintained, but with nicer buses than before. One drawback with the new schedule is its incredibly loose nature, so buses do have a habit of regulating at stops for ages nowadays, but in rush hour providing a regular service is the most important thing, so Abellio certainly have got their priorities right. During events (usually at Southall) the route does tend to fall apart, but it has become less serious with every new challenge, whilst the custom of running in packs with 427s has reduced since April, but it does still happen a tad too often when considering the two routes are now integrated under the same operator. All in all though, the future for the 207 at Abellio seems to be as bright as the interior of the buses and I wish them all the best in fulfilling their potential, especially with the shiny new depot.

This particular VW retained the ugly branding right through to the end ; with the new contract any hint of bright yellow on the buses has vanished.

Metroline did manage to keep the 607 for its next contract, which made April 6th slightly less devastating for them. However, this wouldn't be a passive renewal. The route's allocation would be entirely overhauled, complete with a transfer to Greenford (G) in order to fill the void created by the 207's departure, which was a very significant move since the 607 has been operated from Uxbridge (UX) garage since its birth. It grew massively during its time there, with the opening of Westfield Shopping Centre being the icing on the cake, resulting in a new Sunday service and extra peak hour journeys. It is one of London's only remaining express routes, but does incredibly well and buses are nearly always rammed full - the patronage figures may be lower than the 207, but a combination of the lower frequency and long distance nature of 607 trips means buses always appear full. In the morning peak it's nearly impossible to get on one at certain stops. Being 13 miles long, trips typically take around 75 minutes to complete end-to-end, whilst a PVR of 20 satisfies the 10 minute Monday to Saturday frequency, which drops to 5bph on Sundays and 4bph during the evening. It is certainly an asset to the Ealing bus network ; minus its existence, I don't doubt the Central Line would be even busier than it already is for trips to White City.

One of the rogue Trident Enviro 400s which turned up towards the end of the contract is seen early on a Sunday morning.

Quite a few of my 607 experiences were on the Trident President buses allocated to the service, however in 2012 the route received a makeover, with a 50/50 split between 08-reg ADL Enviro400s released from route 23, as well as older VW-class Wrightbus Gemini 1 B7TLs which originally worked the 150. Towards the end of the contract, these vehicles were actually in the minority, with the former being so exhausted that they couldn't hack heavy-duty services anymore, whilst a couple of the B7TLs were withdrawn prematurely as they were unfit. The rest of the VWs though, which became the only mark 1 Gemini's in the Metroline fleet when they took over from First, were still healthy to the very end - I even managed to get some 'thrash' out of VW1570 on the very last day. To make up for the deficit in allocated vehicles, some native E400s which could previously be found at Potters Bar (PB) garage stepped in frequently, as well as some loaned ones which were so old that the iBus screen could be found above the stairwell. Although this became less common by the end, hybrid technology did grace the 607 occasionally in the form of Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LHs which provide the bulk allocation for routes 114 and 222. The service under this garage was great, with experience undoubtedly being a contributing factor, whilst the eclectic mix of buses made travelling on the service a treat, despite the crowds.

The juxtaposition between the Egypt and Uxbridge is too much, but here we are...

There was an overwhelming sense of uncertainty surrounding the 607s new contract, especially in regards to which vehicles would be used. Given that a number of its brand new Egyptian MCV EvoSeti B5LHs were robbed by Holloway (HT) and Potters Bar (PB) garages for the ultra low emission zone just days before the renewal date, many assumed that the 607 would continue to use its existing buses until a more permanent solution, in the form of electric vehicles, could be found for the 43/134. However, this route seemingly can't get enough of a split allocation, so around 13 of the ex-First Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TLs previously allocated to the 207 have stayed on at Greenford (G) garage in order to provide a service. The other 10 vehicles, which allow the fulfilment of the total vehicle requirement, are actually the 607s own buses, which did come as a surprise when standing at Southall at 5:30am on day one trying to snap N207s. It's quite entertaining to have a complete lottery when catching buses, so even though I loathe those 10-reg B9TLs I will miss the variety.

It still annoys me that the destination and number blinds are often not the same colour on the VWs...

Despite the maintenance of an interesting vehicle set, sadly everything else about the 607 seems to have gone downhill. The introduction of an additional stop, in service, at Iron Bridge for driver changeovers is pathetic when Ealing Hospital is literally two minutes down the road ; there might be some industry near those stops but otherwise it's just bushes and ultimately slows down the journey for the vast majority of 607 users. To add insult to injury, the schedule is now excessively loose; with bus drivers crawling around and then having to regulate for five minutes passengers are becoming frustrated - this is meant to be an express service yet it's often quicker to take the stopping 427 service. The number of curtailments has increased and service levels have deteriorated too ; in the mornings it can't decide whether it wants to be the 38 or R5. Regular triple bunchings for a 6bph service is not exactly reassuring and instead of the previous steady flow of healthy loads, buses are now either completely empty or packed to the rafters. It's a shame that Greenford (G) garage have been such a disappointment so far and I'm praying that they get their act together sooner or later, as all that work put into making this route a success could be for nothing.

On a more positive note, I'm now a free bird and regular blogging can now commence again! I'm truly sorry for abandoning the weekly updates without any notice ; it was becoming near impossible to reach those deadlines and the pressure of exams did get the better of me. Onwards and upwards though, I have not forgotten about everything else that has happened in the busy world of buses during the past few months and I can assure you, there won't be any sacrificing. Your now changed local route will be featured in the next couple of weeks, I just need to get out of the house and photograph it.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!