Random Route - Southern Transit 3

Yes, I've actually revived this series, because there's no better way to write about a running day so heavily focused on one particular bus service. We'll be returning to the London bus changes after this, but writing about them can become pretty monotonous, even if they are much faster to publish than these random route reviews. I also realise that this has little relevance to the capital, but it could perhaps motivate you to explore outside the M25. Trust me, it's better.

I didn't plan on producing any photographs, but this ad hoc halt at Partridge Green was too convenient to miss.

Courtesy of Southern Transit, who kindly organise a classic buses running day twice a year, I ended up spending the scorching Bank Holiday Monday roaming around West Sussex, leaving it to chance that other dedicated enthusiasts would capture the rare carnival related workings. The heritage vehicles operate on their number 3 service, which is an entirely commercial venture. It runs between Horsham Station and the Holmbush Shopping Centre in Shoreham, conveniently connecting the Sussex villages with a market town to North and even the sea, given how close Shoreham beach is to its high street. The destinations en route used to be served by a railway line, but now riding the number 3 is the closest you get to recreating what could've been a very relaxing train ride. Buses used to operate on Thursdays and Saturdays, but the regular weekend trips were discontinued earlier in the year, because running a bus route with no support isn't easy. Classic buses are provided on the Spring and Summer bank holidays, attracting bus enthusiasts from all over the South as well as residents, who I understand are extremely grateful that they've been given additional opportunities to venture further afield, especially if lacking a car. The 3 is also incredibly scenic, so completing four end-to-end trips wasn't tiresome at all. Routemasters tend to appear at almost every heritage bus event, which is completely understandable, but I decided to focus on the more exotic Leyland Atlanteans and Volvo Olympian, with the quieter evening open-top bus rides being particularly thrilling. It's a fabulous day out regardless of the vehicle though and if you still aren't convinced, here's an attempt to describe my first journey in writing.

I completely forgot to ride this open top Atlantean by unintentionally end-to-ending a trip that was supposed to last five minutes. Next time!

Horsham Station is beautifully well-kept, but the forecourt outside doesn't have too much going for it, sporting only a Premier Inn and the roundabout which buses use to turn around. Our well-loaded Atlantean was on the move quickly though, coasting down the fairly significant B-road that leads to Horsham Town Centre, surrounded mostly by trees and some brand new apartments. Buses towards Shoreham skirt around the main shopping district along a ring road, but a Northbound journey is much more interesting as the driver must skilfully navigates the cobbled, narrow streets that showcase typical high street retailers and restaurant chains. After several roundabouts, the vehicle undertook an unexpected double run up a seemingly residential street, which randomly had a bus station placed at the end. It's pretty low-key and was almost unnervingly quiet throughout the Monday, with the Southern Transit standby Citymaster comfortably occupying the highest-numbered bay until the evening. A brief pause was necessary here, since the spare vehicle contained some of the paperwork for our Atlantean, though this was explained very professionally by our conductor. I found this break pretty convenient for devising a last-minute plan and it wasn't long until the immaculate Citymaster appeared and we were on the move again.

Our departure from Horsham mostly consisted of speeding down a main road, complete with some very admirable homes tucked away by dense vegetation, which really was quite intrusive on the open topper! Shortly afterwards we crossed a modest two-track railway, used by Southern services between London Victoria and the South Coast, with this bridge almost acting as a boundary between suburbia and woodland, as the surroundings suddenly became reminiscent of the forest in The Blair Witch Project. An occasional isolated household or golf course provided some balance, until we were faced with two more roundabouts that marked the start of our journey into Southwater. This settlement is also served by some regular Metrobus services and is a mixture of green space and detached homes, with the appearance of a Hen & Chicken public house randomly prompting a load of speed humps. Our background also became much more residential, with the first customers since Horsham joining us at the caravan park, apparently catching this exact journey every running day. Southwater felt quite unique because the village extends significantly further than the main road, with traffic running through all the time, so the sporadic filling stations and shops make it feel far less isolated.

The Atlantean continued Southward bound at The Lintot pub, which was consistently busy all day. I even managed to glimpse a parade of shops behind the landmark, causing Southwater to feel like a town in its own right, further reinforced by the outcasts slightly further down, in the form of a kebab shop and Londis convenience store. After an uneventful few minutes, it was time to join a dual carriageway, with thick vegetation acting as a dividing strip between the Northbound and Southbound traffic. Enthusiasts who enjoy thrash more than anything would've been pretty satisfied with our Atlantean, despite the road twisting and turning a few times, but this animated section was over quickly, as it wouldn't be particularly convenient for passengers to catch the bus in the middle of a ditch.

Generally associating McDonald's with urban areas, I was surprised that our left turn simply involved traversing through more farmland, but we also picked up some considerable speed here. After a series of low trees, we entered the much more modest village of West Grinstead, also boasting very presentable retail outlets. My geography of the UK can be pretty rusty, but I was quite surprised to see this name when East Grinstead, served by Southern services from London, is on the other side of Crawley. Perhaps the two places are completely unrelated. From what I can gather, the number 3 is West Grinstead's most frequent bus service - us Londoners would be outraged with a mere four return trips a week!

North Littleworth had nothing more than a garden centre, but at this point mother nature started to become extremely pretty, especially from the unbeatable front seats upstairs. The Windmill Inn was randomly popular with enthusiasts, though I was perfectly satisfied with my Tesco meal deal obtained later on at the Holmbush Centre. A surprising right turn led to more beautiful British countryside, supplemented by some homes which weren't so tucked away, making this hamlet seem far more inviting. I later found out that our deviation was to serve Partridge Green, so comparatively substantial that a regular number 17 bus runs here, offering links to Horsham and Brighton. Our bus was particularly well-used along this stretch of road, where housing felt as dense as some outer London suburbs. Thanks to the astounding knowledge of fellow enthusiasts and the kindness of our driver, we paused here briefly for some photos, with the sun positioned perfectly too. The recreational football cages felt almost abandoned at 10am, as younger residents clearly took advantage of the bank holiday to catch up on their beauty sleep. I don't blame them, getting up at 5:30am wasn't particularly enjoyable.

When you jump on the bandwagon a little too late... it's a good job the driver waited for me!

Between Partridge Green and Shermanbury the country road began to bend very regularly, whilst every front garden seemed to appear just a little larger than the previous one. The unforeseen crossing over the River Adur was over too quickly for my liking, as the bus hurtled past the pizza pub without stopping, our environment becoming more remote by the second. Eventually we were graced with some signs of life, as our bus paused several times in the bustling village of Henfield, quintessentially rural but also offering a wider mix of housing, with some terraces making a change from the detached accommodation. Every independent shop was thriving and well-presented; even the Budgens seemed incredibly upmarket. The dozen or so newly joined passengers complemented the already friendly atmosphere, being very impressed with our Atlantean and our non-stop run to the next destination, with deciduous woodland only broken by some incongruous industrial units. Our path through Small Dole was allegedly shut off, but the road sign clearly hadn't been removed punctually as we managed to pass through with no trouble at all. This particular village bears similarities to Southwater, since a main road passes all the way through, but here the array of dainty houses are almost entirely concentrated on this carriageway, rather than encroaching into the countryside. Following a lively descent, we were graced with a stunningly imposing view of some distant mountain, before being thanked for driving carefully, regardless of whether we achieved 10 or 100mph. For me, this really was the point where the beauty of the surroundings increased exponentially, with panoramic landscapes only occasionally revealing themselves, so us passengers treasured them even more. The abundance of thatched houses added to the quaintness of each village we passed through, but I couldn't help feeling we were cheated out of properly exploring Upper Beeding, given the bus merely skirted around the outside.

Bramber neighbours Upper Beeding and is definitely the most attractive settlement, with so many different materials showcasing themselves on the homes of this narrow street. The bridge over the Adur is perfectly placed; I can recall the whole bus craning their necks slightly to the left as the meandering river weaves its way through the hilly Sussex countryside. Our difficulty in navigating the narrow road was actually appreciated, allowing us passengers to savour this gem of a village just a little more. A fair few alighted to investigate the ruins of Bramber Castle, its presence being only slightly revealing from the bus route, but the majority continued through to Shoreham. Initially, I found our right turn onto a dual carriageway slightly perplexing, but after a few minutes of viewing more woodland and randomly placed elevated walkways, we entered the historic town of Steyning. The approach felt slightly odd, since the leisure centre can be found at quite a distance away from the main hubbub, but the high street was much more extensive than I first anticipated. It has been crafted very similarly to Bramber, though the art galleries and mixture of independent and familiar stores means I'd much rather spend time in Steyning. This was another popular destination, but not many people joined in the outskirts, where country house conversions are juxtaposed by single bungalows almost entirely surrounded by green space. According to the sign on this incredibly straight stretch of road we were entering Bramber again, but these lengthy diversions are acceptable on routes with such a normally hyper-local user base.

It became quite clear that we were approaching Shoreham-By-Sea as we met the river Adur once again, noticeably wider than our first encounter in West Grinstead, with its path downstream being adjacent to the by-pass. The display of multi-coloured terraced housing felt slightly absurd in the middle of nowhere, whilst enthusiasts in the know started to turn their heads as the atmosphere became slightly industrial, since this is where the Southern Transit garage can be found. I spotted several inns immediately after a low-key spaghetti junction, this marking our entrance into the much-awaited Shoreham. The first two minutes were surprisingly residential, but the sight of a Southern Class 377 trundling across the bridge provided some balance. With a thriving high street, harbour, riverside and beach, I was amazed at the attractiveness of this seaside town. It's absolutely worth exploring.

After a stop-off at the park, our path through an assemblage of tenements felt ever so slightly intrusive, whilst the uniformly white homes disguised the purpose of this strange detour. In fact, the railway station is situated immediately behind them, with our trip over the level crossing displaying a very busy platform. The mandatory accompanying down-to-earth shopping parade was over quickly, giving way to a grassed avenue and very elegant semis, but I couldn't help feeling apprehensive after we passed another park, a hundred more houses and a hospital. If it's the seaside you're after, it's best to abandon ship early, or take a local number 2 bus from the terminus back to the town centre (if you get a discovery the ticket will still be valid on this service).

Only a few people stuck it out until the Holmbush Centre, but there's no better place for a quick break, since it boasts a massive Tesco Extra, decent facilities, McDonald's (if you like) and many more eateries. Wandering around the aisles, I was able to reflect on my delightful journey and the exciting prospect of undertaking so many more. If my writing hasn't convinced you to take a ride, a YouTube video is probably more enticing anyway, but that isn't my style.

I'd like to thank Southern Transit for a fabulous day out, the drivers and conductors for being wonderful as ever, fellow enthusiasts for the art of conversation and handy recommendations, but most of all you readers, for actually sticking this post out until the end. It took forever to write and is probably wishy-washy at times, but I enjoyed it and that's what writing this blog is all about. To the running days!

Enthusiasts United In Negligence

Routes 81 and 211 have both recently changed operators, with the former departing and the latter joining the company London United. Despite running in very different parts of the capital, they're both major services and should've received a good amount of attention on their respective first days, but a number of different circumstances meant that this wasn't the case.

Central London routes are always a nightmare to snap in the sun. Even this spot was so risky...

Even though it hasn't existed for very long, the 211 has become a well-established Central London service, carrying passengers all the way from Hammersmith to Waterloo, via Fulham Broadway, King's Road, Sloane Square, Victoria and Westminster. At peak times, 16 vehicles are required for the bizarre 11 minute frequency, with a drop to 4 buses per hour on Sundays and during the evening, which is surprising for a route operating almost entirely within zone 1. The 7 mile trip from end to end can be accomplished in around 70 minutes during the day, although this figure would be much lower if it wasn't for the congestion-filled streets which the 211 unfortunately tries its best to serve. Painfully slow journeys weren't always the norm though - my fastest ever Trident ALX400 was on this route, where the driver used kickdown relentlessly for an astonishingly fast end-to-end trip. The smooth ADL Enviro 400s which replaced them were much less thrilling, but offered comfort and air cooling, so the 211 kept its place in my top ten favourite bus routes. I used the route most regularly when it was allocated these vehicles, being such an enjoyable way to head into Central London after appointments at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital. When New Routemasters eventually dumped themselves on the 211 at Battersea (QB) garage, the quality of service seemed to deteriorate rapidly, whilst rides became more of a burden. These LT-class vehicles were found in a common user pool consisting of routes 3 (for a time), 159 and 211, but if a conventional vehicle ever needed to be used the latter service was almost always chosen. Given that Battersea (QB) garage have had the 211 for so long, this could easily have been one of the biggest changes in the bus calendar, but with all routes that use New Routemasters, the allocated vehicles simply transfer to the new company and apart from some different logos, there is almost no noticeable difference before and after the contract date.

Excluding the background, playing a game of spot the difference between the Abellio and LU 211 photos might be somewhat difficult.

On Saturday 29th June 2019, London United (LU) assumed operation of the 211 from their Stamford Brook (V) garage, a perfect location for the Western terminus of Hammersmith. Abellio decided to confuse everyone and swap a load of New Routemasters between Battersea (QB) and Walworth (WL) garages towards the end of the 211 contract, but a fixed batch did migrate over to LU and were ready to work the route from day one. The last ever journey under Abellio was poorly attended, with only a very select group of admirably dedicated enthusiasts bothering to ride it, but if there were any other contract changes that weekend I'm sure even they would abandon the 211. Buses were scarcely photographed on day one too; uncomfortably high temperatures deterred most from leaving the comfort of their homes and I ended up following this trend, despite usually enjoying the chaos of a first day. From my infrequent London Vehicle Finder spot checks, the service was in tatters at first, with almost every other bus being curtailed during the afternoon, but it seems to have improved a little since then. Stamford Brook controllers will have already familiarised themselves with the excruciating task of operating a Central London route with routes 9, 27 and 10 (deceased). A common user pool has already been established with the former two services and the 211, but so far none of the E3's conventional ADL Enviro400 hybrids have been brave enough to show up on the newcomer. They could easily appear if reblinded, especially since the fallback 27 will be departing for Abellio (funny how this tender game works) in November, so maybe the 211 will become the new dumping ground for conventional buses during New Routemaster shortages. Either way, I hope London United aren't defeated by their difficult start and I wish them good luck for the next five years.

This photo was taken on 2019's hottest day, because I cleverly decided to leave my 81 snapping session until the last minute...

In contrast to the 211's territory where bus usage is rapidly declining, routes in the suburbs are thriving, including cross-border ones like the 81. It runs considerably further West than any other TfL bus service, linking the Berkshire town of Slough with Hounslow, via Langley, Colnbrook, Longford, Harlington Corner and Hounslow West. It is an impressive 12 miles in length, taking around 65 minutes to complete, with the peak vehicle requirement being for 16 vehicles. A 12 minute frequency is provided from Monday to Saturday, with 4bph on Sundays and 3bph during the evening, although
there are some enhancements during the school run. It's hard to believe that it primarily used single deckers just under a decade ago - the combination of long distance and local trips, around the Heathrow villages or along Bath Road, mean buses are pretty well-loaded throughout the day, but are noticeably busier towards Hounslow in the evening peak. The convenience and value of an oyster card has clearly driven away custom from the local First Berkshire services around Slough and Langley, which have been drastically cut over the past few years. If you haven't ridden the 81 already, I urge you to take a trip to Slough and back; it has to be one of my favourite routes in West London. It's incredible that the same journey involves negotiating the bustling hubbub of Hounslow, cruising down the Bath Road dual carriageway, admiring the planes taking off at Heathrow Airport and passing through extremely quaint villages, some of which are endangered with the upcoming Heathrow expansion. It'll be fascinating to see what happens to the 81 if plans for a third runway come to fruition - even if a direct service from Slough to Hounslow is retained, I'm sceptical that it'll be anywhere near as attractive.

One good thing about snapping the 81 is that lots of the route is exposed, so finding a sun spot is never difficult.

Hounslow (AV) garage intermittently operated the route for 84 years, and solidly since 2005, so its departure was quite remarkable. It's certainly questionable as to how London United have lost three major double deck routes which so conveniently terminate in the depot forecourt - Metroline have certainly taken advantage of their generosity in allowing interlopers to stand there. Some garages simply wouldn't have it. Nonetheless, RATP have done extremely well elsewhere and were still extremely competent on the 81, having the necessary experience to take appropriate action in times of disruption, particularly if it was M25-related. Even on the last day buses were curtailed to locations like Langley and Hounslow West when required, contrasting the increasingly common sense of abandonment felt before a route changes operator. I first started using the 81 on a regular

basis in the late 2000s and vividly remember the variety of bus types that appeared, along with the accompanying looks of disappointment whenever it was a Dart Pointer, given that it was usually too full to stop. Volvo/B7TL ALX400s and Plaxton Presidents dominated afterwards, but even towards the end of the contract there was usually a 50/50 split between ADL Enviro 400s and N230/UD Scania OmniCitys, with the former type being preferred for long distance journeys, since they're equipped with comfortable Esteban Civic seats. Occasionally you could find one of the unique low height 56-reg N94/UD Scania OmniCitys (to the right), famous for their deafening iBus speakers and ability to sustain speed. Only four remain in regular service, so I'm delighted that SP8 ended up being my last ever London United 81, with the presence of other enthusiasts and wonderful external surroundings making it a fabulous trip. Having experienced difficulty snapping one throughout the last week due to their erratic behaviour, it was especially rewarding to have one turn up by chance. Thank you Hounslow garage, for providing so many fantastic experiences on the 81. I hope that they can actually find some success when the next West London services are up for tender!

One advantage of snapping in the early evening is the lack of traffic - usually this spot would be impossible!

Naturally, you'd assume that such a respectable trunk route changing operator would result in an army of photographers descending upon Hounslow, but the turnout of first day photos was substandard. Saturday 27th July 2019 was pretty rainy and miserable, although this usually only discourages a handful of photographers who only snap in full sun (I don't entirely blame them, but there is only one changeover day!). Having to share with the number 208 in South-East London could've forced busy enthusiasts to prioritise, but having direct trains to/from London Victoria means a Lewisham to Hounslow journey is hardly torturous. However, the Essex Bus Rally & Londoner In The Country show also occurred on this date, occupying several precious hours for those who attended. It was a thoroughly enjoyable affair and definitely more satisfying than an uneventful first day, so the vast majority of enthusiasts understandably didn't put themselves through a commute excruciatingly lasting for nearly two hours. Frustratingly, the Hammersmith & City Line wasn't running from Liverpool Street, which meant I couldn't habitually avoid the deep level tube, but I was still crazy enough to cover all three events. These factors meant that only those truly dedicated to obtaining first day photographs actually bothered with the 81, especially because snapping bus routes  in the evening is an absolute pain - buses are infrequent and the more exotic vehicles tend to be subbed early on, so I ended up returning to the route on the following Monday.

I'm really happy that a 222 showed up in the background, as these sister services are once again at the same company.

Instead of joining the other double deck services at Brentford (AH), Metroline decided that it would be better to operate the 81 from a brand new base, known as Lampton (SG) garage and conveniently only five minutes away from Hounslow Bus Station. It's a pretty compact site, with no room for any other substantial services, but Metroline have obviously considered it to be a worthy investment. Buses often run to the depot and back between trips to make driver changeovers even easier, with the potential to send buses out at short notice being very reassuring, especially when there are delays. Metroline presumably undercut London United as they had a large pool of VW-class Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TLs collecting dust, but as these were from several different batches they decided to over complicate everything and send them to Harrow Weald (HD) garage, so the 186 now has an extremely messy allocation. This allowed the pool of 62reg VWs to leave HD and deposit themselves on the 81, presumably because Metroline wanted a neat allocation for positive first impressions. If that was the motive, I'd argue that they haven't been entirely successful, since only a handful of these VWs have received a refurbishment, with the others looking slightly knackered inside. In addition, heavy maintenance is undertaken at Brentford (AH) anyway, who have to loan a couple of buses to the 81 on a daily basis, with the ex-First VW1833 almost always doing the honours. As usual, the service was horrendous on day one, with a break down early in the morning not helping matters, but my brief experience was still positive, since the Gemini 2s are very fast and offer a much smoother ride than pretty much everything Hounslow sent out. The service has improved drastically over the past couple of weeks and will almost certainly match the high standards set by London United. I don't think I'll ever associate the 81 with Metroline, given my childhood memories, but I still wish them all the best, mostly so the passengers don't have to suffer!

Thanks for reading and take care!

Go-Ahead Parade The South-East

It's pretty convenient that I have the opportunity to lump two similar service changes together, even though they occurred some five weeks apart...

There was something uncanny about the blinds on these Citaros, particularly when displaying Penge.

For those of you unfamiliar with the 227, I've misled you with the photograph above. It actually runs between Crystal Palace and Bromley North, with intermediate destinations including Penge, Beckenham and Shortlands, taking around 35 minutes to complete a 6 mile end-to-end trip. At peak times, 12 vehicles are required for an impressive 8 minute frequency, with a modest drop to 5 buses per hour on Sundays and during the evening. A low bridge at Shortlands Station infuriatingly prevents the use of double deck vehicles on this intensely busy service, still regarded as a South-East London trunk route despite its short length. Under the old contract, high capacity 12m Mercedes-Benz Citaro vehicles were operated out of Stagecoach London's Bromley (TB) garage, although shorter ADL Enviro 200s also ended up appearing quite frequently. The Mercs were the only examples at Stagecoach London and were adored by bus enthusiasts for their power, being well-suited to the hilly nature of the 227, but their reliability did start to decline towards the end of their seven years on the road. These exotic buses sadly do not have a future within the capital, being a non-standard type, whilst their length deems them inappropriate for the majority of London bus services. This was a rather significant loss for Stagecoach, who (sort of) operated the route for an impressive twenty one years. They were pretty competent too, even though roadworks in Penge caused the service to fall apart during their final week.

The rear door is really far back on these Streetlite max vehicles, something I only noticed after opting for a nearside shot.

Only a few years ago, Go-Ahead at Orpington (MB) garage seemed to be on a losing streak, but recently they've started to become successful again, grabbing some fairly substantial routes over the past year, usually from Stagecoach. One advantage of this change is the union of the 227 and 358, since the latter route operates in very similar territory, also being exceptionally busy and restricted to long single deckers. Brand new Wrightbus Streetlite max vehicles, the first examples of this length in the capital, were ordered for the new contract. All of them were available for day one (Saturday 22nd June 2019) and have remained dedicated to the 227 since then, with only one stray onto the 358 so far. They are slightly shorter than the Citaros and given their less commodious interior arrangement, enthusiasts questioned whether they would be appropriate for such a heavy duty service. From my observations, the reduced capacity isn't a problem when the service is running well at regular 8 minute intervals, but when the gaps become longer travelling on them becomes much more unpleasant, whilst at rush hour people are being left behind frequently. They are also no match for the Citaros when it comes to climbing hills, so are generally disliked by both enthusiasts and the general public.

If Citaros weren't banned due to their lack of stop-start technology, by adding 1.5m and some Go-Ahead logos you could imagine an alternative future for the 227.

To my amazement, the service has been consistently decent since day one, although the 358 will have given controllers some practise. That said, the changeover hasn't been smooth, the most obvious problem being with the iBus system, where buses would display the non-existent destination 'Crystal Parade.' This caused dysfunctional announcements
heading Westbound and even Citymapper claimed buses were serving this alleged location. It took a while to fix, but buses are correctly advertising Crystal Palace now. Another questionable move by Go-Ahead is their confidence that only one spare Streetlite will be adequate for the next five years - on day three a break down and accident proved that this was not sustainable, so an ADL Enviro 200 and short Mercedes Citaro K (MBK1, seen above) demonstrator were thrown out, a custom which has continued regularly since Go-Ahead took over. These buses have an even smaller available capacity than the Streetlites and having sampled MBK1 during the evening rush, it is by no means suitable for the 227. It may be allocated to the equally busy 358, but it is so long and indirect that passengers tend to be dispersed. One final issue, again relating to the Streetlites, is their poor turning circle, which results in some difficulty when it  comes to navigating the roundabout at Bromley North. In short, Go-Ahead operate the 227 very well, but their choice of buses could bring them to their downfall...

One shortfall with photographing in the dark is that vehicles almost always have to be stationary, unless your camera is exceptionally competent.

The 208 also has a fairly long-standing history with Stagecoach, so its move to Go-Ahead on Saturday 27th July 2019 was also pretty remarkable. Enthusiasts of a certain age will typically associate this route with Trident ALX400s, although the enforcement of a green bus corridor back in April meant that they could no longer appear, despite two remaining at Bromley (TB) garage right until the 208's last day. The long wheelbase 56-reg Trident E400s also visited the 208 regularly, but were withdrawn in January; some still remain in London, but they've been converted to open-top and operate on the mega sightseeing bus tours. Their indirect replacements, ADL Enviro 400 MMC 'smart hybrids', occasionally wandered onto the 208, though officially allocated to the 261. Most commonly, the 208 used some rather uninteresting 'classic' ADL Enviro 400s, equipped with the generally disliked voith gearbox, but I don't doubt that their inability to provide a clickbait youtube video was overshadowed by their comfortable lazzerini seating and functional air cooling system, which I don't doubt that the locals appreciated. These vehicles will be refurbished and redeployed onto the 128 from October, which Stagecoach have managed to pick up in East London, where they have been far more victorious as of late. One more exotic feature under Stagecoach was the single crosslink from Catford (TL) garage during term time, which was often in the form of a Volvo/B5LH Enviro 400 MMC, but disappointingly on their last day of operation a voith E400 was sent out instead, being almost identical to the 208's regular diet.

My luck was pretty poor during this snapping session, where the sun either hid behind clouds or a vehicle passed by at the worst possible moment.

Often regarded as the backbone of South-East London, the 208 is certainly no picnic. It operates between the key destinations of Lewisham and Orpington, via Catford, Downham, Bromley and Petts Wood. It stays urban throughout and only properly becomes residential in between Bromley Common and Orpington, which is the only part of the route that isn't also served by other high frequency double deck services. Despite this, the 208 is oversubscribed, with the 12 minute Monday to Saturday daytime frequency being completely inadequate. Even the drop to 4 buses per hour is questionable on Sundays, but actually pretty generous during the evening. Amazingly, only 16 buses are required at peak times for the 11-mile trek, which takes around 80 minutes to complete. Stagecoach managed the route very well, having several years of experience on their side, as well as the convenience of a garage situated almost on the line of route. I don't doubt that this will be another major loss for them, but a few more routes around the Bromley area are up for tender in November, so perhaps they will strike lucky then.

Lewisham was actually pretty busy at 8am on a Saturday morning, emphasised by the trio of buses in this photo.

For the seemingly invincible Go-Ahead, this win probably didn't mean as much as it would to any other London operator, but complacency is never desirable. The company ordered another batch of brand new ADL Enviro400H MMCs for this contract change, having stuck religiously to this type over the past year, contrasting their habitual indecisiveness. This batch arrived prematurely, but were sent to work straight away on the Wimbledon tennis shuttles, helping out alongside Go-Ahead's commercial services fleet when they weren't sat outside the station broken down. So far, they have not appeared on any other routes at Orpington (MB) garage, but I don't doubt that one will sneak onto the 320 sooner or later. As usual, the service was in bits on day one, but with each random check on the London Vehicle Finder I've noticed small improvements and I'm confident Go-Ahead will be able to match the high standards set by Stagecoach. The new MMCs are equipped with intelligent GPS technology, which prevents buses from exceeding the speed limit specific to each street travelled on, and have been described as gutless by enthusiasts, but a functional service is surely all that matters for such an important route.

I wish Go-Ahead all the best in operating both the 227 and 208 for the next five years. Thanks for reading and take care.