Weekly Summary: March 29th

Whilst the middle of the week has been completely dry, the very start was filled with activity, whilst this weekend is probably the biggest you'll find all year.

This week in action:

• Saturday 23rd March saw CT Plus take over the 20, with a mixture of new E40H Cities which were rushed into service, along with two Stagecoach Enviro 400s which are being loaned until the 388 receives its proposed curtailment. Whilst the service has been pretty poor, it's only week one out of (theoretically) 260, so hopefully some improvement should be seen.
• Metroline also took over the 393 on this date, with mid-length Enviro 200s transferring down from Potters Bar (PB) garage at the last minute, along with some of the ex-Arriva buses which have been loaned. A mysterious Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TL, which logged into LVF for several hours on Saturday, was unfortunately not legitimate.
• The 'RF' running day in the Kingston area on Sunday 24th March was highly attended and considered a success, despite South Western Railway presenting some challenges in travelling to the event. 
• Two Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LH vehicles have transferred over to Holloway (HT) garage for the 43.
• In an attempt to support the pitiful service on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line, two supplementary rail replacement services have commenced between Hampstead Heath and Finsbury Park (using Arriva E200s), along with from Walthamstow to Leytonstone (Arriva double deckers).
• ADH51, a 62-reg Enviro 400 hybrid at London United, has transferred down to Epsom (EB) garage as accident cover.
• Abellio 8108, an ex-Surrey vehicle, has re-entered London service from Beddington Cross (BC) garage primarily on the 367.
• Monday saw the proper introduction of Great Northern Class 717 Desiro units from Moorgate to Hertfordshire (beyond the initial preview trips), with the withdrawal of the ageing Class 313 units starting from now.
• Route 25 has fully converted to hybrid operation this week, using brand new Wrightbus Streetdeck vehicles for the bulk of its allocation. The remainder of the PVR consists of MCV EvoSetis already found at Lea Interchange (LI) garage.
• Tender results were published on Monday, with full details on the dedicated tenders page.
• Deutsche Bahn are going to sell the bus operator Arriva, who operate a large number of routes in London.
• Thursday saw a Croydon Tramlink strike, with Abellio sending out extra buses on the 289, as well as some Stagecoach Enviro 200s on the 54.
• Abellio West London have continued the trend of sneaking out interesting workings on Friday, with the Enviro 400H 2401 making an appearance on the U5, perhaps hinting at part of what will be used on the 207 from next week.
• Other rare workings include the MCV EvoSeti VMH2543 on the W8, as well as a spike in the number of conventional Enviro 400s on the 211.

 This weekend: 30th/31st March

• Another classic bus running day will take place on Saturday 30th March, commemorating the 40th anniversary since the withdrawal of London Transport's last RF and RT. This will be centered around Barking (BK) and River Road (RR) garages, with special bus services being operated between and beyond the two locations, as well as a procession of RTs at the end of the day.
• Routes 262 and 473 will pass from Stagecoach London to Tower Transit on the Saturday, with Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TLs from the 25 taking over the current allocation of Scania OmniCity vehicles, on Saturday 30th March.
• Stagecoach also lose the 396 on this day, but this route will head over to Go-Ahead with existing Enviro 200s. It is likely that double deck workings will cease with this contract change!
• Metroline, at Potters Bar (PB) garage, will take over route 317 from Arriva London.
• Friday 29th March marks the last day of route C2 operating as a London bus service. Its replacement will come in the form of a re-routed and extended 88, which will deviate to serve London Zoo and Albany Street between Oxford Circus and Camden Town instead of its current routeing via Mornington Crescent. It will run through to Kentish Town and Parliament Hill Fields like C2 currently does.
• The 87 will receive New Routemaster vehicles which are no longer suitable to run the 88 due to its revised routeing.
• Rail replacements are in operation from Earl's Court to Wimbledon, Addiscombe to Elmers End, Hackney Downs to Chingford, Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction and Stratford to Romford.

 Next Weekend: 6th/7th April

• Abellio London, at Hayes (WS) garage for the time being, will assume operation of the 207/N207 on Saturday 6th April, with the allocation being a mixed bag of Enviro 400s, including five brand new smart hybrid MMCs. This route will transfer to a new base, Southall (GW), at a later date. The two afternoon school trips from Twyford Avenue will be withdrawn.
• In an attempt to fill the void created at Greenford (G) garage following the 207 loss, Metroline will transfer route 607 over there from Uxbridge (UX) garage. This route should also have received new MCV EvoSeti B5LH vehicles by this date, but it is expected the current vehicles will transfer over instead as these are nowhere to be seen. An extra stop will be introduced at Iron Bridge for this limited stop service, so that driver changeovers can take place.
• The South East Bus Festival, which will take place on a field near Ashford (Kent), is also on April 6th.
• Rail replacements are in action from Addiscombe to Birkbeck, Stratford City to Redbridge and Loughton (Sunday), Ilford to Woodford (Sunday), Barking to Grays via Rainham.

Weekly Summary - March 22nd

It's been a fairly active week on the bus scene, whilst the next two weekends certainly won't disappoint either!

This week in action:

• Both the 1938 stock and 'On The Buses' tours were successful last weekend, with both events being very popular.
• Routes 696 and 697 have had their allocations transferred to Hounslow (AV) garage, which means there's now roughly a 50/50 split between this base and Hounslow Heath (HH) for the limited number of remaining 56-reg Scania OmniCity N94/UD vehicles.
• WDL1, the Wrightbus Gemini 2 DB300 demonstrator vehicle operated by Go-Ahead, has been withdrawn from London service and can now be found at Carousel Buses.
• It has been confirmed that route 607 will have its operation transferred to Greenford (G) garage on Saturday 6th April.
• A new Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LH has arrived at Fulwell (FW) garage for route 65.
• The last Class 43 HST operated by Great Western Railway is believed to operate on Saturday 18th May, forming the 1830 London Paddington to Taunton via Bristol Temple Meads.
• One of the new E40H Cities ordered by CT Plus for the 20, 2540, was on display at the ExCeL Centre earlier this week, allegedly boasting an innovative iBus screen.
• TfL have released another consultation regarding changes to route 339 within the Olympic Park, this time involving a new bridge in Fish Island.
• Abellio have sneaked out two of its new ADL Enviro 400 'smart hybrid' MMCs, 2001 and 2002, onto routes 427 and U5, whilst a refurbished E40D has emerged on the E1 and E9. These buses will form part of the 207s allocation when the operator takes over on April 6th.

This weekend: 23rd/24th March

• A classic bus running day will take place on Sunday 24th March to commemorate the 40th anniversary since the withdrawal of London Transport's last RF. These will be on routes 218 and 219, from Kingston to Staines and Weybridge.
• CT Plus will assume operation of route 20 on Saturday 23rd March, with new ADL Enviro400H Cities displacing the Gemini 2s which usually work the route under Go-Ahead. However, the planned frequency reduction of route 388 has been cancelled at the last minute (this would've freed up two existing City vehicles to complete the allocation), so for now two diesel E400s will be loaned from Stagecoach.
• Metroline take over the 393 too, but the existing ADL Enviro 200 vehicles which Arriva currently use will be loaned since the new buses ordered against the contract are too long. It is expected that some existing 9.3m E200s already in the Metroline fleet will also work the route.
• Rail replacements are in action from Earl's Court to Wimbledon, Stratford to Romford, Sandilands to Birkbeck and Elmers End, Teddington to Shepperton, Purley to Caterham and Tattenham Corner (Sunday), Beckenham Junction to Orpington (Sunday) and Lewisham to Dartford via Bexleyheath (Sunday). 

Next Weekend: 30th/31st March

• Another classic bus running day will take place on Saturday 30th March, commemorating the 40th anniversary since the withdrawal of London Transport's last RF and RT. This will be centered around Barking (BK) and River Road (RR) garages, with special bus services being operated between and beyond the two locations, as well as a procession of RTs at the end of the day.
• Routes 262 and 473 will pass from Stagecoach London to Tower Transit on the Saturday, with Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TLs from the 25 taking over the current allocation of Scania OmniCity vehicles, on Saturday 30th March.
• Stagecoach also lose the 396 on this day, but this route will head over to Go-Ahead with existing Enviro 200s. It is likely that double deck workings will cease with this contract change!
• Friday 29th March marks the last day of route C2 operating as a London bus service. Its replacement will come in the form of a re-routed and extended 88, which will deviate to serve London Zoo and Albany Street between Oxford Circus and Camden Town instead of its current routeing via Mornington Crescent. It will run through to Kentish Town and Parliament Hill Fields like C2 currently does.
•  Rail replacements are in operation from Earl's Court to Wimbledon, Addiscombe to Elmers End, Hackney Downs to Chingford, Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction and Stratford to Romford.

Weekly Summary - March 15th

This week has been even quieter than the past two, with events concentrated on single days as opposed to throughout the week.

This week in action:

• Route 27, as of Saturday 2nd March, has received its curtailment to Hammersmith, with buses continuing just beyond the bus station to the town hall, before picking up again at the Hammersmith & City Line. Misleadingly, this is displayed as 'Hammersmith Glenthorne Road' on the front even though passengers can't actually board there. The N27, which only runs as far as the bus station, has also made its debut.
• The 27 has now fully converted to New Routemaster operation, seeing off the final Scania OmniCity vehicles at Stamford Brook (V) which makes the E3 100% Enviro, although unusually the presumed dead SP140 revived itself for two days before bowing out for good (we think).
• Typically, the rerouteing of the 440, for it to serve Chiswick Business Park and Wellesley Road before terminating at Turnham Green, has turned out to be farcical. On the first day, conveniently timed road surfacing resulted in vehicles running non-stop between Bollo Lane and Turnham Green, missing out the rest of Chiswick completely and infuriatingly sailing past stops which should've been closed. Although the new routeing has been in place since Sunday, most vehicles are still blinded for the old destination, Power Road, with iBus also showing this incorrect information.
• The last Marshall Capital in London, DMN1, seems to have disappeared, perhaps marking the extinction of the type once and for all.
• Arriva have confirmed the opening of two outstations in Erith and Beddington.
• The first Mercedes Sprinter minibus has arrived at Go-Ahead London for their demand responsive service in Sutton.
• Rare workings include the MCV EvoSeti VMH2452 on the 307, ADL Enviro 400s E59 on the X26 and T103 on the 137.
• Friday 15th Mrach saw several operators send out heritage vehicles in light of comic relief, with donations for Red Nose Day. Despite the Westminster area being invaded with angry schoolchildren for several hours and therefore lots of diversions, the event was hugely popular with enthusiasts and the public alike with vehicles appearing on routes 8, 9, 14, 23, 24, 159, 217 and 228. 

  

This weekend - 17th/18th March:

• Although tickets are sold out, a second tour of the art-deco 1938 London Underground stock will happen on Sunday, with the train starting at Northfields at approximately 10am. More details can be found here
• Rail replacements are in action from West Croydon to Sutton and Epsom Downs, Streatham to Epsom, Stratford to Romford, Lewisham to Dartford via Woolwich (Sunday) and Hounslow to Staines/Windsor (Sunday).
• Slightly late notice, although from Saturday Class 378s only will work the Gospel Oak to Barking Line at a half hourly frequency.
• Courtesy of Visions International, a London bus tour is scheduled to take place on Saturday 16th March, based on the programme "On The Buses" it involves taking an RT through a variety of relevant locations in North London, including the former Eastern National Wood Green garage and the current Sullivan Buses base at South Mimms.

 Next weekend - 23rd/24th March:

•  A classic bus running day will take place on Sunday 24th March to commemorate the 40th anniversary since the withdrawal of London Transport's last RF. These will be on routes 218 and 219, from Kingston to Staines and Weybridge.
• CT Plus will assume operation of route 20 on Saturday 23rd March, with new ADL Enviro400H Cities displacing the Gemini 2s which usually work the route under Go-Ahead. The 393 will also change operators, with Arriva losing out to Metroline who have ordered a batch of longer Enviro 200 MMCs for the change. For you dedicated nutters, the 0020 from Chalk Farm and 0015 from Walthamstow are scheduled to be the last ever Arriva 393 and Go-Ahead 20 respectively. 
• Rail replacements are in action from Earl's Court to Wimbledon, Stratford to Romford, Sandilands to Birkbeck and Elmers End, Teddington to Shepperton, Purley to Caterham and Tattenham Corner (Sunday), Beckenham Junction to Orpington (Sunday) and Lewisham to Dartford via Bexleyheath (Sunday). 

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Weekly Summary - March 8th

It's been a really quiet week on the buses, with hardly any news worth reporting. Nonetheless, a few rare workings and some 'vintage' events for those interested will be happening over the next two weekends.

This week in action:

• Some progress has been made in regards to the misplaced bus stop reading 'Selfridges' at the top end of Baker Street. The incorrect name is yet to be corrected, although some of the right routes have been installed with the use of a permanent marker.
• The first brand new ADL Enviro 400 MMC smart hybrids have been delivered for Twickenham (TF) garage for route 207, which Abellio will take over in April.
• Route 15H has taken a break from operation and will return on Saturday 30th March, on weekends and public holidays only.
• Arriva successfully assumed operation of the 158 on Saturday 2nd March, with the Gemini 2 B9TLs and DB300s being much newer than the previous allocation of Trident ALX400s ; most of these have been stood down.
• New MCV EvoSeti B5LH and existing ADL Enviro400H vehicles have entered service at Holloway (HT) garage, primarily on routes 43 and 271 respectively, in an attempt to 'clean up' their allocations in time for the Ultra Low Emission Zone. Those Volvo/B7TL Presidents won't be around for much longer!
• Two Dart Pointers are still active on route 72 at London United.
• Arriva London's Wrightbus Streetdeck micro-hybrid has transferred from Norwood (N) garage to Palmers Green (AD) and can now be found on the 141.
• Rare workings have been even more sparse this week, with an Optare Versa on the 413 and a technically overweight E200 MMC on the 33 being of significance on the single deck front. Interestingly, over at Rainham (RM) garage the Enviro 400 19000, better known as 'Spirit of London', strayed onto route 372 for half a rounder (banditised) instead of sticking to the 248 and 252

 This weekend - 9th/10th March:

• On the Saturday route 27 will be curtailed to Hammersmith Grove (with a shortened route N27 being introduced to terminate at the bus station) whilst the 440 will be restructured. From South Acton it will no longer go through Chiswick Park, Turnham Green, Wellesley Road then to Power Road. Instead it will serve Chiswick Business Park and Wellesley Road to terminate at Turnham Green.
• Rail replacements can be found from Stratford to Romford, Sandilands to Elmers End and Barking to Grays via Rainham, Lewisham to Orpington (Saturday), Orpington to Sevenoaks (Sunday) and London Bridge to Streatham (Sunday).

Next weekend - 17th/18th March:

•  Although technically not at the weekend, Friday 15th March marks Red Nose Day 2019 and this year a large number of operators will be sending out Routemasters and other vintage double deckers on Central London routes, with donations to charities of their choice. Confirmed routes are the 2 (Arriva London), 8 (Stagecoach London), 9 (London United), 14 (Go-Ahead London), 23 (Tower Transit) and 24 (Metroline). Interestingly, one route 9 journey at 1330 will continue from Hammersmith to Liverpool Street, with a return at 1513
• Rail replacements are in action from West Croydon to Sutton and Epsom Downs, Streatham to Epsom, Stratford to Romford, Lewisham to Dartford via Woolwich (Sunday) and Hounslow to Staines/Windsor (Sunday).
• Courtesy of Visions International, a London bus tour is scheduled to take place on Saturday 16th March, based on the programme "On The Buses" it involves taking an RT through a variety of relevant locations in North London, including the former Eastern National Wood Green garage and the current Sullivan Buses base at South Mimms.  

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Weekly Summary - March 1st

As this is the first edition of the series, I shall attempt to briefly explain the format of these quick publications. They will consist of any news or events which have occurred in the past week, along with anything worth covering for the next two weekends.

This week in action:

•  As of Sunday 24th February, the one-way system around Gloucester Place and Baker Street has been scrapped, in favour of both roads becoming two way. As ever, TfL's delivery has been poor with the initial opening delayed and filled with a diversion due to a overhanging tree. The bus stops contain incorrect information since they have just been taken from their previous positions - Selfridges is now located near Baker Street Station according to this and TfL have had to draft in stewards to force buses to actually stop there! There is no clue as to which bus routes are serving which street, given the online information hasn't been updated, whilst the traffic has still been a problem even with the new system. What a mess!
•  On the same day a rail-tour of the art-deco 1938 stock London Underground train took place, with locations ranging from Ealing Common to Moorgate and Baker Street.
• After a considerable amount of time in absence, London's only BCI tri-axle bus, TA1, has returned to service on the 12.
• Given that the 4-car Class 710 Aventra trains were meant to upgrade the Gospel Oak to Barking line in February 2018, people have started to wonder if they will ever be able to accumulate fault-free mileage and enter service. However, just as the temporary "solution" has been implemented, there have been actual sightings of these trains whizzing up and down the line over the past few days, finally showing some signs of progress. It'll be a while before they start picking up passengers - a Class 37 locomotive did have to follow directly behind in the likely to event of breakdown - but the earlier they can enter service the better.
• Rare workings have been few and far between this week, with the only examples being an Enviro 400 MMC (EH222) on the N1, a long Enviro 200 (DEL2062) on the 268, along with two smart hybrid MMCs (11067 and 11068) on the 61.
• VWH1362 is said to be the first Metroline Wrightbus Gemini 2 B5LH to return from a refurbishment.
• It has been confirmed that, contrary to popular belief, the 406 will be using Scania OmniCity vehicles for its new contract in June.
• A rather baffling mix-up has occurred with the new ADL Enviro 200 MMCs which Metroline have ordered for their takeover of the 393 later this month. Although they specified 9.7m DEM-class vehicles, photographs of them speeding down the motorway on delivery seem to suggest that they are actually much longer. 
• One Scania OmniCity vehicle, SP160, is still active on route E3.
• LDP206, one of the oldest Go-Ahead London Dart Pointer vehicles, has been withdrawn.

This weekend - 2nd/3rd March:

• Route 15H will take a break from operation this month - the last weekday service ran on Friday 1st March and after between the first and last weekend of March, it will not operate. After this, the route will return at summer weekends and public holidays only.
• Stagecoach London lose the 158 (Stratford to Chingford Mount) just after midnight on Saturday 2nd March, with this change reducing the number of Trident ALX400s in service rapidly. Arriva will take over with a mixture of Wrightbus Gemini 2s in the form of both DB300s and B9TLs.
• Rail replacements are in action this weekend from Clapham Junction to Surrey Quays, Twickenham and Kew Bridge (last two Sunday only), Stratford to Romford, Sandilands to Elmers End and Barking to Grays via Rainham.

Next weekend - 9th/10th March:

• On the Saturday route 27 will be curtailed to Hammersmith Bus Station, whilst the 440 will be restructured. From South Acton it will no longer go through Chiswick Park, Turnham Green, Wellesley Road then to Power Road. Instead it will serve Chiswick Business Park and Wellesley Road to terminate at Turnham Green.
• Rail replacements can be found from Stratford to Romford, Sandilands to Elmers End and Barking to Grays via Rainham, Lewisham to Orpington (Saturday), Orpington to Sevenoaks (Sunday) and London Bridge to Streatham (Sunday).

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Some Form Of Tower Everywhere

Tower Transit have been popping up everywhere recently, with the January changes being no exception - either implicitly or explicitly, they'll make some sort of appearance.  

Surprisingly for such a significant area, the 603 is the only route to terminate at Swiss Cottage.

 It's safe to say that the 603 is far from your average London route. Usually, all services numbered in the 600-series are designated to school buses, which usually transport children to and from a place of education. This one, on the other hand, terminates at two fairly substantial transport hubs, these being Swiss Cottage and Muswell Hill Broadway. Intermediate destinations include Hampstead, Highgate Village and East Finchley, with the end-to-end journey time generally taking around 45 minutes. There are four trips in each direction, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, which depart at either 20 minute or 10 minute intervals. Its operation is rather extensive since the buses do undertake a return journey, although the vehicles don't ever become particularly busy. I suspect the only reason it uses double deckers is because they crosslink onto busier services. The main function of the 603 is to ferry people to and from independent primary schools, however one would assume the majority of their students use private transport instead. Nonetheless, the 603 provides a valuable route home for those who decide that buses are way forward, but also creates some nice links between parts of North London that are slightly awkward to navigate - Highgate to Hampstead is a perfect example. At a 30 minute frequency, with single deckers and perhaps an extension to Wood Green, I think the 603 would be very well-used, but in the current climate such a proposal isn't possible. What made the route even more bizarre was that despite it ultimately being a school bus, it ran outside of term time, with the timetable remaining pretty much the same for the holiday departures. Some people argued that the route was more of a commuter service because of this oddity, but sadly this is no longer the case, being just a slightly quirky generic school route instead.

This demonstrator really does get around...

Under its previous contract, the 603 was operated by Metroline Travel from Holloway (HT) garage. Its allocation has varied considerably over the years, with Plaxton Presidents gradually being phased out in favour of ADL Enviro 400s and Wrightbus Geminis, with the B5LH 3s being particularly common for the final few months. There haven't been too many odd workings in the past, with the only example I can think of being the appearance of a Yutong electric demonstrator during the summer holidays, which was part of a two day trial on the service. Given that the route still uses DDs for now, I guess Metroline were simply having a bit of a laugh while the buses were empty. Having such hyper-local usage, this route must have been a small but painful loss for the operator, as I imagine the drivers were fairly familiar with regular customers. Friday 11th January 2019 saw the final trip operate and as it didn't take place in the middle of the night, lots of enthusiasts turned up to say their goodbyes, which is quite heart-warming. 

The very first journey under the new operator, who have clearly decided to hide their identity.

This particular tender award did raise some eyebrows at first, since Sullivan Buses and their base at South Mimms (SM) is nowhere near either of the termini. However, this independent company do have a ridiculously high number of school services, so adding this one to their collection couldn't do much harm. Existing stock has been acquired for the 603, with these vehicles being ADL Enviro 400s which used to work for Abellio or Tower Transit - these haven't been refurbished yet. The change brings a rather unassuming outsider ever-closer to Central London, emphasising the rapid growth Sullivan Buses have embraced recently. Although changeover days always occur on a Saturday, as this route only runs from Monday to Friday Sullivan Buses made their debut on the January 14th instead. So far, there have been no real issues with the service and shockingly no one has reported any inadequate blind displays - if only the same could be said for their other school routes... One irritating by-product of this change is that the 603 vehicles no longer crosslink onto another route, so its holiday operation has been scrapped. This is a real shame as it seems almost every unique element of the London bus network is gradually being taken away. I would still recommend riding the route, as it gives you an opportunity to explore parts of Hampstead and Highgate on a double decker which isn't possible on conventional services, whilst the worst sort of behaviour you'll have to contend with is perhaps some hyper-active kids - on my trip they were especially excited as it happened to be their last day of term. I wish Sullivan Buses all the best with the 603, even if the route isn't as majestic as it was before. 

Snapping here requires a lot of patience, as buses keep blocking 228s by using the other lane

The 228 is one of London's newest services, commencing in January 2009 to improve connectivity with the then new Westfield London. It takes a rather convoluted route from Central Middlesex Hospital to Maida Hill, The Chippenham, via Willesden Junction, East Acton, White City Estate, Shepherd's Bush and Ladbroke Grove. Although an end-to-end journey takes over 70 minutes (get the 187, its far quicker), the route is now pretty well used for round-the-corner local links, as well as providing a handy connection between Harlesden and East Acton, via the Old Oak Common development site. A peak vehicle requirement for 8 vehicles satisfies a 20 minute frequency - the 228 is 8 miles in length. The route has remained at Willesden Junction (WJ) garage since its birth, but the sale of First London in 2013 prompted an operator change. This former operator were pretty disastrous on the route, making it into the top 10 least punctual services in London at one point, but Metroline West managed to turn this around and were actually pretty decent by the end of the contract. The same batch of ADL Enviro 200s have worked the 228 since the route was brand new, being ordered specifically for the service, although odd workings did appear under First London in the form of Dart Marshalls and a Wrightbus Streetlite demonstrator, which ironically ended up at Tower Transit afterwards. Moving house for the first time is always a traumatic experience, making this contract change one of the most significant moments of the 228s journey so far. 

A fairly new Streetlite leaves a gloomy Central Middlesex Hospital.

Tower Transit now operate the 228 from Westbourne Park (X) garage, which is still very close to the route albeit at the opposite end. This operator deployed cunning tactics in an attempt to win this route, only ordering four new buses. The remaining six are still fairly young, but have been taken from Lea Interchange (LI) garage after some frequency cuts and rather desperate adjustments to the allocations. Wrightbus Streetlites are now the official 228 buses, with both the new and existing vehicles being this type. Since its base does not currently house any other single deck routes, you can expect the strict allocation policy to continue. Tower made their debut on Saturday 19th January 2018 with a full turnout of the WV-class Streetlites, which was quite surprising as the new vehicles were nowhere to be seen the day before. Their performance has been exemplary so far, with no first day syndrome at all. Admittedly, a diversion away from the White City Estate due to an event at the QPR stadium made operation slightly earlier, but they should still be given credit for acing a fairly challenging route on day one. Hopefully, these high standards will continue throughout the next few years and I wish Tower Transit the best in achieving them.

This bus used to proudly proclaim that it used hydrogen technology - not anymore...

In this final part of the post I'll attempt to explain how Tower Transit managed to scrape together six existing buses for the 228 without losing any routes. A couple were made free as a result of a cut to the 236, but the rest have come from the 444 which hasn't seen any frequency modifications recently.

The donation of its Streetlites stems from the RV1, also at Lea Interchange (LI) garage, which had its frequency cut in half last year and is about to be withdrawn. It now has nine, maybe ten vehicles for a PVR of 5 and the number of spares has increased yet again since one of the Vanhool vehicles has returned after embarrassing itself at Aldwych and blocking the road for several hours after a leak. Oops. This excessive vehicle supply meant that lots of the Wrightbus hydrogen buses were sitting around in the garage doing nothing, so for now Tower Transit have decided to allocate two of them to the 444. This is a rather drastic manouevre and some would argue that running the buses on such a route is grossly inappropriate, given that it spends a large amount of time on dual carriageways ; a stark contrast to the RV1 which is just non-stop congestion. These buses are certainly pushed to their limits on the 444, making some rather amusing noises, but if Tower manage to retain the route in a few months it has been a very clever move. Since the vehicles are a full 12m in length, most of the single deck services failed the route test and even the 444 only just passed - things can become messy on the back roads around North Middlesex Hospital, especially when an ambulance wants to get past. Catching one on January 19th proved evasive as the only example was subbed by 10am, but luckily it returned later in the day and its extra length proved to be very useful since the bus was following a 30 minute gap and was really busy. Since then Tower have tried their best to avoid sticking the hydrogen buses on the 444, but it does happen occasionally. Although this change is a bit crazy, it makes the 444 a much more interesting route and allows these hydrogen buses to be viewed in a new light.

The end of this post marks a transition in the coverage of this blog, at least for the next few months anyway. A rather stressful and work-heavy time of year has arrived (fun fun fun!), with my bus trips beyond the delights of Ealing and Hounslow being inhibited until the middle of June. I won't be giving up blogging altogether during this time, but documenting changes will be too time-consuming and they will be lacking photographs - I plan to catch up on all of this during the summer! Instead, a weekly summary of what's been going on in the bus (and railways, if I keep up) scene will be published on Friday evenings, giving you the opportunity to get outside and catch some goodies over the weekend. I understand that it must feel like a downgrade, but hopefully some sort of publication is better than nothing at all!

Thanks for reading, stay safe and please do enjoy yourselves out there!

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!

In The Absence Of Purple

This post focuses on three routes which don't have too much relevance to one another, but all were forced to undergo changes of some sort during December.

I vividly remember waiting a long time for a bus to show up with correct blinds...

One of London's youngest bus routes is the 452, having only existed since 2006, essentially acting as a relief for the busy 52 service. Starting at Kensal Rise, the route becomes more popular as it heads further South, picking up passengers in Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill and Knightsbridge, before offering some unique links to Sloane Square, Wandsworth Road Station and lastly Vauxhall, where the route was extended to in 2016. Although it's one of the lesser used Central London services, patronage has picked up considerably over the years and its now regarded as a useful method of crossing this part of London. Abellio previously operated the service from Battersea (QB) garage with a batch of ADL Enviro 400s, but Trident ALX400s preceded them and more recently E40H MMCs started to appear. Being 9 miles in length, journey times generally take around 70 minutes, with a peak vehicle requirement for 18 vehicles satisfying the 10 minute frequency, which inevitably reduces to every 12 minutes on Sundays and during the evening. Generally, this operator managed the 452 rather well, with no other base controlling the service until this latest contract change. However, Battersea (QB) garage have been losing a lot of work recently, even if the other Abellio division is blossoming a little too much...

At the same location, except in daylight.

Even though Abellio are situated en route, Tower Transit were always going to provide some stiff competition with their recently expanded Westbourne Park (X) garage. Existing buses were specified for the new 452 contract and these are in the form of Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TLs, which have been refurbished recently and are still in a very good condition despite running around on the busiest route in London prior to this. Coincidentally, the 25 service has had a heavy PVR reduction recently with a curtailment and removal of 50% of its trips, which meant its former allocation could quickly transfer over to work the 452 and since the first day no other vehicles have worked it. Predictably, the service has been hit and miss, with not so many curtailments but lots of large gaps and a fair bit of bunching, but this is natural when an operator first takes over and hopefully Tower Transit will be able to settle in soon. I wish them the best for the next five years, with an excellent batch of vehicles to complement this change.

I wasn't meant to snap here but ended up waiting at the wrong stop for this 308, whoops.

Whilst the 25 cut was pretty severe, the 452 took away a little too many vehicles for the former route to still function with its new routeing. Conveniently, the 328 at Westbourne Park (X) garage received a frequency cut on the same day as the 25/452 changes, which freed up five of its Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LHs for use at Lea Interchange (LI) garage. This introduced a new bodywork to this base as its only other Gemini 3s are smiley-face models, but these buses seem adamant on not working the 25 and after one trip on the very first day of the cutback, they've rigidly stuck to the 308 instead. At the moment I can't think of a suitable explanation justifying this allocation change, but it does mean there are now two types working the 308 instead of one neat batch. They do bear similarities to one another, both having the same B5LH engine, so the change isn't too drastic. However, these are the 25s buses after all and the remainder of its PVR has to come from somewhere.

An array of vehicles at Stratford Bus Station.

In addition to Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TLs and ADL Enviro 400s, since the cutback MCV EvoSeti hybrids from the 308 have also become common the 25, with around 5 or 6 working the route each day. Surprisingly, for a Central London service, this introduced hybrid technology to the route en masse for the first time -  ironically though since the use of cleaner buses the 25 stopped travelling through the most polluted part of the route. In coincidence with the opening of Crossrail (or not), TfL decided to slaughter London's busiest route even more through a curtailment to Holborn Circus,

although the official destination is displayed as City Thameslink, presumably to glorify the Western terminus and make it sound more useful than it actually is. This change has removed the 25 from Oxford Street and Chancery Lane, upsetting many commuters who frequently rode this service all the way from Ilford and East London as a cheap method of travelling to the West End. I'm sceptical the introduction of shiny new trains would remove any patronage from the 25, but TfL had the audacity to cut the route despite the fact that the 'alternative' is not even operating yet. The hopper fare isn't actually applicable for most trips, given that the journey time from Ilford to City Thameslink still exceeds 70 minutes during the day, whilst the saving grace that is the number 8 doesn't even make it to Oxford Street anymore, stopping short at Tottenham Court Road. This means that it now requires three buses to directly travel between Oxford Circus and St Paul's, which is slightly ridiculous considering how close the two destinations are. This change has resulted in the introduction of a new night bus route, the N25, which continues to run through to Oxford Circus, but its operation hours are quite limited and I thought it would at least extend into the early morning rush hour, which is where the 25 used to thrive. Another example of poor execution is the state of the bus stop tiles a couple of months after the change - some still claim the 25 is a 24-hour route, whilst other N25 tiles lack the blue background. On the same day as the curtailment, Westbound 25 buses were sent into Stratford Bus Station too, which makes journey times significantly longer but does improve accessibility for those wishing to travel to Westfield or the railway station. From my observations, the 25 is nowhere near as busy as before - buses used to be heaving in rush hour but now they're leaving Central London only half full, whilst the number 8 has surged in popularity as one of the only routes left travelling East from (the edg) of) the West End. The once almighty 25 has fallen considerably into nothing more than a commuter route which dumps passengers in the middle of nowhere and certainly won't be in the top spot next year for patronage - its downfall reflects the Central London bus network as a whole, falling to pieces.

Looping the bus station.

 Whilst the 25 uses the most direct route between Stratford and Manor Park, the 104 decides to take a much more scenic journey, passing through Upton Park, Lonsdale Avenue and East Ham along the 6-mile route. It's an intensely used service (just not necessarily for end-to-end trips) and a 10 minute frequency is required during the day, with a drop to 4 buses per hour on Sundays and during the evening. Interestingly, this one of a handful of routes in London to retain a dramatic increase in frequency during rush hour, presumably due to strong commuter flows into and out of Stratford, so in the morning peak buses depart at 6 minute intervals. The journey takes around 55 minutes to complete, requiring 18 buses in rush hour. Stagecoach London previously operated the route from West Ham (WH) garage, with a mixed allocation of ADL Enviro 400s and older Trident ALX400s. Rarely, E400 MMCs and Scania OmniCitys would appear, especially during the evening. Although the service was run to a decent standard and an existing vehicle allocation was available, with the proposed changes to the 104 Go-Ahead were much more strategically positioned for the service, so a loss was almost inevitable.

At the other end of Stratford Bus Station.

Go-Ahead London assumed operation of the 104 on Saturday 8th December 2018, with buses based at River Road (RR) garage. Its new allocation is extremely messy, with ADL Enviro 400s scraped together from around five different batches, as well as a couple of Wrightbus Gemini 2 B9TLs, yet these rarely work the service in practice. This operator actually won the 104 as a route running from Stratford to Beckton Station - in conjunction with Crossrail TfL proposed to split the U-shaped service at Lonsdale Avenue, with this service turning right to serve Beckton, whilst the Manor Park element would turn left towards Newham Hospital and Custom House, with this new service numbered 304. This was meant to occur on December 8th, with Go-Ahead running the 304 too, but for now they've had to embrace the 104 alone in its current form. At the moment, operation is looking quite good ; as always some first day syndrome was apparent but other than that Go-Ahead seem to be off to a good start. My only criticism is that somehow since the 104 was lost Stratford Bus Station has become an overcrowded mess - previously the main parking area was only used by Stagecoach but since Go-Ahead joined the party some hostility has arisen and vehicles like the one pictured above keep having to undertake circuits before finding a space. When Arriva make their debut in March for the 158, goodness knows how the bus station will cope. Apart from this trivial matter, things are looking promising for the 104 and I wish Go-Ahead all the best in running this service, and the 304 if it ever emerges, for the next five years.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Random Observations - January 2019

Another 10 images, freshly picked from the album.

I wonder what happened to the number plate on that Audi.

This particular vehicle was pretty uncooperative when it first appeared in October, but luckily a random trip to the hospital in December coincided with its arrival on the 92. Previously, the ADL Enviro 400 could be found at Potters Bar (PB) garage, but for some reason it turned up at Greenford (G) one afternoon on the 282 school run. Since then, it has settled in nicely and usually sticks to the 92, with the only difference between this vehicle and the rest of the E400s being the livery, as this bus was an original Metroline Travel vehicle as opposed to the ex-First buses Metroline West have inherited. Initially, enthusiasts suspected that this bus was cover for the refurbishment of the 92s own vehicles as they're pretty worn out, but none have entered the workshop so far and it seems that TE1313 is just a general, long-term spare. It does add some variety to the rather bland bus scene in West London and hopefully I'll be able to snap it on other Greenford (G) routes in the future.

This rare working just sprung up on me in Highgate, which was rather fortunate.

 For a Central London route the 134 hasn't had many hybrid vehicles on it over the years, especially since its transfer to Potters Bar (PB) garage. ADL Enviro 400s have become the staple allocation, although recently Metroline have actually made the effort to reblind its Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LHs officially allocated to the 34 and 125, which have become increasingly common on the 134 as of late, making almost daily appearances. They suit the route rather well and if emissions were ever an issue, a swap with the outer London services would be pretty easy to undertake, although the 134 is earmarked for some rather fancy all-electric vehicles soon. These will be in the form of Optare Metrodeckers and the route should remain at the rural base, but given the difficulty in delivering 6 Optare Solos within three months of a contract date I'm sceptical that 27 buses will be here anytime soon. Nonetheless, it introduces a new type to the London bus scene en masse and I look forward to their arrival. Some enthusiasts are also claiming that the 134 will be receiving, in the short-term, some of the endless number of MCV EvoSetis that keep showing up on delivery, but keeping up with where those buses are meant to be is almost impossible so I've decided not to bother.

Ewisham. Some would say a more appropriate name for the place, but I rather like the hustle and bustle.

Go-Ahead London are down to just two Volvo/B7TL Plaxton Presidents, a type which was very common only a few years ago and could be found on most of their double deck services. The last few have been residing at Merton (AL) garage over the past year, but only one (PVL296) remains there. Almost all of the others have been withdrawn, but a solitary example (PVL284) has transferred over to Bexleyheath (BX) garage and seems pretty dedicated to the 89 service, between Lewisham Station and Slade Green. They're pretty iconic buses and I'd definitely recommend going after them, with PVL284 being my preferred choice as it's much faster and the whiny ZF gearbox is slightly more audible, whilst the 89 offers steep hills which really test the engine for youtubers, but also offer stunning panoramas for those who prefer sitting upstairs. If you own a "proper" camera, Shooters Hill can be a perfect photography spot, but I chose to stick to Lewisham Station as the sun was somehow in the right place during December. The picture above also demonstrates a rather shocking discovery I found on my most recent trip to South-East London - everyone seems to have abandoned the designated standing area. I've lost track of what's happened to Lewisham Bus Station over the years, but what I do know is that a spacious new area was opened up fairly recently along Thurston Road. The main problem with this place is that it takes ages to travel from the stand to the first stop - up to 7 minutes during rush hour - so instead buses are just being dumped all over the street (like PVL284 above) and keep blocking the flow. At first I thought it was just stationary traffic, but for somewhere with 11 terminating routes I was quite surprised that only two vehicles were present at the stands when I ventured up there. I can't help but understand that using them is a complete pain, but what it does show is that the old bus station, which worked perfectly fine, should never have closed.

Metroline do seem to be getting more than their fair share of glory in this post.

Theoretically, Boxing Day is very unlikely to throw up any rare stuff since a Sunday timetable is in operation. However, Metroline West decided to buck the trend by forgetting to unlock Wallingford Road (UE) outstation after the Christmas break, which meant that a load of single deckers and Gemini 3 B5LHs were trapped inside. This meant an increased number of double deckers on the U3, whilst on the 222 and 114 some extremely odd workings turned up, with these being in the form of Wrightbus Gemini B7TL vehicles which rigidly stick to the 607. Due to their age, it's unlikely that they'll stray again as replacements are due in April. Whilst the 222 working has happened before, the 114 had never seen this type until VW1564 made its debut in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I'd already travelled to the other side of London when this happened so I wasn't able to photograph this historic moment, but one rare is better than none I guess. The 114 has actually seen B7TLs before in the form of its allocation at London Sovereign (the infamous Myllenium Vykings), but the Gemini 1 bodywork certainly was new.

A proper icon!

London has only one Marshall Capital remaining and it's the good old DMN1 at Northumberland Park (NP) garage, which has somehow outlived the entire 193 batch at River Road (RR) garage. The former base did have another example, DMN17, but unfortunately this was involved in a road traffic collision and hasn't seen service since. This vehicle is ageing and is used sparingly, occasionally on the 192 service and more commonly the W10, where an appearance on a Saturday is almost guaranteed for some reason. It's in a decent condition and is apparently more reliable than the Wrightbus Streetlites at Northumberland Park, which justifies its use into 2019, hopefully for as long as possible. Although so many enthusiasts are riddled with childhood memories travelling on these buses (226, E10 and PR1 over here), they weren't actually that common and finding one now is near impossible. Almost all of the 193 vehicles have gone for scrap given their diabolical state, although it is believed that DMN9 has gone into preservation, which is a bonus at least! If anyone does have the space or finances conserve DMN1, please consider it as this bus will always be one of our favourites in London for its sheer determination to stay alive!

A very large number of power lines tower above the EL1s.

The Barking Riverside development is probably the biggest housing project in London, which involves turning wasteland into thousands of new homes and retail units, along with a beach apparently. The London Overground will be extended there in a few years and the area even boasts its own glorified bus service, in the form of the East London Transit, which currently has three routes allocated branded New Routemasters. Although the EL1 is the shortest, it is by far the most substantial and is very popular for its convenient Barking to Ilford link, as well as connecting residents of the Riverside to nearby town centres at a 6 minute frequency. Recently, it has been extended within Barking Riverside to a new stand at Northgate Road and even though the new section only lasts for around two minutes, at the moment it is quite easily one of the best sections of route in London. There is so much to take in, ranging from brand new houses and schools, construction sites, industrial wasteland, views of the Thames and glimpses of South London, as well as a close-up of the isolated Dagenham Sunday Market, something I've always wanted to visit. All this is from an empty bus speeding along brand new roads - what's not to love? In a few years all of this will be built up property, so I urge you to get over there quickly before this amazing opportunity passes by.

Perks of an SWR strike - the platform at Clapham Junction was empty!

The London Overground Class 378 units are still pretty neat, being relatively young after all. However, a refurbishment programme has been deemed necessary for some reason and the first few units have returned from the workshop, with some more orange stripes and lots more black, which I personally approve of. The interior is slightly more interesting now as splashes of green have been added to the seats, although the process is on hold at the moment due to the crisis on the Gospel Oak to Barking (GOBLIN) line. Its new 4-car Class 710 Aventras are ridiculously late and West Midlands Railway are fed up of being refused their promised Class 172s from London Overground, so have demanded that two units per month must leave which will leave the line short of trains by March unless the new trains quit with the software issues. As an interim measure, three Class 378s have had a carriage cut off and are expected to act as crowd busters on the GOBLIN soon, in an attempt to mitigate the effects of having so many cancellations. The current plan is to run the service at a 30-minute frequency with 4-car trains, which does technically increase capacity but doesn't make the line "turn up and go" and deprives some parts of South London of a frequent train service, where these trains have been taken from. It is said that a month of free travel will be co-ordinated at some point in an attempt to compensate GOBLIN users for this farcical electrification project.

Luckily the sun was behaving itself at IKEA, even if it meant ruining my shoes by standing in a muddy field

Rather unfortunately, on New Years Eve a warehouse caught fire in Croydon and caused extensive damage - the building was considered to be unsafe for around a week after and the Tramlink service which runs in the area was closed. During this time it operated in segments, between Wimbledon and Mitcham Junction, as well as Croydon and Elmers End, Beckenham & New Addington. The section between these two destinations was served by a replacement bus, which operated every few minutes using a plethora of interesting vehicles. A wide range of buses, often ex-London, could turn up - these include Gemini and Plaxton B7TLs, along with Ensignbus Olympus & BCI models. This was brilliant for enthusiasts wishing to experience these older vehicles before they become extinct, but the route was brilliant too. It could become pretty congested at times, but the combination of urbanised Croydon, rural Mitcham and industrial Therapia Lane, often on single-deck only roads, makes it one of the best replacement services I've sampled and if this section of track is ever closed again I urge you to go out there and try for yourself.

Swerving a roundabout in style.

You may recall a recent publication on the fall-out of route 10's withdrawal and the resultant conversion of the E3 to Enviro400H operation. For some baffling reason London United have decided to make the process even more complicated, through swapping buses of the exact type for no immediately obvious reason. The E3 has only just got used to having its 62-reg E40Hs from the 27, but now these are appearing at Shepherd's Bush (S) garage on the 94, whilst its older 60-reg examples are travelling down to Stamford Brook (V) garage and have made their debut on the E3. Low emission corridors are the most sensible reason for this manouevre, but it is still very random and no one really knows whether it'll be a temporary or more permanent situation. Surprisingly, the example I managed to photograph on the 94 showed green blinds instead of the white-on-black variant which almost all of the 62-reg now possess, although this may have simply been an anomaly. Nonetheless, I hope 94 commuters do appreciate their slightly new buses and I am quite envious of them - having such brilliant replacements taken away from my local route at such short notice does not make me happy.

I got here just in time - all the lights went off afterwards!

The 339 is one of those capricious routes which can't decide on where it wants to serve, often making deviations at the last minute. Only a few years ago it was a rather insignificant back-street service simply running between Shadwell and Fish Island, but extensions to Stratford City and then Leytonstone, along with various re-routings through the Olympic Park have seen the 339 surge in popularity. The most recent tweak occurred on Saturday 29th December 2018 and is nothing more than serving a different part of the Olympic Park where a school has opened recently. Unlike most consultation processes which drag on forever, this change was executed remarkably quickly and the bus stops along the new section don't even have proper names, nor do they appear on tracking apps. TfL have clearly taken their foot off the pedal regarding presentation - needlessly having dollys in place for such a long period of time is unacceptable. Nonetheless, the re-route has demanded an extra bus to cater for the PVR, with this new vehicle being in the form of a 9.6m WM-class Wrightbus Streetlite - Tower's first model in this particular configuration. It seems to have settled in nicely on the 339 but hasn't strayed elsewhere yet - it'll be interesting to see if Lea Interchange (LI) keep up their amazingly strict allocation policy with this one.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!