A day out Etc, 09/04/2014

Last Wednesday, I decided to meet up with a friend and go and have a ride on Buses Etc's route 479, from Guildford to Epsom. We met at Epsom, did some bus spotting there whilst we waited for the 293 to Epsom to pick up the 479. So we arrived in Epsom, and waited for the bus to arrive, which turned out to be S25 (formerly London General PVL175). Around 90 minutes later, we arrived in Guildford, and after having refuelled with a Sandwich and a cup of Tea in Pret, we boarded the 15:30 479 back to Epsom, which was S26 (formerly London Central PVL178). All was well until Bookham Station, where the bus was held due to a water leak. We had to wait 1 hour for another 479 to Epsom. In the meantime, J80 turned up and I throught this would be the replacement bus, however this was held here, as it had started overheating. Finally, at 17:00, S23 (formerly London General PVL195) turned up, and we boarded this to Epsom. At Epsom, we boarded a Scania Omnicity to Morden, where I went home. Overall a good day. Thanks for reading!

The New Bus for London

Back in October 2013 a new bus type in London entered service. This was the Volvo B5TL chassis with Wright Gemini 3 bodywork. This is a successor to the successful B9TL/Gemini 2. This went to London Central at Camberwell depot on route 12. More of these are being manufactured, going to Arriva at WN, Metroline at HT and Lothian Buses. The buses are similar to Scania Omnicity's, with similar seating and ride quality. I hope you enjoyed reading this post.

Route 390 Observations (NB4L)

Route 390 is another one of the Central London routes to get New Bus For London. This route which runs between the 'arty farty' Notting Hill via Oxford Street and King's Cross to the multicultural Archway. The route was converted 11 days ago (at the time of writing this, at 18:22, 18th of December) on the 7th of December, postponed from the 30th of November. Route 390 is a relatively new route in London, replacing the withdrawn section of Route 10 between King's Cross and Archway. The original buses used were spare RML's, though in 2004, the route got some of the noisy Volvo B7TL's bodied with Plaxton President bodywork. The vehicles, coded VPL, will transfer to Route 4 which has just been cleared for these robust 10.6m long vehicles. That's all from me, I hope you enjoy reading this post.

Route 11 Observations (NB4L)

On the 21st of September, Route 11 was converted to New Bus For London operation. I, after covering Metrobus 30 with mate Jeevan decided to cover this. I was planning to get a NB4L back to Victoria, however I ended up talking to some mates for ages and had to go home. I hope you enjoyed reading this post.

!EXCLUSIVE! 722 on the 405

On the 7th of October, I witnessed 722, a MAN 12.240 bodied MCV Evolution on the 405. Seeing as I have only ever got a Omnicity SD (single decker wise) on the route, I decided to get a picture. I hope you enjoyed reading this post.

!EXCLUSIVE! 8434 on the 455

Today, as per usual I checked the handy London Vehicle Finder and whilst on there, checked the 455. I discovered that 8434 was on the route, a Dart allocated to Route 152. So, therefore I decided to go to Croydon to get some pictures. You'll also notice the side blind simply displayed 455 instead of 455 via West Croydon. Thought that was breaching the DDA act! I hope you enjoyed reading this post.

Metrobus 30!

On Saturday the 21st of September 2013, Metrobus decided to host some open days to celebrate their 30 anniversary. Therefore, me and my friend Jeevan decided to cover the open days, which were at Croydon in Surrey, Crawley in West Sussex, and Orpington in Kent. Metrobus started out back in 1983 as a small operator running local routes around Orpington, Bromley, Forestdale and Croydon but soon expanded to coaches as well as buses. It wasn't until 1986/7 when they started to pick up LRT contracts. In 1986, Route 61 was awarded to Metrobus using existing double deck buses. Route 261 soon followed in 1987, this route has been run by Metrobus ever since, although this will soon pass to Stagecoach' Bromley garage with new E40D. This will make it the longest running contract with a private operator before privatisation of London's bus services. The 1990's saw many acquisitions and saw the company acquire local coach operators Southland Coaches, RB Coaches and Jason's Coaches. Metrobus has since stopped running coaches, to focus on buses. In 2001, Metrobus purchased Arriva's Crawley operation. In 2003, Metrobus started running services on the Fastway Guided Busway. The company continues to be successful, and has since won an award for best bus depot. I would also like to give a HUGE thanks to all the staff at Metrobus for making the open days brilliant. They were well organized, and it would be good if they held some again in the near future. PS: My Mum, has won a free Metrovoyager ticket on their Facebook page, and I'm hoping that she'll let me come to explore it with her. Latest bus orders for Metrobus: 10 Enviro 200 for the Crawley operation 18 B7RLE/Eclipse Gemini for the Fastway operation. I hope you enjoyed reading this post.