Route U9 Observations

Today sees Route U9 transfer from Arriva The Shires to Abellio London with 3 existing Dennis Dart SLF single deckers. These buses were previously with Thames Travel in Oxford but have been left vacant in recent times.
More buses like this will be coming for Route 455, but will be Caetano Nimbuses not Dennis Dart SLF's. This is also 2011's last service change, with the next being Route 160 in late January 2012.

Welcome Aboard Arriva London Route 264

People who use Route 264 will know that people treat the buses like they own the things, people put their feet up on the blindbox, they spill all their fizzy drinks on the bars and treat them horribly. This bus is DW40 and regular people that read the blog will know that DW40 had a suspension failure on the 1st December 2011 see http://tomlondonbus.blogspot.com/2011/12/dw40s-failure.html for more info.

Observations At Stratford City Bus Station

Today, I went to Stratford City to take some pictures of the buses there. Stratford is an area where we have not been on Tom London Bus Blog. Hope you enjoy.

Odd Working's

Yesterday, whilst in Bexleyheath, I noticed an odd working on Route 492. I saw an Enviro200, a bus which is usually on Routes 286 and 428. I hope you like this post.

New E400 Hybrids For Abellio London

As most of us will know, Routes 3 and 188 will be gaining some brand new E400 hybrids. These buses are now currently in the process of being delivered to WL and QB garages. The buses have been built at Alexander Dennis' factory in Falkirk,Scotland before being transported to Leyland Business Park near Preston,Lancashire before they get delivered to London. Credit to Gregg Collins for allowing me to use his picture. If you would like more high quality pictures then I would suggest you take a look at his fantastic flickr photostream. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gcbp/

Observations And Odd Workings 23rd December 2011

Today I went to Lewisham to do some observations on the buses, I also found some pictures that I have taken on Uxbridge Road, East Acton whilst doing Route 207's conversion.

Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year!

Hi everyone. We would like to inform all the people that look on the blog, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We hope all the enthusiasts that look on the blog,follow it and comment on it reguarly have a nice bus filled Christmas! The next update should be on Friday and this will be the last post until the 31st December. Next year should be a very big year in the London bus world and we hope to visit some different areas of London to do observations.

Many Regards

Tom Bowell,Tom London Bus Blog admin.

Debate, 17th December 2011

Today I've got a question to ask you. Was Boris Johnson stupid for taking the Borismaster out to Westfield Stratford City just 1 week before Christmas? Please comment and leave your opinions before this debate finishes on 24 December at 19:00 hours.


Many regards

Tom Bowell, Tom London Bus Blog admin.

Observations 16/12/11

Today I visited the East Croydon area to take some pictures of the buses. Credit to Pete for providing the pictures. These pictures are (C) Pete and must not be used without permisson.

Observations And Odd Workings At Lewisham Bus Station

Today I tried a diffrent area to do observations. I tried Lewisham, an area where we have not been on Tom London Bus Blog. I also saw a interesting bus on Route 181.

Observations And Odd Workings 13th December 2011

Today I went to Warlingham Sainsbury's to take some pictures of the buses there.Warlingham is an area where we have not been on Tom London Bus Blog. On my way to Warlingham I saw an odd bus on Route 264 which is temporarily at CN for a unknown reason but is usually at TH.

Paper Nets

Today I had another go at making some paper nets, this time drawn using felt tip pen and paper.
I made Abellio London Enviro200 8527 and Go Ahead London Electrocity WHY12.
I must say I am very proud of these paper nets, and hope to make more in the near future.

Odd Working's

Strange Turns On Route 162

Yesterday, whilst in Beckenham Junction, I saw an interesting bus on Route 162. The buses are actually for Routes R1,R4 and R11 and have also been seen on Route B14. At Least 3 were seen on the route today, sadly I couldn't get pictures of those buses. Hope you enjoy.

Observations And Odd Workings 10th December 2011

Yesterday whilst checking out the new Omnicitys on the 207, I decided to use this time to get some observations done on the buses. I also saw some interesting buses on Routes 407 and C1.

Route 207 Observations

Today it was the turn of Route 207 to be converted to double deckers. Route 207 was originally run by Routemasters before being converted to modern day double deckers in the 1990s.Then in 1999 First decided to trial a Wrightbus Cadet style bendy bus.  In 2001 First decide to trial a Wrightbus Eclipse style bendy bus. Then between late 2001 until 2005 the route was operated by Plaxton Presidents. Then in 2005 the route received some brand new Mercedes 0530 Citaro bendy buses. Then in 2008 Boris Johnson was elected Mayor of London and his aim was to remove all bendy buses from London as they  have had lots of problems and have also been called "the free bus". Then in early 2011 it was announced that Route 207 would be the next to lose it's bendys and many enthusiasts thought that maybe Enviro400 or Wright Gemini 2 would be used. But no, Scania was chosen to manufacture the new buses as Alexander Dennis and Wright Bus are currently flooded with orders.
Now today the conversion happened and I must say that even though I do not personally like Omnicitys they do look smarter than other examples. Also happy 51th birthday to Route 207 !

The Borismaster............. What Do You Think

From November 2011 to January 2012 Arriva London will be trialling the new Borismaster on Route 38. The Borismaster has been built by Wrightbus iin Ballymena,Northern Ireland. I must say even though personally I do not like Boris Johnson, the bus does look very nice.

Observations In The Harrow Area

Today I visited the Harrow area, an area where we have not been on Tom London Bus Blog.
Anyway, I hope you like the pictures I took.