Picture Of The Day 20.04.2012

Abellio London 8496 is seen at Beddington Asda en Route from Wallington to Canons Hill. This is one of the Caetano Nimbuses that were ordered for Route R2 by Tellings Golden Miller in June 2004. This bus later was absorbed into Metrobus's home garage in Green Street Green. The bus later became a trainer with Arriva the Shires and Essex, before being sourced through Dawson Rentals to Abellio London where it was given a refurbishment, and deployed on Route 455.

Route X26 Observations

Today, it was the turn of Route X26 to be awarded to a new operator. Route X26 started as Green Line coach Route 750, which ran between Gravesend in Kent and the posh area of Windsor in Berkshire. By the 1980's, the sections of the Route between Heathrow and Windsor and Dartford and Gravesend were withdrawn. By this time, Green Line was run by London Country but when that company was broken up in 1986 it came under the control of London Transport. London Coaches operated the Route from 1992 to the late 90's when Capital Logistics, later to become Tellings Golden Miller, operated the Route, but passenger numbers were going down. Early 1999 saw alterations made to the Route which saw it run between Bromley South and Heathrow Airport. The service ran every hour with no early morning or late evening service. June 1st 1999 saw a new contract with Tellings Golden Miller using 7 Alexander ALX300's on a Volvo B10BLE chassis. The Route became unprofitable and in April 2005, Route 726 became Route X26 and was awarded to Metrobus with brand new Scania Omnicity's. Many stops were axed to improve journey times, including one at Tourist attraction Hampton Court. Despite cuts in the length, Route X26 remains the longest bus Route in London. In the latter part of 2008, a new timetable was introduced to improve frequency. This saw 03 / 53 reg Mercedes Citaros from Quality Line become temporary vehicles whilst buses from Metrobus's Fastway service in Crawley were refurbished. The Citaro's later returned to Wealden PSV. In June 2010, a proposal to introduce a former 726 stop at Beddington was refused by TFL, despite support from local residents and local MP Tom Brake. 2011 saw Route X26 lost to Quality Line from their one and only Epsom garage (EB) with 10 brand new Mercedes Benz Citaro's built to a unique specifaction. Today, the service change took place and there was a poster telling passengers what the new service would be like. There was also timetable's for the X26 being offered to the public. These new buses also have Quality Line's new logo, designed to reflect Epsom Coaches as well as Quality Line. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

Mitcham Junction Tram Observations 6th April 2012

Today, whilst getting pictures of the Tramlink replacement bus service, I decided to use this time to do some Tram observations. The main highlight of my obs was speaking to a nice man and being allowed in the cab. I also got given infomation about how 5 more all over adverts will be placed on the tram and that how lower speed limits due to the new trams being heavier weight means that the swiveling bogies on the existing trams may bring them to a halt as the new trams have fixed bogies with a motor on each set of wheels. I also got told that the new trams may not operate Route 4, but will operate on all parts of the network. I also got told that if an extension to Crystal Palace were to get the go ahead, the new Variobahn's would have to work it due to steep gradients. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

Tramlink Replacement Service, Mitcham Junction - Mitcham

From 6th April to 9th April, due to the commencing of double tracking, a replacement bus service is in operation. The buses are being worked by Abellio London from their Beddington Cross garage (BC) with ALX400's. Tramlink services are currently only running between New Addington and Mitcham Junction, and between Mitcham and Wimbledon. The service between Mitcham and Wimbledon will run every 15 minutes. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

The ' Magnum ' Tram!

As you may know, Tramlink 2548 has recently received an all over advert, something that has not been seen since 2008. Therefore yesterday, I decided to travel to Church Street tram stop to photograph it. It is promoting the new Magnum Infinity, which is an Ice Cream. The advert will be on the tram until May 13th.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post.

Croydon Changes - 31st March 2012

Yesterday, some changes took place following the mothballing of Beddington Farm garage (CN). Route 50 transferred from South Croydon garage (TC) to Brixton garage (BN). Route 109 transferred from Thornton Heath garage (TH) to Brixton garage (BN) after 61 years. Route 264 (My local Route) transferred from Beddington Farm garage (CN) to South Croydon garage (TC). Route 410 transferred from Beddington Farm (CN) to Thornton Heath (TH). Above are some pictures of what we will now expect on two of those Routes.