Route 470 Observations

Today it was the turn of Route 470 to get new buses. Route 470 runs between Colliers Wood and Epsom via Morden, St Helier, Sutton Common, Sutton, Cheam and Ewell. It has been using 8.9 metre Optare Solo's since 2002 and they were the first type of Solo for Quality Line. The Route runs through many housing estates and therefore is longer than riding to Morden and catching a 293. Today the new buses entered service, they are nice new Optare Solo SR's coded OPL and are the first of their type in London. The orignal Solo ceased production earlier this year after 15 years and the last in London were the OS's for the 309. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

Route 24 Observations

Today it was the turn of Metroline to gain Route 24. Metroline previously operated the 24 between 2002 and 2007, but lost it in 2007 to London General from SW with 29 E's. In 2008/9 Hybrid buses were introduced. These buses were EH 1 - 3 and WHD1. The EH's were E400 Hybrid's and WHD1 was a DB300 Hybrid. In 2012 it was announced Metroline had gained the Route back, with Gemini 2's and Gemini 2 Hybrids. The Hybrids were a first for Metroline as they were there first Gemini Hybrids they have ordered. However they must have been a fan, and have placed an order for more of these buses for Route 52 which the company retained. The Route is challenging to run, with high levels of traffic and I think one of the reasons London General lost it is because it is too far from SW at the Hampstead end. Today, there were some problems, for example, they were having problems with the blinds and there were 2 buses from the 134 out on it as well. I hope they run it with sucess for these 5 years, and if they have good performance, they will gain a 2 year extension. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

VM1 with London United!

Today I decided to travel to Hounslow to attempt to see whether VM1 was around. VM1 is a MCV DD103 - currently only 3 about, so a rare type, the only other ones are another VM1 with Docklands Buses based at their Silvertown depot and an open top one which does sightseeing in Windsor. This bus is the first Volvo B9TL chassis London United have ever used, the last Volvo chassis being on their VE and VLE's back in 2004. The bus has yet to have a MOT and shall be out by the end of next week. Many thanks to the member of staff who made it possible for me to take a picture.

Route 257 Observations

Today it was the turn of Route 257 to be awarded to a new operator. London General ( origanlly Blue Triangle ) gained the contract earlier this year with refurbished WVL's from Route 22 which will get new WVL's and WHV's. Route 257 was only with Stagecoach for 7 years ( 5 year contract, 2 year extension ) and before that was with First. Interestingly it was run by First at NP which the Route operates at once again, being the first Route to have been gained there. It was origanlly with Stagecoach at Waterden Road ( SD ) which was closed due to it being in what is now the Olympic Park. It was also single deck for a while which was silly, as the Route is very busy. Today, the service change was a bit all over the place, the blinds were often just green and also almost all the buses were unrefurbished, despite having a year's chance to do it! I hope you enjoy reading this post.

Route 264: A driver's view

These are a new range of posts describing London's Bus Route's. They will start off around Croydon and eventually to other areas of South London. The first one will be of my local Route, the 264. Route 264 was created in 1987 and ran between Croydon and Tooting, Monday - Saturday and on Sundays from Tooting to New Addington. The Route experiences high numbers of passengers as it is the only bus route to run between Croydon and Mitcham. The Route starts off at Taberner House, the HQ of the Tory controlled Croydon Council. You then turn right into Fell Road through the middle of St George's walk shopping arcade which was in the spotlight about a new shopping centre called Park Place which never happened. You then continue right into Park Street past the Nestle UK HQ which will be vacant from late 2012 due to the company's relocation to City Place, Gatwick. You then turn left into Wellesley Road which is home to many business Headquarters and offices. You then pass a large Shopping Centre called the Whitgift which is on the site of a former school. You then continue to West Croydon Bus Station, one of London's busiest bus stations where many passengers get on. You then travel down Station Road in which leads into Tamworth Road. You then past the modern Centrale shopping centre and go through a small tunnel underneath the centre's car park and turn right into Drummond Road, past the site of the Reeves furniture store which sadly burnt down in the riots last year. You then turn into Cairo New Road on the same tracks as the trams run along to Wimbledon. You do a complete circle via Rectory Grove to get onto the Roman Way, which you pass underneath when on Cairo New Road. You then pass over the bridge and if on a sunny day and you're sitting upstairs, the Shard skyscraper is visible. You then pass the Army barracks and continue to go past a mixture of businesses and houses. You then come upto Lombard Rountabout the junction with the A23 which can take you all the way to Brighton and also Central London. At the forefront of the roundabout is a large Office devlopment. You then continue along the Beddington Terrace part of Mitcham Road past many business and homes and also a cemetary. You then continue past Zotefoam's chemical plant and continue on to one of London's many green spaces, Mitcham Common which is a 40 mph stretch of road and then continue onto Croydon Road which can be very busy at times. You then continue past Canons Leisure Centre and Three Kings Piece on which the geese sometimes block the road! You then continue to Fair Green, in the heart of Mitcham which is home to many shops and restaurants from around the world. You then go around a one way system called Raleigh Gardens and continue along Holborn Way. You then go past several businesses until you reach Figges Marsh. You then continue past Mitcham Cemetary and continue up to Tooting Station past some shops and Tooting Police station round to Amen Corner. You then continue up to Tooting Broadway passing Morleys Department Store, a big Bingo Hall and a large Primark clothing shop. You then pass serveral homes along Garratt Lane before turning into Fountain Road. You continue past many houses until you reach Blackshaw Road, home of St George's Hospital. The bus now terminates here and continues back to Croydon. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

Changes at Go Ahead London

As you may know Route 257 has been awarded to Go Ahead London with existing WVl's from Route 22. This was supposed to operate from Blue Triangle's Ferry Lane garage in Rainham, Essex but has been changed to operated from their recently acquired Northumberland Park garage. Route's 327 and 491 have also been awarded to Go Ahead London, but not with the buses you'd think, this time they have not gone for E200's and they have decided to get Streetlite's for Route's 327 and 491. They have also decided to get Streetlite's for Route 219 which was successfully retained in the Summer. Route 257 will start it's new contract on the 15th October 2012 and Route's 219 and 491 will begin their contract on 1st June 2013 and Route 327 will being its new contract on 8th June 2013.

Quality Line's new logo now on OP26

As you may know in April Quality Line rolled out a new logo which was immediatly put on the new MCL's for the X26. They have since been put on the OV's for the 465, and on the refurbished DD's for the 406 and 418. It is now been put on OP26 but only on the front panel but interestingly, not the sides. Strangely though, this article: http://www.epsomcoaches.com/index.php/new-image-for-quality-line says that it would only be rolled out on new and refurbished buses, and OP26 has not been refurbished. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

Refurbished DW's at Brixton ( BN ) and South Croydon ( TC )

As some of us may know, Arriva London lost Route 19 in March to London General. This left 32 relatively new DW's spare. Now Route 197 was retained by Arriva last year so they decided to use these on Route 197. However, before they started on Route 197, they were refurbished and used on London 2012 shuttles around East London. Just over a week ago I saw a refurbsished DW on 264( no picture sorry ) and I then saw examples on Route's 60, 109, 194, 197, 264 and also the 403. I did not know they were going to BN and it was a surprise when I saw DW118 on the 109. I dont even know what Route they are mainly for but I've only so far seen them on the 109. I've also uploaded some pictures of when they were at BN before for the 19. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

X26 On The M25!

On the 28th July and 29th July, the Cycling road race will be coming to areas such as Putney, Roehampton, Richmond, Kingston, Hampton Court, Molesley, Box Hill, Dorking, Weybridge and Walton. These have caused serious alterations to bus services and one that was seriously affected was Route X26, which was running non stop between New Malden and Hatton Cross. The Route would join the A3 at it's New Malden junction continue on the A3 for 10 miles past Tolworth , Hook, Hinchley Wood and would join the M25 at Byfleet for 17 miles passing Chertsey and Sunbury and coming off at Staines and continuing round the back roads of Thorpe Park, past Ashford Hospital and then on its normal route to Heathrow Central bus station. This meant that other buses such as London United SP's running light on Route 71 from Chessington were having to use the A3 and M25 coming off at Sunbury to reach Fulwell. As Route 465 is not running OV13 was used on Route X26 instead of the normal MCL. I also saw 2 double deckers whilst on the Route. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

Route 289 Observations

This weekend, it was the turn of Route 289 to get new buses. Route 289 runs between Elmers End and Purley, via Croydon. Route 289 began in 1968, and ran between Thornton Heath bus garage and Addiscombe, Black Horse. The Route ran Monday to Friday and was operated by RT's. In 1970 the Route began a Saturday service which partly replaced the withdrawn section of Route 50. As the Route cost a lot to run with double deckers they decided to put SMS's on the Route. In 1973 the Route was extended from Addiscombe, Black Horse to Elmers End Green. There was an upgrade form 4 buses to 5. In 1978 the Route was extended to Beckenham Junction and operated from Elmers End garage ( ED ). In 1981 the Route was extended to Purley Monday to Friday only. In the evenings and also on Saturday and Sunday's the Route only ran to Croydon Airport. In 1985 the Route was cut back from Beckenham Junction to Elmers End Green, and in 1986 the Route was transferred to South Croydon ( TC ). In early 1987 LT decided they didn't want the Route anymore so London & Country took it over and run it from Chelsham ( CM ). London & Country pushed for the 289 to go to Purley full time, and finally got permisson for it in 1991. In 1993 there was a timetable change which had a Sunday journey on it from Purley Way to West Croydon but this only ran in the afternoon. In 1994 they decided to give the 289 a full time service from Beddington Farm ( CN ). In 1999 Arriva London South took over the Route from London Links and they also took over CN. In 2000 Route 289 was allocated 10.7 metre long PDL's so wheelchair user could get on. In 2003 and 2004, Routes 264, 403 and 627 were updated to DW's, Route 455 was updated to DWL's and Route 410 was updated to DWS's. DW's were very common on the 289 and DWL's and DWS's were on the Route sometimes. In 2006 Route 319 converted to DLA operation, and Arriva had DWL's and DDL's spare. The DWL's went to TC for about 2 years and were mainly used on Route 166 and the DDL's were used at TH on the 255. In 2007 Route 450 was transferred to CN in a swap with the 289. This now saw PDL's and DDL's allocated but DLA's were very common. In 2008 the elderly DDL's were withdrawn and replaced with DWL's from TC. The allocation was now PDL's, DDL's and DLA's allocated. In 2010, Route's 109, 198 and 250 were retained and Route 289 started to see T's from the retained Route's appear very often. In 2011, it was announced that CN would be closing and that Route 289 had been retained with ENX's. TH would now see Routes 410 and 450 transferring, and DWS's at TH. Route 289 is a Route that runs near to where I live and I will miss the PDL's that I have grown up with. On Friday 13th July 2012, I spotted ENX13 on the 289. I did not get a picture but I then knew that ENX's had entered service early. I think the reason they have entered service early is because of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. In my opinion I think these ENX's are the best Enviro 200's in London. I hope you enjoy reading this post.