Theres A New Kid On The Block!

Trams have come to Tom London Bus Blog! And also the Stadler Variobahn has immigrated to England. Today saw one of 6 new Stadler Variobahn trams go into limited passenger use. They have been in use between East Croydon and Wimbledon. They are actually for new Route 4 which will run between Therapia Lane and Elmers End. Although they are for Route 4, they are permitted to run on other parts of the network. I also had a small chat with Nicola Redman, Tramlink's Head of Projects, and she was saying about how they are air conditoned, unlike the existing CR4000 fleet, she also continued to say that the existing fleet will be getting a midlife refurbishment, despite being lightly refurbished 3 - 4 years ago. These are also Stadler's first ever Variobahn trams in the UK and have had to have fog lights installed, whereas in Norway, they don't need them. Although Stadler is a Swiss company, they have been built in Germany. I hope to do more post about the ongoing devlopment of Tramlink, and hope you enjoy reading this post.

An Hour At West Croydon

Today I spent an hour at West Croydon doing observations. I have not uploaded all the pictures I took, purely because there was 105 of them. I was also very lucky to spot Merobus 979 which is currently visting all operators in London that have the Scania N230UD chassis including Metroline, Metrobus, London Sovereign, London United, Docklands Buses and First. This is while they carry out modifications. I hope you enjoy viewing this post.

Pictures Of The Day 26.03.12

Abellio London 8501 is seen accelerating across the tram tracks at Reeves Corner, en Route from Caterham to Sutton. This bus was refurbished with the retention of Route 152 respectively in December 2011. The smart, shiny paintwork of Caetano Nimbus 8495 is seen waiting at Faraday Way traffic lights, en Route from Wallington to Canons Hill.

Route 462 Observations

Today, it was the turn of Route 462 to change operators from Arriva London to Blue Triangle. In 2011, it was announced that Route 462 would be awarded to Blue Triangle with newly introduced Wright Streetlites. These are the first of their type in the whole of Go Ahead London's fleet and have been coded WS. I also witnessed the Arriva London PDL's that were formerly used on the Route being used by Blue Triangle minus their Arriva London logos. Route 462 runs between Ilford and Hainault. I hope you enjoy viewing this post.

Route 249 WVL's Going Through Testing Stages

Today, whilst in Streatham, I discovered one of the new WVL's for Route 249 being tested. London General has gained Route 249 respectively from 31st March 2012 with brand new WVL's. I must say that these buses have got to be the best Geminis in London and hope more of this example are built. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

New Enviro400's For Route 275 Delayed

As most of us will know, Route 275 has been awarded to Stagecoach with brand new Enviro400's from 3rd March 2012. This has been delayed due to problems deciding what garage to operate the Route from. Some of the buses are still currently being built at ADL's Falkirk plant situated in Scotland. Some are at present passing through Leyland Business Park situated in Lancashire. Credit to Warren Hawkins for allowing me to use his pictures. These pictures are © Warren Hawkins and must not be used in anyway without his permisson. I must recommend you take a look at his brilliant Flickr photostream. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunny400/

Route 455 Observations

Today, it was the turn of Route 455 to be awarded to Abellio London. Route 455 runs between Wallington Station and Canons Hill via West Croydon. The buses this route will be using are 9 year old Caetano Nimbuses sourced through Dawson Rentals. The route was previously operated by Arriva. The loss of this Route has forced mothballing of Beddington Farm garage. I hope you enjoy reading and viewing this post.