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ran Monday to Friday and was operated by RT's. In 1970 the Route began a Saturday service which partly replaced the withdrawn section of Route 50.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.

London 2012 Olympic And Paralympic Games Diversions: Kingston

As everyone will know the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games are just a few weeks away. On Saturday 28th July, Sunday 29th July and Wednesday 1st August there will be major diversions and curtailments in the Kingston and surrounding areas.
Route 57: Clapham Park - Kingston. Altered to terminate in Kingston Hall Road until Kingston Town Centre has fully reopened.
Route 65: Ealing Broadway - Kingston. Altered to terminate in Richmond until Richmond and Kingston Town Centre's have fully reopened.
Route 71: Chessington - Kingston. Altered to run between Chessington and Kingston Hall Road until Kingston Town Centre has fully reopened.
Route 111: Heathrow Central - Kingston. Altered to terminate at Hampton Church until Kingston Town Centre has fully reopened.
Route 131: Tooting Broadway - Kingston. Altered to terminate in Kingston Hall Road until Kingston Town Centre has fully reopened.
Route 213: Sutton, Bushey Road - Kingston. Altered to terminate in Kingston Hall Road until Kingston Town Centre has fully reopened.
Route 216: Staines - Kingston. Altered to terminate at Hampton Church until Kingston Town Centre has fully reopened.
Route 281: Hounslow Bus Station - Tolworth. Altered to run in 2 sections. Hounslow Bus Station - Twickenham, Whitton Road. Kingston Hall Road - Tolworth.
Route 285: Heathrow Central - Kingston. Altered to run between Heathrow Central and Hampton High Street until Kingston Town Centre has fully reopened.
Route 406: Epsom - Kingston. Altered to run between Epsom and Kingston Hall Road until Kingston Town Centre has fully reopened.
Route 411: West Molesley - Kingston. No service on Saturday 28th July and Sunday 29th July.
Route 465: Dorking - Epsom. No service on Saturday 28th July and Sunday 29th July.
Route K1: New Malden - Kingston. Altered to run between New Malden and Kingston until Kingston Town Centre has fully reopened.
Route K2: Hook - Kingston Hospital. Diverted between Kingston Hospital and Kingston, Wheatfield Way.
Route K3: Roehampton Vale - Esher. Altered to run between Roehampton Vale and Claygate. Diverted between Kingston Hospital and Kingston, Penrhyn Road.
Route K4: Kingston Hospital - Mansfield Park. Diverted between Kingston High Street and Kingston Hospital on Saturday 28th July 2012 only.
Route X26: Heathrow Central - West Croydon. Altered to run non stop between New Malden and Hatton Cross via the M25. Kingston and Teddington will not be served. Abellio Surrey Routes will also be altered.
Route 458: Staines - Kingston. Altered to run Staines - Shepperton during the morning and Staines - Hersham during the afternoon.
Route 459: Woking - Kingston. Altered to run Woking - Addlestone during the morning and Woking - Hersham during the afternoo.
Route 461: St Peter's Hospital - Kingston. Service suspended until 14:00 when it will run between St Peter's Hospital and West Molesley.
Route 513: Kingston - Downside Common. Service suspended on Saturday 28th July only.
Route 514: Kingston - Hersham. Service suspended on Saturday 28th July only.
Route 515: Kingston - Guildford. Diverted between Kingston and Cobbham on Saturday 28th July 2012 only until Kingston Town Centre and Esher have fully reopened.
Route 515A: Kingston - Guildford. Diverted between Kinsgton and Cobbham on Sunday 29th July only until Kingston and Esher have fully reopened.
I hope everybody has a nice time during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. I hope you enjoyed reading this post.

Route 465 Observations

Today, it was the turn of Route 465 to be awarded to Quality Line. Route 465 runs between Kingston and Dorking. In the mid 90's the Route was operated by London and Country until it was awarded to Telling's Golden Miller, and at this time it continued to their garage in Fulwell. In May 2006 the Route was curtailed to Kingston and replaced by a less frequent Route called the 481, which runs between West Middlesex Hospital in Isleworth to Kingston. The Route was and still is operated by Abellio London from their Fulwell garage ( TF ).On 30th June 2007, Route 465 was awarded to Arriva Guildford and West Surrey with 5 E200's from their Warnham garage. A few months into operation with Arriva, one of the E200's was involved in a severe incident. A van crashed into the bus and the bus later continued into a house. A spare Dennis Dart was loaned from Dartford ( DT )whilst the bus went for repairs but after the bus was repaired Arriva realised they would still need a spare bus. They therefore used a another Dennis Dart from Dartford ( DT ). In October 2009, Metrobus bourght the Warnham garage, and all Routes their, inlcuding Route 465 transferred to the company's headquaters in Crawley ( CY ). The Route then had the longest dead run across the entire TFL network, a staggering 24 miles from Kingston to Crawley. In August 2011, Route 465 was awarded to Quality Line with 6 Optare Versa's. The 6th bus will be a bus from Route 411 which was won in October 2010 and runs between West Molesey to Kingston. Today the service change took place, and the service was good, with on time buses and friendly service. There was also a poster saying about the new service. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

Route 227 Observations

Today, it was the turn of Route 227 to get new buses. Route 227 began before 1950 running between Penge and Chislehurst from Elmers End garage. In 1951 the allocation changed to Bromley Common garage. In 1972, the Route was altered to run Chislehurst to Crystal Palace. In 1991, the Route was awarded to Selkent and withdrawn between Bromley North and Chislehurst. In 1992, Kentish Bus operated the Route from their Dunton Green garage. In 1997 Stagecoach won the Route back from Kentish Bus and the Route was in the hands of Bromley Common garage ( TB ). In 2000, Route 227 gained brand new super Pointer Darts, which were the first and last of their type in London. These buses were 11.4 metres long and all Routes that pass under the low bridge at Shortlands have to use longer buses to ease capacity on the Routes. In 2011, Route 227 was retained by Stagecoach and they ordered Citaros, as ADL do not do a 11.4 metre Enviro 200. The SPDs that operated the Route were unique in many ways, such as being 11.4 metres in length, having a different type of light and having gear buttons instead of a lever. The Citaros have strange looking blinds for some reason, and no Mercedes Benz badge on the front. Today the service change was good with buses being regular but the blinds were faulty on 23102 which you may notice. Many thanks to the nice driver who let me take pictures of the cab. I hope you enjoy reading this post.

Route 124 Observations

Today, it was the turn of Route 124 to get brand new buses. Route 124 runs between Eltham, Southend Cresent and Catford, St Dunstan's College. These new E200's are their first 8.9 metre to be built to Whole Type Approval and their first ordered under Stagecoach ownership. They also contain an emergency exit in the middle. Many thanks to the driver who let me take pictures of the cab and interior.

Fact's about these Enviro200's.

8.9 metres in length.

1 exit/entrace door

Top speed of around 50 miles an hour / 81 kilometres an hour.

Contain smart blinds.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post.
PS: I hope everyone has a safe and spectacular Diamond Jubilee.

Route T33 Observations

Today, it was the turn of Route T33 to be awarded to Abellio London. Route T33 has it's roots in shoppers Route 354, which ran between Sanderstead and Bromley via Forestdale. The Route was later altered to run Bromley to West Croydon and in 1986, a 5 days a week service was introduced. In 2000, major changes took place in the Croydon and Addington areas due to the opening of Tramlink. Route 54 was altered to run between Elmers End and Woolwich, Route 353 was altered to run between Addington Villiage and Ramsden Estate and Route 354 was atered to run between Penge and Bromley North. May 2000 saw Route's T31, T32 and T33 introduced to help connect Addington Village with areas such as Headley Drive, Fieldway and Forestdale. Route's T31 and T32 were awarded to First London CentreWest with brand new Marshall Capital buses painted in red and white to match the then Tramlink colur scheme. They were operated from their Orpington garaage. Route T33 was awarded to Metrobus with Dennis Darts painted in blue and yellow. It was operated by their Green Street Green garage. In 2002 the Route was transferred to Godstone garage. In 2006, Metrobus bought a new garage premises in Beddington, a suburb in the London Borough of Sutton and Route T33 was transferred there. In 2011 it was announced that Metrobus had lost the T33 to Abellio London with 10 brand new 10.8 metre Enviro200's from their Beddington Cross garage. Today the service change took place and the sheer number of buses was astonishing! Buses just turned up bus after bus. The Route is 7 miles long and has some picturesque views in the Selsdon Vale area. I hope you enjoyed reading this post.