30/07/2014

Farewell Route 9H - Friday 25/07/14

An end of an era on the 9. Many years of Routemaster (and Dartmaster) operation on the 9 route, ended in a single sweep. A very small celebration ends a great era on the 9, and the kicking of most of the hard-working conductors. An understated end to and understated penultimate TfL Routemaster bus route. When the 159 had Routemasters removed, it was deemed then that these Heritage routes were just mere gestures, and now, even these mere gestures might be going, all due to DDA regulations. Now the governing bodies are now begging to keep 15H, after withdrawing all other London Routemaster service.

Route 9 itself lost its Routemasters on the 'Black Friday' of the 3rd of September 2004, but these gestures were introduced on the 14th November 2005. After many years of underuse, Route 9H has been withdrawn, replaced by a hot, bland and blunt political weapon. Indeed, the first full 9H was on its last day (except Tube Strike day). Personally, I'm not totally against the LT, but calling it the 'New Routemaster' is an insult to what is one of  the classic London buses. Speaking about this reminds me of the London Bus Page article on the last day of Routemasters on the 38 - the penultimate conversion, that was replaced by a hot, bland and blunt political weapon. Only that time, it was the bendy bus, suitable as quick people movers, not designed for lengthy London trunk routes. Both were/are free boarding, thus fare evasion can be a problem for both. Oh how things come in full circle!

Tower Transit RM1218 on Route 9H, Hyde Park Corner - Last Day of Routemasters on Route 9H
Tower Transit RM1218 on Route 9H, Hyde Park Corner
The first photo of the day was one of the usual buses taking the rounds, with no indication that it was the last day of the 9H. RM1218 started on the 37 at Putney, then eventually went via Norwood and Holloway into preservation. The irony is that at Holloway under MTL London Northern, it'd be on Route 10, hence running along this exact stretch of road! Afterwards, it entered preservation, went out with a Marshall refurbishment and ended up on the 13 before transferring to First for Route 9H.

Tower Transit SRM3 (RM1650) on Route 9H, Hyde Park Corner - Last Day of Routemasters on Route 9H
The Silver Dart, Tower Transit SRM3/RM1650 on Route 9H, Hyde Park Corner
This bus will go on and have further service with Stagecoach, as three Routemasters from the 9 will move to the 15 as 'overhaul cover' and future service. It was repainted silver in the mid 2000s as per 1977 Silver Jubilee, but when the Olympics was near, this livery succeeded that, making it pretty bland, but stand out from the crowd. The silver LTs cannot and will not even match this.

Tower Transit RM1913 on Route 9H, Trafalgar Square - Last Day of Routemasters on Route 9H
Tower Transit RM1913 on Route 9H, Trafalgar Square
Another bus showing the usual foray of Routemasters, with clearly no indication of it being the last day. This Routemaster started at Putney for the 30, before transferring to Stockwell, Tottenham, Clydeside Scottish and once was even earmarked for preservation. But due to Ken Livingstone wanting more Routemasters on the road, this bus became part of the Marshall rebuilds, ending with a Cummins engine the same as in a Euro 2 Dennis Dart, hence the nickname Dartmaster. It spent the whole time with most of the rest of the Marshall lot, on the 13.

Tower Transit RM1627 on Route 9H, Trafalgar Square - Last Day of Routemasters on Route 9H
Tower Transit RM1627 on Route 9H, Trafalgar Square
This bus had only seen Stockwell service before being sent off to the provinces, being sold to Blackpool Transport before going to the famous Reading Mainline operations. Competing with Reading Buses, it used letters as route identifiers, and the crewed operation proved to be so quick, Reading Buses bought them out! After a year of being separate (and one Routemaster straying onto the 17!), they were sold by 2000. It underwent the Marshall refurbishment before heading off to the 13 then the 9H.

Tower Transit RM1204 (Meal Relief Bus), Kensington Holland Road - Last Day of Routemasters on Route 9H
Tower Transit RM1204 (Meal Relief Bus), Kensington Holland Road
Initially starting at Rye Lane (Peckham), it had travelled to Hounslow by 1963 for Route 81B until 1966 for Norbiton, New Cross and Finchley before going to Halifax Joint Committee. It stayed there for three years before it underwent the Marshall refurbishment before doing the usual 9H via 13. This bus did not see service today, but instead was the meal relief bus.

Tower Transit Staff in front of RM1627, Kensington Holland Road - Last Day of Routemasters on Route 9H
Excusing the fellow enthusiast on the right, and the professional photographer on the left, the Tower Transit staff were in sad, but buoyant mood throughout the day. There was even a first on that day, where the driver and conductor (both drivers) of RM1627 swapped for one round, and we had a first time conductor on the back!

Tower Transit SRM3/RM1650 on Route 9H, Kensington Holland Road - Last Day of Routemasters on Route 9H
Tower Transit SRM3/RM1650 on Route 9H, Kensington Holland Road
A quick round on SRM3 was next, to get the sole 'special' in service out of the way!
This bus has had a varied and interesting story. It started at Cricklewood, where it gained the Silver Jubilee livery sponsored by Air Jamaica. It went via Blackpool to Reading Mainline before going to Marshalls for a refurbishment, not to go to the 13, but to the 23. With First, it was liveried gold vinyl for the Golden Jubilee, before going to silver for RM50 in 2004. It was then part of the touring set of buses that went to most routes losing Routemasters post 2004. It was used on the last day of RML day of the 8, last Routemaster days of the 7, 9 (proper), 36, 38 and First's last day on routes 25 and 27 before settling on Route 9H (and at times, 15H) before getting the Olympic rings (since gone) and the white band (as shown).
SRM3/RM1650 served to be the duplicate for RM1627.

The Last Rounder
Tower Transit RM1627 on Route 9H, Kensington Holland Road
The penultimate rounder for this bus, it is decorated as shown with small bunting and via point blinds. Small, but better than nothing!

The Crew of RM1627 - The Last Routemaster on Route 9H.
The crew of RM1627 stand proud in front of their bus on a photo opportunity place for the last time near Trafalgar Square. The conductor, who does like a small joke when announcing the stops, is being made redundant, sadly. One of the jokes include the first thing to buy from Harrods would be to buy a drill for the credit cards (and thus stop spending). Oh well, conductors aren't as good as this usually on the back of the LTs!

Then out of the blue, from an earlier private hire, RML2683 from Red Routemaster of Brentford appeared:
Tower Transit RM1627 (Route 9H), Red Routemaster RML1683, Charing Cross/Embankment - Last Routemaster on Route 9H
Tower Transit RM1627 (Route 9H), Red Routemaster RML1683, Charing Cross/Embankment
The proud conductor standing in front. RML1683 mainly shadowed ahead of RM1627, not in service.

;(
The bus continued non-stop from Trafalgar Square to Kensington Holland Road full of bus enthusiasts, SRM3 being ahead for quite some time! The actual last Routemaster on Route 9H, a sad moment, even if it is a 'Disney' route. Half the gesture is gone.

Nine, Nine, Nine
London United LT81, Tower Transit RM1627 and Red Routemaster RML2683 all displaying Route 9, Kensington Holland Road
RM1627 pulled side by side with RML2683, before LT81 stopped for photo opportunities. Progress? In summer, it's in the negative direction, as the 'Roastmasters' are usually hotter with non-working air conditioning!

The Epic Quartet - Last Routemasters on Route 9H
No one cares how this line-up happened, but it did. It's an epic quartet.
London United ADH33 (Route 27), LT81 (Route 9), Tower Transit RM1627 (Route 9H - Final Routemaster), Red Routemaster RML2683, Kensington/Holland Road
LT81 pulled up as shown, then ADH33 tried to overtake the trio of buses, before stopping because the driver realised what was happening. Holding up Kensington High Street for that photo. Thanks to the two drivers of Stamford Brook on the 9 and 27 who stopped to help make this photo happen.

Thanks to the Tower Transit staff who made this day live long in the memory, and Red Routemaster for supplying the photo extra. A flourish for the last West London Routemaster route, and a dreaded wait until whether the 15H will get an exemption or be withdrawn by 2017. Knowing the government, it won't get an exemption. It seemed such a short time ago that Peter Hendy 'wanted' to get rid of the Routemasters in normal service. Now he owns one and wants to keep them in service. Irony.

21/07/2014

Berkshire Bus War: Major First Beeline Changes 16/08/14

From the 16th August, First Beeline are radically changing the services around Bracknell, making some journeys quicker, some journeys slower, and some journeys impossible without going onto a competing operator. Timetable changes are definitely scheduled, but these are not out yet.

The new map for Bracknell services are as shown: http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/new_news_initiatives/attach_1405686102_6031_firstdaymap.pdf
Note that the 8/X9 is not shown on this new map.

Route 190:

First Beeline 64001 on Route 190, Reading St Mary's Butts
First Beeline 64001 on Route 190, Reading St Mary's Butts

First Beeline TN33147 on Route 190, Bracknell
First Beeline TN33147 on Route 190, Bracknell

First Beeline 32348 on Route 190, Bracknell
First Beeline 32348 on Route 190, Bracknell

This route is renumbered 90. Half the service will now run via the current X1 until the A329(M) junction, whereas it will run via the current 190 route. The other half will run via the current 190 route. Each section runs every 30mins, giving an every 15mins service to Reading from Bracknell.
I'd number each section a different number, because this is a recipe for confusion! Also, passengers for Reading, Wokingham areas will get a longer journey from/to Bracknell Town Centre if they take the Bracknell Estates bus as opposed to the bus via John Nike Leisure Centre.

Route 155:


Beeline Pretender
First Berkshire ES64001 on Route 155, Bracknell

Renumbered B5. That's it, pointless!

Routes 171/172:

First Beeline 64012 on Route 171, Bracknell
First Beeline 64012 on Route 171, Bracknell

First Beeline 64013 on Route 172, Bracknell
First Beeline 64013 on Route 172, Bracknell

These routes will be withdrawn, being replaced by Routes 90 (Bracknell Estates half), B2/B3 and B1.
Between Crown Wood and Birch Hill Road, B2/B3 will run alternate directions via this part of the loop, but the loop goes via the Bus Gate and South Hill Road to return via the current 194 to Bracknell. B2/B3 is every 30 mins each.
Between Rectory Lane and Great Hollands, Route B1 runs via a Great Hollands Square-Ringmead loop every 20 mins.
Hanworth will be served by the Bracknell Estates half of Route 90, every 30 mins.

Route X94:

First Beeline TN33141 on Route X94, Camberley Station
First Beeline TN33141 on Route X94, Camberley Station

Cheap Rebrand
First Beeline ES64021 on Route X94, Bracknell
X94 will be withdrawn (see Route 194).

Route 194:

First Beeline 65624 on Route 194, Bracknell
First Beeline 65624 on Route 194, Bracknell

First Beeline 33180 on Route 194, Camberley Station
First Beeline 33180 on Route 194, Camberley Station

194 will be renumbered 94, the route will no longer serve Owlsmoor Road, Yeovil Road and College Road, instead going direct via Yorktown Road between Sandhurst Station and The Meadows.
Courtney Buses Route 194 will continue to operate to the affected areas.
Route 94 will run every 20 mins.

20/07/2014

My Picture Archive Post 25

Again, a tad late by a few hours, but it's better than nothing!

First London DN33543 on Route E3, Turnham Green, 11/06/11
First London DN33543 on Route E3, Turnham Green, 11/06/11

Another Picture Archive involving the E3, but this time, this bus isn't from the E3 batch at all. This bus started out at First Capital, on the other side of London at Northumberland Park, before being transferred to Greenford for a short stint in 2011. This bus was soon transferred to Rainham where it was seen on the 179 and 252, amongst other routes, before settling back at Northumberland Park for the acquisition of the aforementioned garage by Go-Ahead London. It is still at NP nowadays, plying as EN17 on the intended routes like the 191 and 231.

The scale of First London's operations is shown due to this NP bus being on the other side of London, at Greenford Garage on temporary loan. Events since has split this large operation into about four units: Stagecoach London (parts of Rainham), Go-Ahead London (parts of Rainham/Northumberland Park) and the direct descendants of Metroline West and Tower Transit.

14/07/2014

London United SP102 - YOTB Bus Liveries

London United SP102 on Route 71, Chessington South
London United SP102 on Route 71, Chessington South

A regular Fulwell bus, SP102, was treated to the old 2000s livery of London United for Fulwell Garage Open Day:

London United VA86 on Route 281, Kingston, Cromwell Road
London United VA86 on Route 281, Kingston Cromwell Road

Which leads to this result:

London United SP102 (YOTB/London United 2000s Livery) on Route 65, Kew Green
London United SP102 on Route 65, Kew Green

London United SP102 (YOTB/London United 2000s Livery) on Route 65, Ealing Broadway/Haven Green
London United SP102 on Route 65, Ealing Broadway/Haven Green

The bus has been refurbished with extra padding as well as the light grey skirt, with a white roof leading to that effect.

Rear of London United SP102 (YOTB/London United 2000s Livery) on Route 65, Ealing Broadway
The rear treatment also shows the small fleet number for the rear.

Then it went on the 281:
London United SP102 (2000s LU) on Route 281, Fulwell
London United SP102 on Route 281, Fulwell

And the 71, and the 391:
London United SP102 (London United 2000s Livery) on Route 391, Kew Gardens Station
London United SP102 on Route 391, Kew Gardens Station

And the Fulwell Garage Open Day:

IMG_6631
Displaying Route 131 to Kingston (Fairfield Road)

London United SP102 blinded for Route 681, Fulwell Garage Open Day
Displaying Route 681 to Teddington, Broom Road

London United SP102 blinded for Route 691, Fulwell Garage Open Day
Displaying Route 691 to Hollyfield School

A great livery application onto SP102 does mean this bus looks smart wherever it goes, and a good refurbishment means most of its problems have gone. It is currently used most on Routes 65, 71 and 281 from Fulwell Garage.

09/07/2014

Workings on Route E3, H91, 114, 183

RATP in London have recently conjured up fairly odd unallocated workings, with the London United division substituting Scanias for Alexander-Dennis products, and the London Sovereign division substituting Scanias for Volvo/Wright products, leading to quite interesting responses by passengers!

Firstly, the three days of ADH26 on Route E3, taken of two days only:

London United ADH26 ON ROUTE E3, Chiswick
London United ADH26 on Route E3, Chiswick (Aubrey, 02/07/14)

London United ADH26 on Route E3, again! (Chiswick Edensor Rd)
London United ADH26 on Route E3, Chiswick Edensor Road (Aubrey, 03/07/14)
This driver told me that these E40H were quieter, faster and better than the SPs on the route (which is true). Drivers were looking jealously at the ADH driver as they passed!

The London United division also changed SPs on the H91, but this time to single decker Enviro 200s:

Enviro vice Scania Part 1B
London United DE4 on Route H91, Gunnersbury Station (Aubrey, 03/07/14)

But the larger shock came from further north, where Lewis was in massive awe when looking at the LVF to find VH15 on Route 114, his dream working. My dream working is nearly impossible (ADE on Route N9) due to cleaning, so that's another matter...:

London Sovereign VH15 on Route 114, Ruislip Station
London Sovereign VH15 on Route 114, Ruislip Station (Aubrey, 07/07/14)
The driver of this one seemed to gloat to the other drivers of his hybrid bus, which did seem to go faster than most other buses on Route 114.

IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!
"IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!" by Lewis JN (07/07/14)
The title of that photo just sums up Lewis's feelings of this working. Relief and joy.
"Even the general public noticed a difference - I overheard someone describe the bus as 'beautiful', so I'm not the only one of that opinion :D "

Wrighting the Pages of History
London Sovereign VH15 on Route 114, Tithe Farm (which is between South Harrow & South Ruislip) (Lewis, 07/07/14)

But just to add more oddness, a more common VH stray occurred (but still more rare than a VH on the 605):

London Sovereign VH22 on Route 183, Harrow Bus Station
London Sovereign VH22 on Route 183, Harrow Bus Station (Aubrey, 07/07/14)

The only reason I could think of that made the VHs go on the 183 and 114 is that the Tour de France allowed them to stray onto the route due to the reduced PVR of Route 13... I know Lewis will want more of the 114 variant of this working!

PS - the article of the initial London Overground record attempt (and success) from Aubrey's school is now on it's website - http://www.gunnersbury.com/news/?pid=60&nid=23&storyid=134

03/07/2014

The Optare Option - New Buses on Route S1 15/06/14

Rushing at t'Junction
Quality Line OM06 on Route S1, Mitcham Junction (Aubrey)

Along with the first diesel Optare Metrocities for London, Route S1 also had a short extension to Lavender Fields, which is a residential area near Mitcham and Colliers Wood.

Quality Line OM11 on Route S1, Lavender Fields (Aubrey)

Quality Line OM11 on Route S1, Lavender Fields (Lewis)

These buses have Mercedes engines which are like engines on the SoloSR. Drivers seem to not always like these new buses in general due to the 'numerous problems' these new buses have, 'especially Optare' buses.

Quality Line OM07 on Route S1, Lavender Fields (Aubrey)

Quality Line OM05 out of service, Lavender Fields (Lewis)
 
A journey on OM07 soon beckoned, which led to quite a sprightly ride on the bus, but with the familiar Mercedes engine noise.
 
Quality Line OM07 on Route S1, Banstead Marks & Spencer (Aubrey)
 
Whilst deliberating at Banstead, Lewis and I then stumbled on MCD01, which proved to be a different ride altogether!

It also has blinds for many of Quality Line's routes, even if they aren't complete blinds.
Quality Line MCD01 showing E16 to Ewell and 467 to Copt Gilders, Banstead Marks & Spencer (Aubrey)

Quality Line OM06 on Route S1, Banstead Marks & Spencer (Aubrey)

Eventually MCD01 was blinded for S1 to Lavender Fields, so we went back to Lavender Fields.
(Aubrey)
 
After a talk with the driver about these buses at Lavender Fields - the driver prefers the MCD01 due to the different engine which is 'better' and 'has less problems than the other Optare products that [Quality Line] have'.
 
Quality Line MCD01 on Route S1, Lavender Fields (Aubrey)
The driver gave us a thumbs up on the shot as the bus turned round the mini-roundabout at Lavender Fields.