A Major Model Mouthful

13069 in Peckham. (© Jacek)

The 177 is a route.

It's not particularly notable for hills or fast empty stretches, but it does go from Peckham to Thamesmead and is quite busy. The 15th of June saw something actually notable happen on it, as the route now has London's first Volvo B5LH/Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMCs (bit of a mouthful) on it. These buses are quite fast, good looking and comfortable. The usual B5LH problem of being slightly cramped at the rear on the lower deck persists, but these can be faster than their Gemini bodied cousins on the 53 with especially powerful acceleration.




However there was still the odd technical issue as the bus I got on (13062) had a piece of paper covering the Oyster reader saying it wasn't working. Some other buses make a loud whine from the battery.

13061 in Plumstead on its first day. (© Jacek)

Anyway a few weeks later the Volvos have mostly settled in, with about 70% of the route now being B5LHs while the previous Scanias have now started to go on the route more now they're unallocated. 4 buses are yet to enter service at the time of writing. The occasional Gemini working has reared its head while some Tridents and Scanias have transferred to various East London garages.

Now for some other pictures:

17838 in Woolwich. (© Josh)

Most of PD's original Tridents moved out before the MMCs came, so cascaded ones made up the numbers.

15046 on diversion in Lewisham. (© Jacek)

These Scanias were the allocation on paper, but in practice were almost all on other routes. PD retain some Scanias for route 51 (on paper) and in practice 96.

12349 on diversion in Lewisham. (© Jacek)

Enviro400s were on the route daily as well, both diesel and hybrid examples.

13061 in Woolwich. (© Josh)

13067 in Peckham. (© Jacek)

13069 at East Greenwich Library front & rear (© Aubrey)

They seem to be good buses in the flesh, and ride well. Stagecoach have some pure ADL ones coming up within the next week or two - the ones for the 498, which are diesel ADL Enviro 400MMCs. A tad less of a mouthful to say than Volvo B5LH/Enviro 400 MMC. Oh, and the bell rings thrice weirdly.