The Romford Shuffle

The other Romford change at the end of June was the 499, also to Stagecoach but from Arriva at Grays. It's a bit of a round the houses, back road type of route but is secretly useful as a means of leaving Romford via the 173 for Jacek(!)

Arriva Kent Thameside 3973 on Route 499, Romford Station (© Jacek)

Previous stuff on the route included some Cadets which were a nice ride and some E200s that weren't (clapped out, etc).
There was also banditry on some ex-Dartford E200s, and even the occasional double-decker.

Under Stagecoach the allocation has settled down, sort of. The route was meant to be using new Enviro200 MMCs but their delivery and their blinds are apparently late so the ones off the 296 are being used. They look smart having been fitted with white blinds:

Stagecoach London 36266 on Route 499, Romford Station (© Aubrey)

The performance of the route has been uninteresting – despite the buses running without blinds, Arriva ran it at an acceptable level and it's the same under Stagecoach. There was the occasional curtailment in the early days like most routes but nothing major.

Stagecoach 36262 on Route 499, Romford Station (© Jacek)


Stagecoach 36262 on Route 499, Queen's Hospital (© Aubrey)

Meanwhile, the 296 is temporarily using Tridents, a route normally run by these Enviro 200s:


Stagecoach London 18477 on Route 296, Romford Station (© Aubrey)

These buses have white blinds due to the 498, of course.


Stagecoach London 17773 on Route 296, Romford Station (© Aubrey)

Although some don't need blind changing to be on the 296, as seen here, looking more natural at Romford.

When the Enviro 200MMCs appear on the 499, it will be one of two cities that have both the Enviro 200 and 400 MMCs, so pairings like this will be more often:


National Express West Midlands 2210 on Route 37 & 6709 on Route 900, Birmingham Moor Street (© Aubrey).
Yes, a post is WIP.

EDIT: Ironically, they entered service the very next day!

Stagecoach London 36601 on Route 499, Gallows Corner (© Aubrey)
Yes, a post is also WIP.

And that would does look very angular. Alongside the Streetdeck would be another thing.