First's last hurrah on the Greenline

Ever so slightly late but here it is!

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First Berkshire 37985/BJ11XGY, London Victoria. 02/01/2017.
© Mohammad-Omar Diab El-Arab

A major change on the Greenline network, Reading Buses taking over the 702 from First, is just around the corner, and will see a timetable and fleet change on the route, probably the most major change to the Greenline network since Uno withdrew the 797 in September of last year. What this also means is that a little more than 2 years after the last day of First operating out of Bracknell depot, their last route serving Bracknell is also pulled.

The birthplace of the Greenline brand can be traced back to the 9th July 1930, where the London General Omnibus Company registered the brand to cover its interurban bus and coach services between London and surrounding towns within roughly a 30 mile radius. The network initially began with only 8 routes, yet this quickly expanded to 27 the following year. In 1933, the new London Passenger Transport Board absorbed Greenline as well as services that competed with the network. Most services by that point were linked to form cross-London services, as the laying over of coaches in the city centre inevitably caused congestion.

Greenline services were suspended during the Second World War, and were then resumed in February 1946. More services were introduced, and the 700-series route numbering was introduced, a feature of the Greenline network that still remains today. Ridership increased, and coach-spec Routemasters(RMCs) were introduced to meet the rapidly growing figures.

In 1970, Greenline was transferred to National Bus Company-owned London Country Bus Services. By this point, patronage was declining, mainly due to the increased utility and speed of parallel rail routes and also due to the increasing number of people using cars as a method of commuting, with the last cross-London services ceasing in 1979.
 More buses and coaches were ordered around the same era too, such as Leyland Nationals, Leyland Tigers and Leyland Leopards, posing Greenline as one of the most modern methods of movement between London and towns in the Home Counties. A major turning point was the deregulation of bus services, and in 1986 London Country was divided into 4 areas, ready to be sold off. The sell-off fragmented the Greenline network and only a few routes survived. Arriva purchased the rights to the brand around the mid-1990s, as they had most of the old LCBS successor companies under their control.

The brand was licensed to various operators, one of them being First Berkshire & the Thames Valley for their 700/701/702 services. The service was introduced in 1994/5, with Berkhof Excellence 1000-bodied Scania K113CRBs. It ran as two routes: the 702, which ran as it currently does, and the X7, which ran via Bagshot and Camberley to reach Bracknell. In 2001/2, this changed, with Plaxton Premiere-bodied Volvo B10Ms arriving from Glasgow to replace them, which lasted until about 2005 when First Cymru transferred over Plaxton Profile/Volvo B7Rs to operate the route. New vehicles were being introduced on the Reading RailAir service, which displaced 3 of the Scania K114IB/Irizar Century coaches, which were repainted into Greenline livery to operate the route.


First Berkshire SC23008 on Route 702, Kensington, August 2013
© Aubrey Morandarte

By 2011, the network comprised of 3 routes:
The 700, which ran between Bracknell and London, avoiding Slough, but instead going via Datchet
The 701, which ran between Bracknell and London in the peaks only, serving Great Hollands, Birch Hill, Harman's Water and Bullbrook, albeit avoiding Windsor Town Centre
The 702: which was the basic route between Bracknell and London and provided an hourly frequency


First Berkshire 37987 on Route 701, Victoria, April 2014
© Aubrey Morandarte

By that point, 3 new Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2s(37985-7) were bought for the route, displacing some of the coaches. In 2013, 3 more(37997-9) arrived, displacing the remaining coaches off the route. By then, it was fully operated by B9TLs.


First Berkshire 37985 on Route 700, Bracknell, on the last day of Bracknell operated Greenline.
© Aubrey Morandarte

2015 saw a rather large change to First operations in Berkshire, with the closure of Bracknell depot after the loss of the "bus war" with local independent Courtney Buses. With this came two things: the movement of the Greenline allocation from Bracknell to Slough, and the complete withdrawal of the 700 and 701.


First Berkshire 37275 on Route 700, Legoland, on the last day of Bracknell operated Greenline.
© Aubrey Morandarte

Fast forward to now, with First pulling out of the 702 altogether, having provided a useful and practical service, and many misallocations that were loved by enthusiasts(see TN on the last Bracknell-run 702!). The current B9s will have a short spell on rail replacements around Southampton, yet their future is uncertain.


The last 702 run from Bracknell Garage, operated by 33179, seen at Hammersmith.
© Aubrey Morandarte

I've decided to document the last day of First operation on the 702 with a bash/photo session, running into both Lewis and Tommy on multiple occasions, the first instance of which was on my first 702 of the day, 37987, which took me from Hammersmith to Bracknell, and then back to Kensington.


First Berkshire 37987/BJ11ECX, Bracknell Bus Station
© Mohammad-Omar Diab El-Arab

Tommy and Lewis went away at this point, and got a few interesting shots at the WhiteBus yard...


First Berkshire 37276/LK58EDL and WhiteBus YX67VGK, Winkfield
© Tommy Cooling

After a quick run into Boots, a friend and I come out only to miss a 702, which was running 5 minutes early, so we diverted via Heathrow and the 7 to Langley. Once we hopped off, we walked to the 702 stop on London Road, only to hop on my favourite Greenline B9TL to Kensington!


First Berkshire 37276/LK58EDL, Kensington High Street
© Mohammad-Omar Diab El-Arab

My penultimate move was 37999, the highest-numbered Greenline B9TL, which took me to the village of Winkfield, just beyond Legoland.


First Berkshire 37999/BF63HDY, Winkfield, The Squirrels PH
© Mohammad-Omar Diab El-Arab

My last move was on 37998 working the last timetabled run from Bracknell, the 18:50, which only continued beyond Slough if Legoland was open after 7. Now, Lewis checked that Legoland was open at that time, which it was, so we were pretty sure that it would continue to London. However, nobody got on at Legoland, so the bus officially terminated at Slough. The driver was kind enough to offer myself, Lewis and Tommy a lift to Hammmersmith, where we would continue our journeys home. What a way to end the last day of First operation!


First Berkshire 37998/BF63HDX, Bracknell Bus Station
© Tommy Cooling

Happy New Year from the WLTM Transport Blog.

Text by Omar
Photos by Omar, Aubrey and Tommy

All rights reserved © WLTMTB 2018

After The Apocalypse - the 94 and the lion

Yes, this post is a few months late. Really late. Oh, well. University, computer problems, exams and the odd difficulty in organising a trip to Reading until December means this post is severely delayed. Have fun reading it!

Reading Buses 805 on Route 90 via John Nike
Stagecoach South 34531 on Route 94
Both seen, with a Courtney Versa on the 194 at Bracknell Bus Station (© Aubrey)

That is all that's left at Bracknell. Reading Buses, Stagecoach and Courtney. And the latter two are in a bus war on the Bracknell-Camberley corridor, so I'll speak about the 94 first:


Stagecoach South 34531 on Route 94, Bracknell Bus Station (© Aubrey)

Stagecoach South 94 is the direct descendant of First Berkshire 94, running every 20 minutes between Bracknell and Camberley running more direct that Courtney's 194.


Stagecoach South 34634 on Route 94, Bracknell (© Aubrey)

Initially, Darts from spares were used on the 94, but as Stagecoach settled in on the route, newer Enviro 200s from Winchester were transferred to be route branded for the 94. Could it get an even bigger, more executive upgrade in a few years? Probably not.


Reading Buses 1211 on Route 90 and Stagecoach South 34637, Bracknell (© Aubrey)

Both the 94 and the 194 has had its fair share of double deckers (Tridents for the 94, the ex-coffee/chocolate 189 deckers for the 194), but even Courtney are starting to up the quality.


Courtney Buses YJ62 FLD on Route 194, Bracknell (© Aubrey)

This is what the 194 allocation will partially be, albeit new Versas (YJ65 EVM/N) with wi-fi, USB chargers and branded in British Racing Green. There are also Enviro 300s for the route too, which will get the same treatment.

Meanwhile, the buses for the 4/X4 started out as:


Reading Buses 214 on Route 21, Reading Station (© Aubrey)

Then they were refurbished with new seat covers and USB seat chargers, and went out initially partially branded on the 90 as more buses were being refurbished:


Reading Buses 217 on Route 90 via Southern Estates, Friar Street (© Aubrey)

Then, as the 4/X4 launch was getting closer, most of the 90 buses started to become the fully branded Lions:


Reading Buses 212 on Route 90 via Southern Estates, Bracknell (CC Aubrey)

Then, on Bank Holiday 31st August 2015, the 90 was finally renumbered 4/X4. And it still was numbered 4/X4 by the time I got it covered, finally. In December.


Reading Buses 214 on Route 4, Reading Station (© Aubrey)

Yep, that's the same bus as that Claret one seen above. At nearly the same spot.
The hybrids were initially used on the 21a, but older Scanias from the 5/6 were refurbished as the "Claret Spritzer" buses with the interesting set up on the upper deck. The hybrids were then sent to more used pastures on the 4/X4.


Reading Buses 217 on Route X4 ahead of 429 on Route 3, St Mary's Butts (© Aubrey)

Notably, the Wokingham services are of the same two colours, just reversed for the 4/X4 from the 3. Both are branded after animals (leopard 3 and lion 4/X4). Both go to Wokingham. Not a coincidence at all. This was planned all along.


Reading Buses 1210 on Route X4, St Mary's Butts (CC Aubrey)

There are also two ex-University of Portsmouth Enviro 400 diesels that were refurbished too for the 4/X4. And they had arrived at Reading in all over white.


Reading Buses 213 on Route 4, Reading St Mary's Butts (© Aubrey)

Overall, for the 4/X4, Reading Buses have done a predictably great job, along with the predictable styling from Ray Stenning. Again. No wonder Reading Buses are award-winning! I suspect the wild cat theme has migrated from Yorkshire Tiger onto the Leopard and Lion...

THE END OF AN ERA

This post actually works out rather well because I can actually write about the ends of two completely different eras, both of which affect this blog.

The First (aha, get the joke...) is momentous and quite sad really, because it is the withdrawal of First Beeline in the Bracknell area (hence the one-off yellow background). Here on WLTM we have written a number of posts about the 'war' between First Beeline and Courtney Buses, each competing which each other's services and the council tendered services also ran a hokey-cokey between the two operators. These posts are here:

1. Courtney begins to attack
2. Thames Travel surrender leaving Bracknell to First and Courtney only
3. Developments in Maidenhead, now dubbed the 'Berkshire Bus War'
4. First make some radical changes in Bracknell
5. Courtney spread their wings
6. More changes at Bracknell, including the introduction of B-suffixed routes
7. Courtney has won

        (click on the post to view it)

And this is the eighth post, detailing the final day of First Beeline and in the process we will look back through the history of Beeline in Bracknell including a synopsis of all the above seven posts. So here we go...

In 1986, when the Government-owned National Bus Company was split up, the Berks Bucks Bus Co. was created, with the trading name BEELINE. The company took over the allocations from the Bracknell, High Wycombe, Maidenhead, Newbury, Reading and Wokingham garages. The company became wholly private when it was sold to Q Drive in late 1987. Q Drive had just also set up London Buslines in 1985 to run the TFL tendered route 81, which is probably where you've heard that name before. In 1988 the company also bought the operations of Aldershot & District.

After only a few years' operation, Q Drive sells the High Wycombe depot to the Go-Ahead owned Oxford Bus Company, creating the Wycombe Bus Company (which is now Arriva) in 1990. Also in 1990, the Aldershot & District services were sold to Drawlane Transport to create a new network in Guildford and West Surrey. In 1992, the depots at Reading and Wokingham became publicly owned once more under the new, and still growing, Reading Buses. The remaining Aldershot services are bought by Stagecoach which also still operate in the area under the Hants & Surrey blanket.

However, after many losses as detailed above, Q Drive then buy the Slough Depot from Luton & District to integrate it in with their other operations in 1993. At the same time, the depot in Maidenhead is closed.

In 1996, the whole network of Beeline, Railair, Londonlink and London Buslines are sold from Q Drive to CentreWest (based in London), and only a year later the nationwide First Group buys the whole of Centrewest, including the new Q Drive operations. First continued the Beeline brand until 2001 when it was renamed First Berkshire & Thames Valley.

A brand new Citaro for the Slough-Heathrow routes
sits at a rally just after entering service, showing the
original livery.
CC Steven Hughes

In the interim of 1997, when Beeline transferred to First, to 2003 many new vehicles were introduced including the ubiquitous Dart but with slightly more unusual Marshall and Alexander ALX200 bodywork, along with Mercedes Citaros for the airport routes.

Since then, the operations have changed little, with minor reworking of route networks and service alterations as times changed and passenger numbers grew or depreciated. First Berkshire & Thames Valley have fought many battles in their 18 years so far, including a battle fought with Courtney in Maidenhead, from which First waved their white flag and withdrew in 2004.

One of the most successful Beeline routes is the Greenline 702 which runs from London Victoria to Bracknell via Slough, Windsor & Legoland. Peak 701 journeys run to Great Hollands missing out Windsor, and a newer 700 service does not stop at Slough. These routes received brand new double decker buses in 2008, 2011 and 2013; the final batch of which was covered in the first post (link above) on the Bracknell Bus War (30/11/2013).

Two things you'll no longer see - a Thames Travel 108 is picking
up behind a now withdrawn First Solar on route 191 to Windsor.
CC Aubrey

First had already set up a fairly slick operation at Bracknell with town circular services as well as services to Wokingham, Reading and the aforementioned Greenline to London. They had only just relaunched the Beeline brand, as that name had not been mentioned since the millennium, with a new yellow version of their interurban livery. Thames Travel ran the few council-tendered service, and Courtney just poked around echoing the already established First routes 171/172 and 194, running the tendered evening and Sunday services and then their own competitive day services as well.

A Dart transferred from Hampshire & Dorset works
the 153 from Bracknell to Warfield Tesco.
© Lewis

When Thames Travel surrendered the council-tendered contracts for Courtney and First to take up, things began to look up for the First who took routes 53, 108 and 153 (see the second post, 18/01/2014). They brought in some old Darts from Hampshire & Dorset to work these routes. However these contracts had only 4 months left, leaving the future for these routes uncertain.

As mentioned before, First left Maidenhead in 2004, leaving the main routes there to Courtney. However, in late 2013, First set up their own 8 (and interworking X9 to High Wycombe) to compete with Courtney's similar service. Their main advertisement included free journeys on the first weekend of service and a prominent WE GIVE CHANGE on the destination screen which highlights that Courtney do not offer change and First wanted to challenge that paradigm (see the third post, 23/11/2013).

A rather smart looking 64001 leaves Reading on the
soon to be withdrawn 190 route.
CC Aubrey

In mid-2014, First Berkshire changed their services in Bracknell including various renumbered routes, new routes and routeing changes. Route 155 became the B5, routes 171/172 were replaced by new routes B1, B2 and B3, and the 190 was split into two 90s with one running direct via John Nike and the other via the Southern Estates. Route 194 was also altered to differentiate it from the Courtney equivalent, renumbered 94; the X94 was withdrawn (see the fourth post, service changes on the 16/08/2014).

A Blue Solo on the new 192 to Windsor.
CC Aubrey

Courtney was the next to make a move, offering alternatives to First's 190 and 191 services with the 189 and 192 respectively. The 189 was very similar to the 190 (this was before the change to the 90) but ran to Jennett's Park. This did seem a strange move as the new 90 via Southern Estates would also serve Jennett's Park from the end of the month. Up to Windsor, the 192 offered a peak-time alternative to the 191 using the buses which would then take up service during the day on Windsor routes 6/6A/16. With First's 171/172 withdrawn, Courtney took this open opportunity to up their publicity on these routes and the 194, which now had separate branding (see the fifth post, 05/08/2014).

A Trident leaves Reading on the X1 service express
to Bracknell then all stops in the Southern Estates.
CC Aubrey

The sixth post (24/11/2014) covers the changes mentioned above. It also shows the short-lived X1 route from Bracknell & Southern Estates running direct to Reading via the A329(M). Also at this time, Beeline received some newer Enviro200s for the Bracknell routes replacing the old and worn-out Darts.

Things stayed as they were for about 6 months, possibly the longest time with no changes for a while in the area, but the biggest hit was yet to come. Courtney won all of the Bracknell Forest tenders. Yes, all of them. It would mean that routes 53, 108, 151, 151A and 153 would all transfer from First to Courtney on 13th July 2015. It came to light that First were no longer making enough money to keep the services in Bracknell going, so it was announced at the beginning of Summer 2015 that they would withdraw from the area and close the Bracknell depot. Both variants of route 90 passed to Reading Buses on 26th July and were rebranded as the 4/X4 on the last day of August. The final Beeline routes (191, B1, B2, B3, B5) were withdrawn on 28th August 2015, when the depot was closed for the foreseeable future. Stagecoach took up operation of route 94 from the next day.

64013 (L) and 33143 (R) on route B1 on the last day of its operation at
Bracknell Bus Stn.
© Lewis

32348 on route 94 on the last day of its First operation at Bracknell.
© Aubrey

64020 (L) and 64012 (R) on routes B3 and B5 on their final day of operation at
Bracknell Bus Stn.
© Lewis

33143 on route 191 on the last day of its operation at Legoland entrance.
© Aubrey

64018 on route B2 in the Bracknell Forest / Southern Estates area on the
final day of its operation.
© Lewis

The Greenline routes 700/701/702 have been rerouted along the 191 between Windsor and Bracknell following a petition from the area as there are no other services along that corridor. Now worked out of Slough, the 700 and 701 will be put to sleep for the winter very soon leaving only the 702 left of First in Bracknell.

37999 climbs Legoland Hill on the last day of its Bracknell operation.
© Aubrey

37985 at Bracknell Bus Station on its last day of Bracknell operation,
on route 700 which is set to be withdrawn soon.
© Aubrey

The final Bracknell-worked 702 to leave for London was in fact this
Trident, no. 33179, seen here en-route at Slough. Farewell, Bracknell.
© Lewis

The last day of First in Bracknell was momentous - enthusiasts of all ages came down to Bracknell to catch the Beeline in its last moments. Out of a Beeline Citaro and a Courtney Solo, I know I'd choose the Citaro in a heartbeat, but unfortunately the people of Bracknell no longer have that option. So here's to First in Bracknell and the second end of Beeline, but perhaps it will return again...

Due to the high winds, a modern single-deck bus will be used on the last 702 from Bracknell to London and back to Bracknell tonight.

— First Berkshire (@firstberkshire) February 14, 2014

64018 displaying route 702 as an appropriate tribute to Bracknell's
Beeline operations. Many thanks to the kind driver (who's smiling in
this shot!) who changed it for me.
© Lewis

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And the second 'End of an Era' is that our very own Aubrey has now left London to study at the University of Coventry for the next 3 years. I think all of our readers will join me in firstly congratulating him and wishing him the best of luck.

As his commitments rise, Aubrey will be able to contribute to the blog less, so I will step up to cover more of the changes in and around London whilst he is away. It also does mean, however, that our scope will widen even further to cover changes in the area of Coventry and the wider West Midlands (which is why that county now appears on our fabulous new header) - a change which I'm sure you will all welcome.

'AU1' to Coventry University: a little fake pic I did as an appropriate image to encapsulate both the bulk of this
post about the loss of Beeline, and Aubrey's move to Coventry. I've attempted to mimic the typical Berkshire
display style, including a LED mortarboard to the left of the main destination.

That's all for now; I hope you enjoyed this long post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Don't forget to comment below, along with making the WLTM Transport Blog part of your blog list and hitting the 'Like' button on our Facebook page.

Written by Lewis J N, September 2015.

Berkshire Bus War: Courtney Has Won.

In Bracknell, at least.

From 29th August 2015, First Berkshire withdraw from Bracknell. The B-prefixed routes and, unfortunately Route 191 will be withdrawn. Route 90 has moved to Reading Buses on the 26th July 2015 (yes, it's to be renumbered 4/X4 and be branded Lion), and Route 94 will move to Stagecoach South on the 29th August 2015.

The start of the end was on the 13th July 2015, when the 53, 108, 151, 151A, 153 (150) all move from First Berkshire to Courtney Buses.

Courtney YD63 VBO on Route 53, Bracknell (© Aubrey)

Route 53 had initially been the preserve of First Berkshire/Beeline but had passed to Thames Travel before they withdrew from Bracknell, giving it back to First before Courtney won the tenders of Bracknell Forest Council. All of them.


Courtney YJ57 XXE on Route 108, Bracknell (© Aubrey)

Route 108 used to be with Thames Travel also, passing to First for a tad before going to Courtney with their usual offering of Solos that struggle to get out of Bracknell Bus Station!


Courtney KX11 EER on Route 150, Bracknell (© Aubrey)

Route 153 has been replaced by three new routes, thus also curtailing 53 to Bracknell Bus Station. One of which is the 150 (with the least helpful destination of Bracknell Bus Station on the LEDs) covering Priestfield and Binfield.


Courtney YJ08 PJV on Route 157, Bracknell (© Aubrey)

Route 53/153 has been replaced within Whitegrove (the 53 has been rerouted) by Routes 157/158 in a circular fashion. Notice behind the ex-7series branding on the 94, which we won't see when First leave. At least the destinations are a tad better there (and indeed on that 157 as well)!


Courtney YJ08 PJO on Route 158 next to First Berkshire 64018 on Route 90 via John Nike, Bracknell (© Aubrey)

That side-by-side is impossible now, as the 90 has moved to Reading Buses since then. Talking of which:


First Berkshire 33180 on Route 90 via Southern Estates, Birch Hill (© Aubrey)

But note, the 90 via Southern Estates is technically a win for First Berkshire as Courtney's 189 has been massively scaled back to 2 return journeys only going to Wokingham.
The 90 has gone from a load of Tridents and Citaros, with some Enviro 200s here and there to:


Reading Buses 1110 on Route 90 via John Nike, Reading Station (© Aubrey)

This. A load of temporary Scanias, until it gets it own Enviro 400s (some are ex-Claret, the rest are ex-University of Portsmouth) and it will be branded Lion. The 90 will be finally split too, being called the 4 (90 via Southern Estates) and X4 (90 via John Nike). A driver on the 90 told me on the third day of it, but waited until Martjin Gilbert (CEO of Reading Buses) said so on Twitter before saying it out loud. Notice the "on loan to First Beeline" notice. Not all buses on the 90 have this, and some of these buses have strayed onto local Reading routes. But the largest stray was this:


Reading Buses 860 on Route 490, Feltham Station (CC Aubrey)
Yep, a bus apparently "on loan to First Beeline" is on a Tube Strike extra just a few weeks after. Post is WIP.


First Berkshire 33144 on Route 191, Bracknell (© Aubrey)

And the forgotten one. By everyone. In the midst of this lot, there are no known plans by Courtney to increase their 192, nor for First to provide services when the 191 is withdrawn, completely (the 700/1/2 is limited stop). Which to be honest is a massive gap in terms of bus links being broken. The 191 is actually well used, and even a Solo might prove to be too small for the route! There is a petition, hopefully this soon to be broken link will be fixed.

And you ask what will happen to the 700/701/702? Well, it will stay to Bracknell as it is until the end of the summer season, 702 will run only from Victoria to Slough or Windsor. The 700/701 could feasibly be withdrawn if the curtailment goes ahead. Routes 700/701 will be withdrawn for the winter (at least) and the 702 will be re-routed to replace the 191. The route will run from Slough Garage and will still run to Bracknell. So First will still be in Bracknell come the winter season!