RIP Buses Excetera

The sudden demise of Buses Excetera on 11 March 2019 meant that there were stranded school children at schools, and people were stranded across Surrey. School routes 43, 45, 617, 618, 619, 668 and regular routes 28 and 479 stopped running with immediate effect after the morning peak on the Monday. This has led to a series of emergency contracts having to be agreed, and other operators just stepping in to operate the former school routes. Routes 28 and 479 took longer to find operators, with them being found later on in the week.

Buses Excetera in their "prime", running Surrey County Council routes, including Route 516 (now 21 under Metrobus), with Edward Thomas & Sons running Route 479 on behalf of Sunray Travel, prior to the Buses Excetera takeover of the route. This was taken in 2013.
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

Buses Excetera started out as Croydon Coaches, before expanding into bus work with Surrey County Council tendered bus work and ended up one of the bus companies that picked up the pieces from the Countryliner demise.


Two operators in 2015 were still running, but by 2019 were completely gone. Buses Excetera running the 479, with Abellio Surrey in the background on Route 515.
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

Unfortunately, events have not been rosy for Buses Excetera, with their fairly recent losses in Surrey County Council tendering meaning they were left with a small stub of a network. Financial issues also loomed over the company during the latter stages of its life. September 2017 saw their Guildford town services move to Compass Travel. September 2018 saw a large amount of losses, with the 32 and 479 Sunday service moving to Stagecoach South. 318 and 866 moved to Metrobus, and 73 moved to Falcon Buses. This left BETC with the remaining school routes, and routes 28 & 479, all commercial.

These events all cumulated to the administration of Buses Excetera (Coaches Excetera is unaffected as it is a separate, independent arm) on the 11th March 2019. Surrey has turned into a very cut throat business, with multiple companies over the lifetime of this blog having succumbed to financial difficulties operating in Surrey.


Cardinal Buses TA324 on Route 617 at Epsom Clock Tower
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

The first routes to be given replacements were the school routes. As these were one bus operations, these routes found new homes pretty easily.

Routes 43, 45 were taken over by Safeguard Coaches, who currently operate town routes within Guildford. These routes serve Godalming College (43) and Rodborough School (45).


Cardinal Buses TA950 on Route 619, another affected route
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

Routes 617 and 619 were taken over by Cardinal Buses. They have previously been involved with the rescue of a very different operator in Surrey, having taken Route 557 from Abellio back in 2017, in addition to their current school work. Their scope of Tridents have expanded, to ex-Stagecoach London Tridents in addition to their ex-London United ones in fleet livery.


Route 668 was taken over by Go-Ahead London, with their commercial fleet taking over. They have a plethora of buses withdrawn from their TfL subsidiary, including E6 which was from TfL Route 196 prior to transfer to the commercial fleet. Route 618 was also taken over by GAL.
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

The commercial all-day routes however were not immediately replaced. Route 28 (Woking-Knaphill-Pirbright Fox-Guildford), the smaller operation of the two remaining all-day operations found an operator in Falcon Buses on Wednesday 13th March.


KV03ZFG on Route 73 next to SK68LZL on Route 28
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

Falcon Buses have increased their presence in Woking with their new route, having gained 73 already from BETC in tendering, as well as Route 456 (Monday-Saturday). Two slightly used Enviro 200MMCs from dealer stock were acquired for the service, both in differing lengths.
SK68LZL was formerly used by Ford in their Chariot service, having also seen use in Rail Replacement services. It is a short, 8.9m bus.


YW68OVT about to start service on the 28 at Guildford, on the first day of service.
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

YW68OVT saw prior use with Newbury & District, and is the longer one of the two buses at 10.8m.

Most of the route is covered on Sundays by Arriva Route 91 projections from Knaphill to Guildford, and is ironically more frequent than the weekday/Saturday Route 28. However, as it was the smaller operation, it was very quickly taken on as a commercial venture by Falcon Buses. As they were not directly taking over from BETC, they are currently "reviewing" the service in the coming weeks before making any timetable changes.

The main route of the bunch, 479 (Epsom-Leatherhead-Bookham-Guildford) did not see a new operator until Saturday 16th March when Arriva Southern Counties opted to step in with existing buses.


4204 leaving Epsom on the 479 on a schoolday only short journey to Howard of Effingham School
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

Route 479 has been operated by Arriva, albeit prior to Countryliner operation. The route has since gone through several operators: Countryliner, Sunray Travel and BETC between its two periods of operation by Arriva Southern Counties. All the operator changes were due to financial issues, with the company dissolving in the process. Ironically, when Countryliner went under, Quality Line also ran a free service on the 479 for a week in October 2012 alongside Sunray Travel before the Traffic Commissioner gave the licence for Route 479 to Sunray Travel. Eventually, Sunray Travel encountered problems of their own in 2013, with Edward Thomas & Sons running buses on Route 479 on behalf of Sunray before BETC took over the route.


J60ETC when BETC ran the route in 2014. Ironically, this bus is ex-Countryliner as AE06VPY.
(CC Aubrey Morandarte)

BETC expanded the route to run every 30 minutes between Bookham and Epsom with these shorts initially numbered as Route 489, before being merged with Route 479. This remained the state until demise on March 2019.


4091 on the schoolday journey towards Chipstead Valley, seen at Epsom Clock Tower
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

Arriva have taken over the route, with some support from Surrey County Council, and some Streetlites have transferred over from Northfleet to supplement the existing fleet in running Route 479. It is run under the existing timetable.

However, the week where the 479 had no bus meant that passengers between Leatherhead and Guildford had the option of the rail service, using very limited Route 478 or going via Cobham on Routes 408 and 715.


Reptons SL62REP on the only direct route between Leatherhead and Guildford during the week the 479 was not running.
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

Now, as the routes have found new homes, hopefully these homes are more stable than their prior one in BETC. In order to take these routes under such very short notice is an achievement for each of Arriva, Safeguard, Go-Ahead London, Falcon Buses and Cardinal Buses.

RIP Buses Excetera

Post by Aubrey Morandarte

All rights reserved © WLTMTB 2019

Picture Archive Post 69

The last Coventry BendiBus, for the last time. (20/03/2018)
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

On the 20th March 2018, Coventry saw its last articulated bus, as 6021 rolled into Coventry Garage at about 6:30pm after doing a run on Route 4.

Articulated buses started out in May 2003, with these Citaros running then route 27 between Coventry Station and Walsgrave, University Hospital. Older Mercedes-Benz O405GN transferred from Travel West Midlands also ran on the 21 from 2004. Those buses had ran on the 67 in Birmingham from 1999, and were replaced by Scania N94UAs. In 2011, the older bendy buses were replaced with Enviro 400s on Route 21, leaving the Citaros to continue running on the 27. In 2012, the 27 was rerouted at Coventry City Centre to run to Arena Park, and renumbered 4.


NX Coventry 6018 on Route 4, Pool Meadow, 30/10/2015
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

The buses soon gained National Express Coventry names and continued on the branded Route 4 until 2018, when the last "bendibus" ran on the 4. Replacement of these buses are existing double deckers from within the National Express West Midlands umbrella, most of which are ironically older than the Citaros.


NX Coventry 6018 on Route 4, Pool Meadow, 02/09/2015
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

6021 itself started out as a Travel West Midlands bus, operating on the 67. However, it moved along with the O405GN2s to Coventry in 2004 where it ran mainly on the 21, then the 27/4. It will be sold for scrap.


6021 entering Coventry Garage for the last time.
(© Aubrey Morandarte)


A load of transport enthusiasts film/take photos of 6021 as it enters the bus garage.
(© Aubrey Morandarte)

Post by Aubrey Morandarte
All rights reserved © WLTMTB 2018

Ch, ch, ch, changes ... in Reading, Caversham & beyond

The past couple of months have been a busy period for Reading Buses. As well as a number of fleet and service changes to their existing Reading & Caversham town services, their operations have expanded to covering the Greenline 702 Bracknell to London service, and Routes 2 & 5 in Slough under the Thames Valley brand. Reading have taken on the 702, followed by the 2 & 5, with evening buses on Route 4, and Sunday buses on Route 6 after First Berkshire ceased their operation of those routes.

Back in Reading & Caversham, Route 17 has seen a recent makeover with brand new state-of-the-art gas buses which has sent a cascade of slightly older vehicles to other routes which has in turn seen the withdrawal of old buses.
As a result of the Caversham Consultation at the end of 2017, Reading are also modifying their Pink route network with changes affecting the 23, 24, 27 & 29. There are also some changes to the NINEteens which sees the 9 split from the 19, with the latter being combined with the 22 and numbered 22.

Reading have recently announced that they will be taking over the operation of Stagecoach's Route 7 between Fleet and Reading.



Greenline 702

In late 2017 First Berkshire announced that they would cease running their Greenline Express 702, that runs between London Victoria and Bracknell via Slough, Windsor and LEGOLAND. Following this announcement, Reading Buses agreed that they would take over the running of the route, initially following First's timetable and with a mixture of fleet vehicles. That said E400 1208 (GO11LDN) has been specially branded up for the Greenline express launch (see below).
Reading are still trialling a variety of vehicles on the route before placing an order for their preferred bus.

Greenline 1208 in London Victoria
© Tommy Cooling
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127662272@N07/38457029755/in/album-72157662963476162/

Grey Greenline 758 in Bracknell
© Tommy Cooling

Scania deomstrator 778 in Slough
© Tommy Cooling

Sky Blue 15 & 16

The 15, 15a and 16 are in the process of receiving the purple E400s displaced off the 17. These E400s are being converted from hybrid to diesel upon refurbishment, a process that is also seeing the E400s turn blue, to match the "Skyblue" livery of the 15/a and 16.
These E400s are replacing the blue Olympus's, as well as the Caversham Pink Scania Omnicities.

At time of publishing, only 208, 225 & 229 have been refurbished.

Skyblue 208 in Central Reading
© Tommy Cooling
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127662272@N07/38428304050/in/album-72157662963434472/

Purple 17

Brand new CNG powered Scania E400 City buses have recently appeared on Purple Route 17. These are the first buses in Reading to operate with rear exit doors, a new feature that is well needed on such a busy route, and one that I personally hope will be adopted on any new vehicles the Claret 21 & 21a University routes get, if not across more of the Reading Buses network.
These state-of-the-art purple buses on the 17, of which there are 17 in total, have replaced the 2011 built electric hybrid E400s that were previously allocated. These vehicles are undergoing a refurbishment process and painted in the Sky Blue livery for Routes 15/a & 16, as well as the new Berry livery for Routes 23 & 24.

Purple 715 in Central Reading
© Tommy Cooling

Purple 713 by Forbury Gardens in Reading
© Tommy Cooling
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127662272@N07/38428302360/in/album-72157662963434472/

Thames Valley Ventures

In late January 2018, Reading Buses took over the operation of some First Berkshire routes in Slough; Route 2, which runs between Dedworth, Windosr and Slough, and Route 5, Cippenham to Slough. In addition to this, Reading also took over the running of the evening journeys on Route 4, and the Sunday operation of Route 6. This group of routes has fallen under the delightful Thames Valley branding and grouping.

Thames Valley Scania OmniCity 4 on Route 2 in Slough
© Tommy Cooling
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127662272@N07/38691373180/in/album-72157662963434472/

Thames Valley Solo SR 198 on Route 5 in Slough
© Tommy Cooling

February 17th Changes

The NINE(teens), [Red] Nineteen and Pink 22

Route 9 has been branded into generic grey and been unlinked from the NINEteens group. The routing for the 9 has also being revised such that it can provide a better link between Whitley Wood and the Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH). The route reverts back to using Shinfield Road from Whiteknights Road.

Route 19 has being combined with the 22 and turned Red! Buses run between Chalfont Way ASDA in Lower Earley to Caversham Heights, as per the old 22 did, providing direct links between Caversham and RBH. This route has also been numbered 22, and will be allocated red streetlites. On Sundays, services only run between Central Reading and Caversham Heights.



Grey 654 in Central Reading
© Tommy Cooling

NINEteens White 131 by Forbury Gardens in Reading
© Tommy Cooling

Pink 431 on Friar Street in Reading
© Tommy Cooling

Red 22 Streetlite 167 in Central Reading
© Tommy Cooling

Streetlite 167 was one of the batch that was delivered orange for the Earley 19s back in 2014. Now it has been painted into Red for the Red22 branding.
With this, the new 22 service is also using the former Scarlet9 E300s.



Red 22 E300 414 in Reading
© Tommy Cooling

Pink 23 & 24

Pink routes 23 & 24 have been combined providing a two-way circular service improving links within Caversham, and between Caversham and Central Reading.
Route 23 runs via Reading Bridge and out through Queensway, returning via Hemdean Road and across Caversham Bridge. Route 24 runs via Caversham Bridge and out along Hemdean Road, returning via Caversham Park and across Reading Bridge.
Both routes serve the north side of Reading Station before continuing on a anti-clockwise loop through Central Reading via Friar Street and Blagrave Street.

The Caversham Pink Omnicities are gradually being replaced in the fleet with refurbished ex. Purple 17 E400s and spare E200 & E300s. A number of the displaced Omnicities are ending up at Midlands-based operator midlandclassic, 1102 is already in service with the operator, still carrying its Caversham Pink livery!

At time of publishing E400s 219 and 220 have been painted into the new Berry livery for the 23 & 24.

Pink 1104 on Friar Street in Reading
© Tommy Cooling

Berry 220 in Reading
© Tommy Cooling

Berry 219 in Reading
© Tommy Cooling
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127662272@N07/38691373210/in/album-72157662963434472/

Pink 27 & 29

These routes became circular providing more direct journeys between Reading, Caversham Centre and Lower Caversham - with route 27 operating anti-clockwise and route 29 clockwise.

Pink 163 on Friar Street in Reading
© Tommy Cooling

STOP PRESS
Route 7

It has been announced that from April 2018, Reading Buses will take over the running of Stagecoach Route 7 from Reading to Fleet. Stagecoach would continue to operate from Fleet to Aldershot. With the takeover, two buses from Stagecoach would transfer to Reading Buses, and at the moment these are believed to be two ALX400 bodies Tridents, like TA18064 below.



Stagecoach TA18064 in Central Reading
© Tommy Cooling
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127662272@N07/25388211207/in/album-72157662963434472/

Post by Tommy Cooling
Some of these images and more can be found on my Flickr page:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127662272@N07/

Please do not reproduce any of my images without permission

First's last hurrah on the Greenline

Ever so slightly late but here it is!

-
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

Euro BusExpo 2016

A nice easy(!) topic to discuss for my first ever WLTM blog post, and something that took way outside of my London comfort zone. There will be more about me at the bottom of this post ...

The bi-annual European BusExpo event returned to the NEC in Birmingham this year, and there was, at least vehicle-wise, a greater focus upon provincial buses than in previous years. In addition to provincial buses, the main focus of 2016's Bus Expo was on the varying forms of electric and gas powered vehicles. The primary aim of my visit to the NEC was from an enthusiast point of view looking at the newest ranges of vehicles being demonstrated, so I was there, camera in hand, ready to snap the latest designs and vehicle technologies coming off the shelf.

 

The first vehicle I came to was a world first. This Scania ADL E400 is the world's first Euro 6 bus, powered by food scraps and sewage waste alone. This bus is likely to be used at Nottingham.

 

Scania unveiling the world's first Bio Gas bus (© Tommy)

Next to the Scania "stall" was Mercedes-Benz. Their demonstration vehicle was a McGill's "ClydeFlyer" Citaro. McGill's have since announced they are gaining a further 14 new Citaros for their Clyde express routes.

 

McGill's Mercedes-Benz Citaro (© Tommy)

 

Following on from Mercedes-Benz you arrived into the Optare area. Optare were showcasing three different vehicles, two were London oriented and one provincial. The first of the London vehicles was an electric version of the Optare Metrodecker on trial with Go-Ahead on the 486.

 There were a few "first time" experiences on buses whilst at the NEC and the first came whilst trying to enter the Metrodecker. Height room for me through doors on any bus had never been an issue, but did when I tried to enter to Metrodecker through the rear doors as my forehead soon found out!

This Metrodecker EV is believed to be going on trail with Go-Ahead London, reinforced by the route 36 blinding, and the inclusion of London Central legal lettering!

 

Optare Metrodecker EV (© Tommy)

In addition to the Metrodecker, Optare were also showing their new MetroCity range for both London and provincial buyers. The London version was the electric MetroCity EV (top), in London Buses red with "green leaves", and the provincial version was the Metrocity xFE (bottom).

 

Optare MetroCity EV (© Tommy)

Optare Metrocity xFE (© Tommy)

 

Moving around the showroom from Optare, you came to the Alexander Dennis (AD) display and stall area. Alexander Dennis had the greatest number of buses on show, tied with Wright, four. The AD vehicles were an electric BYD E200 for Go-Ahead's Red Arrow routes in Central London, a provincial E400-City demonstrator and one of the new pink E200 MMCs for Trentbarton's Mickleover route.

Also on show was an LCEB compliant E400 MMC for Reading Buses' Royal Blue route 33. The Reading Buses E400 is powered entirely by compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) comprised from farm, food and sewage waste, similar to the Scania E400.

 

Go-Ahead ADL BYD E200 SEe35 (© Tommy)

Royal Blue Reading Buses ADL E400
(© Tommy)

 

ADL E400 City (© Tommy)

ADL E200 MMC (© Tommy)

 

After the ADL collection was the BYD (Build Your Dreams) section, and on display was one of Metroline's Chinese built K8SR electric double-deck BYDs, BYD1474. Five of them have been built and are in use at Willesden Garage running on routes 98 and N98, and are numbered BYD1471-1475. The first entered service on May 5th driven on a special working by TfL's Head of Surface Transport, Leon Daniels.  

 

Metroline BYD1474 (© Tommy)

 The biggest display stall both by quantity and star attraction was Volvo's new electric B5LHC chassis, fitted with a Wrightbus short routemaster (SRM) body, with the "C" referring to the fast Conductive charging system that relates to the overhead charging via the pantograph. The bus is charged via roof-mounted charging rails from a pantograph mounted to a charging station, as demonstrated below. The aim is that the bus would be charged from fixed spots along a route and at the termini. The bus works the same as a Volvo B5LH, that is it can operate at time in pure diesel, pure electric, or both, and would have the ability to travel up to 7km in pure electric mode without a recharge.

Wright's new electric B5LHC SRM  (© Tommy)

The interior is the basic New Bus for London (NBfL) with gold grab poles and red/grey striped/checked moquette, in two door format with a bank row of seats at the rear of each deck. The upper deck is the same as the hybrid SRM version but the downstairs is a different matter. In this electric SRM, the spacing between the front and rear doors, normally comprising of a luggage rack and four seats is instead replaced by a "battery cell pack" compartment. This compartment stretches from the front doors to the rear and rises to almost the top of the window level, to the location of the side blind box. This means that the driver cannot see the rear doors of their bus using their mirrors and has to instead rely completely on their little camera. Two of these B5LHCs have been ordered by TfL for trialling.

Next to Volvo's B5LHC Wrightbus SRM, was another Volvo chassis, the B5TL, with a Wrightbus Gemini 3 open top body in Edinburgh Tour livery.

Wright B5TL Gemini 3 open top (© Tommy)

Wrightbus had their own stand with their own in-house designs. Wrightbus were displaying two single deck vehicles and two double deck streetdecks.

The first of the two singles was a door forward (DF) Streetlite for MetroBus in "Fastway" livery for route 100.



Wright Streetlite - MetroBus 6104 (© Tommy)

The other single deck on display was one of Wrightbus' new electric single decks. The bus is the Wrightbus StreetAir EV. This is based on the Streetdeck chassis but with the classic Wrightbus single deck body at a length of 10.6m. At least one bus is due to be trialled with Go-Ahead and has been seen route testing along the 360. The StreetAir shown below was displayed with an Arriva interior so one would suggest that Arriva will also be trialling the StreetAir, possibly on the 312.

Wright StreetAir EV (© Tommy)

The two Wrightbus streetdecks were both from provincial operators. On show were Reading Buses 906 and Lothian 441. The interior of 441 has similarities with the New Bus for London, with the inclusion of "spot lights" on the upper deck and glass on the upper deck front support pillars in a similar fashion to the LTs and the electric SRM.

Wright's new Streetdeck Gemini 3s; Reading Buses 906 and Lothian 441 (© Tommy)

 

Also on display was a new electric single deck, Yutono E12 B39F is blue and white Arriva livery. It is very unlikely that TfL will order these vehicles due to the very small space for the front blind display.

Arriva E12 B39F Yutono (© Tommy)

 

The final display item was a new AD E200Dart for the Isle of Wight's Southern Vectis. HF66 CHH, 2751, stands up proud on Totalkare hydraulic jacks.

 

AD E200 - Southern Vectis 2751 (© Tommy)

 

Finally a bit about me! I have a vast interest in London's transport both from the early days of LT with RMs, RTs and RFs right up to the modern day with NBfLs and the vast array of hybrid deckers. Within London I like keep track of the London Bus network and London's vast rail network. Primarily I like to cover North West London and Central London as they are closet to my home in Harrow, but have been known to go further afield! I post my wanderings on Flickr, which can be viewed here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127662272@N07/?deleted=15240589409. I do also have a YouTube channel but I haven't used that for years. I mainly seek out the unusual workings in London, but also cover route changes and just general pictures.

 

I have been brought up into a transport family with parental connections going back nearly 40 years in the LT era, and I keep the tradition going as I too now work in the transport industry.

 

This blog post is the first of what I hope will be many...