Strike Three for Stagecoach

On 30th March 2019, Stagecoach lost a large amount of work, with the 262, 396 and 473 all going to different operators, all using used buses, with the ULEZ playing its part in allocating buses. Yes, it's a tad tardy, but oh well.

Route 396 is a short shuttle between Ilford and King George Hospital, serving Little Heath, thus it can get fairly busy at times. It also was one of the few areas in London where Optare Versas still operated.
© Aubrey Morandarte

Route 396 had been operated by Stagecoach London at Barking (BK) since 2002, when they won it from First Capital, and thus has lasted 17 years with the operator (three contracts, one with extension). The second contract led to the 396 gaining Versas, and as the 2009 Versas aged for two contracts, Stagecoach would either have to find newer existing buses, or order new buses for the route in order to bid for the route.


On occasion, the 396 saw double deckers, an example being 10326 as seen at King George Hospital.
© Aubrey Morandarte

Go-Ahead Blue Triangle instead had existing buses of their own, being existing Enviro 200s from the loss of Route D6 to CT Plus. The route was allocated to River Road (RR) as part of the operator change.


SE115 standing at King George Hospital
© Aubrey Morandarte

The route itself can get very busy, with an Enviro 200 just about fitting the crowd from Newbury Park Underground towards Little Heath. These buses are only 3 years younger than the replaced Optare Versas, and are likely to be used for this contract only.


The double decker presence on the 396 shown by E207
© Aubrey Morandarte

Akin to the previous operator, Go-Ahead also occasionally use double deckers on the route, but otherwise the age profiles aren't too dissimilar from the previous vehicles (by 3 years, thus within one contract cycle).

Two more losses by Stagecoach were the 262 and 473, both to Tower Transit.


262 was one of the final stays for the Stagecoach Trident, with 18211 seen on the latter days of Stagecoach operation.
© Aubrey Morandarte

262 has been with East London (later Stagecoach) since privatisation, whilst 473 has been with Stagecoach since the first contract change in 1996. Although they were juggled over the past few years, with the garage situation in East London changing due to events like the Olympics demolishing the garages causing a chain reaction that did end up with Upton Park (U) closing, moving both said routes to the very large West Ham (WH) garage in September 2011.


473 had been the mainstay of these Scania Omnicity double deckers from West Ham (WH)
© Aubrey Morandarte

Both routes join up with Tower Transit at Lea Interchange (LI/HO). Although these contracts did end up having new buses ordered for the routes, they did not end up on the route. Instead, existing buses from a singular other route have been nabbed for these routes.


VN36118 shows the temporary assignment of buses for Route 262
© Aubrey Morandarte

VNs from the 25/N25 have been taken, and their well worn bodies are now turning out for East and West London's suburban routes. The 25's buses have been spread to as far as the 262, 452, 473 and D8. All allocated from one formerly very well patronised bus route.


473 is also subject to the use of Volvo B9TLs from the 25, with VN36134 entering Stratford
© Aubrey Morandarte

These buses, fairly recently refurbished and converted to Euro VI under the 25 contract, have since been forced to move from the route they were allocated to because of the London Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ), which covers the Central London congestion charging zone. As Routes 25/N25 do penetrate the zone, they are required to have Euro VI hybrid buses. Transport for London, however, has not said the proportion of the propulsion which has to be electric, so hybrid Streetdecks with flywheels and regenerative braking are now the use for Route 25.


The reductions on Route 25 have allowed a large amount of buses cascade for use on other routes. The ULEZ allowed the last few B9TLs move away. This bus enters Stratford Bus Station towards City Thameslink, a situation only created by both the Stratford two way system and the TfL budget spending priorities.
© Aubrey Morandarte

These, admittedly under-powered buses now ply the truncated, reduced use 25/N25 from City Thameslink (Oxford Circus at night) to Ilford. As part of Crossrail changes, the 25 would have been truncated to City Thameslink, as there would be enlarged capacity towards Ilford on Crossrail. However, due to the delays, most of the cuts caused by Crossrail...still went ahead due to the TfL funding crisis caused by multiple factors, not including the cut from central government under Boris, and the cut of fares caused by cheap votes for Sadiq Khan. These funding cuts show. The cut to the 25 is an implied TfL forced transport mode shift towards the tube. Which is already overcrowded in the central area, especially for the Central Line. But that's another post for another time.


WH31122 on the N25, a route born by the Central London bus cuts, caused by a need for saving a large amount of money.
© Aubrey Morandarte

Overall, these are good gains for the company Tower Transit, and Go-Ahead. However, Tower Transit only have these existing buses on the 262/473 as a stop-gap, and some are expecting the buses to return to their contracted routes from when the 25/N25 gets re-tendered at some point in the future.

Post and photographs by Aubrey Morandarte

All rights reserved © WLTMTB 2019

Cascade United

On 29th June 2019, Route 211 transferred from Abellio London to London United. Existing LTs were transferred over to Stamford Brook (V) to facilitate the changeover.


LT664 on the first day of London United operation, passing through Fulham Broadway enroute to Waterloo.
© Aubrey Morandarte

This is the second contract mandated operator change this route has had in its 26 year history, having started out as a midibus route operated by London General replacing the western section of Route 11, and the entirety of Red Arrow 511. The route had been with Abellio and its predecessors (Travel London, Limebourne, Connex, Travel London (again)) since 1998.


A view back in 2013, with a 52 reg Trident which was ordered in 2002 for the double decker conversion of the route.
© Aubrey Morandarte


The latter view of Route 211 was one of the common Wrightbus New Routemaster LT type, with LT632 from the 159 batch seen at Chelsea.
© Aubrey Morandarte

Having been converted to LT operation in 2016 as a mid contract changeover, the route had newer buses for its contract. However, it was not the said 211 LTs that swapped over to Abellio, but rather some even newer LTs moving over.


Taken back in 2016, when this bus was new for Route 68, LT666 is seen on Waterloo Bridge. Little known then would be that the bus would experience 3 operator changes in 3 years.
© Aubrey Morandarte

LTs from the fairly recently transferred Route 68 moved to Battersea (QB) in anticipation for the changeover to London United. As these were initially new for Go-Ahead London Central, these were deemed to be the transferred assets for the route. LT664-686 were ordered for the 68, with LT664-681 transferring to Battersea for their final days with Abellio prior to the transfer to London United.


LT670 on its final day with Abellio, nearing its curtailed terminus of Fulham Broadway
© Aubrey Morandarte

On the last day prior to the operator change, buses were stripped of their Abellio identifiers and driven to Stamford Brook. Whilst at the garage, the buses had logos, garage codes and new blinds installed, amongst the many formalities involved in receiving a bus from another operator.


LT678 seen at Victoria on the first day of London United operation.
© Aubrey Morandarte

All buses were smartly presented for their first day, complete with garage codes, full running number cards. Drivers did have route pilots available just in case they were not familiar with the route. These were observed on some buses throughout the day.


LT666 just 3 years later from the above photo of it on Route 68 with Go-Ahead, it is seen at Hammersmith operated by London United on Route 211. LT673, another bus transferred, is shown on the controversially shortened Route 27.
© Aubrey Morandarte

Stamford Brook used to vaguely keep the LT batches (with frequent daily strays) to their allocated route, although the withdrawal of the 10, subsequent allocation of Route 27 and Route 211 transferring all meaning that this has been thrown out of the window at times. The 211 LTs were reblinded upon arrival at Stamford Brook, meaning that from day one of gaining the 211, the 68 batch of LTs were found on the 9 and 27.


On the flip side, native London United LTs can also be found on the 211, as seen by LT160 just a few minutes later from the photograph taken above overtaking LT666 to start its journey at Hammersmith Bus Station.
© Aubrey Morandarte

The first day of operation by London United was scarred by yet another demonstration at Parliament Square, with a gap stretching from Chelsea to Waterloo eastbound being seen by midday itself. Although the route is difficult to handle, the team at London United already have experience running through said area with Route 148, as well as Stamford Brook having operated big routes like the 9, 10 and 27.


LT667 queuing in traffic approaching Fulham Broadway.
© Aubrey Morandarte

Post and photographs by Aubrey Morandarte


All rights reserved © WLTMTB 2019

Go-Sutton, Go

This will be a post that is not in the usual format, as it will be done completely in the first person experience. This reflects the personal experience of the blogger, and is not representative of the rest of the blog team's views:

MB5 stands at Sutton Station awaiting a request.
© Aubrey Morandarte

Transport for London, Go-Ahead London and ViaVan partnered to launch the first demand-responsive transit system within London. Go Sutton, launched on 28th May 2019 with Mercedes-Benz Sprinter minibuses akin to the one shown above, based in Sutton Garage. I will take one though the process of booking one journey with Go Sutton.

Registering:

Downloading the application is not as easy, with the Go Sutton app not being within the first few results when searched on Google Play. Of course, one can use the link on the Go Sutton website, but I persisted with the search, and it came up as the 7th option. Eventually, as the application becomes popular, it'll rise in the search results.

View when first opening GoSutton App

A log in/sign up screen is shown once opening the application for the first time. It is easy enough for most people to input an email account, password and a profile picture. Then, one has to input their payment details.

There are a few ways to pay:

Payment through the application on a debit/credit card, details are entered as part of the profile registration. I used this method.

Entering the Freedom Pass Oyster Card number, allowing free rides using said Freedom Pass.

Email GoSutton if one has a ENTCS (English National Concessionary Travel Scheme) pass to activate free rides.

Calling the support number as seen on https://gosutton.co.uk/

Texting their mobile number as seen on https://gosutton.co.uk/



Booking a ride:

This is an example drop-off point.
Beddington Corner (Goat Road).

This is an example pickup point.
The Crescent, Belmont.

Once the method of payment is sorted, one is taken to the map and asked to pin a pickup point.

This example journey will begin within Belmont, just south of the rail station. This is the southern extremity of the Go Sutton area.

To test the scope of the service, I took a journey to the northern extremity of the Go Sutton area, at Beddington Corner. This is 7 minutes away from Mitcham Junction Tram/Rail Station, but due to arbitrary borough boundaries, the journey will end at the edge of the Go Sutton area.

Choosing the pickup and drop off places from a map is very easy to deal with, and can either be placed on the map close to the GPS location, or searched in the search bar. Once these places are entered (within the network area), the application will automatically find any drivers nearby that are able to make the journey, and will give at least one option within 10 minutes away from your pickup point.

It seems that this vehicle has
come from another residential
area, thus it could be moving
from a drop-off in another area
in Banstead.

I have blurred out my card details
for obvious reasons.

Usually the pickup point will be within a few minutes walk, usually at the nearest junction or open space from the requested pickup point. As shown here for me, the pickup is at the junction between two roads (The Crescent and Queens Road).

Once all details have been confirmed, the rider is asked to book the ride, as seen to the left. The cost for the ride is £3.50, which for some journeys, seems reasonable considering that multiple changes between rail and bus may be required to link between two places, which can make some journeys cheaper via Go Sutton. 

The vehicle that I will be using is tracked, and it is shown that BN17JFX will be my vehicle for the ride to Beddington Corner. I saw it moving closer to me as the map updated in real time, and a notification popped up when the vehicle was two minutes away or less.

Ride:

MB6 arriving at the pickup point to take me to my destination.
© Aubrey Morandarte

Promptly, the bus arrived. The driver asked whom my name was, just to confirm I was the passenger required, before hopping on. I took a seat at the rear of the bus.

The amenities included were:
Free wi-fi provided by Icomera.
USB charging sockets at every seat.
Leather seating.
Seat belts (mandatory by law).

MB6/BN17JFX itself is formerly a Evobus demonstrator, which has seen notable use in Cumbria with Stagecoach prior to use in the Go Sutton trial. All but two buses are demonstrators on loan to Go Sutton.

Interior of MB6 during my ride to Beddington Corner.
© Aubrey Morandarte

The friendly driver was to follow the directions shown by the tablet at the front of the bus, just by the driver's side where a ticket machine would normally be. It is a basic satellite navigation system which may change routing dynamically in order to respond to demand for people to travel to similar places e.g. Sutton Town Centre, St Helier Hospital.

However, problems struck the directions, as the satellite navigation directed us to go out of the operating area, and out of London. It told us to take the second exit of a roundabout with the main road out of Belmont, instead of the first. However, the driver managed to turn us around at the next intersection to get us back on track. She apologised for the error numerous times, with a clear level of sincerity, and I appreciated that she apologised. It did not affect the journey too badly, and it was understandable as teething problems.

The welcome message to the wifi.

The ride itself was fairly uneventful, ignoring the initial mishap. I had to try the in-built amenities. The USB charger started to charge my phone well, managing to add 5% of charge with a poor wire. A decent wire would be able to charge a phone slightly more with the approximately 28 minute journey (well, 20 minutes without the diversion).

The wi-fi has a limit mandated by Icomera with a 50MB limit. This allows for basic internet, including sending messages. Sending images are limited due to bandwidth. It had no problem running applications including Spotify, and sending messages to Discord. It cannot load a video well in YouTube.

Anyway, closer to the end of the journey, a text was sent automatically from Go Sutton, telling me that my drop off was coming up, and to check for all of my belongings. I felt this was a nice touch, especially as one could be consumed by being on their phone during the short ride.

MB6 dropping me off at Beddington Corner.
© Aubrey Morandarte

The drop-off was slightly off my original drop-off pin, as the driver was slightly unsure where I should be dropped off, but it was very close, and at a safe grass verge at the green around Beddington Corner. 

Verdict:

Honestly, the experience with Go Sutton was pretty good. Yes, there were some teething problems, but overall, the experience seemed to be overwhelmingly positive. The ride of the Mercedes Sprinter City was as good as a van derived bus could be. It wasn't the greatest, but it was expected. Driver was well presented, and provided great service. I expect the teething problems to be ironed out over time, but the experience is good considering the relative unknown quantity of demand responsive transit in London.

Once the service gets more custom, it is expected that journey times will increase as buses will divert slightly in order to hook more people up with fellow people heading in a similar direction. Worst case scenario would be where the £3.50 could make it not worth the extra fare from the fare of the bus/train. It is not intended for the service to be a cheap taxi, but it fulfilled that role for me on the day of the ride. It does provide an alternative that rides between a taxi/minicab and public transport, where it is priced between the two, but also has the convenience level which is between the two. It will take time to whether the service becomes either a glorified Dial a Ride, or an actual alternative to low demand, low frequency bus routes in hard to serve residential areas, and supplementing the existing network.

As the whole thing is a trial, along with the Ealing DRT later on this year, it will not be integrated with the TfL ticketing systems. Hopefully this will be addressed after the 12 month trial, if TfL decide to continue with this experiment. It certainly seems that Go Sutton is used though.

Comparison:

OM20236 with a broken display on Route S1 enroute to Banstead, at Mitcham Junction.
© Aubrey Morandarte

To compare, the alternative was the direct bus S1 between Beddington Corner and Belmont Station. I took the S1 between those points and the journey was less than impressive, even ignoring the fact that it was a bus route, and had to go through Sutton Town Centre. The Go Sutton ride took me via Carshalton, avoiding the traffic around Sutton.

The journey took nearly 50 minutes, and the bus was certainly busy. Especially around the Sutton area, the bus was notably crowded with 3 buggies taking the wheelchair area notably. The bus comfort was not great, with idling vibrations being a key downside to the bus ride. It is £1.50 though, and good value considering what is on offer in terms of bus fares in other parts of the country, even though the fares do not reflect the actual costs at times. Go Sutton is quicker, albeit more expensive, hence there is the trade off to think when planning a journey. Also, as the Go Sutton service is restricted to within the London Borough of Sutton, Mitcham Junction Station is not included in the area even though it is only 7 minutes walk from Beddington Corner.

Later on this year, there will be a trial of DRT in Ealing with the partners being MOIA and RATP, and it will be interesting to see the differences and similarities between the two DRT operations.

Post by Aubrey Morandarte

Screenshots are from the Go Sutton application

All rights reserved © WLTMTB 2019