Workings on Route 607, 27/04/12

At times when I decide to go northbound via Southall to various places, I use the 607. Today, I found an odd working on it:

 First London VNW32412 (LK04 JBE) on Route 607, Hanwell Broadway (it is an operational spare, I think)

And, a normal working:

First London DN33518 (LK08 FNC) on Route 607, Southall Police Station

C2 with Metroline Last Day (27/04/12)

Abellio London won route C2 off Metroline, and Abellio operation starts on 28/04/12. Here are some pictures and videos of the last Metroline day for Route C2.

 Metroline TP422 (LK03 CFY) at Victoria.

Metroline TE983 at Victoria

Metroline TE934 (LK58 KGY) at Green Park Station

iBus on TP422

Temporary Bus Route 561 21/04/12

Route 561 is just Route 161 with smaller buses, and going into Queen Elizabeth's Hospital. But, seeming as this route is only going to have a very short life, it needed to be covered.

Southbound 561 timetable (note it says it goes to Chislehurst War Memorial, when it actually only goes to the Sainsbury's.)

Metrobus 147 (LT02 ZDX) on Route 561, Eltham Station

Metrobus 147 on Route 561 at Chislehurst, Abbey Road

Northbound 561 timetable, showing exact same mistake, as it does not serve Chislehurst, War Memorial.

 Bus stop poster about Routes 161/561

 Full publicity poster on Greenwich/Queen Elizabeth Hospital diversions.

 Bus stop showing the temporary bus stop plate for 561

 Metrobus 147 on Route 561, Chislehurst Sainsbury's

Metrobus 140 (LT02 ZDO) on Route 561, Chislehurst Sainsbury's.

iBus of 561 (southbound).

The route parallels Route 161 so much that there were not many people are using Route 561 on that day. Only a handful of buses have 561 blinds, and it has a PVR of 4. On that day, 3 buses were ex-First Orpington DMS and the 4th bus was an 8.8m Plaxton Pointer/Dennis Dart native to Metrobus.

Heathrow/Croydon Trip 20/04/12

My original plan was to go via Southall/Greenford, but timings at school go wrong, again!

Anyway, here are the observations:

 Abellio Surrey 8072 (SK02 TZV) on Route 555, Heathrow East. 

 The Metrobus timetable is still on display at Heathrow Central Bus Station

 London United/RATP VP111 (W457 BCW) on Route 111, Heathrow Central Bus Station

 National Express/Heathrow Hotel Hoppa 8345 (SN08 ADZ) - Virgin Flight Crew, Heathrow Central Bus Stn

 London United/RATP SP176 (YT10 XBZ) and SP52 (YT09 BNJ) on Route 111, Heathrow Central Bus Station

 Metroline VP622 (LK04 UXE) and VP613 (LK04 UWV) on Route 140, Heathrow Central Bus Stn

 Metroline VW1201 (LK11 CYV) on Route 105 and Quality Line/Epsom Coaches MCL11 (BN12 EOT) on Route X26, Heathrow Central Bus Station

 Quality Line MCL11 (BN12 EOT) on Route X26, Heathrow Central Bus Station

 Abellio London 8580 (YX61 GBE) on Route 490, Feltham. This is taken from inside an X26 bus. This is the new order for Route 490, as it is due Enviro 200s. Some are new, and some are ex-Route 350.

 Go-Ahead London General SE169 (YX61 EKH) on Route 80, Sutton

Drivers talking to each other mid-route on X26, MCL16 (BN12 EOY).

Route X26 with Quality Line, 17/04/12

Because of work during the weekend, I decided to instead cover the X26 during the week. It is now being run by Citaros of Quality Line/Epsom Coaches, but, I saw a rare working - Optare Versa. This was something I couldn't take a photo of because I was taking a video of a 111 journey into Heathrow Central. However, I got a still from the video, and here is the Versa on X26:

Sorry about the extreme low quality - it had just rained (again) and the window was wet. Also, it was on a video mode, so quality there is also down. Anyway, (barely readable), the blind display shows: West Croydon X26 and it is a Versa, so a rare working found at Heathrow Central.

After waiting thirty minutes for another X26, here is the usual order of X26: Citaros.

 Epsom Coaches/Quality Line MCL16 (BN12 EOY) on Route X26, Heathrow Central

 Epsom Coaches promoting their own tours on their own buses run by TfL. Different... 

 Just shows how popular the route is. First stop and nearly all seats filled.

 And so is the metal luggage rack.

 Wheelchair area of MCL16.

 Behind the driver's cab are a few notices. One shows that it is not part of Heathrow Freeflow. The other is a notice from the operator about the service. It's only a London Bus service...

 Epsom Coaches MCL16 at Hatton Cross

Rear of MCL16 at Hatton Cross

Special Post - X26 with Metrobus

As X26 has now passed from Metrobus to Quality Line, I have assembled two pictures of the X26 whilst in Metrobus control. I may cover the X26 later on next week, although that is uncertain, due to school work. However, these are shots of Route X26:

536 (YN03 WRF) at Heathrow Central Bus Station, 23/03/12 

540 (YN03 WRP) at West Croydon Bus Station, 03/04/12 

iBus of 540 on Route X26, 03/04/12

My Picture Archive Post 3

Again, I'll delve into my (now) over 3000 pictures to find one to post:

Transdev/London United DP58 (T358 PRH) on Route H98, Hounslow Bell Corner, taken 01/09/08

This was part of a batch of buses that were used extensively at Hounslow Garage on the single decker routes like H37, H98, 81 and 222. These buses replaced original Dennis Darts and Leyland Nationals (on H37). They have now been replaced by newer Darts, Enviro 200s (H98), Optare Tempos (H37) and double-decking (81,222). Since, these have been moved on and disposed of since contracts demand newer buses.

New-ish Buses on Route 607 31/03/12 and 03/04/12

Both trips were of not much purpose, rather an afterthought before getting home from other places. Yet, I got to see both of the new-ish buses on Route 607, DNs ex-Route 23 and VNWs ex-Route 150.

Shots from 31/03/12:

 First London DN33515 (LK08 FMY), Ealing Common Station

 Various interior shots of DN33515. It also shows how much of a dirty state the new-ish buses get so quickly on Route 607...

First London DN33513 (LK08 FMV), Hanwell Broadway

Here are the shots from 03/04/12: 

 First London DN33512 (LK08 FMU), Southall Town Hall

First London VNW32665 (LK55 AAX), Southall Town Hall

Routes 493, 249 and 19 31/03/12

Go-Ahead continue to invade more of London, with the new buses on Routes 19, 249 (ex-Arriva) and 493 (ex-London United/RATP).

I first did the 493, again for convenience reasons, all pictures taken in Wimbledon.

 SE187 (SN12 AVD) on Route 493

 SE186 (SN12 AVC) on Route 493

 Interior shots of SE186

 SE186 on Route 493 nearside

 SE186 Rear

 SE181 (SN12 AUV) on Route 493

 Interior shot of SE181

After a short train ride via Clapham to Balham, I caught the 249:

 WVL475 (LJ61 NXE) on Route 249

 WVL475 interior

 WVL475 rear

After a short hop on more trains, I caught the 19 from Sloane Square:

 WVL495 (LJ61 NWH) on Route 19, Sloane Square

 WHV31 (LJ12 CHK) on Route 19

WHV22 (LJ61 NVH) on Route 19, Battersea Bridge/South Side 

Various interior shots of WHV22, was playing with the camera for a bit... 

 WHV18 (LJ61 NVD) on Route 19

 WHV29 (LJ61 NVR) on Route 19

 Short workings occuring on the first day of operations... WVL488 (LJ61 NWA) on Route 19

 My bus wasn't immune to this, curtailing in Highbury Barn, WHV22 at the stand. Enroute to the Higbury Barn stand, I also saw a 19 curtailing to Holborn.

Rear of WHV22

Only one question left to ask: when will the take-over of London by Go-Ahead ever stop?