Citaro K MBK1/XMS1 BU13 ZVE

BU13ZVE (MBK1/XMS1) is one of the first Euro VI engined buses in the UK. It is projected to have a 3-5% fuel saving compared to a Euro V Citaro, and it has won the Bus of the Year Award 2013.
Quality line was the first to receive the demonstrator, and it was intended to be used on the X26 and 465, although it only went out on the X26.

Firstly, Josh got it in Epsom Garage:

Quality Line MBK1 at Epsom Garage, 03/08/13 (Josh)

Then Tom got it on the X26:

Quality Line MBK1 on Route X26, Wallington 09/08/13 (Tom)

Then Au and Josh got the last working of MBK1 on X26:

 
Quality Line MBK1 on Route X26, Heathrow Central, 28/08/13 (Au)


X26 to Heathrow Central, 28/08/13 (Au)


Quality Line MBK1 on Route X26, Heathrow Central, 28/08/13 (Josh)


Quality Line MBK1 on Route X26, Heathrow Central, 28/08/13 (Josh)


Quality Line MBK1 on Route X26, Heathrow Central, 28/08/13 (Josh)


Quality Line MBK1 on Route X26, Heathrow Central, 28/08/13 (Josh)
Time we see the back of MBK1, as it moves away from Quality Line...

Then, it moved to London Central at Camberwell Garage, and it appeared on Route 355 every time it went out, on the same working with the same driver, even though it was also intended for the P5.
Au got it a day before it left:

 

London Central MBK1 on Route 355, Balham 26/09/13 (Au)

 
The interior and legals of MBK1, 26/09/13 (Au)


London Central MBK1 on Route 355, Mitcham 26/09/13 (Au)

Afterwards, it moved to Abellio London West for use on the 235. And yes, Abellio have not stuck rigidly to the allocation, also putting it on the 290, 490, R70 and K3. It also underwent a code change half way on its first run on the 235, changing to XMS1. Firstly, Josh and Au got it on the 235 on the first Saturday it went on it:

Abellio XMS1 on Route 235, Brentford County Court 12/10/13 (Au)


 
Abellio XMS1 on Route 235, Brentford County Court 12/10/13 (Au)


Abellio XMS1 on Route 235, Brentford County Court 12/10/13 (Au)


Abellio XMS1 on Route 235 and an unidentified Metroline West DE on Route 195, Brentford County Court 12/10/13 (Au)


Abellio XMS1 on Route 235, Hounslow Heath 12/10/13 (Au)

The following Monday, Au got the bus on the 490:

Abellio XMS1 on Route 490, Richmond Station 14/10/13 (Au)

Interior of XMS1 14/10/13 (Au)

Abellio XMS1 on Route 490, Richmond Pools on the Park 14/10/13 (Au)

After a hiatus, it appeared at Enfield Garage for use on the 313, which has a few fast stretches, of which I experienced none of due to peak traffic! Despite the non-existent Piccadilly Line strike, Au decided to go and get it:


Arriva London MBK1 on Route 313, Chingford Station 04/12/13 (Au)


Arriva London MBK1 on Route 313, Chingford Station 04/12/13 (Au)

313 to Chingford Station iBus 

  313 to both ends of the route! 

   

Arriva London MBK1 on Route 313, Chingford Station 04/12/13 (Au)

Arriva London MBK1 on Route 313, Chingford Station 04/12/13 (Au)


Arriva London MBK1 on Route 313, Chingford Station 04/12/13 (Au)

Note how, though, at no point did Lewis get it, although this wasn't for lack of trying... it was mainly due to BU13 ZVE being temperamental, and being in this status every time people tried to chase this bus:

Quality Line MBK1 Not in Service, Heathrow Central, 28/08/13 (Au)

It has not (been) in service so far this year, and it doesn't seem like it'll come back. Then again, MBK1 has surprised many, and it could spring one up again soon...

My Picture Archive Post 20

This post is slightly late due to some circumstances within my control. So it's backdated to the 20th, for obvious reasons!


First Beeline DML41174 on Route 60, Heathrow Terminal 5, 16/02/13

Route 60 is a small local connector between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Eton Wick, going through Wraysbury, Datchet, Slough and Eton en-route. It runs 'approximately hourly', and it interworks with Route 61, which explores deeper into Wraysbury. The route has run to Terminal 5 since it opened back in 2008 (seems a long time ago, doesn't it?) and it now has Enviro 200 (E20D) on the route, much more modern than the Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLF.

This particular bus started out as Centrewest DM174 back in December 1997 for route 282 at Greenford Garage. It then transferred to First Berkshire in 2004, after a short stint at Hackney in 2003, running on local routes, including routes such as local 50A/B (which is possibly the predecessor of the 60) , 90A/B which went to Heathrow Airport. It has since transferred to First Cymru, running to places like Port Talbot nowadays.

Early Birds - Route 148 NBfL Conversion Part 1 05-14/02/14

This post is also part one of the NBfL conversion of Route 148, the first fully OPO NBfL conversion. It is the sixth route to have these buses, and the second staggered full conversion, the first being Route 11. Before the official conversion date of the 15th February 2014, many NBfLs were out on the route already, and have been since the Tube Strike of the 5th February 2014.

London United LT144 on Route 148, White City, 14/02/14
Route 148 takes a different way to all other terminating routes to White City Bus Station, which does mean it has the most long-winded journey to the next stop, which is at most 25m away from this photo behind.


London United LT144 on Route 148, Marble Arch, 05/02/14


London United LT127 on Route 148, Shepherd's Bush Station, 12/02/14


London United LT122 on Route 148, White City Bus Station, 14/02/14


London United LT130 on Route 148, White City, 14/02/14


London United LT127 on Route 148, White City Bus Station, 14/02/14
Some buses don't bother with the routing via Wood Lane and go where most other terminating bus routes go towards White City Bus Station. This bus did exactly that.


London United LT144 on Route 148, Shepherd's Bush, 14/02/14

Well, the 15th is the date of the official conversion, so this concludes the first part of the 148 NBfL conversion posts. The next part will cover the actual conversion date.

2nd Year: Political Pawns.

 Year 2 

The WLTMTB has ticked on two years since a pigeon was hit by a train, but since then, the blog has gathered a team twice, and one notable, controversial bus has arrived on the London scene. It has many names: NBfL, Wright Streetmaster, Borismaster, New Routemaster etc. But the bus, introduced on 27th February 2012 on Route 38 as extras, has since spread to the 24, 11, 9, 390 and 148. It will also end up on the 10 and 8 later on this year. But as this bus spreads, due to 608 being ordered initially so far, it is a common sight on London's roads. As an icon per advertised, that remains to be seen...

Arriva London LT2 on Route 38 (X), 16/03/12

The first route to be partly converted, LT1, 2, 3 and 8 have since gone on tour around the world to promote Britain. These prototype NBfLs are heavier than their production counterparts.

Au covered this on 16/03/12.

 

Since then, the special 'LTZ1xxx' number plates were applied across the LT fleet.

Arriva LT4 on Route 38, 04/01/14 

The first production vehicles rolled off the line at Wrightbus, Northern Ireland and soon, enough was gathered to convert the first route, 24, with detrimental consequences on reliability for the rest of the 22nd June.

Metroline LT32 on Route 24, Trafalgar Square, 22/06/12

This was the first ever NBfL on the 24, running with an 8 man crew and 20 minutes late. The rest of the service was about 20 minutes late, and the Hampstead Heath stand was known for overcrowding.

Au, James, Josh and Tom covered this.

Metroline LT110 on Route 24, Trafalgar Square, 04/12/13
Since then, Route 390 gained NBfLs and its buses are commonly used on the 24 as the fleets at HT are intermixed.

Then came the 11, which to this day is the only NBfL operated route crewed on weekends, which converted on 21/09/13, weirdly in stages:


London General LT42 on Route 11, Aldwych, 21/09/13
This was the first crewed eastbound bus doing the full route. Or was supposed to, as the front right headlamp came loose (or rather broke). This rendered the bus out of service, but it was all smiles on the return back after it turned around.
Au, Josh, Tom and Lewis covered this


London General LT48 on Route 11, Sloane Square, 02/02/14
The route has since settled down on NBfLs fully, after the infamous crash at Chelsea of LT62 being notable.

Then came the 9, probably the most predictable conversion, except for that it was known to be only crewed Monday-Friday daytimes. From the first bus running a few minutes late, the rest of the route ran on time. It converted on 26/10/13:


London United LT80 on Route 9, Hammersmith, 26/10/14
This was the first working, again. However, it was the second round trip it was starting, and it curtailed at Trafalgar Square as it was one bus late. LT72 was pegging behind for most of the first trip.
The posts were in two parts: Part 1 and Part 2


London United LT150 on Route 9, Charing Cross, 08/02/14
2014 is the Year of the Bus, and TfL decided to put a silver/chrome livery on LT150, a bus intended for the 10. It is temporarily allocated on the 9 until the rest of the batch converts the 10 in April.

The second Metroline conversion arrived on 07/12/13, with 390 from Holloway:


Metroline LT111 on Route 390, Marble Arch, 07/12/13
111 being Au's lucky/favourite number (due to associated route), when LT111 popped up, it was lucky coincidence. Metroline decided to make the Comfort DelGro logo white for these buses, and subsequent new refurbishments/purchases. These buses are intermixed with those on the 24.
Au, Josh and Tom covered this


Metroline LT99 on Route 390, Notting Hill Gate, 09/02/14
Since then, the route has settled down with a mix of both it's own and 24's NBfLs.

The 148 hasn't converted officially yet, but due to the Tube Strike and early introductions, NBfLs are on the 148 already:


London United LT144 on Route 148, Marble Arch, 05/02/14
Running as a Tube Strike extra, this bus was understandably impossible to get on and packed with people. It is due to convert on the 15th February. On a day where any bus was useful, NBfLs on the 148 would've been a sigh of relief as they were extra buses. Unless they were full


London United LT127 on Route 148, Shepherd's Bush Station, 12/02/14
Is the route a staged conversion instead? Instead of the Tube Strike again hitting London where it hurts most, it was called off but NBfLs found the route again.
There will be a post covering the 148 NBfL conversion, once the official date has gone past.

So it's a second year of WLTMTB. Or West London Time Masters Transport Blog, rather. Named after a novel concept which is being written as a novel. Thanks to all who have seen & spread the word of the blog and all the members who have helped WLTMTB become what it is today. It has since become a blog covering not just London any more, but Berkshire too.
Which leads to the WLTMTB wishing all a safe year ahead.