Route 10 NBfL Conversion 26/04/14

Summarised in one word? "Meh?". It wasn't that bad. At least the buses give a good desk for revision!

The predictable NBfL conversion occurred on the 26th April 2014 (well, the late evening hours of the 25th) to the midst of less publicity than ever. No posters. But TfL did promote this via the internet. The whole route was cleared for quite some time, as 9, 390 and 148 cleared the whole route in any case already before the conversion.

Route 10's conversion to the Politcal Pawn proved to be a tad difficult due to horrendous traffic at various spots, a crashed LT (LT170), King Street being shut for a crane and one entrance to the Bus Station shut. iBus not working made some people think that some of the service wasn't running, but the route coped well under these pressures to amount to a normal conversion. Not as good as the 9 where only one journey ran properly late (the first). Some of the service ended up running early, oddly! But here comes the photos:

London United LT160 on Route 10, Hammersmith


London United LT167 on Route 10, Hammersmith


London United LT76, LT83 (Route 9), LT175 (Route 10), Hammersmith


London United LT169 on Route 10, Kensington


London United LT160 on Route 10, Hyde Park Corner

First observation point, Hyde Park Corner. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there weren't as many enthusiasts on the route as on the 9 conversion, for example, because many of us have gotten used to these LTs and them propping up on other routes becoming more common aren't such as a spectacle as previously.


London United LT161 on Route 10, Hyde Park Corner


London United LT150 on Route 9, Hyde Park Corner
The bus delivered early with the mostly non-red livery for Route 10 continues on Route 9. Then again, LT90 was on Route 10.


London United LT174 on Route 10, Hyde Park Corner

It was then time to move smoothly, but slowly (due to traffic) towards Oxford Circus:


London United LT163 on Route 10, Oxford Street


London United LT149 on Route 10, Oxford Street


London United LT155 on Route 10, Oxford Circus
The usual traffic shown here towards Oxford Street impacting on the reliability on the route again.


London United LT156 on Route 10, Oxford Street

Therefore, it was time to go to the King's Cross stand:


London United LT149 on Route 10, King's Cross


The two halves of Route 10 (which itself was derived from Route 73!)
Metroline LT22 on Route 390 & London United LT163 on Route 10, King's Cross


The overview of the stand at King's Cross, headed by London United LT163 on Route 10

After an eventful ride of the 75, therefore en-route home:


London United LT154 on Route 10, Kensington Olympia


London United LT90 on Route 10, Hammersmith

Intermixing between batches will happen, but not as often as 24/390. Also, the 9 LTs are used (and probably allocated) on the 10 night service.

London United's third conversion. Possibly its last for Central London routes, excluding possible tender wins and Route 27 (that is questionable due to Paddington), as Route 94 cannot fit these buses due to Chiswick/Acton Green and parked cars. Then again, there has been work starting at Acton Green (around the stand point) for some reason...

Route 10 Pre-LT and LT Deliveries at Stamford Brook

It has just gone past zero day for SPs on the 10, so therefore, this is a show of some of the pre-NBfL conversion day buses and also the sneak preview of its LTs at Stamford Brook garage.

Firstly, the last day of SPs fully on the route in service, 25/10/13:

London United SP110 on Route 10, Hammersmith


London United SP134 on Route 10, Hammersmith


London United SP147 on Route 10, Hammersmith


London United SP156 on Route 10, Hammersmith


London United SP134 on Route 10, Hammersmith, 30/03/14

NBfLs were also delivered to Stamford Brook by the 25th:


London United LT155, LT149, Stamford Brook Garage


London United LT166, LT148, LT157 amongst other LTs, Stamford Brook Garage

It's only been 6 months (literally) since the 9 was converted.

New Route 689 22/04/14

This route is designed to replace the extra journey on Route 367, running between West Croydon and The Glade/Glade Gardens for Edenham High School. This avoids Shirley Oaks Estate, and doesn't appear on TfL nor LVF (and thus it does not have iBus). On the first afternoon, Au went out to get a photo of it:

Arriva London DLA388 on Route 689, East Croydon Station


Arriva London DLA388 on Route 689, East Croydon

Note on this bus, the insert is placed upside down, but luckily, 689 upside down is 689! Also, in the bus stop at East Croydon towards West Croydon, '689' on one side is inserted before 410, when on the other side it is placed after 410.

My Picture Archive Post 22

London United SP116 (148), Metroline West TE1580 (607), White City, 22/06/13

Route 148 has since been changed to LT operation, but not changed to crewed operation. The route started out in 2002 when the Congestion Charge started as a bus service across Central London, one of the very few available today since the privatisation of London Buses. Previously, there were routes like 2 and 6 running across London. 12 once even ran from Harlesden to South Croydon (albeit in two sections). 148 runs from Camberwell Green to White City, after being extended there in 2008. It initially had Trident/ALX400 before intended Volvo B7TL/ALX400 arrived. They moved to Hounslow, being replaced by SPs. Newer SPs arrived for the 148 in 2010, and was finally converted to LT operation in 2014. The bus will have moved to Stamford Brook for the 10 covering the refurbishment of those buses for the E3. They will eventually have a life on the 281 from Fulwell.

Route 607 - their buses are finally being refurbished, after a long time looking very worn out! These buses were initially on the 23, before moving westwards to Uxbridge for the 607, which has never gotten new buses since the Volvo Olympians pre-2005. The route was too extended to White City in 2008 for Westfield London. The Uxbridge Road corridor has always been very busy and many plans have come and gone to relieve it. Prominent ones include the West London Tram, bendy buses and trolleybuses. Most never went past the planning stage and the Uxbridge Road corridor gets ever busier nowadays, and more crowded as more people use it. Since this photo was taken, the bus has had Metroline logos and fleet numbers replacing the First ones, and will get the same treatment as fellow TE1582:


Metroline West TE1582 on Route 607, Acton, 05/04/14

Berkshire Bus War: MaidenHead-on 23/11/13

The title of the Bracknell Bus War posts have changed to the 'Berkshire Bus War' as they are now competing on three fronts which are Bracknell, Windsor and Maidenhead. This post looks at the Maidenhead scene, where First Beeline used to be the dominant operator, before Courtney won everything.

Route 8, operated both by First Beeline and Courtney Buses. It's clearly not a loving romantic relationship, at all!

Here is Courtney's offering, the typical common SoloSR. In orange for 'route branding' purposes. It's surprising that Courtney do keep the branded buses on the route intended, usually!


Courtney YJ62FET on Route 8, Maidenhead Frascati Way

And the competitive, temporarily free offer from First Beeline:


First Beeline 44561 on Route 8, Maidenhead Frascati Way

Not very frequent, at all having a irregular, almost every 2 hour service. From 1st February however, the frequency increased and now it is roughly hourly now.
The reason why they say 'We give change' as if it is a massive thing is because Courtney do not, which is a competitive advantage up to a point, when giving change can be time consuming.

Route X9 is covered by Lewis' post which will be released afterwards.

Well, Courtney's response to the 8 and X9 is the 192, operating between Windsor and Bracknell via the 191 during the early morning and late evenings (almost pointlessly), but that'll be covered another time.

Pointless Exercise? Abellio Surrey Changes + Farewell Route 51

On 5th April 2014, Abellio Surrey will be restructuring their network, with route changes, extensions and frequency reductions. Route 51 will be renumbered 451, pointlessly, thus we'll start with that first.

Route 51 initially replaced 451, and was run by First Berkshire from Bracknell, using two buses, usually a Scania L94UB/Wright Solar:

First Berkshire 65726 on Route 51, Staines, 29/08/13


First Berkshire 65726 on Route 51, Staines, 29/08/13

And an Optare Solo:


First Beeline 53065 on Route 51, Staines, 29/08/13


First Beeline 53065 on Route 51, Staines, 29/08/13

The route passed to Abellio London on the 31st August 2013:


51 timetable with Abellio post 31st August 2013, already on the boards at Staines on the 29th


Abellio Surrey 8095 on Route 51, Staines, 31/08/13

Annoyingly on that day, the sun was at exactly the worst place possible for photos:


Abellio Surrey 8095 on Route 51, Staines, 31/08/13

This route will be renumbered 451 from 5th April 2014.
Other changes to Abellio Surrey routes:
Route 441 will be re-routed via 71 between Staines and Terminal 5:


Abellio Surrey 8762 on Route 441, Heathrow Central, 08/03/13
This route will no longer be serve Stanwell Moor, this link will be replaced by re-routed 557, running Terminal 5 via 441 to Ashford Hospital then as per usual 557 route:


Abellio Surrey 8091 on Route 557, Hatton Cross, 16/02/13
This route will not serve Hatton Cross any more.

Route 446 will be reduced to hourly, and will no longer serve Thorpe Park Theme Park grounds:

Abellio Surrey 8443 on Route 446, Staines, 29/08/13
This frequency reduction is due to changes on the 459 and 461:

Route 459 will be rerouted between Addlestone and Woking, via Woodham and Sheerwater. Addlestone loop via Orchard Way is withdrawn. It is also withdrawn between Woking Morrisons and Station.


Abellio Surrey 8001 on Route 459, Kingston Cromwell Road, 20/08/13


Abellio Surrey 8074 on Route 459, Woking Morrisons, 04/01/14
The route will be withdrawn at this point, and will no longer serve Morrisons, leaving a skeleton bus service provided by a few irregular services.

Route 461 will no longer serve Field Common, and will be extended to Staines via Chertsey:


Abellio London 8069 on Route 461, Kingston, 02/01/14

Most other routes will get a minor timetable change, and Route 564 will turn to every 70mins frequency.