Hants Cuts: Fleet Buzz 30 & 77

Yes, the year changes number. Oh well, not good news for some in Hampshire.

Hampshire County Council are saving money by cutting funding from services, especially more evening and Sunday services. Some Basingstoke and Blackwater Valley services are to have their Sunday service commercially operated by Stagecoach with a two hour frequency. Certain areas in the Blackwater Valley will be significantly affected with some having to rely on taxishare services.

Fleet Buzz 30 is a casualty of the Hampshire County Council bus cuts due to a lack of usage on part of the route, with many other routes covering the old route.

Stagecoach South 16261 on Fleet Buzz Route 30, Fleet Station

The reason why an Olympian was used on the 30 was said by the following 77 driver as cold weather meant "4 buses could not start up".

The section of Odiham High Street - Crondall - Zebon Copse Estate (where this bus is going to) will have no bus service, but a Taxishare service will be provided. This does not really substitute for a bus service!


Fleet Buzz-Stagecoach South 47738 on Route 30, Fleet Station

The section between Church Crookham, Fleet and Farnborough will be covered by the revised 72, but following a more direct route than existing 30 (thus not serving most the roads that will lose their service between Crookham and Fleet).
Highgate Lane in Farnborough will now be served by revised route 41.
Minley Estate will be served by new Route 9, as 72 will not cover this part of the route.


Fleet Buzz-Stagecoach South 47737 on Route 30, Fleet Station

The section between Basingstoke and RAF Odiham will be replaced by a revised 10 (peak times only) and a rerouted 13.

More photos of the 30 at Fleet:


Fleet Buzz-Stagecoach South 47740 on Route 30, Fleet Station


Stagecoach South 47545 on Fleet Buzz Route 30, Fleet Station

Also, the 77 is to be withdrawn, replaced with yet another taxishare service:



Fleet Station to Fleet Station by Taxishare? Interesting!


Stagecoach South 47540 on Fleet Buzz Route 77, Fleet Station

From a driver on the route: Stagecoach had "asked for the subsidy to be doubled" and had worked until 11am, carrying only "4 passengers, all of which didn't pay" because they were all under the concessions pass. Stagecoach thus was losing money with the service, so instead of doubling the subsidy, the route would be withdrawn.


Stagecoach South 47540 on Fleet Buzz Route 77, Fleet Station

This 77 shown is going to a place that will have no bus service after the changes (the PVR is 1, hence the same bus photographed).
A disgruntled local however stated that the 77 withdrawal would mean that many people within Fleet can not go out without the bus service as they do not have a car.

As a footnote:



To confuse people (it confused at least two people in the three hours I was at Fleet), the new timetables for the 72 had already been put up, with the old timetables nowhere to be found!


And if you want outdated stop information, look no further than the flag. Of all the routes visible, only the 72 exists today. No sign of the 30 or the 77, and yet there is sign for a 71 and 73!

So Happy New Year, etc etc...

Hants Cuts: Fleet Buzz 72

Merry Thursday, which just so happens to be Christmas. In any case, Hampshire County Council are giving the present of removing your bus service, in the terms for some people!

Hampshire County Council are saving money by cutting funding from services, especially more evening and Sunday services. Some Basingstoke and Blackwater Valley services are to have their Sunday service commercially operated by Stagecoach with a two hour frequency. Fleet is to notably notice the changes as they will lose their direct link to Aldershot, as well as some places along Fleet Buzz's Route 72, running between Reading and Aldershot at the moment.

Fleet Buzz 33307 on Route 72, Reading Station (Jan 2014)

This means that no longer will Reading see the word "Aldershot" as a destination of buses, as the route is diverted to Farnborough instead of Aldershot, thus leaving some places with no bus. It seems by HCC that the average load for Aldershot is a mere 4.5 people, so the link seems to be not feasible.


Fleet Buzz 25247 on Route 72, Reading Station (July 2014)

This also means there will no more Fleet Buzz in Reading, as this brand will be replaced by Stagecoach corporate branding, as it will transfer from Fleet Buzz to Stagecoach South.


Stagecoach South 34635 on Route 72, Reading Station (Oct 2014)

Also, the section of Minley Estate will be replaced by new route 9, which is a Farnborough circular.
Another minor alteration is the rerouting of the 72 to not go via Risley Dog & Partridge, but rather straight through Odiham Road.


Stagecoach South 16261 on Route 72, Aldershot (Dec 2014)

And as "the section from Fleet to Church Crookham, Quetta Park and Aldershot will no longer run, but a taxishare service is being arranged for travel between Fleet and Quetta Park.." This leaves a large area with no bus service. This seems to not bother Hampshire County Council, somehow.

Later, we will cover most of the rest of the cuts that are affecting the Blackwater Valley and Fleet.

Clap for Borismasters - Route 137 NBfL Conversion

Arriva London LT355 on Route 137, Marble Arch

Yep, another phased conversion, and another late night writing a post out. Oh well.


Arriva London LT350 on Route 137, Marble Arch

Route 137, a former Routemaster route, brings back the possibility of an open platform with these Borismasters. But obviously, money means that idea is kept shut.


Arriva London LT337 on Route 137, Marble Arch

It underwent the slow transition (not as slow as the 453) from a full conventional bus operation on the first week of December towards the Borismaster, taking until past when this post was written until possibly the end of the month to have all of LT317-356 running on the route.


Arriva London LT349 on Route 137, Oxford Circus

All of the LTs seem to be red, so far, which is strange as the most recent few conversions have involved all-over advert ready painted buses, but not all buses have entered service yet.

Here is a view of the 137 old order, appropriately last year under the same Christmas lights! Oh how some things don't change:


Arriva London DW45 on Route 137, Oxford Street, 13/11/13

It's taken less than a full month to get nearly a full LT allocation on the 137 on certain days. It's taken 453 way more than that. The title "Clap for Borismasters" is because the 137 serves Clapham Common. Appropriately for Christmas Eve, Christmas lights adorn most of the photos on this post, so have a Happy Thursday and hopefully more posts arrive before the year number changes!

Lengthy Everything - Route 453 NBfL Conversion

The post is later that it would usually be because of the lengthy amount of time the 453 took to be fully converted from Enviro 400 operation to hybrid Borismaster operation. Notably, it is an ex-articulated bus operation which had been the only articulated bus route to change operator with articulated buses! Thus this conversion also converts the 453 back to free boarding from all doors. Anyhow, the 453 started converting in October, and there are still odd conventional buses appearing on the 453 two months later!

London General LT294 on Route 453, Westminster - advertising for Ugg boots


London General LT299 on Route 453, Parliament Square

The OPO LT conversion has also led to door announcements being used due to the rear platform door opening inwards.


London General LT284 on Route 453, Whitehall

These buses also have the white Go-Ahead logo, as what seems to be the standard for LTs nowadays.


London General LT279 on Route 453, Whitehall


London General LT282 (White) on Route 453, Marylebone
I'd assume this bus is still awaiting an advertisement.


453 to Dulwich Library? Or rather the 12 to LTs?
Either way, London General LT274 on Route 453, Elephant & Castle

The conversion has taken so long, the 137 conversion has been nearly completed within the 453 conversion duration. The 137 was also a gradual conversion, and will probably take less than a month!

My Picture Archive Post 30

First London TNA33382 on Route 31, White City, 04/02/2012

This batch of Trident/ALX400s were ordered initially for the 23 in order to convert the route from Routemaster operation to full OPO low floor operation back in November 2003. The 23 itself is a relatively new creation, made in 1992 as part of the large Central London changes where the 15 was withdrawn between Paddington and Westbourne Park. Since then, the route has been a stalwart in Westbourne Park Garage, where this bus was based until 2011-2012, when it moved with the 28/31/328 group to Atlas Road Garage (which relieved Westbourne Park) and became part of the pool of double deckers used for those routes. Notably, by this time, it still had not received White City blinds, so it was displaying Shepherd's Bush Green Station (or Shepherds Bush Grn *roundel* as it was showing literally). It also received a repaint from First "willow leaf" livery to plain red.

This bus later moved to Dagenham by late 2012 to double deck the 498 before moving on after First left London (and thus after the last First routes went to Stagecoach) in 2013. It moved to Taunton when it was converted to one door and received the new First corporate livery in January 2014, even though many buses were being painted into the "Buses of Somerset" livery. This bus followed into the green livery only by May 2014, and is currently in that First fleet.

Route 31 was one of the two notable routes that converted from Routemaster operation to minibus (Mercedes Benz 811D/Alexander) operation in 1989 (the other being the 28), thinking that high frequency minibuses can replace lower frequency double deckers. Whoever thought of that did not realise that even if it would work in the theoretical world, it did not translate into a success. The 31 later got larger Dennis Dart/Wright Handybus.  The massive batch of Mercedes minibuses were then dispersed to various places across London Buses. Some went to Hanwell for the 195, Uxbridge for the R1, Alperton for the 224, and Selkent to add to minibus pools and the 202. After the initial DWs, Dennis Dart SLF/Marshall Capital converted the route to low-floor before the 31 was re-converted to double deck in 2004. The route was then extended to Shepherd's Bush in 2006, and was extended to its present form in 2008. It had since passed to Transit Systems under Tower Transit on the 22nd June 2013.

Christmas is in five days. So have fun, and keep capitalists happy! :)

North Circular One-Twelve DELs. Finally.

It took until mid-October for these 10.8m Enviro 200s (DEL) to enter service, after being delivered at least a month before they actually went into service for some odd reason.


Metroline DEL2071 on Route 112, Ealing Broadway (Lewis)

The new Enviro200s for route 112 are quick, quiet and smooth and they certainly look the part as well! They are one of a numbered selection of Mk 2 E200s which have Euro VI Cummins engines; bonnet numbers range from DEL2062-71, registered LK64ECE/F/J/N/T/V/W/X/Y/Z.
A short ride on the 112 confirmed what I (Lewis) had hoped which was that, under a heavy Cricklewood foot, these new buses go like stink (traffic permittent, of course).


Metroline DEL2069 on Route 112, Neasden Underpass (Lewis)

These buses have settled down on the 112 and 232 as expected, and it turns out that 112 does not warrant full double decker conversion (yet), despite what many thought as a 'trial' preceding the introduction of the Enviros. Double deckers still make appearances every so often.


Two very similar views of Metroline DEL2069 and DEL2064 on Route 112, Ealing Broadway (Aubrey)

Seeming as it was local for me (Aubrey), I procrastinated covering these buses until November, and to be honest, like most other newer buses, they look alright during the daytime, but at night the results are better.


Metroline DEL2062 on Route 112 under some tree lights at the start of Christmas shopping season at Brent Cross Shopping Centre

The expected crowds in the run up to the Christmas period at Brent Cross will be a test for these new buses, as well as the obvious extra Ringway 2 traffic.

But the best shot is saved for last:

This kinda made it to Flickr Explore, with the lighting effects and the rest of that. Not surprised from Lewis though.

Properly rare workings! DPS652 and DE59 on the K4 (07/12/14)

I was very excited when this pulled up. Darts were finally on the K4 again, just a tad longer than before however.


And then this happened. A DE. To have these two appear in two operational days in a row is fantastic!! But at the same time, dreadful. With the use of these longer buses, the service is unable to complete its function. To serve Winey and Mansfield park. Instead, it must curtail at Bridge road roundabout in Hook, defeating the whole object of running the K4.

-JP

RM1005 on Route 188 for Poppy Appeal

Thanks to the conductor of RM1005 for giving me the posters of these Poppy Appeal Routemasters for the past two years!


On the 7th November, RML903 ran a limited service on Route 4, whilst RM1005 ran a service on the 188. The same crew did the 188 as the previous year, and, well, it ran VERY late. When it was due at Surrey Quays on its last full run, the bus was only just leaving Surrey Quays towards North Greenwich! Jamaica Road amongst other traffic woes hitting the bus, hence it did not run the Russell Square-Waterloo shorts at the end of its trip. But enough about that, this running of Routemasters are for a good cause, for the Poppy Appeal to help raise money for remembering the soldiers from the wars that British Forces have been involved in.


Sir Peter Hendy's RM1005 on Route 188, Canada Water


Sir Peter Hendy's RM1005 on Route 188, Canada Water (© GloriousWater/Jack)
This is shown on its very late run towards North Greenwich.


The information stickers say the same as last year, but updated to the latest edition, seeming as the previous one had 020 7222 1234!.


Sir Peter Hendy's RM1005 on Route 188, Russell Square
The bus soon had its inserts taken off the front, the only evidence left is the nearside route number blind box.
Note the First Group blinds still on the bus as well as the Not On Service blinds!

Bracknell's New Network, a few months on.

It's been a few months since when I was supposed to post about this, but finally, I decided to do a post on the new Bracknell network of routes, where there are confusingly two routes with the same number!

The stickers on bus stops were inevitable, and 155 is covered by B5, whilst a white sticker with B3, 90, X1 and 701 is covering something else. The 172 is still there due to the competing Courtney Buses service.

Routes 90 via Southern Estate & 90 via John Nike Leisure Centre:


First Beeline 33179 on Route 90 via Southern Estates, Bracknell Bus Station
The 190 was replaced by two routes - the 90 and the 90. To be clearer, the 90 via Southern Estates goes via the long way round through the Bracknell southern estates before going to Jennett's Park and the A329 link road to the old 190 route for Reading.


First Beeline 32348 on Route 90 via John Nike, Bracknell Bus Station
This bus, even with its "greenline" branding, only sparingly goes on the Green Line 701/702 and usually ends up on the 90 with LEDs, even with blinds at the side and rear. On the first day though, buses with blinds had to make do with paper "via John Nike" displays on A4.


190 via Wokingham
The blinds had to do with a little bit of marker pen to cover the "1".


First Beeline 33142 on Route 90 via Southern Estates, Bracknell Leisure Centre
Buses with LED displays did the 90 via Southern Estates, including a few Green Line buses off the 701/702 on the first day! Eventually, all the TNs were converted to LEDs and had their "TN" part of the fleetname removed (well, most of them).


First Beeline TN33145 on Route 90 via Southern Estates, Bracknell Bus Station.
This one didn't, and look at the destination! It's to the Southern Industrial Area, just before Jennett's Park.


First Beeline 33147 on Route 90 via John Nike, Bracknell Bus Station
The branding had to be adapted for the 90, so the frequency is changed to every 15 minutes (combined between Wokingham and Reading), and the 190 is changed to a 90.


First Beeline 33143 on Route 90 via John Nike, Friar Street
The LED conversion can be clearly shown, and note the LED display. First Berkshire are well known for custom LED displays, but this is interesting, as they have tried to display a skier! The reason why the skier is there is because there is a ski slope (no snow of course) at the John Nike Leisure Centre.


First Berkshire 33147 on Route 90 via Southern Estates, Reading Station


First Beeline 32348 on Route 90 via John Nike Leisure Centre, Reading Station

Route X1:
The route was introduced as a shopper's route, running to the same time as the 90 via Southern Estates, but as it goes via the A329(M), it gets to the Southern Estates, where it continues via the 90 to Bracknell. It runs only on Saturdays, and every hour.


First Beeline TN33153 on Route X1, Reading Station
I do have to ask whether the route could be feasible, and the single fare end to end is nearly £6, considering a day ticket only costs a tad more! This Saturday route is aimed at shoppers from the Southern Estates who'd like a quicker ride to Reading for more shopping time.


First Beeline 33183 on Route X1, Bracknell Bus Station
If you want a 50mph ride on the A329(M) on a Trident, then the X1 is the best bet, even with the single fare being nearly £6. Past Jennett's Park, it's like any other bus route at Bracknell.

Route 94:


First Beeline 64038 on Route 94, Bracknell Bus Station
It is now being operated by a load of Citaros, as the 90 has taken all the ex-194/X94 Tridents.


First Beeline 64001 on Route 94, Bracknell Bus Station
A mix of older and newer, ex-7series and ex-London Citaros are on the route. This is ex-London, running previously on Route RV1


First Beeline 64020 on Route 94, Bracknell Bus Station
This bus has adapted 7series branding, initially for the X94 every 60 minutes, now the 94 every 20 minutes!


First Beeline 64031 on Route 94, Bracknell Bus Station

Route B1:


First Beeline 64018 on Route B1, Great Hollands


First Beeline 64014 on Route B1, Bracknell Bus Station

Route B2/B3:


First Beeline 40956 on Route B2, Bracknell Bus Station
These Darts were only at Bracknell for a few months before they were replaced with more Citaros and more Enviro 200s from Wales.


First Beeline 64018 on Route B1, 64014 on Route B3, Bracknell Bus Station
B2 and B3 are opposite directions of the same Crown Wood & Birch Hill loop.


First Beeline 64013 on Route B3, Bracknell Bus Station
And by November, the allocation has settled on the Beeline Citaros

Route B5:


First Beeline 64005 on Route B5, Bracknell Bus Station
It's just the 155 renumbered, so not much change here either.


First Beeline 44561 on Route B5, Bracknell Bus Station
But by November, some Enviro 200s from Slough have reached Bracknell and run various routes, including the B5. The destination display has changed a tad as well.

Other Stuff:


First Beeline 44504 on Route 53, Bracknell Bus Station
Apparently, the Welsh buses do have wi-fi, but I haven't tried it. Some are at Slough, whilst others are at Bracknell. Compare the larger hole in the masking of the blind box compare to the Berkshire natives (see B5 photo above).


First Beeline 44505 on Route 108, Bracknell Bus Station
Note how 44504 has new style bumpers, whilst this bus has old-style bumpers. They were repainted into new First Group livery when they were at South Wales, before moving to the South of England at Hampshire & Dorset. They then moved north to Berkshire, as shown, to replace older Darts.