The Business of Irizar i3s

Menzies Aviation YN64 FWV on Business Parking Shuttle, Heathrow Terminal 3 Departures (© Aubrey)

The Scania Irizar i3 is yet another bus from Scania, but it is the first bus from the Scania-Irizar partnership, as this partnership has usually produced coaches. These Euro 6 buses are replacing the Omnicity (as seen behind the bus) because the Scania Citywide is not being sold in UK markets.
This is based on the Scania KUB4x2 chassis, the bus is also available on Volvo chassis (as seen in Spain).


Menzies YN64 FWY on Business Parking T1,2,3, Heathrow Terminal 3 (© Aubrey)

A fleet of six is sufficient to prop up the fairly frequent Business Parking service, running from just outside the Central area (Business Parking) to the Central area.


Rear of Menzies YN64 FWY on Business Parking T1,2,3, Heathrow Terminal 3 (CC Aubrey)
The rear looks pretty much like most other Irizar coaches, just superimposed onto a bus, which may look odd, and also partly accounts for a high-looking rear (and partly due to the Euro 6 engine). It also shows it is limited to 40mph.

Logically, a ride would need to include actually parking at Business Parking. However, that's £25 for one day, so I'm not going to do that! However, the demonstrator (which is longer than this bus) is in Glasgow operating for Glasgow Citybus at the moment.


Menzies YN64 FWZ on Business Parking T1,2,3, Heathrow Terminal 3 (© Aubrey)

These buses definitely look impressionable (in terms of bodywork), especially when compared to the Enviro 200s that now shuttle passengers airside between terminals! Also, this display will be obsolete soon, as Terminal 1 will shut down soon, as part of the Terminal 2 project.

Ten Minutes to Thornton Heath

We had the #SWTValentine, and the 14^th also brought an extension of route 130 from Norwood Junction to Thornton Heath. The route goes via a few side roads, passing Selhurst Park and terminating at Thornton Heath Clock Tower. Also on the same day, routes 130 and 312 returned to Spring Lane (via Woodside Tram Stop). The extension is timetabled to take 10 minutes.

Metrobus 214 on Route 130, Thornton Heath Clock Tower (Jacek)

As with most service changes, "first day syndrome" struck:



The route didn't get odd workings on the day, as it didn't even have a PVR increase.

This time some drivers couldn't be bothered to scroll to the end of the blindset to find the correct blind so they displayed Thornton Heath Pond (64 destination) instead:


Metrobus 214 displaying the incorrect Thornton Heath Pond (CC Aubrey)

Then there was a match at Selhurst Park so the route ended up being curtailed to Norwood Junction again.

Metrobus 212 on Route 130, Addington Village (Jacek)

On match days these curtailments last from 2 hours before the match to 2 hours after it ends.
Oh, and the FA Cup match ended up Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool.

After a few days, things had settled and blinds were correct.

Metrobus 334 showing the correct Thornton Heath/High Street (© Aubrey)


Metrobus-London General 219 on Route 130, Addington Village (CC Aubrey)

My Picture Archive Post 32

Stagecoach London 34317 (Route 314), Metrobus 153 (Route 162), Eltham Station, 21/04/12

34317(m), the Dennis Dart SLF/Alexander ALX200 started out as SLD317 for Route 202 at Plumstead in September 2001. In June 2002, it was renumbered to DM317, before being renumbered to the Stagecoach national scheme in 2003 as 34317 with the added suffix of "m". In 2005, it moved to TL (Catford). In June 2006, Macquarie Bank bought Stagecoach London and named it as East London Bus Group. The South London operations were renamed (back) to Selkent. The bus then moved to TB (Bromley) in 2007. Stagecoach re-bought their London operations at a profit in October 2010. The bus, all red by then, was taken as per seen, and 4 months later, it was stored in Rainham for disposal. It ended up at Ensignbus sales and ended up at Harlow with Roadrunner/SM Coaches/Olympian (i.e. Townlink/Olympus) by October 2012, where it probably still is.
Route 314, from July 1990 has always been Eltham Station to New Addington and always has been run from Bromley Garage. In bus type terms, it started with MRLs (Optare/MCW Metroriders) before low floor Darts (ALX200 then Plaxton Pointers) and finally the current crop of Enviro 200s.

Metrobus 153 is a significantly younger bus, an Enviro 200 from 2011 ordered for Route 162. This bus is still at Green Street Green Garage for Route 162 and any other routes at Green Street Green for Metrobus (now London General trading as Metrobus).
Route 162 started in March 1994 with Kentish Bus running between Beckenham Junction and Petts Wood initially at Deptford before moving to Dunton Green. In September 1997, it moved to Stagecoach from TB and was curtailed to Chislehurst in March 2001 before being extended to Eltham Station in October 2001. In March 2006, it ended up at Arriva Kent Thameside (Dartford), albeit after loaning Stagecoach Darts for a month. In March 2011, the 162 moved to its present home with Metrobus.

#SWTValentine

Something very different and slightly more "general" as a blog post today!
Happy Valentine's Day. Or rather:

Welcome to Valentines Day. Where, erm... Nothing happens.
— Au Morandarte (@L1Group) February 14, 2015

Oh I was so wrong about that! South West Trains decided to celebrate Valentine's Day in a very interesting way, with using the hashtag #SWTValentine, Twitter users suggested name changes to stations for SWT stations. This was a very interesting process, but in the end, South West Trains at London "Waterlove" got it working ready for the 14th February:

London Waterlove (taken at Brentford)

Going to Clapham Junction (or rather, "Cupid Junction" (Twitter link)!) meant that boards got quite popular and many people were taking photos of the boards, including me!


Hounslove instead of Hounslow
Gorgeous Guildford instead of Guildford
Beautiful Basingstoke instead of Basingstoke
Breakfast at Twickenham instead of Twickenham (this is a Breakfast at Tiffany's reference)


Kissington South instead of Chessington South
Wonderful Woking instead of Woking
Richmond was renamed "Rich (in love) mond" (Twitter link)


Darling Dorking instead of Dorking.
Goregous Guildford instead of Guildford.


Strawberries and Champagne Hill instead of Strawberry Hill

Lost in Teddington vice Teddington (taken by a friend of mine, Cesare Pizzingrilli)

Lovers Road Guildford (Cause Baby when I heard you for the first time, I knew we were meant to be as one) instead of London Road (Guildford)
Hampton Courting instead of Hampton Court


The Apple of my Isleworth instead of Isleworth


This train calls at Flirtwell (vice Fulwell)

All of my photos taken of #SWTValentine shown on Flickr

The rest that haven't been mentioned include (some were in "crib notes" for SWT) and other sightings (links to associated photos on Twitter pages, credit to them for seeing them today!:

"Phwoar-plesdon" vice Worplesdon

"When Harry Met Salisbury" vice Salisbury

"Romsey and Juliet" vice Romsey

"Four weddings and Farnborough" vice Farnborough

"Lips-Hooked" vice Liphook

"Passionfield" vice Petersfield

"Truly Madly Eastleigh" vice Eastleigh

"Thames Smitten" vice Thames Ditton

"Fleet-ing Romance" vice Fleet

"Mots-purr Park" vice Motspur Park

"Cute Bridge" vice Kew Bridge(?)

"My Fareham Lady" vice Fareham

"Lovealming" vice Godalming

EDIT 23:08:
"Sweet Surbiton" vice Surbiton
"Love Ascotly" vice Ascot
"The Reading Singer" vice Reading

Thanks South West Trains for making many people smile, even though it possibly got some confused. This proved to be a very interesting highlight today, and probably the only thing romantic I saw today.

South West Trains gave a change today, and this post is a change from what's usually on the blog (don't worry, the usual stuff will come back), but this deserved a special mention. Well done South West Trains PR Department and National Rail for allowing and getting this to happen, you have made many travellers very happy.

3rd Year: Major Model Change in London - 109 to Abellio London

The third year post of the WLTMTB brings a new type to London. This is the first post that all current blog members had contributed to the blog together. The special third year post is slightly delayed because all of us are very busy people, and hopefully will come out pretty soon.


"You wait for a bus, then six come at once!"
Abellio London 2488 leads a pack of six at the stand on Park Street (Aubrey)

The Enviro 400MMC has finally been entered into London service after Oxford, Reading and Manchester, and the first day did go like most other first days. A massive learning curve.


Abellio London 2510 & 2494 on Route 109, Croydon Park Street (Aubrey)
At least two buses were on stand, if not more throughout the day.


Abellio London 2510, 2xxx and 2494 on Route 109, Croydon Park Street (Aubrey)
The rear treatment of these hybrids differ from the original E400, as for example, the rear blindbox is in the middle and the fans are 2 each either side of the blind box.


Abellio London 2495 (Route 109) and Arriva London DLA388 (Route 250), West Croydon (Aubrey)
A nice comparison between the old and the new for the 109 (and Croydon-Brixton corridor).


Abellio London 2497 on Route 109, West Croydon (Aubrey)
Some buses were running with double gaps, eventually most of the buses were running to West Croydon only. One bus even ran Brixton-Streatham only!


Abellio London 2500 on Route 109, Croydon Park Street (Josh)
Not the excess of six, but a more manageable three on stand at that time.


Abellio London 2488 on Route 109, Croydon Park Street (Lewis)


Abellio London 2490 on Route 109, Croydon Park Street (Josh)

The ride on the MMC is average, the most annoying aspect is the excessive bells. The bus is not rattle free, even though it is supposedly "rattle proof" by ADL. But most rattles are minimised, definitely.


Lower Deck Interior of Abellio London 2494 (Aubrey)
The lower deck design is like a standard MMC, with dual doors. It is like the one that was exhibited at Walworth Garage Open Day.


Upper Deck Interior (from front) (Josh)

 
Upper Deck Interior (from rear) (Josh)
Another average upper deck. The seats are notably slightly harder here than on prior Abellio buses.

Some troubles were encountered on the first few days:

Metrobus-London General 437 (YV03 PZG) on Route 119 is sandwiched between Abellio London 2509 (YY64 TZJ) and 2508 (YY64 TZH) on Route 109, at Croydon Park Street (Aubrey)

The Scania was literally centimetres away if not closer from hitting the wing mirror of 2508! This is the problem with having six on stand at the same time.
A few days later, the wing mirror of one of these MMCs crashed into the back of another MMC breaking the rear window. This was probably due to a misjudgement of the overhang of the nearside wing mirror!


Abellio London 2495 on Route 109, Brixton Police Station (Lewis)
The Enviro 400MMC body looks pretty nice at night, especially with white on black blinds in my (Aubrey) opinion.

And here are some oddities from the first day:
Two Volvo B7TL/Gemini I, fully blinded, were on the route. I (Aubrey) somehow got the same one twice!


Abellio London 9021 on Route 109, West Croydon (Aubrey)


Abellio London 9021 on Route 109, Brixton Station (Aubrey)


Abellio London 2487 on Route 109, Streatham (Jacek)
This bus decided to have no logos, so along with the non-MMCs, presentation wise, not the best.
Overall, the service was not too bad, excepting the confusion and overcrowding at the Park Street stand at Croydon Town Centre.

Here are some of the pre-Abellio buses on the 109 (all taken by Josh):


Arriva London DW239 (Poppy) on Route 109, Streatham Tesco


Arriva London DLA243 on Route 109, Brixton


Arriva London DW240 on Route 109, West Croydon

Overall, it has been a rough start for Abellio on the route. However, as Arriva knew how to run the route and Abellio don't have the experience at the moment, it will take time before we know Abellio can run the 109 well. The obvious and inevitable first day confusion was clearly shown, but the route has settled down compared to its first day.

Thanks for yet another year of the WLTMTB, from our team members Aubrey, Lewis, Josh and Jacek.

Route 125 - Dirty Wrights, Fairly Wrong.

31st January 2015 was the day where the 125 left Arriva London's grasp and into Metroline's claws. Practically all the attention was on the Enviro 400 MMCs on Route 109, hence this took a back seat in terms of people covering it. Massively. It was nearly like the Arriva London takeover of Route 230 being overshadowed by the LT-class conversion of the 24 on the 22nd June 2013, but the 230 did have a few enthusiasts and some photos were on the internet later on within the week. I've seen not many photos of the 125 with Metroline so far, and a week and day after the changeover, Aubrey (I) set off to cover it, because I got bored. Literally.

Metroline VWH2028 on Route 125, Southgate Station

The Sunday service was being run with uneven headways, including headways of 7-8mins on an every 15 minute Sunday service. But thus it meant there was a large gap in the service as well.


Metroline VWH2034 on Route 125, Southgate Station

Notably these buses are dirty.


Rear of Metroline VWH2034 on Route 125, Southgate Station
REALLY dirty. Only one certain Uno bus I've seen was dirtier, but it had a face drawn on in the dirt. This is oddly dirty for such a new bus.


Metroline VWH2038 on Route 125, Southgate Station
The buses seem like your average B5LH/Gemini 3 from Metroline. Indifferent overall, decent ride, seats that won't break your back or let you sink in and not too slow either.


Metroline VWH2040 on Route 125, Southgate Station
This bus seemed slightly less dirty.


Metroline VWH2032 on Route 125, North Finchley Tally Ho! Corner
Yep, it's the place with the exclamation mark. But this bus looked quite substantially cleaner, unlike it's nutty counterpart VWH2028:
(see Twitter: https://twitter.com/L1Group/status/564455983423188993)


Metroline VWH2024 on Route 125, Finchley Church End
The gap between VWH2032 and VWH2024 was larger than 15 minutes, probably countered by the 7-8 minute gap on the other end.

Overall, doesn't look too bad, a few operation problems that may iron out over experience and time, but then again, could be a better. And the possible TE conversion is under wraps so far, as it's mainly TEs on the 82 still. A very dirty takeover by Metroline, it seems!

Temporary Route 528 06/02/15

Due to road works at Thornbury Road, H28 is unable to serve the section between Isleworth Fire Station and Armhurst Gardens. Therefore, a shuttle route called 528 runs between West Middlesex Hospital and Osterley Library via the affected section that is not served by the H28 (except Thornbury Road).


Diversion poster showing the shuttle arrangement of Route 528

Banditised Dennis Darts usually ply the temporary route:


Abellio London 8436 on Route 528, West Middlesex Hospital


528 and H28 Timetables

There needs to be only two buses needed for a 20 minute service to run, each way taking 10 minutes according to the timetable, with 1 minute regulation time at Osterley Library. One bus is used for a Sunday service, running every 30 minutes.


Abellio London 8439 on Route 528, West Middlesex Hospital

Here is a ride on 8436 on the route:



Yes, I was the only passenger through the whole journey to Osterley Library, and probably was the only passenger for the whole trip.

The bus is later shown at Osterley Library as it waits time:

Abellio London 8436 on Route 528, Osterley Library

Overall, this service seems to be barely used, but used enough for it to exist, as there is a notable area where there are no buses except the H91. Also notable was the near bunching the route had on the 6th February (when it was covered). These buses seem to be near withdrawal anyway, and may be possibly withdrawn/used as spare buses after use on the 528.