The Romford Shuffle

The other Romford change at the end of June was the 499, also to Stagecoach but from Arriva at Grays. It's a bit of a round the houses, back road type of route but is secretly useful as a means of leaving Romford via the 173 for Jacek(!)

Arriva Kent Thameside 3973 on Route 499, Romford Station (© Jacek)

Previous stuff on the route included some Cadets which were a nice ride and some E200s that weren't (clapped out, etc).
There was also banditry on some ex-Dartford E200s, and even the occasional double-decker.

Under Stagecoach the allocation has settled down, sort of. The route was meant to be using new Enviro200 MMCs but their delivery and their blinds are apparently late so the ones off the 296 are being used. They look smart having been fitted with white blinds:

Stagecoach London 36266 on Route 499, Romford Station (© Aubrey)

The performance of the route has been uninteresting – despite the buses running without blinds, Arriva ran it at an acceptable level and it's the same under Stagecoach. There was the occasional curtailment in the early days like most routes but nothing major.

Stagecoach 36262 on Route 499, Romford Station (© Jacek)


Stagecoach 36262 on Route 499, Queen's Hospital (© Aubrey)

Meanwhile, the 296 is temporarily using Tridents, a route normally run by these Enviro 200s:


Stagecoach London 18477 on Route 296, Romford Station (© Aubrey)

These buses have white blinds due to the 498, of course.


Stagecoach London 17773 on Route 296, Romford Station (© Aubrey)

Although some don't need blind changing to be on the 296, as seen here, looking more natural at Romford.

When the Enviro 200MMCs appear on the 499, it will be one of two cities that have both the Enviro 200 and 400 MMCs, so pairings like this will be more often:


National Express West Midlands 2210 on Route 37 & 6709 on Route 900, Birmingham Moor Street (© Aubrey).
Yes, a post is WIP.

EDIT: Ironically, they entered service the very next day!

Stagecoach London 36601 on Route 499, Gallows Corner (© Aubrey)
Yes, a post is also WIP.

And that would does look very angular. Alongside the Streetdeck would be another thing.

Tube Strike 2015 Part 1 08/07/15

More photos can be seen here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/wltmauc/sets/72157655705460038

 
The first northbound Tube Strike extra on Route 29:
London Bus Company RML900 at Trafalgar Square (© Aubrey)

Another Tube Strike means another lot of extras, whether it be boat or, in this case, bus.


Ensignbus RT4421 on Route 15, Charing Cross (© Aubrey)

Ensignbus were contracted to do 8, 15, 25, 29, 205, 257 extras.


London Bus Company RML897 on Route 29, Warren Street (© Aubrey)

But obviously, Ensignbus doesn't have so many buses, so other buses were subcontracted, like this one with London Bus Company.


Havering LX04 FXK on Route 205, Warren Street (© Aubrey)

This bus was ironically on the 205 on its second to last day in London service as 18222 of Stagecoach London.


Southern Transit TA1 on Route 205, Euston Square (CC Aubrey)

This was also used on the Tube Strike extras on Route 205 in 2014, coincidentally.


Imperial RTL1256 on Route 8, Liverpool Street (© Aubrey)

A variety of old and new were used on the Ensign contracts, except the 257 (seen in Part 2)


Ensignbus RMA50 on Route 25, Aldgate (© Aubrey)


Regal Busways 1404 for Route 8, Aldgate (© Aubrey)

Route 8 became a dumping ground for Essex operators, Regal Busways showing a complete double decker! Many ex-London vehicles were used.


Panther Travel BIG7758 on Route 25, Aldgate (© Aubrey)
Unlike this bus, which isn't ex-London.


Trustybus TP425 on Route 8, Shoreditch (© Aubrey)

Galleon Travel didn't even bother with banditry displays on the 8!


Ensignbus 115 on Route 205, Old Street (CC Aubrey)

Route 205 had a large variety of operators, and variety of buses.


Wessex Connect 40605 on Route 205, Old Street (© Jacek)


Traditional Travel RML2380 on Route 205, Old Street (CC Aubrey)

With varying quality of displays, as usually seen.


Blueline Travel RML2613 on Route 205, Old Street (© Jacek)


Ensignbus RT3232 on Route 25, Aldgate (© Aubrey)

Apparently, even the chairman of Ensignbus got into the act, driving this extra.

And oddly, I'll end this post with a boat:


Thames Clipper "Typhoon Clipper" on Route RB1, London Bridge Pier (© Aubrey)

River boats were used as alternative transport, and extra peak services ran to/from Putney during the strike. A normal riverboat service is shown here, but it is filled with more people than usual.

The first day was only an evening, so the next post will be even longer, at this rate!

Picture Archive Post 37

Yep, it's that time of the month.

Arriva London ADL63 on Route W11, Walthamstow Central, 24/03/12 (© Aubrey)

An Alexander/Dennis combination, before they combined.
ADL63 (initially 3463) was one of a batch initially in turquoise and aquamarine (yes, the scoop livery) for Routes 397, W13 and W14 operated from Debden Garage  bought in 2000. The buses moved in 2005 to Edmonton Garage (EC) when Debden was closed. The bus was soon repainted into red in 2006. It transferred to Enfield (E) for Route 491 before moving to Beddington (CN) for 410 and 450. Initially, the route number was with a three track blind until the box was changed to fit a one track blind as seen on this photo whilst at Beddington. In early 2012, it moved back to North East London, this time at Lea Valley garage (LV) for Routes 397 (again) and W11 as seen here. It moved in 2013 to Arriva Kent & Sussex to operate from Tunbridge Wells or Maidstone, where it runs today as their 3332.

Route W11 is a local Walthamstow service, introduced between Walthamstow Central and Crooked Billet in December 1988 at Walthamstow Garage. It escaped the London Forest debacle by moving to Thamesway at their Walthamstow base in November 1991. In 1994, it was extended to Chingford Hall Estate from Crooked Billet where it runs today. Thamesway was later acquired by First Group. During the time inbetween, it had moved to Ponders End (PE) with newer minibuses. The route moved to Hackney (H) in 2001 with Dart/Marshall Capital buses. It avoided the debacle of the First London sell-off by moving in March 2012 to Arriva London at LV, as seen. These buses were replaced by Enviro 200s. When Lea Valley Garage shut, it moved to Edmonton (EC), where it is today.

Docklands Late MMCs

Docklands Buses EHV3 on Route 135, Aldgate (CC Aubrey)

Finally, it is time for the MMC post for the 135. Yeah, GAL had their buses ordered late, and the post is late, so it counters it? It's B5LHs under a Enviro 400MMC body. So normality there.


Docklands Buses EHV1 on Route 135, Aldgate (© Aubrey)

They have a decent ride, look decent and are as predictable as before. Not as good as the 177 MMCs, but good nevertheless.


Docklands Buses EHV5 on Route 135, Liverpool Street (© Aubrey)

It has taken a while for them to enter service, but by now, all of them have been used on the 135 and have replaced the Es initially on the route.


Docklands Buses EHV7 on Route 135, Old Street (© Jacek)

Those Es initially did the Hampton Court Shuttle before starting to be used at Metrobus.


Docklands Buses EHV3 on Route 135, Mudchute (© Aubrey)

 All the photos prior were in the Central London section of the route, which gets buggered in traffic a lot due to Liverpool Street and Aldgate being heavy traffic hotspots with roadworks. So here is a photo of one on the other side of the route!

A Major Model Mouthful

13069 in Peckham. (© Jacek)

The 177 is a route.

It's not particularly notable for hills or fast empty stretches, but it does go from Peckham to Thamesmead and is quite busy. The 15th of June saw something actually notable happen on it, as the route now has London's first Volvo B5LH/Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMCs (bit of a mouthful) on it. These buses are quite fast, good looking and comfortable. The usual B5LH problem of being slightly cramped at the rear on the lower deck persists, but these can be faster than their Gemini bodied cousins on the 53 with especially powerful acceleration.




However there was still the odd technical issue as the bus I got on (13062) had a piece of paper covering the Oyster reader saying it wasn't working. Some other buses make a loud whine from the battery.

13061 in Plumstead on its first day. (© Jacek)

Anyway a few weeks later the Volvos have mostly settled in, with about 70% of the route now being B5LHs while the previous Scanias have now started to go on the route more now they're unallocated. 4 buses are yet to enter service at the time of writing. The occasional Gemini working has reared its head while some Tridents and Scanias have transferred to various East London garages.

Now for some other pictures:

17838 in Woolwich. (© Josh)

Most of PD's original Tridents moved out before the MMCs came, so cascaded ones made up the numbers.

15046 on diversion in Lewisham. (© Jacek)

These Scanias were the allocation on paper, but in practice were almost all on other routes. PD retain some Scanias for route 51 (on paper) and in practice 96.

12349 on diversion in Lewisham. (© Jacek)

Enviro400s were on the route daily as well, both diesel and hybrid examples.

13061 in Woolwich. (© Josh)

13067 in Peckham. (© Jacek)

13069 at East Greenwich Library front & rear (© Aubrey)

They seem to be good buses in the flesh, and ride well. Stagecoach have some pure ADL ones coming up within the next week or two - the ones for the 498, which are diesel ADL Enviro 400MMCs. A tad less of a mouthful to say than Volvo B5LH/Enviro 400 MMC. Oh, and the bell rings thrice weirdly.

Woking Wrights

Arriva Southern Counties decide to put newer buses on the 91. Streetlites, it turns out to be. Expect the struggle up the slight inclines(!)

Arriva Southern Counties 4293 on Route 91, Woking Station (© Aubrey)

They are for the Woking local route 91, which runs between Woking Station and Knaphill Sainsbury's via Goldsworth Park.


Interior of Arriva Southern Counties 4289 on Route 91, Knaphill (© Aubrey)

This shows the e-leather used on the seats. What it doesn't show is that it has wi-fi (as seen with the later stickers added onto the base livery buses that went out for a few days).


Arriva Southern Counties 4289 on Route 91, Knaphill Sainsbury's (© Aubrey)

Sainsbury's think this is Brookwood, but it is actually within the urban area connected to Knaphill, and is equidistant between Knaphill and Brookwood. There is also a Homebase, Habitat, Argos complex next to the Sainsbury's. Which also has a dentist, interestingly!


Arriva Southern Counties 4292 on Route 91, Goldsworth Park (© Aubrey)

The route goes through Goldsworth Park, a residential area west of Woking. It is fairly frequent, with an every 10-20 minute frequency during most of Monday-Saturday. On Sundays, it is hourly.


Arriva Southern Counties 4290 on Route 91, Goldsworth Park (© Aubrey)

However, as it is well known, Surrey Suretime is terrible (it's literally timetables most of the time, but sometimes all the information is wrong!). These buses ride surprisingly smoother than other Streetlites. They also struggle a tad up gradients, although the electronic handbrake does work a treat on a hill start. Definitely better than other Streetlites within the Home Counties. Then again, it is out of London.