A Forgotten-ish One

Metroline DE875 on Route 324, Queensbury (CC Aubrey)

Yeah, the 324 went to Metroline. Quite a few people forgot that. I wonder why?...

Route 324 is a recent route, starting in October 2010 with Transdev London Sovereign with 8.8m Enviro 200s. This route gave a few roads a new bus service, being a local linker between Brent Cross Tesco and Stanmore Station. It initially ran every 20-30 minutes.


London Sovereign SDE21 on Route 324, Stanmore (© Aubrey)

Old Church Lane, Abercorn Road, St Andrews Drive and Culver Grove seemed to be problematic, according to their residents at the time. TfL felt that this was not true, as a test with a 10.2m proved to not have problems on those roads. Hence 8.8m buses were initially used, before London Sovereign started to put DEs on the route. The longer 10.2m Enviro 200 proved also to be the basis for the award to Metroline.


Metroline DE876 on Route 324, Queensbury (CC Aubrey)

This however meant buses that are older than the route are now on the route as part of the allocation. Buses older than the prior contract award are now the allocation of the 324.


Metroline DE864 on Route 324, Queensbury (CC Aubrey)

The "refurbishment" is just a repaint and new seats. With too much red, again.
Overall, it seems that the service from my short observation wasn't too bad, could be worse, but could be better too.