LTs on the N/Free (inc NBAD 10)

Well, the next bus routes to convert to LT are the 3/N3.

Abellio London LT626 on Route N3, Trafalgar Square (© Aubrey)


Abellio London LT712 on Route 3, Westminster (© Aubrey)

Route 159/N and N/3 batches interwork, based at Battersea Garage (QB). This, along with the 68 and the 59, show the latest expansion of LT buses towards the south of London.


Abellio London LT624 on Route 3, Lambeth Bridge (© Aubrey)

Route 3 has been with Abellio/Travel London/Connex since February 2000, initially at Beddington Cross until February 2012 when it moved to Battersea, where it is today.


Abellio London LT700 on Route 3, Westminster (© Aubrey)

The batch for the 3 is LT691-715, albeit as seen, earlier LTs can be seen on the route as well as it is intermixed with the 159 batch. Route 3 in itself hasn't really changed too much in route, always running at least between Oxford Circus and Crystal Palace, initially also running to Camden Town. It was subject for the Optare Spectras when it was with London Central.


Abellio London LT611 on Route N3, Trafalgar Square (© Aubrey)

This also means that LTs are going as far as Bromley, which is pretty much the furthest an LT does usually go from Central London. Route N3 has gone to Bromley North at its current extent since February 2000, although it did go to Chislehurst prior to that. The route itself started in October 1989 running between Oxford Circus and Beckenham Junction.

Overall, the new blinds are, predictably there. Also, the LT conversions are coming thick and fast yet again, with a ton of LTs ready probably for the 211. It already has had an LT on the route!

Night Tower (inc NBAD 10)

Route N97, or now ^N97 is one of the original N-prefixed routes that was renumbered from 2xx numbers, the 297 originally being a Liverpool Street-Turnham Green service duplicating the Piccadilly line at night between Piccadilly Circus and Hammersmith. It still does that function today, albeit shorter now than it was originally, and certainly shorter than its longest length it took.

London United TLA27 on Route N97, Hyde Park Corner (© Aubrey)

Route N97, since privatisation, has been with London United from either AV (Hounslow) or S (Shepherd's Bush). However, on 5th March 2016, that all changed as London United lost the N97 to Tower Transit from Westbourne Park (X).


Tower Transit VN37993 on Route N97, Trafalgar Square (© Aubrey)

That is the first ever westbound journey of an N97 under Tower Transit. Currently it is mixed VN, WN and DNH operation. The first night however was just VNs and WNs.


Tower Transit WN35002 on Route N97, Hyde Park Corner (© Aubrey)

Freshly refurbished VDL DB300s were used with unrefurbished VNs from the first night. The N97 also somehow managed to bunch on the first night.


Tower Transit VN37993 on Route N97, Trafalgar Square (© Aubrey)

The N97 also ran with no iBus, predictable from the first night.


Tower Transit VN37995 on Route N97, Hammersmith (© Anthony)

Since then, the DNHs and even a few new VHs have strayed onto the route, and it seems that eventually, things should be getting better. And for the blinds? I still think that the "N" should be in line with the lower line, not the upper line, like how it used to be.


Tower Transit VN37995 on Route N97, Hammersmith (© Aubrey)

This was the last bus of the night. A fairly early night finish nowadays.

The N97 has devolved from being the main western route out of London at night to a mere short stump it is today. It used to go to Heathrow and Sunbury Village in the 90s, before being replaced by the N9 for Heathrow. It's closer to its original length (Liverpool Street-Turnham Green) nowadays. It's still a pretty good route.

Picture Archive Post 45

Docklands Buses SOC6 on Route N551, Trafalgar Square, 10/06/12 (© Aubrey)

Route N551 is a relatively recent route, being introduced in August 2008, operated by Docklands Buses. It replaced a slightly older route, the N50, which started in 1995, running between Oxford Circus and Ilford via most of the current N550 and then most of the current N551 up to East Beckton, then Ilford. This was operated by Stagecoach East London from Upton Park (U). In August 1998, the route was revised to run via Bank and Aldgate instead of Tower, and Kier Hardie Estate instead of Newham Way, as well as being curtailed to East Beckton. The route moved to Northumberland Park (NP) with Capital Citybus (later First Capital) at the same time. In March 2001, the route was rerouted via Victoria Embankment instead of Aldwych. In August 2003, the route returned to Stagecoach London and extended in East Beckton from Asda to Tesco. Supermarket sweep? In December 2005, the route was extended to Gallions Reach Shopping Park, and stayed until August 2008 where the route was split. The route itself was curtailed to Canning Town and renumbered N550. The remains was picked up by the new N551, which was awarded to Docklands Buses. This is where it stayed with its various double deckers until August 2013, where relatively new operator Tower Transit took both the N550 and the N551 from Stagecoach and Docklands Buses using the existing buses from the recent gain of 425 for the two routes. Both routes now interwork with each other.

The bus, a Scania Omnicity DD, was bought for the new route 425, which was a part-replacement of Route S2. This bus stayed with Docklands Buses until 2013, when the 425 was lost to Tower Transit. The buses were deemed surplus to requirements as it was different to the rest of the buses on the 425, therefore they were sold. This example ended up with NIBS Buses, serving Essex. Not too far from East London. It is now also a one-doored bus.

Another Trek-sleyheath to this Neck-sleyheath of the Woods

Yes, if you couldn't tell by that title, we're back in Bexleyheath!

ENR6 starting a B13 rounder at Bexleyheath
© Lewis

Alongside the changes where Arriva gained both the 229 from Go-Ahead and the 469 from Stagecoach, the contract for route B13 was also retained. However, seeing as the new buses had not arrived in time for the new contract date, this change was glossed over in our post about the 229 and 469, but seeing as they have now entered service, a new post is most certainly due!

This is now only the second batch of Enviro200MMCs to enter service on London's road after the 499's batch in the summer, despite being unveiled at the NEC in late 2014. A few more batches are soon to arrive though, with Abellio on the 367 and C10 and Metroline on the 487 (the latter batch should have entered service by now but has been delayed until the summer).

ENR2 on the B15 at Bexleyheath.
© Lewis

Of course the first thing one mentions (as we did with the 499's buses in that post) about the new E200 MMC is the asymmetric design of the new frontage. Much like Wright's bold new design for the Streetdeck / Gemini 3, I think it's something which will grow on people as time passes. I personally think that the new face suits the E200 MMC better than the E400 City vehicles as on the 78.

The early days of the new buses on the B13 were just as fraught as any other new type being introduced. Luckily the retention of a contract means you can introduce the new buses gradually, which is what Arriva did over the course of the 2 days before most of the buses were introduced. On the day there were some delays and teething issues (and I got to show off my blind-changing prowess once more!).

Interior of ENR1
© Anthony

The buses are of a batch of 7, numbered ENR1-7 (showing the now heavily underway renumbering of the Shires and Southern Counties fleets into London-style codes) and registered LK65EKO/P/R/T/U/V/W. They are very smooth, showing off the overly publicised Alexander Dennis's new rattle-free qualities. They'll never match the build of, say, a Citaro, but they're a drastic improvement on the previous Enviro200 which can currently be found in swathes across all of London's boroughs. Something about the way the MMC is laid out inside makes it feel better, and the fact that Arriva have finally specified white handrails instead of yellow certainly improves the overall look as well.

ENR7 reaching the end in New Eltham.
© Jacek

Standard motive force is supplied by the Cummins four-pot engine to Euro VI emissions spec, which is nice in these small buses because they can actually get some good traction off the line when pulling away from traffic lights or bus stops. These engines are more powerful than their Euro IV and Euro V counterparts, which is a welcome relief especially for the longer E200 models as some of those have been woefully underpowered for years.

The B13 is a small route, starting in the main centre of Bexleyheath before heading through some small residential roads towards Avery Hill and New Eltham. At New Eltham, the route does a small one-way loop to turn around back towards Bexleyheath. It's fairly uneventful, to be honest!

ENR5 at Bexleyheath curtailed to Avery Hill.
© Lewis

The more MMCs that appear on London's roads, the shorter these posts will become because otherwise we'll be repeating much the same things again and again, but it is sometimes nice to see a change in what's new because it means new things to analyse, question and report to all of you.

Keep a look-out for more Enviro200 MMCs in the future, and don't forget to like us on Facebook and, if you've a question, comment below!

Little Lites on the 463

Hello! This is my first actual post! Yippee!

Streetlites that started their life with London General on the gain of Route 192. However, there was something wrong with this batch of buses, allegedly to do with flywheel fitting, so newer Streetlites were brought in to replace these now permanently diesel buses.

London General WS33 on Route 192, Tottenham Hale Bus Station (© Aubrey)
(Now it's WS01 with Quality Line)

Quality Line soon gave these buses a new lease of life, as they gave them a new home on Route 463, a little route from Coulsdon Town to Pollards Hill.

Quality Line WS09 on Route 463, Therapia Lane (© Anthony)

The previous allocation for this route was 53 reg Optare Solos (OP) with occasional strays of any other single decker that can fit on the route. Also, there is a school working that is normally an Enviro 400 (DD) running Monday-Friday.


Quality Line OP19 on Route 463, Wallington (© Anthony)

But now, these have been, at the moment, have been replaced by Streetlites (except the school workings). Route 463 is weird in having such short buses yet full sized double deckers also ply part of the route at times.


Quality Line WS01 on Route 463, Wallington (© Anthony)

The 192 Streetlites now have buses with flywheels able to be fitted, so this lot of buses needed and have what seem to be a suitable, quieter home on the 463.


Quality Line WS05 on Route 463, Wallington (© Anthony)

Meanwhile, the Optare Solo isn't really a too popular "small bus" for London, and neither is Wrightbus's Streetlite, as this sector is where ADL seem to reign king in London at the moment. Notably though, the number blinds always have the numbers slightly just too large for the blind box, as seen with both operators! It does seem weird though that only two years ago, they were with a different operator running a totally different route.

And that it was Streetlites that replaced Streetlites on the 192!


London General WS55 on Route 192, Tottenham Hale (© Aubrey)

So it's just a cascade of Streetlites.

Flower Power. Coming soon to South West Trains. (8/3/16)

Flower Power!

South West Trains have recently began to fit their Class 455 units with new traction packages, to replace the worn out EE507's currently in use under these units.

These new traction packages will improve pull off speed, often a factor criticised regarding the fact that these are suburban units, yet the acceleration is very poor. It is also projected to save a large amount energy, and money too. Regenerative braking is also fitted, further improving the efficiency of these units. Fitting new traction packages will also free up space in maintenance, allowing Wimbledon Park to receive 30 new Class 707 Desiro City trains, without this space an new depot would have needed to have been built.

This isn't just the only piece of new kit on these units. New WSP equipment, with European standard computer algorithms has replaced the outdated technology currently fitted to the fleet. This will help curtail the frequency of wheel flats, and extend the maintenance period from 10,000 miles between exam, to 15,000 miles between each exam.

With the current test units, 5732 and 5870 performing better than expected, only time will tell till we bid farewell to the EE507.