The next big service change maybe isn't the most-publicised one, but it is important for many of us enthusiasts. It's the impending replacement of all Euro2-compliant buses in London, which on one hand means older, more polluting vehicles can be withdrawn but for some enthusiasts means London has lost that bit of character... again.

Euro2 emissions regulations were introduced in 1997 and lasted until 2001, and with the low-floor revolution going on at the time, meant bus manufacturers had their work cut out to create cleaner and more accessible vehicles. Now of course this is getting easier as Euro6 has just been introduced and hybrid (and even electric) buses are getting more common, but some simply don't have the character that old ones have.

I have a lot of memories of these buses. Back in 2003 when I was becoming an enthusiast, basically every bus I had was a Trident on the 136 and 208 (though I didn't particularly like the allocated X-reg for some reason) as well as Darts on the 181. I also had some older, step-entrance Darts on the 138 but otherwise everything was low-floor and Euro2. Other stuff in the general area included many B7TLs on the 171, though the allocation was Euro2 and thus worthy of this post ramble, a better batch of Tridents on the 261 with East Lancs bodies and of course, a big pile of Darts on other routes with ALX200, Pointer and Marshall Capital bodies. The ALX200 was always my favourite body for the Dart, despite essentially being the regular ALX front bolted on to a standard boxy body.

17478, the last Euro2 Trident and a great bus in general.

©GloriousWater

The ALX200s and East Lancs Tridents went in 2006, but otherwise I've always been close to at least some Euro2s. Among the many buses I used to get to school there were always some Volvo B7TLs, in the form of London Central PVLs and East Thames VPs, all of which were a good ride. These Volvos sort of became my refuge after ELBG lost the 54/75, but that's another rant entirely. By this time the first Euro2s (P to S-reg) were starting to get withdrawn and with no more step-entrance buses around it was early retirement outside London for them. But in my area they were still common and the first bus I got after Stagecoach returned in 2010 was an X-reg Trident on the 208, which I probably enjoyed far more than a regular X-reg trip. But at this stage their days were numbered, as newer Tridents got cascaded from East London to replace them.

These replacement Tridents were.... more Euro2s, but Y-reg (known to me as Y-NHKs). Practically the only difference was the blue Stagecoach moquette and a ZF gearbox as opposed to Voith. But they were in far better condition than the old ones, and a lot faster with the ZF. After an epic ride on 17438 these quickly became my favourite Tridents on the 208, though I never managed to catch one on another route. However these didn't last particularly long in the south as the route's contract renewal came up in mid-2012 and they got replaced by new Euro5 Enviro400s, which I don't like nearly as much as they generally struggle to reach any decent speed. Around the same time I moved to Rotherhithe where there were no Euro2s usually, and they were no longer a daily sight for me from that point. The last ALX200s were replaced as well by this point, by new Enviro200s on routes 124 and 314. The only consolation was that these E200s were nowhere near as gutless as the E400s that replaced the Tridents.

Anyway my personal ramble has gone on long enough. Time for the other bloggers to write their memories of Euro2 buses, and hopefully not as long-winded as mine.

EastLondoner - A lot of my experiences with Euro2 buses happened quite a few years ago, BK garage was once home to numerous Euro2 Tridents, and I remember travelling on them every so often on the 369 and their occasional strays onto the 62. My most notable memories about them are the fact that their exit doors were further behind than the current Stagecoach Tridents and this meant that the wheelarch seats were on a raised section giving you a good view of the bus.

 Picture by Nico Hogg (Flickr) 

My local routes 62 and 366 also had quite a decent sized Euro2 allocation, and these were in the form of ALX200 Single Deck buses. I used to love riding on them with their distinct engine noise and their tip up seats in the Wheelchair area providing a decent number of seats for people to sit on when the area was not occupied. My favorite seats on these buses were also on the rear Wheelarch, Which was probably one of the highest seats on the bus, giving you a really nice view. These became my daily commute home from Primary School, and I always have memories associated with these buses.

But Stagecoach were not the only operator with ALX200s in my area, neighbouring operator Arriva also had a few stored at their Barking (DX) garage for route 78, which was operated from there at the time with them. These buses regularly strayed onto route 173 and these were among the first buses in the area to be fitted with iBus. Then when route 78 was converted to Double Deck in 2010, the allocation was also moved from DX to Ash Grove AE and with it left the ALX200s silenty overnight.

Something else which happened in 2010 was the withdrawal of route 369, when the route left BK, it took a lot of Euro2 Tridents with it. Being replaced by Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 buses on new routes EL1 and EL2 being operated by Go Ahead London. Then the few that were remaining left during 2011 when BK had a huge overhaul of its fleet replacing a lot of the older Euro2 vehicles with Enviro200s and Enviro400s with a Voith Gearbox, these new buses definitely had quite a big expectation to live up to, and the Voith Enviro200s do but the Enviro400s are quite another story.

Kieran - My interest of buses came in the Euro 2 era, thanks to the many different, yet outstanding, Dennis Dart SLF's I had in my surrounding area; especially on routes 49 and 219, they both used Plaxton Pointer 1 and 2's. These buses were amazing, their Allison whine was the best and it's only right I became interested in buses from that. These were not the only Dennis Dart's I had, there was also some 10.2m variants on the 319 and 345, however, they were both quickly replaced. The 319 introduced Wright Cadet's with Arriva in 2001 and the 345 introduced Go-Ahead's first Wright Eclipse Gemini batch in 2002. The 319's Cadets were excellent and they managed the full 5 years on the route before subsequently being replaced by displaced Euro 2 DB250LF's from the 68 in 2006. The 156 and 344 also used a batch of Euro 2 Darts, however, these were topped with the not-so-common Caetano Compass body and again, these buses were amazing. I grew up with excellent batches of Euro 2 single-deckers and I'm glad I did.

More on the deckers, the Euro 2's I had around me were found on the 44 and 77 at first. They both used Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TL's out of Go-Ahead's Merton garage. At the time, I wasn't so fond of these buses because of their engine sound, funny because with age I've appreciated it much more than I did then.

I'm back, and now on to the Euro2 buses that survived into this year. Obviously I have to start with the Tridents, as they mean something to me personally. From the Y-NHK batch 17404/25/27/41 were the last four left in January, all at Plumstead except 17425 at Rainham. Mostly long-wheelbase ones with 17441 being short, these stayed at their garages until May when 17427 and 17441 went to Catford and the other two were withdrawn by the end of the month. These two survived really long, 17427 only getting withdrawn after 136 duty on the 5th of December and 17441 being the second last Euro2 Trident being withdrawn on the 19th after a 199 working. The only other Euro2 Tridents to survive into the year were also with Stagecoach, 17490 being the last at Plumstead working the 177 on the 15th of September. Catford started the year only using 17478 (which has never left the garage) but in addition to the two Y-NHKs got 6 others cascaded in for the 136 extension, 17466/87/503/05-07. One was replaced by a random Euro3 transferred from Leyton while the others basically carried on until December. But all of them got withdrawn before 17478 anyway, which was the last Euro2 Trident in London working route 47 (for which it was originally ordered) on Christmas Eve. Or so we thought, as it suddenly reappeared on the 199 on New Year's Eve.

17441 was the second last Euro2 Trident in London, seen here a month before withdrawal.

©GloriousWater

Before transfer to Catford, one of the Tridents, 17505,  stole the title of last Euro2 at Bromley when it was transferred in early March from Plumstead, to cover the extra requirement on routes 208/261 while roadworks went on in Lewisham. However it only appeared on school routes 636/638 apart from a few 269 journeys, and in late April was the first Euro2 transferred to Catford for the 136 extension ending the era of Euro2 Tridents at Bromley. Up in East London Leyton had about six Euro2s running mostly as spares for route 97, with one, 17489, lasting until late September before withdrawal. Bow's last was 17451, which was their only Euro2 to survive into 2014 working route 277 daily until July. West Ham had a decent amount of Euro2s to start off the year, though the numbers of these started to fall as early as February when 17460 made its last journey. By September this amount had fallen to 4, 17454/89/90/95, with two being cascaded to other garages in the middle of the month and the others withdrawn. Barking had a random working on route 5 in April as its last Euro2, which was again the much-travelled 17490 while at Rainham two Euro2s lasted into 2014, 17425 and 17507. The latter was transferred to Catford in May and at the end of the month 17425 had also been withdrawn.

The much-travelled 17490 on route 147 in East Ham.

©EastLondoner

The story of the last Euro2 Dennis Darts isn't so Stagecoach-dominated. It's also not so simple because at the time of writing the ones that lasted into 2014 haven't been withdrawn, in fact some have returned. With Go-Ahead two old Darts have survived with two subsidiaries. Metrobus have 334, a 10.8m Pointer (all the Euro2 Darts left are Pointers) that has tirelessly worked route 130 for the entire year, with workings on practically every Croydon route including double-decker routes 119 and 64. The other one is London General's LDP151, which is a Mini Pointer from 2001 that's basically lived on the G1 for the entire year and as of the 28th, both are still in service on the same routes. Abellio's Dart fleet actually grew this year, with a few 51-reg 10.2m examples and one X-reg Mini Pointer being reinstated during the year. 8041 is the oldest bus in TFL service currently, which started the year as a spare at Hayes appearing on every route, then getting transferred to Twickenham for route K1 when the 112 went to Metroline. 8044 from the same batch is one of four Darts that are regulars on Beddington routes 152, 322 and P13, the others being 8054, 8061 and 8062 from a slightly later batch of Mini Pointers. These four have stayed in TFL service for the entire year, even though they were meant to be replaced by longer Darts off route 100 when that passed to GAL. Obviously because the buses were late, the cascade still hasn't happened.

8062, one of four Darts at Beddington on its usual route P13.

©GloriousWater

8053 is another X-reg Mini Pointer, this one is at Walworth as a spare for route 484. This one last strayed off the route in July 2013 when it appeared on route 100, otherwise it's been solid on the 484. One more interesting Dart is 8051, which was last seen on route 112 in March 2013 and assumed withdrawn. Then on the 10th of December it mysteriously appeared on route H20 with a refurbishment and white blinds, though the number blind got stuck on blank. Anyway Abellio do have a batch of longer (10.2m) Euro2 Darts from 2001, which weren't all in service at the start of the year. One of the buses that started the year was 8437 at Battersea, working as a spare for route C10. Since there are no other single-deck routes at Battersea, it never really strays and as a result should be easy to snap. Except it's never on the route at a good time meaning I've only come across this bus once. 8434 is the oldest in the batch which has been at Beddington for the whole year, working routes 455 and 152 and it was joined by 8435/6/9 which transferred from Twickenham where they worked the 235 since the start of the year. 8438 worked routes 112 and U7 at Hayes until late July when the 112 passed to Metroline  It then reappeared in October, at Beddington and also worked the 455 and 152 regularly with one stray on to newly won route 201 in November. The last of this batch is 8440 which has been a solid performer at Hayes since 2013, rarely straying from the U7 after route 112 was lost. With 2015 fast approaching (it will have started by the time you read this) it makes me doubt all the Euro2s will be gone in January at least.

Now on from Dennis types to the Euro2s left with Arriva, which is the only operator in London with Euro2 DAF types. Route 255 is allocated SB120s with Wright bodies, the last full allocation of Euro2 buses anywhere in London. These are coded DWLs and have a very similar driveline to a Dart with the same engine and gearbox. These were new to route 319 (see Kieran's story above, etc) and don't really stray on other routes much. There's no word on when these will be replaced, and these look very likely to last well into 2015.

DLA253 on stand at Crystal Palace 3 days before 2015, where these are still around in decent amounts.
©GloriousWater

And now to a better known type of DAF, the DB250 double-decker.  The DAF DB250LF was the first low-floor double decker available in the UK and Arriva have some Euro2 examples lying around, with Alexander ALX400 bodies (DLAs) and some now-withdrawn Plaxton Presidents (DLPs). These are only left in south London now, though at the start of the year a few northern garages had them. A large chunk of them could be found on Palmers Green routes 34/125, both DLA and DLP types. At the start of the year some of these were based at other garages, such as DLA319 at Brixton and DLA311 on Barking school routes. But the 34 and 125 were lost to Metroline and with them went the Euro2s. The last DLA at this garage was DLA311 on route 125 on the 23rd of December and the last President was DLP80 on route 34 on the 7th of November. Barking briefly had a second DLA in February which was DLA205 transferred from Brixton and worked route 678 for a whopping 5 days before withdrawal on the 12th.

A lot more DB250s survived in the south, mostly at Brixton and Norwood garages. About 30 were in service at the start of the year, but withdrawals were already in progress with about 15 DLAs from Brixton alone being withdrawn by February. Brixton's last DLA was DLA311 working route 137 on the 7th of August, at which point it transferred to Norwood where it stayed until the 16th of September when it was transferred north to Palmers Green. Norwood's DLAs were much harder to move, with 13 still running routes 415, 417 and 432 by December. A few appeared to run their last service by the middle of the month but on New Year's Eve two X-reg and two Y-reg were still running on the 415 and 417. This is a type that definitely looks like it'll survive in to 2015, although with the 109 passing to Abellio soon it may bring the DLAs with it.

Two operators were still running Plaxton-bodied Euro2 Volvos at the start of the year, we start with Go-Ahead and their PVLs. Some W-reg ones working Rainham school routes at the start of the year were the last centre-staircase buses left in London. These started to be withdrawn in May with cascaded Scanias from routes 54/75 which had been lost to Stagecoach. PVL66/69 escaped however, appearing on Sutton route 154 on the 12th of May. Their last working was on the 10th of October, and they promptly reappeared on Peckham's route 37 the next day to cover for delays caused by roadworks. These were soon joined by PVLs 159 and 170, which had a conventional layout with the stairs behind the driver. PVL159 transferred to New Cross in December but the others stayed. PVL66 appeared to have worked its last just before midnight on the 22nd of December, becoming the last centre-staircase bus in London after PVL69 worked its last on the 19th. PVL170 however is still in service as of New Year's Day.

Bexleyheath had a decent allocation of X-reg PVLs that have worked the 132 since its conversion to double-deck, replacing newer DWLs. They haven't had a particularly interesting year though with no withdrawals at all during 2014. Sometimes one or two go on a New Cross route but that's about it. Stockwell had a few stray Euro2s during the year, with PVL113 having a central staircase. This one worked as a spare for route 87 until withdrawal in July. PVL203 was another 87 spare, which lasted into 2015 and had a few odd workings on route 333 while PVL232 was another 87 spare until transfer to Rainham in August. Camberwell had a single Euro2, PVL151 working the 68 group since February with appearances on the 185 and one working on the 345 which Kieran eventually chased down.

And finally the last batch of Euro2s to survive into 2014, Metroline's VPLs (long wheelbase B7TL/Presidents). A few survived at Edgware at the start of the year, working routes 186 and 204. They only lasted into the spring though and the last VPL at the garage was VPL217 working route 113 on the 24th of April. This then transferred to Willesden with a few workings on the 6 before settling down on routes 260 and 460, being ultimately withdrawn in June after being the last VPL at this garage too. Harrow's VPL allocation lasted longer, although VPL184 was the only one left from July. But against the odds it somehow lasted into 2015, still working route 140 almost daily.

Right, that was long and almost a fleetlist. Most of the Euro2s around were in fact meant to be withdrawn by December, but the only thing that went then was centre-staircase buses which were meant to go by 2012! In fact if you want to chase a Euro2 bus there are still routes scattered around London that regularly use them, but they're noticeably less common than they were even one year ago. And it's safe to say that a lot of enthusiasts will miss them once they go with several contracts being renewed over the next few months even though the withdrawals are really rather late.

Finally, have a rear shot of 17478 because it seems fitting to end this post with.

©GloriousWater

_______________________________________________________________________________

We would like to that our photo contributors in this post:

Lee Thatcher: https://www.flickr.com/photos/leesbuses/

Nico Hogg: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicohogg/

Pictures used in this post which display the © Symbol should not be used in other places without permission. Where this symbol is not present, you may use the picture so long as you credit the author and not use the picture for commercial purposes

London's buses have never been so environmentally friendly since the transport network began. What has Transport for London and London's bus operators done to ensure London is as green as it today?

The London Bus Blog goes down under and will provide you with a Christmas special post of hybrid vehicles working London's streets 364(5) days a year. At present, there are over 600 hybrids operating on over 40 routes in London. Almost every London operator has a hybrid of some sort in their fleet, both single-deckers and double-deckers.

© GloriousWater 2014

Hybrid buses were introduced to London as a measure of dealing with the city's air pollution levels. Buses were responsible for 20% of the Carbon Dioxide emissions with them only making up 5% of the transport network. So something needed to be done about it. Mayor of London Ken Livingstone unveiled the first Hybrid bus on February 7th 2006 with them officially entering service on February 8th 2006. These buses were Wright ElectroCity buses and were put to work on route 360.

Later in 2006, the first Double Deck Hybrid bus in the world was unveiled, it was due for London Bus Route 141 and was made by Wrightbus. It eventually entered service on the route during February 2006, almost a year after the first Single Decker Hybrids were introduced to the Capital.

In December 2008, 25 prototype buses entered service in London with a variety of different operators. These buses along with the other Hybrids of 2006 carried a special "Leaf" livery which, as you can tell by the name, had a lot of leaves on the bus. TFL then pledged to introduce 300 Hybrid buses to London's streets by 2012, in which they succeeded when the 300th Hybrid bus entered service on Route 211.

Once Mayor of London Boris Johnson came into power, he pledged to introduce an Environmentally Friendly, Modern version of the much loved Routemaster. This was unveiled in 2012 and 8 of these vehicles were put to operation on route 38 between Hackney Central and Victoria. These buses contained three doors, one having the ability to convert to an open rear platform similar to the one of the Routemasters. But this would only happen in place of a Customer assistant. During times when a Customer assistant is not available the rear door would operate as a normal door. These buses contain Oyster readers at every door, so passengers can board and alight from any door, which is not the case with conventional double decker buses. These buses also contain two staircases which speed up flow between the upper and lower decks, one stair case being in the centre of the bus, similar to conventional London buses with a Spiral staircase at the rear similar to the Routemaster. 

These buses, although highly designed around the Routemaster do have some modern features. They are Hybrid buses and also contain a wheelchair ramp and wheelchair area near the middle door. Making them comply with the Disability Discrimination act.

© EastLondoner 2014

Up until the middle of 2011, routes that converted to Hybrid operation were usually done mid-contract and when Hybrid buses were introduced, they were never a full allocation. But this changed towards the end of 2011 when Metroline Cricklewood routes 16 and 139 were announced to be getting full Hybrid allocations. Soon followed by Stagecoach London Bow route 15. These were among the first fully Hybrid conversions. In 2012 route 27 became the first route to go fully Hybrid upon contract renewal.

During 2014, a new technology was introduced, known as a Flywheel. It is attached to the brakes of a bus and works similar to regenerative breaking found on the London Underground S Stock. This has the ability to save a lot of energy on existing buses which can be enough to class the bus as a Hybrid.

Abellio London

Abellio London currently has 86 hybrid buses in their fleet - numbered 2401-2486 - all of them are double-deckers manufactured by Alexander Dennis on the leading Enviro400 body; these are a mix of Euro 5 hybrids and Euro 6 hybrids and operate on 6 routes in and around central London from garages in Battersea (QB), Hayes (WS) and Walworth (WS), respectively.

2403, SN61DFP showing the Euro 5 rear ©GloriousWater

The Euro 5 hybrids make up the first half of the fleet, they are numbered 2401-2443. The first 13 hybrids - numbered 2401-2413 - entered service on Walworth (WL) route 188 between North Greenwich and Russell Square in early 2012. The 30 other Euro 5's entered service in February and May 2012 at Battersea (QB): 24 - numbered 2414-2437 - for routes 3 and N3 between Crystal Palace/Bromley North and Oxford Circus, and 6 - numbered 2438-2443 - for route 211 between Hammersmith and Waterloo.

2468, SN64OES showing the new Euro 6 rear ©KTLBB

The Euro 6 hybrids complete the second half of the fleet, these are numbered 2444-2486. These contain Abellio's updated interior and Alexander Dennis' new chassis and engine set-up. Hayes (WS) was the first to receive the Euro 6's with 8 entering service in May 2014 on route E1 between Ealing Broadway and Greenford Broadway, these were numbered 2444-2451. Just like the Euro 5's, the remaining Euro 6 hybrids entered service at Battersea (QB): first on routes 211 and C3 (Clapham Junction - Earl's Court) in June 2014 with 2452-2464 and second on route 49 between Clapham Junction and White City in September 2014 with 2465-2486.

What next for Abellio? They currently have 47 more Euro 6 Alexander Dennis hybrids on the new MMC body on order and/or delivery for routes 109, 350, 415 and N109 - numbered 2487-2533 - these will enter service at the start of next year. 

Arriva London

Arriva London were the first operator to introduce Hybrid Double Deckers to London's bus fleet, operating on route 141. Since then Arriva London mainly operate Volvo B5LH/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 Hybrid buses, these are found at Stamford Hill (SF), Wood Green (WN), Tottenham (AR) and Brixton (BN). Some buses found at Tottenham were early prototypes and carry the "Leaf" livery found on London's other prototypes. The buses operate on routes 29, 59, 73, 76, 141 and 319.

© EastLondoner 2014

Like most other major London operators Arriva London have New Routemaster buses, operating on Routes 38 from Clapton (CT) and 137 from Brixton (BN). Arriva London were the first operator to take delivery of these buses for route 38 back in 2012. Many of Arriva London's New Routemasters for Route 38 were wrapped in an advert for Adidas, as can be seen in the picture. Along with a standard red New Routemaster.


Arriva London also have two Electric Optare Metrocity buses, found at Croydon (TC) garage to operate on Route 312. These buses carry the Electric Leaf livery found on London's other Electric buses.

Picture by Au Morandarte, Some rights reserved

What will happen to Arriva London's environmentally friendly fleet next year? Not much to public knowledge at the moment. Route 253 has been retained with Hybrid buses, but that is about it.

CT Plus

There isn't much to say about this operator in terms of Hybrid buses. They have one bus which is an Enviro400 Hybrid which was donated to the company by a nearby University who wanted to do research on the bus. It operates on Route 388 and is almost always found on the route, but occasionally it does the school journey of Route W13. It isn't unheard off for this bus to operate on route 212, but it's extremely rare.

Go Ahead London

Go Ahead London have quite a few environmentally friendly buses in their fleet. It all started back in 2006 when they were given Wright Electrocity buses for operation on Route 360. These carried the Leaf livery along with most early Hybrids. Below, WHY5 is seen operating on the route.

Picture by Au Morandarte, Some Rights Reserved

In 2008 they also had 5 Prototype Enviro400Hybrid buses, coded EH1-5. They were operated from Stockwell (SW) garage for Route 24 which was operated by them at that time.

Picture By Au Morandarte, Some Rights Reserved

Once Route 24 was lost, these buses primarily re-allocated themselves to Route 88. But before that, Go Ahead London had to convert Route 436 and 12 from BendyBus operation to Double Decker operation. As well as that they had also regained the contract for Route 19 from Arriva London. All three routes were to gain a partial Hybrid allocation. Routes 12 and Route 19 both got Volvo B5LH/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 buses while Route 436 got E40H/Enviro400 Double Deckers. 

© GloriousWater 2014

Go Ahead London also like many other Major London operators operate routes which use New Routemasters. These are found at Stockwell (SW) garage and Mandela Way (MW) garage for routes 11 and 453. They also operate the first production batch of the Euro6 versions which are the ones found at Mandela Way (MW). These buses are identical to the ones operated by other operators.

Go Ahead London also operate London's first fully Electric buses, these are made by the chinese manufacturer Build Your Dreams (BYD) and these operate from Waterloo Garage (RA) on routes 507 and 521 which run fully in central London. The charging points for the buses are found in the garage and the buses themselves are coded EB1 and EB2. They entered service on Route 507 during December 2013 and on route 521 early 2014.

© GloriousWater 2014

Go Ahead London also have a handful of Enviro200 vehicles fitted with a Flywheel at Mandela Way garage, originally due to enter service in September they were highly delayed and the first one only entered service on the 19th December 2014. These buses are not full Hybrids and instead make use of regenerative braking. Similar to the type found on the London Underground S Stock. 

So what is in store from London's biggest operator next year? They have ordered Enviro400MMC/Volvo B5LH hybrids for their latest gain from Arriva London on route 135, while their gain of routes 322 and retention of G1 see some Flybrid Single Deckers coming their way.

RATP London Sovereign

London Sovereign only have one batch of Hybrid buses, these are in the form of B5LH/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 buses which are allocated to Route 13 from Edgware (BT) garage, which operates between Golders Green and Aldwych. These buses are coded VHs and it is pretty rare for them to appear on any other route at Edgware (BT) garage.

RATP London United

London United are the only operator in London to have pictures of the Hybrid Enviro200, these operate on Route 371 from Fulwell Garage. These carry the old London United interior as opposed to the new one. Sadly no other buses of this type were ordered for London. These buses are easily distinguishable from their Diesel counterparts with their "Leaf" livery and their Battery on the roof.

London United also operate the Enviro400 Hybrid, found at Shepherd's Bush (S) for route 94, and Stamford Brook (V) for route 27. These two batches are easy to identify between each other, with Route 94 containing the older seat moquette and doesn't have interior LED lighting, whereas the 27 has the newer moquette and has interior LED lighting.

© EastLondoner

Like most of London's other major operators, London United have a few batches of "New Routemaster" vehicles, found at Stamford Brook (V) for routes 9 and 10, and at Shepherd's Bus (S) for route 148. Apart from different logos, these buses are the same as the ones which are used by other operators. One of which is in a Year of the Bus Livery, LT150. This is the only one in London to wear a detailed livery for the Year of The Bus with later variants having a much simpler version. 

Later introduced onto route H98 during 2014, were four Electrical buses originally due for route 391. These are fully electric and are Optare MetroCitys. Their charging point is found in the garage, and they contain the electric livery worn by the BYD Electric buses on Routes 507 and 521. These are also the first electric buses to operate on a Suburban Route as well as being the first Optare MetroCity Electric buses.

So what can we expect next from London United? Route 285 is gaining a Double Decker conversion and the new contract specified Hybrids. What bus type will they be? I guess we all need to wait and see!

Metroline

Metroline have a few Enviro400 Hybrid Prototypes, these carry the "leaf livery" like many early Hybrids. Found at their Headquarters Cricklewood (W) these operate mainly on route 16, every now and again on routes 189 and 139, and rarely on the other routes. 

© LondonBuses72

Later in 2011, routes 16 and 139 gained a full allocation of Hybrid Enviro400s, these had the modest livery as opposed to the leaf one. The prototypes remained on the 16, alongside their new Hybrid relatives. These buses also carry a slightly newer Metroline interior, with orange poles.

In 2012, Metroline re-won the contract of Route 24 with brand new buses from Holloway Garage. The route was to gain a partial Hybrid allocation, and Metroline took this opportunity to order their first Wright Eclipse Gemini 2/B5LH Hybrid buses. But during 2013 when route 24 was converted to "New Routemaster" operation, the Hybrids were displaced to Willesden (AC) for route 52, and that is where they are found today.

During 2013, more Alexander Dennis Enviro400 Hybrids were ordered for route 189 a Cricklewood (W), although they can usually be found intermixed with the 61reg buses on route 16 and 139.

Metroline also operate two Batches of "New Routemaster" buses, ordered in June 2013 for Route 24, then in December 2013 for route 390. These buses are almost identical to those of other operators except for the operator logo and are found at Holloway (HT) mixed across both routes.

During 2014, Metroline retained the contract of Route 7, it was announced that this route was to gain a full Hybrid allocation, and this type was revealed to be the Wright Eclipse Gemini 3/B5LH, a First for Metroline. These buses are found at Perivale West (PA) and operate only on route 7, occasionally making guest appearances on other routes. Metroline were later also awarded the contract for Route 34, with Hybrids and the route was announced to also be getting Wright Eclipse Gemini 3/B5LH buses. These are found at Potters Bar Garage (PB) operating on Route 82, to which they were diverted.

So what's next for Metroline? They have won the contract for route 125 in Jannuary 2015, this will see Potters Bar (PB) gain more Wright Eclipse Gemini 3/B5LH buses. The retention of routes 331 and A10 both specified Flywheel Single deckers, due to enter service in 2015.

Stagecoach London

Stagecoach London has 129 E40Hs, 32 B5LHs, 5 Tempo Hybrids and 33 NRMs making 199 Hybrids.

The Optare Tempos were ordered under the ownership of the East London Bus Group, these carry the "Leaf" livery seen on many of London's earlier Hybrids. Originally ordered for Route 276, then sent to Catford (TL) for Route 380 and now Route 178. They contain the Blue ELBG interior and now are the only Optare Tempo Hybrids remaining in London service.

Later once Stagecoach had brought back their London operations, it was decided to convert Route 15 to Hybrid operation as the Route goes right to the Heart of Central London and suffers major traffic, the money used was from the new Contracts of Route 241 and 147. These buses contain a Green version of Stagecoach's normal livery, and are the only London buses to carry it. These buses are on the 61 plate and are at Bow Garage at the moment.

Stagecoach London then didn't order much Hybrids, then in 2013 it was announced that Routes 96, 122 and 472 were to be retained on new contracts and brand new Hybrid buses were to be used on the routes. This was a lot of buses and there was no point keeping the Green livery seen on the 15s buses as Hybrids were starting to become common in London and there was no point making them stick out. The buses were going to be to the new Euro6 specifications and were E40Hs. Although inbetween the retention and New buses arriving Stagecoach London had retained Route 205 with Brand new Enviro400 Hybrids and had won routes 54 and 75 with new Hybrids. 

So what eventually happened was that Stagecoach decided to completely re-organise the allocations of the Hybrids. The first batch of Enviro400Hybrids were going to Catford (TL) for routes 54 and 75, then 10 Hybrids were going to go to Plumstead (PD) to partially convert Route 122. Then the leftovers from the original order were going to Bow (BW) for a premature conversion of Route 205. In the meantime Newly ordered Wright Eclipse Gemini2/B5LH buses originally ordered for route 54 and 75 were going to convert PD Route 53 to Hybrid operation and route 96 would get the displaced Diesels. Then later more Enviro400s would arrive fully converting the 122 and 472 to Hybrid operation. 

These Euro6 Enviro400 Hybrids and Wright Eclipse Gemini 3/B5LH buses contain the blue and orange interior found on most of Stagecoach London's buses.

But during all of the Euro6 Hybrid arrivals, Route 8 got itself some Euro5 Hybrids introducing Stagecoach London's first "New Routemaster" operated route. Apart from the logo on the buses being a Stagecoach one the buses are pretty much identical to their predecessors.

So What is next for Stagecoach? Route 56 is getting an allocation Enviro400 Hybrid MMC buses during February 2015 upon contract renewal. Route 55 is getting an allocation of New Routemaster buses also during February 2015 introducing the companies second operation of such vehicles and Route 177 is getting B5LH/Enviro400 Hybrid MMC buses during May 2015. But what is special is the fact that Route 69 is getting Virtual Electric Enviro400 MMC buses due to enter service during the first half of 2015.

Tower Transit

© EastLondoner

Tower Transit operate a fleet of Enviro400 Hybrid buses from Westbourne Park Garage, as of December 2014 these are the only Hybrid buses that they have. These buses were ordered during the time of First Centrewest and they contain the First Group's interior. They operate on Route 23 between Liverpool Street and Westbourne Park. These buses are 62reg and often stay on the 23, although it is not unheard off to see them on Route 295.

© GloriousWater

Tower Transit also have the only batch of Hydrogen powered vehicles in London, these operate on route RV1 between Covent Garden and Tower Gateway. These are zero emission buses and produce nothing but water.

What are the next steps for Tower Transit? They may be a new operator, u they surely have a big year ahead of them! They have won routes 212, 44 and 488, of which Route 444 will be getting diesel Streetlites. Route 488 will be getting Enviro200s fitted with a Flywheel and will be Tower Transit's second Hybrid operation. Route 212 is to get Wright Eclipse Gemini 3/B5LH buses in 2015.


London has never been greener! With an extra 500 buses roaming the streets by 2021 and a new Ultra Low emission zone possibly being introduced by the end of the decade, there is still a lot of work that London has to do to get its pollution level to EU standards. All Double Decker routes that enter central London will all soon eventually be fully Hybrid and all Single Decker routes which enter central London will have to be Zero Emission.

We hope that you enjoyed this post about London becoming a cleaner and greener city. London will keep on moving for many many years to come, and will get greener for the foreseeable future with many new introductions and older buses getting withdrawn.

I would like to thank all the photographers who have allowed their pictures to be used in this post:

LondonBuses72: https://www.flickr.com/photos/londonbuses72/
LondonBusBreh: https://www.flickr.com/photos/londonbusbreh1912/
Aubrey Morandarte: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wltmauc/

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