Stagecoach London's Fleet

Stagecoach London is a division of the Stagecoach group operating London operations. They have a pretty varied fleet, mainly made up of ADL vehicles but also do have buses from other Manufactures lying around such as Optare, Wrightbus and Scania around the place.

© KTLBB

Stagecoach often ordered ADL built vehicles, many of them took form of an ALX400 vehicle on a Trident Chassis. The Tridents were ordered for many routes, and almost all of the Double Deck routes in the Stagecoach fleet would have had a Trident on them at one point. Early Tridents were delivered with a different colour scheme to what they all carry today, they carried a grey moquette with red stripes (this interior is still found on 17001 today). In this picture we can see the current internal livery carried by most Stagecoach London Tridents. The Tridents ordered by Stagecoach came primarily with Voith gearboxes, with only about 84 ZFs delivered new. There have also been over 50 ZF retrofits, 30 outside London.

Like all vehicles the ALX400 eventually stopped production and there came a replacement, this was the Brand new Enviro400. Stagecoach got the first one built, a 10.8m Euro3 model called Spirit of London and numbered 18500, later 19000. This was to replace Trident 17758 which was destroyed in the 7th of July 2005 bombings. Their first full order came for 10 10.8m Euro4s for newly won route 61 which was due to operate from Bromley (TB) garage. But despite Stagecoach placing the order for the vehicles, they would not be the ones to take delivery of the vehicles. That was to be done by the Macquarie Bank, to whom Stagecoach had sold their operations to. But nonetheless Stagecoach made a triumphant return in 2010, and the Enviro400s were still there.

The ELBG didn't order much Enviro400s, but we'll get onto that later. But when Stagecoach returned they brought their ordering style back with them. Many routes were retained and Stagecoach brought Enviro400s for them. This was among Stagecoach's first order since their return to London and many people were looking forward to them. These batch of buses also had brand new Smartblinds installed on them, compared to the Manual blinds of the 61s batch and were Euro5, 10.1m models. Above 19860 can be seen on the 238.

Stagecoach didn't order much Enviro400 Diesels post 63reg, mainly because after that TFL wanted much more hybrids on London buses. Although there is a sole 14reg Enviro400 Diesel bus around, this is kept at TL as a bus used for the 136s extension to Elephant and Castle. This is one of about six Euro6 Enviro400s in London as of now (20/07/14).





Stagecoach also have quite a few Enviro400 Hybrids in their fleet, some being 61reg and others being 14reg. The 61reg buses had a different interior to the average Stagecoach interior. These had yellow handles and green seats. This was the interior used on all outer London hybrids and Stagecoach carried it in with the London ones. This batch was kept at Bow (BW) for route 15, which received the Hybrids mid-contract. Stagecoach didn't order much hybrids after this during 2012 and 2013. Although the next batch was due in 2014, for routes 54, 75, 122, 205 and 472. These buses contained the average Stagecoach London interior as Hybrids were going to become a common sight in London and there was no point differentiating between the two bus types.

The newer Enviro400 Hybrids contained other noticeable differences to the 61reg buses except for the interior. They only contained one tree deflector as opposed to the two that is usually found among London buses. They also had Start-Stop technology. This is when the bus automatically switches its engine off when it is waiting at traffic lights or bus stops and this saves energy. These buses are also the first Euro6 engined Enviro400 Hybrids in London.

Stagecoach also has some Wright Eclipse Gemini 3/B5LH buses in the fleet. These are kept at Plumstead (PD) garage for routes 53 and 122. These are the first production Gemini 3/B5LH buses in London, originally destined for the 54 and 75 they were diverted to the 53 and 122.

The buses like the latter E40Hs contain the average blue Stagecoach interior, and are Stagecoach's first Wrightbus built vehicles since the mid 1990s. It came as a surprise to many enthusiasts when it was announced that Stagecoach were going to order Geminis as nobody had expected it. It came as an even bigger surprise when later it was found out to be the Gemini 3 type and not the Gemini 2 type. 

The buses contain a rear which has a lot of non-red parts. This is unique to London as there is a rule which states buses have to be red as far as possible. Some design features have been inspired by the New Routemaster, such as the window near the stairs and the glossy rear. This has been a very controversial bus for enthusiasts.

Stagecoach London also have a few New Routemasters, kept at Bow (BW) for route 8 which was awarded with these type of vehicles upon the new contract.

These are practically identical to every other New Routemaster batch that preceded it with different operators, as Stagecoach didn't have any authority to change any of the spec as the buses were owned by TFL and leased to the operators.

While the company was operated by the Australian Marquarie Bank. There were a lot of Scanias ordered. Then when Stagecoach re-acquired the business in 2010. The Scanias went with them. 

The Scanias contained interiors which were designed by the ELBG. Although upon refurbishment these are being replaced with the Stagecoach interior. The Scanias can be found at Leyton (T), Rainham (RM), Bow (BW), West Ham (WH) and Plumstead (PD). The Scanias range from 58reg to 10reg, and can be found in both Euro4 and Euro5 versions. The Scanias are well known for not having enough padding, although during refurbishment they seem to have been sorted out. When the first batch arrived back in 2008 for newly won Route 248, they were late and entered service without any logos. When Stagecoach returned to London, the Scanias were among the first buses to receive Stagecoach Logos.

Stagecoach London have quite a few of the Single Decker variant of the Enviro400, which is the Enviro200. This model was ordered both in the ELBG era, and the latter Stagecoach era. Although the ones ordered by the ELBG were with an Allison gearbox while the ones ordered by Stagecoach came with a Voith Gearbox. The ones ordered by the ELBG also contained their interior, whereas the ones ordered by Stagecoach contained the Stagecoach interior. 

Enviro200s are not the only bus type that Stagecoach London have. In 2012 route 227 was retained, and that route specified 12 meter buses. The Enviro200 was not available in that sort of length, so Stagecoach decided to order 13 Mercedes Benz Citaros. These buses however are not open boarding like the ones on route 507 and 521. They contain a large wheelchair area due to the fact the route is heavily used by buggies during its journey, and in order to prevent any overcrowding and conflicts between buggy and wheelchair users, the extra space was specified. The 227 can't take double deck buses due to a low bridge at Shortlands. It is pretty rare to see operators using a full size Single Decker bus these days. These buses are well known for their speed and can easily classify as the fastest buses in London.

Stagecoach London also have a fleet of Plaxton Pointer-bodied Dennis Darts, these are all found south of the river, although one did temporarily go to Barking (BK) earlier this year for a short while. The darts can be found at all of Selkent's garages, ranging from minibus lengths to midibus lengths. Bromley (TB) even had 11.3m ones at one stage for Route 227.

They once used to be found in most Stagecoach garages, although these days many are used for logistical spares, and only a handful of routes actually operate with these vehicles as a proper allocation. Route P4 being one of them. There were also some older Alexander ALX200-bodied Darts that mixed with the Pointers frequently, although when they were withdrawn, the Pointers remained in the fleet.

Earlier I mentioned that one Pointer had been to Barking (BK) earlier this year. That was 34372 which was a short bus with only one door. It was very weird seeing it at Barking considering all the Single Deckers in the garage were dual doored buses. It was to be allocated to route 396. So when one went onto the 62 I couldn't resist a picture of such a rare working and I have to include it in this post.

While the ELBG was still around they ordered 14 Optare Versas for routes 469 and 396. Route 469 was based at Plumstead (PD) and route 396 was based at Barking (BK). But upon Stagecoach's return they wanted to move all the Optare Versas to one garage, as they were really unreliable and it wasn't easy keeping two small batches separate. So the Versas from Plumstead (PD) went to Barking (BK) for route 62, and the 62s brand new Enviro200s went the other way in return. The Versas in my opinion have to be the worst buses in the whole Stagecoach London fleet. They are often pretty dirty and often have something wrong with them. Some Versas have been given a refurbishment for the new 396 contract which commenced in 2014, and the refurbished buses received a Stagecoach makeover as well as a brand new set of White on Black Blinds.

Although Versas are not the only Optare product that Stagecoach London have. Catford Garage (TL) also have some Optare Tempo hybrids for route 178. Originally the buses started life at West Ham (WH) for route 276. When route 276 was lost to Go Ahead London, the buses went south of the River for route 380. This came as a surprise as the 380 didn't pass many traffic hotspots. About a year later the buses settled on a more logical home in the form of route 178.

What do you think of Stagecoach London's fleet? Do you find it pretty boring, or rather interesting? Please let us know in the comments section.

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Routes Ahead: Route 199

19845 nears the end of a southbound journey in Bellingham.

Route 199 is a suburban route running from the Stagecoach garage in Bellingham straight to Greenwich via Catford and Lewisham, then turning left to Deptford, a short right through the Pepys Estate then going around the Surrey Quays one-way system and ending at Canada Water. The route's a decent ride and better than the parallel section of the 47 through Deptford Bridge which in my opinion seems more traffic prone.

The allocation... On paper it's 61-registered Alexander Dennis E40Ds from the batch 19836-19846, but in reality any double-decker in TL appears on the route. The E40Ds aren't the fastest buses, the 61-reg are decent but the 12-reg in theory for the 136 (10124-10138) sometimes feel slower than walking. Newest buses are the 14-registered Enviro400 hybrids which on paper are for the 54 and 75 (12261-12292), these are very different to the E40Ds. They're comfortable, quiet and fast and are some of my favourite buses at TL. Another bus that makes periodic appearances on the route is a sole 14 registered E40D, 10197 which was originally intended as a TB top up. This one is much like the other E40Ds.

Some Dennis Tridents also appear on the route, and were its allocation between 2000 and 2012. These ones were X-registered and the last of them left London in summer 2012 and the oldest are now Y and 51 registered. Seen on the right is one of the best buses at TL, 17441 finishing a northbound trip at Canada Water. 17427 and 17441 are the last Euro2 ZF Tridents left in London, from what was once a batch of 83. There are seven Euro2 Voiths which were cascaded from East London for the 136 extension and 22 Euro3 Voiths which are allocated to the 47. All of these are nice, comfortable and fast buses and it's worth getting on them.

The route's history hasn't been very eventful, starting in April 1991 running from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham, with some journeys continuing to Bellingham. At the time it had a PVR of 8 Leyland Titans. In October 1994 it was decided to extend the route daily to Bellingham, it got a PVR increase to 10 Titans and a slight rerouting at Pepys Estate. Nothing really happened after that until September 1999 when the route was cut at the northern end to Canada Water and the allocation pretty much got thrown out the window, pretty reminiscent of the current service in fact. A few months later in January 2000 it got converted to low-floor operation using brand new Dennis Tridents with Alexander ALX400 bodywork. These were Euro2 Voiths which aren't my favourite buses but they're better than some of the buses on the route now.

12 years passed during which the allocation got thrown out the window again, Stagecoach sold to Macquarie Bank then re-acquired it 4 years later and the older Tridents were partially replaced by ZFs from 2001, of which there are now two left. In December 2011, the route was meant to get new Alexander Dennis Enviro400s, and some were delivered at the start of the month. But for some reason they didn't enter service until January 2012, and even then it took until February for all to be in service. Barely a month passed until the 136 got similar (but worse) buses 2 months early in March and they immediately started mixing, rather unsurprisingly. So now it's really hard to get on an allocated, 61-registered bus on the route.

10125 from the 136 batch leaves its stop at Canada Water.

Despite all these dodgy allocations though the service itself is pretty good. The buses arrive on time and are usually driven well, though some do have rather hard seats. At peak times the route can get pretty crowded, but it seems to be the least miserable way of getting from Lewisham/Catford to Rotherhithe so I'm not complaining. Some people say the 47 is better but I think it's more crowded and the routing goes through some boring places, so if you find yourself in Lewisham or Greenwich, have a ride on the route. Just hope that you don't get an E40D.

All photos used in this post are © GloriousWater, all rights reserved.
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We thought You had left, But you Returned

In August 2013, it was announced that routes 262 and 473 would be put on a retained 5 year Contract starting in March 2014 with Stagecoach London, this would consist of existing Scanias from route 96 being transferred over to West Ham Garage (WH) with a nice refurbishment to be used on the routes.

Route 262 was named the worst performing London bus route in 2010, it was thought by many that Stagecoach London would not retain the route. But then we were all surprised on that August day when the results came out. 

Route 473 is one of only two routes to serve London City Airport (along with 474). It runs to the free ferry crossing which links to Woolwich in South East London. Both the 262 and 473 were previously allocated Tridents as we can see in both of the pictures so far. 

West Ham Garage (WH) previously had a few Scanias in store for route 106 when it was under Stagecoach operation. But in April 2013 the route was lost to Arriva London and the Scanias went for the newly gained routes 365 and 252. It was surprising when it was announced that West Ham (WH) would again see Scanias because Stagecoach don't usually like introducing types to garages that don't usually maintain them. But nonetheless many enthusiasts were happy to see the return of Scanias to the garage.

But the movement of Scanias to WH was delayed as PDs newer buses which were meant to be replacing the Scanias were delayed. The Scanias started getting refurbished whilst at Plumstead Garage although these retained Yellow on Black blinds as there was no point fitting new WOB PD sets just for them to be replaced in a few weeks. To the right you can see a picture of one hard at work on the 177.

This week I ventured out to Beckton to get a glimpse of one of these Scanias on the 262, the 262 being a Local route and as I like Scania Omnicity buses. But I wasn't very succesful in photographing them, WH don't have enough Scanias to cover the PVR of either the 262 nor 473 so both routes still have Tridents as the norm.

This is what will be the face of the 262 for the next 5 or 7 years. These Buses have already ventured out onto other West Ham routes such as the 104, 158, 241 and 238. So we will probably continue to see Tridents on the 262 for the forseeable future. What do you think of these buses? Would you have preferred id routes 262 and 473 to have got new buses or are you happy with this decision? Please let us know in the comments section.

I would like to Thank LondonBuses72 and The LondonBusBreh for allowing their wonderful photos to be used in this post. 

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London's Buses Go Cashless

From 0430, London's buses went cashless. This means you will no longer be able to pay with cash on any of the 700 routes under Transport for London. As there were many people still paying with cash, Transport for London have been putting the message out across London over the past few weeks. You may have noticed in newspapers, on posters, on social networking sites, on printed tickets and most famously the I-Bus system, as many of you would have heard, the system has been announcing a direct message every thirty minutes, "From 6 July, cash is no longer accepted on buses. Find out other ways too pay at tfl.gov.uk", for those that don't know.

Now that buses have gone cashless, there have been a new set of instructions for drivers and a new set of code for the Oyster card. The 'Vulnerable Person Procedure' will come into place thus allowing drivers to let passengers who they deem vulnerable to travel for free, drivers must issue them an 'Unpaid Fare' ticket. And the 'One More Journey' comes into place for passengers using the Oyster card, it gives you one more journey before you are denied access on the bus. The Wayfarer (Oyster reader) will notify you with a two-tone beep and the driver will also let you know.

Those that use Contactless Payment Cards or Oyster cards will not be affected by this change and will not have anything to worry about.

Have a nice day and stay safe.

Route 137 will be cashless.

Routes Ahead: Route 62

Route 62 runs between Barking, Gascoigne Estate and Marks gate and is operated by Stagecoach London from Barking (BK) Garage.

It is allocated a variety of buses, which are ADL Enviro200 Darts, ADL Enviro400, and Optare Versa buses. I shall be convering each type in this post. But first let me tell you a bit of history about the route...

The Route originally began on the 2nd of January 1935. It ran between Little Heath and Barking with the journey taking around 20minutes. It was operated using LT class Double Deckers and operated from Barking Garage. For some weird reason it was later transferred to Upton Park garage, then it was transferred to even further Poplar Garage. Eventually the route returned home to Barking garage in 1938. As well as the re-allocation to Barking, the route was also extended to Chadwell Heath via Ripple Road, Lodge Avenue, Woodward Road, Gale Street and Valence Avenue. This made the route a really long C shaped route. This was made even worse when the route was extended from Chadwell Heath via Marks Gate to Ilford. This made the route a Spiral Shape.

In 1960 the route was withdrawn between Goodmayes and Barking, with that part of the route replaced by the 238. It was also diverted to run via Upney lane to reach Ripple Road. Then in 1972 it was extended the short distance to serve Gascoigne estate replacing Route 291.

Today the Route proceeds like this...

• Gascoigne Estate
• Barking Town Centre, Barking Station
• Barking Bus Garage, Fair Cross
• Upney Lane, Upney Station
• Ripple Road
• Lodge Avenue
• Woodward Road
• Gale Street, Becontree Station
• Porters Avenue
• Valence Avenue
• Station Road, Chadwell Heath Station
• High Road Chadwell Heath
• Whalebone Lane North
• Rose Lane Estate
• Billet Road
• Marks Gate, City Limits

The route mostly passes through residential areas, but also passes a lot of schools on its way and can exceed capacity during the rush hour. This means that it is allocated a few double deckers among its single deck allocation and this is usually found in the form of an ADL Enviro400. BK do have a lot of Enviro400s and there can be many on the route on any single day. The picture shows a 12reg bus, although 11reg buses are more common.

Tridents can also appear on the route every now and again, so I have included a picture of one. Prior to 2011 BK had many of these buses, and it was once the allocation. BK still have a few for route 5 and the 5 occasionally steals the 62s allocated Enviro400.

Upon Contract Renewal in 2011, the route gained Enviro200s and these are a common sight on the route. Here one is seen on stand at Barking, Gascoigne Estate. 









The route is also allocated some Optare Versas which transfered to BK from PD. This was done to condense all the Versas in the fleet into one garage so that engineers didn't have too much to worry about and these buses were very troublesome at Plumstead.





So what do you lot think of route 62? Would you like to ride it, or would you like to stay away from it? Please let us know in the comments section of this post. The Pictures in this post can always be viewed in better quality if you click on them.

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