Metroline's Latest: The 112

TA650 and TE926 take a break.
©GloriousWater

On Saturday the 2nd of August, Metroline West successfully took over the operations of route 112 from Abellio London. The route is operated from Cricklewood with 10 Trident 2/Alexander ALX400s (TA).

Metroline West took over the operations of route 112 between Brent Cross and Ealing Broadway. Initially, the route was rumoured to be operated from Greenford garage with brand new 10.8m Alexander Dennis Enviro200 buses (DEL), until there was word of the DELs for the route, running late due to the annual summer shutdown at Alexander Dennis. This then leading to discussions of which buses will deputise for the late buses, it was then believed that existing Alexander Dennis Enviro400 buses would be drafted in from Holloway until the new buses arrived, but this would not to be, why? Because the current drivers on the 112 were not all familiar on how an Enviro400 works. The discussion of the deputising buses rose again until it was confirmed that the route would temporarily operate from Cricklewood garage with the redundant TAs at the garage.

TA638 looking for a place to stand.

August the 2nd neared, it was said that ten transferred Enviro400s (TE925-934) from Holloway at Cricklewood were loaned to help out the TAs, as well as a few Enviro200s. Possibly hinting at a permanent stay at Cricklewood for the 112. 

The route successfully passed to Metroline West even though it operates from a Metroline Travel garage and operated the day using the planned TAs and one TE. I went to cover it to see how the route was operating on its first day, blog member Jack followed the next day.

©KTLBB

The 112's route is mostly on the North Circular Road (A406) with it only coming off most noticeably at Brent Cross and at Ealing. It passes through Neasden, Stonebridge and Hanger Lane en-route and has quite a few fast sections. It was previously operated by Abellio London - who took over from Travel London - who took over from Tellings-Golden Miller - with 10.4m Caeteno Nimbus Darts from Hayes garage. These buses were highly rated and reached high speeds, prom a friend of mine, to ask me to do the route.

©KTLBB

I ventured out to Brent Cross via the 189, my first time doing the route for such a long distance and I enjoyed it very much, TEH1114 providing me with my best hybrid journey in a long time. Going over the bridge leading to Brent Cross, I got my first sight of a Metroline operated 112, it was TA640 the bus I took to Ealing Broadway as I missed TA649 by a minute because of the backlog of buses trying to enter the small bus station at Brent Cross. It was an eleven minute wait for the next 112 and I happily waited observing the many buses entering, alighting and circling the bus station looking for a place to stand. Eventually, my bus, TA640 pulled round and we were off. The bus keeping to a nice steady pace for the first few minutes of the journey, I was highly anticipating the bus reaching high speeds of 40 to 50mph but instead was treated to a slow and quiet ride along a traffic-less A406.

I was so disappointed with this that I decided to take TA649 back to Brent Cross - scrapping the proposed bus to White City to take a 49 home - to see if my fortunes improved. The journey was literally the same, slower than I expected, with the driver only reaching a satisfying speed in Neasden. I was very displeased to say the least and the only interesting moments for me was seeing TAs passing in the opposite direction. Overall, I found the 112 over-exaggerated. I didn't have the pleasure of buses reaching high speeds and I didn't really enjoy the scenery of the route either. But I did like the state of which the buses were in considering they are 9 years old! It is a route I would like to try again and a route I think I would enjoy with faster drivers.

Jack:

©GloriousWater

My experience was very different to Kieran's. The bus station wasn't very busy when I arrived on the 102 and it was barely a minute before TE926 pulled up. Everybody crowded on the bus which made me doubt how a single-decker could cope with the loads. Almost immediately the driver thrashed the bus and it was regularly hitting 40 on the A406 despite some traffic. It stayed crowded for most of the trip until about Hanger Lane and the traffic didn't relent, but it always found a gap. So I would recommend doing the route, just hope you get a fast driver.

It has also been confirmed that the route will now stay at Cricklewood. 

Fleetlist

TA638 LJ05GFO

TA640 LJ05GFX

TA642 LJ05GFZ

TA644 LJ05GGE

TA646 LJ05GGJ

TA649 LJ05GGU

TA650 LJ05GGV

TA655 LJ05GHB

TA656 LJ05GHD

TA658 LJ05GHG

• Route 112 runs between Brent Cross, Shopping Centre/Bus Station and Ealing Broadway
• Operated from Metroline's head office, Cricklewood
• Will use TAs until the DELs arrive
• The TAs are also being assessed to see if the 112 will stay double-decker