Metroline enter East London

Route 34 is a unique route, it is special in the fact that it is one of few routes which go from North East London to North West London. From Walthamstow Central to Barnet Church. When the route was up for tender, it interested many as there was a wide variety of operators who could bid for the route, from Stagecoach to Metroline, as well as there always remaining the possibility that the route would be retained by Arriva London continuing many years of History.

© GloriousWater 2014

On the 21st of May, the long awaited tender results were revealed. To much people's surprise, the route was announced to be coming to an end with it's history as an Arriva London route, and begin a new era with Metroline from their Potters Bar (PB) garage. Many enthusiasts were awaiting this change due to take place on the 8th of November. It was later announced that Metroline had opted to order Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 buses for the route, although in practice they were to be diverted to the 82 in return for the 13reg and 62reg TEs.

© GloriousWater 2014

Eventually 8th of November came, and to many people's surprise there were quite a few Wright Eclipse Gemini 3s (VWHs) on the 34, alongside spare TEs from Cricklewood (W) and Holloway (HT) made available.  In the picture to the right, we can see VWH2028 on stand at Walthamstow Bus Station on it's first day of service on the route. Funnily enough, not a single VWH has managed to make it onto route 82 at the time of writing this post. Prior to these buses entering service, rumours had it that the buses will no be able to have regular service on route 34 as the route had some speed bumps that would damage the bus. But that has now been proved to be false.

©GloriousWater 2014

As I said earlier, the route is also home to some TEs which have been transferred from Holloway (HT) and Cricklewood (W). In the photo to the left TE929 takes stand at Walthamstow Bus Station awaiting departure on a journey to Barnet Church. On the first day itself we can see that some drivers have forgotten to set certain blinds to the correct routes. Hopefully this does not have any significance on the route's future with Metroline.



So what do you think of this change? Metroline finally enter East London after many years of being a North and West London operator. Arriva also continue their spell of losing routes and not winning any. Would you like to see Arriva operating the 34 again, or are you happy to let it remain with Metroline? Please let is know in the comments section!