Euro2: The last days

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replacement of all Euro2-compliant buses in London, which on one hand means older, more polluting vehicles can be withdrawn but for some enthusiasts means London has lost that bit of character...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 By this time the first Euro2s (P to S-reg) were starting to get withdrawn and with no more step-entrance buses around it was early retirement outside London for them.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

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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/

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