Welcome to the fourth edition (and first of 2015) of The Monthly Recap brought to you by The Team at The London Bus Blog. This is a monthly series that will highlight all the news from the London bus scene over the past month.

Abellio London

Routes 109 and N109, Brixton/ Oxford Circus to Croydon Town Centre, have transferred from Arriva London's Brixton Garage today, The routes will use the first batch of Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC hybrids in London (and England!) from Beddington Garage (BC), these are numbered 2487 to 2515 and are registered as YY64***. The first MMC entered service on the 27th January on route 157 between Mordern and Crystal Palace.

The long awaited Alexander Dennis Enviro200's for routes 201 and 407 have started to enter service on the single-decker routes at Beddington Garage (BC), they're currently most commonly found on route 407.

© GloriousWater

Route 381 has taken on 10 extra peak buses to cover for the increased passenger usage between Canada Water and Waterloo due to the closure of London Bridge Station. Buses from Abellio, Brighton & Hove and Ensignbus can be found on the route.

The picture to the left displays Ex Arriva London HW3 which is now owned by EnsignBus. 



Route 100s old buses have returned to Abellio London. The old darts are reported to be parked up at Battersea garage, while the Enviro200s are expected to go to Beddington Cross garage to outst the elderly darts operating on the route.

Arriva London

The second Wright StreetDeck demonstrator due for Wood Green Garage (WN) is due to arrive this month. It's coded WS1 but there's still no information on the registration plate or what route it will work.

Long-standing route 109 has passed to Abellio London today, this marks the end for the 04-reg DWs at Brixton Garage (BN). Route 125 has also passed to Metroline today, this leaves the DLAs at Norwood Garage (N) and Thornton Heath Garage (TH) the only remaining in the London fleet.

Go-Ahead London

Alexander Dennis Enviro400 Hybrid prototype, EH1, has been refurbished. This is usually found operating on route 88 between Camden Town and Clapham Common

A Wright StreetDeck demonstrator is due for Camberwell Garage (Q) next month; there's no information on the fleet code, registration or its to-be allocated route.

Delivery of Wright StreetLite buses for route 192 is well underway, a couple have entered service already with all expected to be in service by the end of February.

© GloriousWater

An extra 54 Volvo B5LH's on the Enviro400 MMC body are on order for Go-Ahead London; it's not yet known why they have been ordered, where they are going and what body they will be on. These are additional orders to the 16 MMC bodied variants ordered for the 135's transfer from Arriva in May.

2 Optare MetroCity EV buses are on order for Go-Ahead London; again, it's not yet known what garage they will be going to: they're expected to arrive in the spring.

16 8.9m Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC buses are on order for routes 322 and G1. 11 are for route 322 and 4 are for the G1. The G1 will instead have its existing buses refurbished again and they will run alongside the new stock. The buses will enter service in May.

The 5 recently acquired Alexander Dennis Enviro200 buses bought from Ensignbus (SEN39-43) will be heading west to the 424 and 485. Route 424 of Putney Garage (AF), will take one bus for its PVR increase. And route 485 of Plough Lane Garage (PL), will take the remaining four buses for its re-routeing (more on that next month), its current buses, LDP292-294, will be withdrawn from the route and re-allocated within Go-Ahead London.

WVL84 and E94 have temporarily moved to Northumberland Park Garage (NP) to cover for the ENs flywheel fitting in order for Route 191s new contract. EN13 was the first to go up north to receive the technology.

London United

Alexander Dennis Enviro400 Hybrid prototype, ADH2, has been refurbished. This bus is usually found operating on route 27 between Chalk Farm and Chiswick.

Scania OmniCity, SP26, has temporarily been allocated to LT route 148 to cover for long-term VOR.

Route 203 has gained a PVR increase of 1 bus, this additional bus is a Double Decker.

Metroline
Another 34 Volvo B5LH's on a Gemini 3 body are on order for Metroline, these are for routes 6 and 98 at Willesden Garage (AC). These were ordered through the 245 and 460's contract so they are expected to arrive in the summer.

Route 125 was taken over on the 31st January with Wright Eclipse Gemini 3/B5LH buses. Although they will soon move to route 82 in return for the TEs.

Quality Line

5 new Alexander Dennis Enviro200 buses have been introduced on route S3 between Malden Manor and Sutton Hospital. This marks the end of the re-stock for the S routes, they are all fit for the future.

Stagecoach London

Extras for Route 47 have been loaned from Stagecoach Manchester. These include 17002, 17010 and 17567. They operate between Lewisham and London Bridge in the PM Peaks.

© LondonBuses72

Route 55s LT conversion was pushed back to 24th January, and the conversion itself is progressing extremely slowly with not even half of the route being LT yet. This route uses Euro6 buses and doesn't operate with a CA at any time of day.

Route N55 has also started to convert to New Routemaster buses with the first entering service in the early hours of the 31st January.

The Spirit of London bus (19000) will now re-allocate itself to routes 179 and 275. This is most likely because the bus is Euro3 and it cannot remain in Central London for much longer.

Route 56 is not actually getting brand new Enviro400 MMC Hybrids as was speculated. It is instead getting the 15s existing E40H buses for it's new contract. One of the Hybrids will also go to route 179 for standardization in the garage. These buses will be refurbished to make them suitable for another 5 years. The Scanias are going off-lease and many have already left. The route will use the 55s displaced Tridents until the E40Hs become available.

Routes 498 and 499 are both getting buses from the Enviro MMC range. Enviro400 MMCs for the 498 and Enviro200 MMCs for the 499. Although these buses are going to be late, to cover for the meantime. Enviro400s from Plumstead (PD) will transfer to North Street (NS) to cover for route 498 and to Barking (BK) to partially convert the 62 to Double Deck operation and release its Versas to route 366 allowing some of the 366s Enviro200s to go to the 499. 

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We would like to thank our contributor LondonBuses72 of the West London Bus Blog

Unallocated: 2459, SL14DDX on route 49

On Saturday the 6th of September, Abellio London successfully took over the operations of the 49 from London United. The route is operated from Queenstown Battersea with 22 Alexander Dennis Enviro400Hs (2465-2486).

Abellio London ended London United's 15-year grip of the 49 on the 6th, as they took over from the west London powerhouse with brand new cleaner, greener hybrids. The 49 runs between Clapham Junction, Bolingbroke Grove and White City Bus Station passing through Battersea, Chelsea and Kensington on the way. It makes for a nice journey as the route passes many, detailed and historic houses.

The 49 was part of Tranche 449 (oh, the irony), and was the only route not to gain a 2-year contract extension, for the third consecutive time under London United. Unfortunately for them, this time, the route was lost to London's second youngest bus operator, Abellio. The change does bring a few positives to London United, it allows them to displace older buses in their fleet with the current Scania OmniCity (SP) buses on the route.

Now, let's take a look at the history...

London United won the route from London General back in September 1999 with 10.8m Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 2 (DP80-99) buses, converting the CBC (Chelsea-Battersea-Clapham Junction) link to single-deck operation, with the 319 and 345 already single-decked. However, London United's takeover of the London General route didn't go so deckers. Due to weight restrictions on Hammersmith Bridge, the new 10.2m Plaxton Pointer 2 buses for the 209 were unable to cross the bridge as they were too heavy, and with the 49's DPs running late a logical deal was agreed that London United would continue to operate the 209 with the existing buses and Armchair would operate the route with the new buses intended for the 209 until they were cleared to cross.
smoothly.

Taken at Clapham Junction on 04/09/2014

Moving into 2004, the route was retained by London United for the first time, with much needed double-deckers, those consisting of new buses in the form of ten East Lancs Myllennium Vyking (VE) buses on a Voith Volvo B7TL chassis and existing buses in the form of 12 Alexander ALX400 (VA) buses on a ZF Volvo B7TL chassis transferred from the 337, which was lost to Arriva. These buses went on to work the route for the next 5 years.

The 49 was re-awarded to London United in 2009 with new buses to run alongside the VEs. The VAs were replaced by Scania N230UD chassised Scania OmniCity (SP) buses, this remained the allocation up to 2014 with a few other bus types temporarily filling in, more on that later. Shortly after the second contract renewal, the 49 was listed in London's Top 10 bunching on the route being recorded. As timed move forward, certain bus types were no longer to be seen on the 49. Common workings of the 52-reg VAs allocated to the 220, disappeared after new buses were bought for the 220. The two lingering Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TLs (VR) buses were withdrawn, followed by most of the spare Euro 2 VAs.

SLE43, YN55NKM on route 49
©Au Morandarte

Worst Performing Bus Routes, this has stayed with the route since with many instances of

SP32, YN08DHY on route 49 to Clapham Junction

During 2013, Shepherd's Bush became short on buses and needed some more if they were to provide for the scheduled PVR increase to 20. The two buses sent on a long-term loan were East Lancs OmniDekka bodied Scania N94UD (SLE) buses, numbered SLE43 and SLE44. This was a new type to Shepherd's Bush and nobody knew how long they would stay. They then became important to the 49's allocation with few SPs becoming problem buses (SP30 and SP35). Towards the end of 2013, the last two remaining VAs were withdrawn from service, to cover the loss, two TAs redundant from the 57 transferred over. Later on in 2014: SLE44, SP39 and SP40 all departed Shepherd's Bush, this then allowed a further four TAs to make the switch. They remained allocated to the 49.

Going back to November - On the 21st, the 49 was lost to Abellio London with 22 new hybrid double-deckers. The route was widely expected to be lost because of its inconsistent service. The specified hybrids for the route was to be a relief, cleaning the air along the busy
roads it travels along. If you want to get an idea of the inconsistent service, I took a few screenshots on London Vehicle Finder of the route at some of its bad moments.

SP34, YN08MRU on route 49

ADH16, SN60BYM on route 49

Towards the end of March (2014), the 49 was treated to an ADH (13) off route 94, this was the first time a bus of this type had made it onto the 49 in nearly 6 months. Previous workings of this bus type usually occurred during unsociable hours of the day or only made one or two trips, so yes, they were very rare. The spontaneous working of ADH13 on the cool Sunday evening was a surprise to many of us at the time, I myself, went out to get a picture, but the bus was
running earlier than I expected, thus missing the rarest working Battersea had seen in ages.

TA248, LG02FBV on route 49 to White City
©Au Morandarte

This working became a hot topic, many wondering whether they would continue to appear on the 49... And they did, becoming a vital part of the 49's allocation towards the final months of London United operation.
Apart from the increase of ADHs and TAs on the 49, the route remained quite quiet up to the last day. Scania OmniCity SP37, YN08MRY was the last bus on the 49, ending 15 years of service.

At current, SLE44, SP29-37 and TA231/8/40/5/7/8 are still in service or have no confirmed future. However, VE1-10 are all expected to return of lease in the coming weeks.
London United Fleetlist

Paper:

SP29 YN08DHU

SP30 YN08DHV

SP31 YN08DHX

SP32 YN08DHY 

SP33 YN08DHZ

SP34 YN08MRU

SP35 YN08MRV

SP36 YN08MRX

SP37 YN08MRY

SP39 YP58ACJ

SP40 YP58ACO

VE1 PG04WGN

VE2 PG04WGP

VE3 PG04WGU

VE4 PG04WGV

VE5 PG04WGW

VE6 PG04WGX

VE7 PG04WGY

VE8 PG04WGZ

VE9 PG04WHA

VE10 PG04WHB

Drafts:

SLE43 YN55NKM

SLE44 YN55NKO

TA231 LG02FAJ

TA238 LG02FBC

TA240 LG02FBE

TA245 LG02FBN

TA247 LG02FBU

TA248 LG02FBV

The change...

2482, SN64OFH setting off for Clapham Junction

2480, SN64OFE and the Westfield logo

2469, SN64OET on route C2
This was the first 64-reg to enter service
in London.

Abellio London took the operations of route 49 on the Saturday, although the buses weren't kept 'fresh' for the route, with 20 of the 22 buses all entering service prior to the changeover. Early comers, 2465 (SL14LOA) and 2466 (SL14LOD), entered service nearly 2 months before they were due to, registered on 14-plates, they worked along the other hybrids on the 211. The remaining 20 buses for the 49 came on a 64-plate, some entering service on the first legal day for 64-plate vehicles. For most of the week (Tuesday 2nd to Friday 5th), the new hybrids worked on route 156 (Wimbledon - Vauxhall), showcasing the new beasts of the 49.

After a week of service, Abellio still haven't quite got the hang of things yet, let's hope it doesn't take them too long to settle in!

Abellio London Fleetlist

2465 SL14LOA

2466 SL14LOD

2467 SN64OER

2468 SN64OES

2469 SN64OET

2470 SN64OEU

2471 SN64OEV

2472 SN64OEW

2473 SN64OEX

2474 SN64OEY

2475 SN64OEZ

2476 SN64OFA

2477 SN64OFB

2478 SN64OFC

2479 SN64OFD

2480 SN64OFE

2481 SN64OFG

2482 SN64OFH

2483 SN64OFJ

2484 SN64OFK

2485 SN64OFL

2486 SN64OFM

Unallocated: 2463, SL14DFA on route 49 at White City 

Route 49 runs between Clapham Junction, Bolingbroke Grove and White City Bus Station

Operates out of Abellio's largest garage, Queenstown Battersea (QB)

Uses 22 Alexander Dennis Enviro400H Hybrid buses

Was with London United for 15 years

Stay tuned for Part 2 due in January! 

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