On 19th December 2013, a new tender result was released in the London Bus industry. Ones which people had been waiting for quite some time, originally due to be released in October that year, they were late by over two months. Many enthusiasts were wondering what was going on behind the scenes. 

When the results were finally released, two routes were announced. Route 8 and Route 100. The 100 had been lost from Abellio London's Walworth (WL) garage and was awarded to Go Ahead London's Mandela way garage. New Single Decker Hybrids were specified, causing a lot of excitement as these were to be the first Hybrid Single Decker buses London was to see in a long time.

Speculation had started that these were to be Wright StreetLite Hybrid buses with a Hybrid system powered by Williams. Then later it was announced that Streetlites hadn't been ordered and instead Go Ahead London had opted for Enviro200 buses, but still Hybrid and powered by Williams. Then a few months later, it was confirmed the buses weren't going to be Hybrids but Diesels fitted with a Flywheel made by Williams.

A few months later, even further disappointment came when it was announced that the new buses would not be ready for the start of he contract. Instead Go Ahead London were going to loan the current buses on the 100 from Abellio London.

On 20th September 2014, the day came where the route was due to be handed over to Go Ahead London. As was stated, existing Abellio Enviro200s and Plaxton Pointer buses were still running the route albeit with Go Ahead London stickers plastered over the Abellio London logos. The buses were to be housed in Mandela Way garage as originally planned. As these buses aren't officially owned by Go Ahead London, they still contain WL garage codes, and Abellio fleetcodes. Upon their return to Abellio

Then finally in December, there were reports of the first few buses being delivered and spotted in the garage. Then on Friday the 19th, SE219 was the first Go Ahead London bus to operate on the 100.

© GloriousWater 2014

The buses are 9.6m, and a very minor change is that the windows towards the rear of the bus are configured slightly differently to earlier versions, (therefore the roundel on the nearside looks slightly squashed). Other than that, there isn't much of a change in terms of the vehicle type for the route. It has just become another one of London's single decker routes which has had Enviro200s replaced by Enviro200s joining C1, 251, 493, 233, K1, K3, 434, 165, 256, E10 and 286. 

What do you think of the 100 changing operators? Did you prefer it at Abellio or do you prefer it with Go Ahead London. Please let us know your views in the comments section below!

London has many bus routes, covering the network far and wide. But one route must be used the most? The busiest route in London. This route runs between Oxford Circus in the West End right out to Ilford in East London and goes by the route number of 25.

© EastLondoner 2014

The route is allocated with Wright Eclipse Gemini 2/B9TL Double Decker buses and operated by Tower Transit's Lea Interchange (LI) garage.  The route was originally operated by First London, but the company left London during 2013. So therefore, along with all of the other routes in Lea Interchange, the 25 switched operators in June 2013.

The route itself proceeds like this:

© EastLondoner 2014

• Ilford
• Manor Park
• Forest Gate
• Stratford
• Bow Church
• Mile End
• Whitechapel
• Aldgate
• Bank
• Holborn
• Tottenham Court Road
• Oxford Circus

Route 25, has a pretty unique timetable for a day time London route. Not all of the journeys on the route run fully to Oxford Circus. Approximately half of the buses turn short at Bank from Ilford. This is part of the Mayor's strategy to reduce the amount of buses using Oxford Street. This also prevents overcrowding at the Holles Street stand as (usually) it is shared with the 8. 

The 25, has quite a bit of history. Buses originally ran all the way from Victoria all the way out to Becontree Heath, Barkingside and Seven Kings. Then in 1988, the route was changed to just operate between Victoria and Ilford via Oxford Circus. During this time, a weekend diversion was introduced which took the route to the Tower of London instead of running via Bank. 

In 1992, the 25 was cut back between Victoria and Oxford Circus, with the 8 going to Victoria instead. Then during 2004, the route was awarded to Stagecoach London and converted to Articulated bus operation, a most welcome move if you ask me! Around this time, the weekend service running via Tower of London was discontinued with all buses running via Bank 7 days a week.

© GloriousWater 2014

Today the route has an incredible Peak Vehicle requirement of 60 buses, the highest of any route in London (Closely followed by route 38 with 59 buses). LI garage also has a pretty big fleet of Enviro400 buses, kept for routes 26, 30 and 425. These are liable to appear on route 25 at any time of day. 

© EastLondoner 2014

© EastLondoner 2014

There are two batches of Enviro400, and both these pictures illustrate a version of each. The buses which are on an 11reg plate were originally ordered for routes 26 and 30 and are to a slightly older specification while the buses which are on a 13reg plate were ordered for route 425 and a to a slightly newer specification. The newer buses contain the rear number plate on the bumper as opposed to near the number behind the glass on the older ones. The newer ones also do not contain any offside emergency escape door.

Do you feel inspired to ride route 25? Have you had any personal experiences with route 25 yourself? Please let us know in the comments section!

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!

Stagecoach-operated route 472, operated from Plumstead (PD), is finally converting to hybrid operation after a long delay.

© GloriousWater 2014

Last year it was announced that the 472's contract had been retained by Stagecoach with new hybrid buses due in January/February 2014. But as most enthusiasts know by now, Stagecoach had a massive shuffle of the hybrids so other routes got shiny new Enviro400s and Gemini 3s while the 472 kept running with the old Tridents, some of which were among the oldest in the Stagecoach fleet.

So here are some pictures of the old stuff on the 472.

17427, which is among several Tridents since transferred to TL for the 136 extension.

©GloriousWater 2014

©GloriousWater 2014

A common working was (and still is) an 11-reg E400 diesel, such as 19748 seen here picking up in Thamesmead.

©GloriousWater 2014

The new hybrids started to arrive near the end of September, but took a really long time to actually go on the 472 in any large amount. They are shared with the 122, and are pretty much the same as the batch delivered to TL in March. The conversion is still ongoing, so diesel buses remain common on the route.

Brand new 12342 in Thamesmead.

©GloriousWater 2014

Similar 14-reg hybrids delivered in May for the 122 also appear on the route (more often than the intended 64-reg in fact) as shown here by 12302.

©GloriousWater 2014

So overall, a very quiet conversion. Now there's just time for the fleetlist. Vehicles in italics are not yet in service at the time of writing.

Route 472 fleetlist:
12334 - SN64OGG
12335 - SN64OGH
12336 - SN64OGJ
12337 - SN64OGK
12338 - SN64OGL
12339 - SN64OGM
12340 - SN64OGO
12341 - SN64OGP
12342 - SN64OGR
12343 - SN64OGS
12344 - SN64OGT
12345 - SN64OGU
12346 - SN64OGV
12347 - SN64OGW
12348 - SN64OGX
12349 - SN64OGY
12350 - SN64OGZ
12351 - SN64OHA
12352 - SN64OHB
12353 - SN64OHC
12354 - SN64OHD
12355 - SN64OHE
12356 - SN64OHF
12357 - SN64OHG
12358 - SN64OHH
12359 - SN64OHJ
12360 - SN64OHK
12361 - SN64OHL
12362 - SN64OHO
12363 - SN64OHP

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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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Route 8 was converted to New Routemaster operation on the 28th June 2014, just over a year after the first full New Routemaster conversion of the 24. Ever since the buses have entered a full service on multiple routes such as: 9, 10, 11, 38, 148, 390 and now the 8.

Prior to the conversion of the route, it was allocated with ALX400s. These were often intermixed with the batch for route 277 which is also operated from the same garage (Bow) as the 8. 

Route 8 today runs between Bow Church and Tottenham Court Road Station, it's original western destination is Oxford Circus but currently it is cut back to Tottenham Court Road due to Roadworks affecting the Holles Street stand. At the time the above picture was taken, the 8 was also cut at the eastern end from Bow Church, but it has since returned to it's original terminus of Bow Church.

A week or so before route 8 converted to New Routemaster operation, Bow Garage started taking delivery of brand new Euro6 Enviro400 Hybrids for route 205. It was unknown if these Hybrids would ever make it onto Route 8 with it's conversion date fast approaching, but nonetheless BW did give us a treat and put 14reg Hybrids on very often. In the picture on the left Jack caught up with the working and managed to take a pretty good picture of it. 

Route 8 was the first route in London to gain these types of vehicles upon contract renewal, It was announced with the tender that the route would be operating these vehicles in OPO mode only, with no conductor present at any time of the day. This is a very controversial move and there have been mixed reviews about this.

The conversion itself didn't get off to a great start, when these buses started to phase in early many of them did not have working ibus equipment and then it was at doubt whether all the buses would be delivered in time for the contract start of 28th June. But despite all the speculation, Saturday the 28th came with a full allocation of New Routemasters on the 8. 

I went out to test out the vehicles for myself on the 28th of June. I first wanted to test out the 38, but that failed miserably and after than I knew my mood was not good for making a proper judgement on the 38. After taking a quick retreat into McDonald's from a thundershower I went to Tottenham Court Road to ride the 8. 

It started off pretty well, the bus turned up 6 minutes earlier than it was scheduled to, and at no point in the Route it had to be regulated. Although the "New Bus smell" of the LTs still had quite a strong presence on the bus. Then later when we were between St Paul's and Bank we got stuck behind a group of cyclists and had no way of overtaking. But once we passed them there was one more obstical in our way, which was the Bishopsgate. Although it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be and we managed to get through pretty fast.

The area of Bethnal Green, Old Ford and Bow was pretty enjoyable. Many of you may know that this area contains many tight turns, but the LTs managed to clear these turns with ease and still managed to maintain speed. But when we reached the part of the Route which I was most anticipating, the A12, I was completely upset to find a long line of cars stretching out into the distance. Eventually we reached Bow church, from where I started to make my journey home. But not until I stopped to take a few more pictures. 

Like Route 38, the 8 is home to 6 Adidas liveried buses for the 2014 World cup, I spotted one in the form of LT268. while waiting for my bus home

Overall I think Route 8 has been a Pretty decent conversion, it could have been better on many different aspects, although it did outperform itself on other sections of the Route. I will probably need to take a ride on it again once It is re-instated to Oxford Circus as I would like to see it perform that turn into Hanover square. But judging by today I don't think that would be much of a problem. 

What route is next? Route 453 is converting on the 4th October 2014 followed by Route 55 on the 28th February 2015.

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