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!

This post today isn't much to do with the form of Public Transport in Buses, but the form of public transport in aviation. This summer I went on Holiday using world famous Airline Emirates. They are known in London for sponsoring the construction of the "Emirates Air-Line" gondola lift in East London. They are also well known in London for sponsoring one of London's football clubs, Arsenal. 

The plane that I was due to take would be from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and would be an Airbus A380 "The Largest Airliner to take to the skies." Emirates flies 5 flights between London Heathrow and Dubai International (DXB). While I was waiting for my plane I saw another Airbus A380 next to us, this was one of Qantas' planes. Qantas is one of Emirates' key codeshare partners and both airliners fly to Dubai, with Qantas continuing to Sydney.

© EastLondoner 2014

I got quite a few good pictures of this plane. This was at 7:30 in the morning and the plane was leaving to go to a remote stand as it wasn't due to depart London for quite a long time. As you can see in the picture, the Airbus A380s have 4 engines, quite big as well. It's unusual for a pretty new model to have 4 engines as 2 engines are usually more economical. But Airbus seem to have sorted the issue out and these Giants of the sky fly some of the world's longest routes.

These Qantas ones are powered by Rolls Royce Trent engines. Although the Emirates ones are powered by Engine Alliance engines. Although I don't think that you will be noticing much of a difference in flight. Emirates and Qantas are some of the Worlds largest A380 operators with Emirates having a total of 140 of these once its deliveries are complete and Qantas having a total of 20. Both Emirates and Qantas only use Airbus A380s on their London flights

While waiting for boarding I also saw a British Airways Boeing 777 and a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747.

British Airways is the flag carrying airline of the United Kingdom and the biggest airline in the U.K by fleet size. It's parent company is the "International Airlines Group" who also operate Iberia Airlines. They form the fourth biggest airline in Europe. British Airways have their hub located at London Heathrow and Terminal 5 at the airport is dedicated exclusively for British Airways and Iberia planes.

Virgin Atlantic also have one of their Hubs located at London Heathrow airport, and in this picture you can see one parked at the other side of Terminal 3 along with a British Airway Airbus A319 heading to the Runway.

I then left for my Holiday abroad. One of the other planes that I took was an Emirates Boeing 777-200. Here it is seen at Chennai (MAA) Airport, international terminal. I took it to Dubai International Airport. In Dubai international airport there isn't much variety to take pictures of. Once we landed we started making our way to Terminal 3, which is one of the World's largest Airport terminals. Terminal 3 at Dubai is used only by Emirates and Qantas planes. We arrived at Concourse A and we needed to board a mini underground metro which would take us to the main terminal building, where we would collect out baggage. 

Here we can see the newest Concourse at Terminal 3. Concourse A

Here we can see some Emirates Aircraft parked on the other side of Concourse A

Here is another shot of Concourse A

Here is an interior shot of the mini metro that is used in the Airport to shuttle people between Concourse A and the main terminal building.

In a week, I returned to the Airport to make my way home to London. We managed to arrive at the Airport pretty early and I made use of the time by going around the terminal taking pictures of waiting planes. Funnily enough, almost all of the planes that I took pictures of were Boeing 777s. Emirates being the World's largest operator of the type. The plane flies to many destinations around the globe and some of their newer Boeing 777s also feature WiFi which can be purchased on the flight. In these pictures you can see them as they wait around the terminal waiting to take passengers to their needed destinations.

These planes have two airbridges connecting them to the terminal. One is used by First Class passengers while the other one is used by Economy and business class passengers. Although their Airbus A380 has Three Airbridges, one for use by First and Business Class passengers, and the other two for use by Economy class passengers.

In the picture above you can see the Three air-bridges which connect an Airbus A380 to the main terminal.

After walking around the terminal taking pictures, I made my way onto the plane and made myself comfortable on the plane. It was a 6 hour flight and we got delayed by half an hour due to some passengers not turning up and their baggage needing to be of loaded. Eventually we landed on the Northern Runway at Heathrow 40 minutes late. Landing on the Norther Runway meant that we had to go past the brand new Terminal 2. I managed to get some pictures of planes waiting there.

You will notice many Air Canada planes parked at Terminal 2, this being because Air Canada's Focus City is London and they operate out of Heathrow to multiple Canadian destinations

Below is a picture of a United Airlines plane, I cannot tell exactly what plane this is but I'm taking a guess at this being a Boeing 767 plane.

I have no idea what the airline in the picture below is, But the plane is a Boeing 777. Please leave a comment if you know what airline it is

Here is a TAM Airlines Boeing 777. TAM Airlines in a Brazilian airline and operates between London and destinations in Brazil.

In the picture below you have got a good view of some of the planes parked at Terminal 2. Terminal 2 is used exclusively by members of the Star Airline alliance. Key members of this alliance being Air Canada, Thai Airways International, Lufthansa and United Airlines. Although It should be noted TAM airlines is no longer a Star Alliance member.

....and we end where we begun. I started my trip with my first photo being of a Qantas A380, and I ended my trip with the last picture being a Qantas A380.

What do you think of Airplanes? Are you an enthusiast yourself? or do you prefer to stick to buses? Please let us know in the comments section

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Route 287 is a route in East London and runs between Barking Station and Rainham, Abbey Wood Lane. It is operated by Stagecoach London from Rainham (RM) garage.

Route 287 doesn't have much of a History, although once it did operate to Ilford extending from Barking, but on the 20th March 1993 it was cut short to Barking, and diverted to the Harts Lane Estate. Then on the 24th March 2001 the route was cut back to Barking Station, with the Harts Lane link being replaced by Route 368. During this time the route was operated using single deck vehicles, but this often led to overcrowding as this was the only Route linking Barking and Dagenham. Upon contract renewal in 2006, it was decided to add in one Double Deck journey to help cope with school traffic. Then about a year later the whole allocation was converted to Double Deck operation with ALX400 bodied Tridents introduced. Another contract renewal saw the allocation move from Barking (BK) to Rainham (RM), as well as Enviro400s being introduced.

The route was officially retained on the 26th of March 2011, although the buses were late arriving, as Stagecoach had ordered over 100 of them for their retained Routes. The route continued using the Tridents until the current Enviro400s arrived. The route was not the only route in Rainham (RM) awaiting new buses, as fellow route 174 was also awaiting some buses. Eventually the new buses arrived and the 287 got some much needed new buses. Although, on the first few days of Rainham (RM) operation on the route, they did make their presence known on the route. Many of route 248s Omnicities has been delivered with blindsets which contained Route 287, as the route passes pretty nearby to the garage. The Scanias were often out on the Route since the move, and this still happens very often. 

The buses were originally delivered with Dayglo coloured blinds, although Rainham later won routes 252 and 365, and considering route 252 was going to get a partial allocation of Enviro400 buses, all the Enviro400s in Rainham (RM) got new sets. Due to this tender win a further batch of Scanias came to the Rainham (RM) fleet released from recently lost 106 from West Ham Garage, for route 365. These buses got a full refurbishment as well as White on Black Blinds. One of the transferred buses can be seen on the 287 in the picture above.

Along with the Newer Scanias, Rainham (RM) also took delivery of some newer 63reg Enviro400s. Many thought that these buses would intermix with the current Enviro400s, as they were the same bus type and mechanically similar, although that was not the case. The 63reg buses stuck to the 252 and it was extremely rare finding it on another route. But eventually Rainham (RM) lost their self control and started letting the newer Enviro400s leak onto their other routes such as the 287, 174 and 372. I managed to catch up with 10169 on a day in which not one allocated bus was on the route .

One other batch of Enviro400s that can appear on the 287 is part of a batch which was originally at Plumstead (PD) for route 53, 10 buses transferred to Rainham (RM) to convert the 372 to Double Deck upon contract renewal. These are intermixed with the other Enviro400 buses at Rainham garage and you can often find them on the 287. They received a fresh lick of paint and obviously new blindsets.

So what do you think of route 287? Do you find it an interesting or a boring sort of route? Please let us know in the comments section. 

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In August 2013, it was announced that routes 262 and 473 would be put on a retained 5 year Contract starting in March 2014 with Stagecoach London, this would consist of existing Scanias from route 96 being transferred over to West Ham Garage (WH) with a nice refurbishment to be used on the routes.

Route 262 was named the worst performing London bus route in 2010, it was thought by many that Stagecoach London would not retain the route. But then we were all surprised on that August day when the results came out. 

Route 473 is one of only two routes to serve London City Airport (along with 474). It runs to the free ferry crossing which links to Woolwich in South East London. Both the 262 and 473 were previously allocated Tridents as we can see in both of the pictures so far. 

West Ham Garage (WH) previously had a few Scanias in store for route 106 when it was under Stagecoach operation. But in April 2013 the route was lost to Arriva London and the Scanias went for the newly gained routes 365 and 252. It was surprising when it was announced that West Ham (WH) would again see Scanias because Stagecoach don't usually like introducing types to garages that don't usually maintain them. But nonetheless many enthusiasts were happy to see the return of Scanias to the garage.

But the movement of Scanias to WH was delayed as PDs newer buses which were meant to be replacing the Scanias were delayed. The Scanias started getting refurbished whilst at Plumstead Garage although these retained Yellow on Black blinds as there was no point fitting new WOB PD sets just for them to be replaced in a few weeks. To the right you can see a picture of one hard at work on the 177.

This week I ventured out to Beckton to get a glimpse of one of these Scanias on the 262, the 262 being a Local route and as I like Scania Omnicity buses. But I wasn't very succesful in photographing them, WH don't have enough Scanias to cover the PVR of either the 262 nor 473 so both routes still have Tridents as the norm.

This is what will be the face of the 262 for the next 5 or 7 years. These Buses have already ventured out onto other West Ham routes such as the 104, 158, 241 and 238. So we will probably continue to see Tridents on the 262 for the forseeable future. What do you think of these buses? Would you have preferred id routes 262 and 473 to have got new buses or are you happy with this decision? Please let us know in the comments section.

I would like to Thank LondonBuses72 and The LondonBusBreh for allowing their wonderful photos to be used in this post. 

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Route 62 runs between Barking, Gascoigne Estate and Marks gate and is operated by Stagecoach London from Barking (BK) Garage.

It is allocated a variety of buses, which are ADL Enviro200 Darts, ADL Enviro400, and Optare Versa buses. I shall be convering each type in this post. But first let me tell you a bit of history about the route...

The Route originally began on the 2nd of January 1935. It ran between Little Heath and Barking with the journey taking around 20minutes. It was operated using LT class Double Deckers and operated from Barking Garage. For some weird reason it was later transferred to Upton Park garage, then it was transferred to even further Poplar Garage. Eventually the route returned home to Barking garage in 1938. As well as the re-allocation to Barking, the route was also extended to Chadwell Heath via Ripple Road, Lodge Avenue, Woodward Road, Gale Street and Valence Avenue. This made the route a really long C shaped route. This was made even worse when the route was extended from Chadwell Heath via Marks Gate to Ilford. This made the route a Spiral Shape.

In 1960 the route was withdrawn between Goodmayes and Barking, with that part of the route replaced by the 238. It was also diverted to run via Upney lane to reach Ripple Road. Then in 1972 it was extended the short distance to serve Gascoigne estate replacing Route 291.

Today the Route proceeds like this...

• Gascoigne Estate
• Barking Town Centre, Barking Station
• Barking Bus Garage, Fair Cross
• Upney Lane, Upney Station
• Ripple Road
• Lodge Avenue
• Woodward Road
• Gale Street, Becontree Station
• Porters Avenue
• Valence Avenue
• Station Road, Chadwell Heath Station
• High Road Chadwell Heath
• Whalebone Lane North
• Rose Lane Estate
• Billet Road
• Marks Gate, City Limits

The route mostly passes through residential areas, but also passes a lot of schools on its way and can exceed capacity during the rush hour. This means that it is allocated a few double deckers among its single deck allocation and this is usually found in the form of an ADL Enviro400. BK do have a lot of Enviro400s and there can be many on the route on any single day. The picture shows a 12reg bus, although 11reg buses are more common.

Tridents can also appear on the route every now and again, so I have included a picture of one. Prior to 2011 BK had many of these buses, and it was once the allocation. BK still have a few for route 5 and the 5 occasionally steals the 62s allocated Enviro400.

Upon Contract Renewal in 2011, the route gained Enviro200s and these are a common sight on the route. Here one is seen on stand at Barking, Gascoigne Estate. 









The route is also allocated some Optare Versas which transfered to BK from PD. This was done to condense all the Versas in the fleet into one garage so that engineers didn't have too much to worry about and these buses were very troublesome at Plumstead.





So what do you lot think of route 62? Would you like to ride it, or would you like to stay away from it? Please let us know in the comments section of this post. The Pictures in this post can always be viewed in better quality if you click on them.

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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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