On this day, 22 years ago, route 319 was formed, the rest? The rest is history.

The 319 was introduced exactly 22 years ago to the day, it replaced both the 219 and 349 between Sloane Square and Streatham (Hill Telford Avenue), running Monday to Saturday with a PVR of 17. It was allocated Leyland Titans out of Brixton (BN) garage, it then underwent its first allocation change of many, with MCW Metrobuses chosen to run the route after two years of Titans. 

HV143 LT63UJD approaching Bullen Street (LD)

Two years after its 'introduction', the 319 was given a Sunday service at the sacrifice of its Telford Avenue terminus; it was withdrawn between Telford Avenue and St. Leonard's Church. A year or so later, the 319's allocation changed, again, this time step-entrance Dennis Dart single-deckers were chosen to run the route as it was re-instated to serve the entirety of Streatham High Road and to terminate at Telford Avenue once again.

After returning to Telford Avenue, in service, the 319's allocation was changed, again! For the fourth time in its 7-year life span; new low-floor Plaxton Pointer 2's were introduced before they were replaced, two years later, by new Wrigth Cadets (that's five different allocations changes in 8 years, surely that's a record!). 

  

Passing over Battersea Bridge
on HV152

Starting from Sloane Square, the 319 dribbles King's Road until it reaches Beaufort Street, where it takes a tight left turn to get onto the aforementioned street. It then cruises up and over Battersea Bridge and down onto Battersea Bridge Road before having a smooth, but fast trip up Prince of Wales Drive and down Albert Bridge Road. 

The route then takes a right onto the annoyingly busy Battersea Park Road, passing The Latchmere pub and the newly, named area 'Battersea Cross'. After it's done with the sometimes sluggish traffic, a concentrated left turn is needed onto Falcon Road to reach 'The Heart of Battersea' and 'Britain's Busiest Railway Station', Clapham Junction. 

The 319 and others, then pass right through the bus only, shopping strip known as St John's Road before cautiously migrating down the market of Northcote Road; a narrow right turn is required onto the steep Broomwood Road before another left turn is needed onto Bolingbroke Grove where it shadows Wandsworth Common onto Bellevue Road passing the quiet station and small array of shops. 

A left swivel down the usually congested Trinity Road brings the route onto one of its final stretches where it stops at Tooting Bec Station before continuing its journey down Tooting Bec Road and Tooting Bec Gardens. The route's now in Streatham using Streatham High Road to get to its home and terminus of Telford Avenue, stopping by at Streatham Hill Station on the way.An overcrowded five years of Cadets ended in 2006 when the 319 was given a sixth allocation change, to the joy of daily users, it was converted back to double-decker operation with Alexander ALX400 bodied DAF DB250LF's off of route 68. These buses were replaced by newer DAFs before they were eventually given the boot. The DAFs were replaced by 21 new Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B5LH hybrids for the 319's new contract.

During its 22 years at Brixton (BN) garage, the 319's received every possible working due to Brixton's loose allocations. Most commonly on the 319, you'd find DLAs, DWs (Mark 1 and Mark 2) and VLAs running alongside the HVs, below you'll find a few pictures of these workings, a video and a fleetlist.

HV - Hyrbid Volvo fleetlist

HV132 - LT63UHR 

HV133 - LT63UJO

HV134 - LT63UJP

HV135 - LT63UJR

HV136 - LT63UJS

HV137 - LT63UJU

HV138 - LT63UJV

HV139 - LT63UJW

HV140 - LT63UJX

HV141 - LT63UJY

HV142 - LT63UJZ

HV143 - LT63UJD

HV144 - LT63UJE

HV145 - LT63UJF

HV146 - LT63UJG

HV147 - LT63UJH

HV148 - LT63UJH

HV149 - LT63UJK

HV150 - LT63UJL

HV151 - LT63UJM

HV152 - LT63UJN

DLA342 on Battersea Park Road

DW293 in Clapham Junction

DW128 on King's Road

Here's to another 22 years with Arriva for the 319!

Special mention to Unorm for the post banner, please show his photo's some love!

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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!

 ©EastLondoner 2014

Stratford Bus Station is home to a variety of different routes, one of those routes is the 238. It is operated from the United Kingdom's largest and greenest bus garage, West Ham (WH). The route is allocated with Euro 5 engine, Voith Enviro400/E40D buses. 

The route starts off at Barking, Station Parade then proceeds around the corner onto London Road, then it continues along past the North Circular Road onto Barking Road. Once it reaches Newham Town Hall the route takes a sharp left turn onto High Street North and it continues past East Ham Station onto Plashet Grove. From there it continues onto Plashet Road which turns into Portway. From Portway it turns onto West Ham Lane then onto Stratford High Street. From there it goes to Stratford Bus Station.

The route has had a pretty long history, it started off in 1959 running between Becontree and the Woolwich Ferry via Barking and Canning Town, very soon in 1961 it was diverted to start at Little Heath instead of Becontree. Then further change came in 1965 when it was diverted to Serve Stratford via West Ham Lane. (Like the current routing today.) 

©EastLondoner 2014

Then in 1966 the route was extended from Little Heath to Chadwell Heath Hospital and converted to Single Deck operation. In 1991 the route was cut back from Chadwell Heath and Little Heath and started to run only between Stratford Bus Station and Barking Bus Garage. In 2000 the route was withdrawn between Barking Bus Garage and Barking Station. Leaving the routeing how it is today. In 2003 the route was converted to Low Floor Double Deck operation with Dennis Tridents, and this was converted to Enviro400/E40D Double Deckers in 2012.

©EastLondoner 2014

Until 2011, this route was operated out of the second largest garage in East London at Upton Park (U) found just off Green Street. But due to West Ham being so large and more than half empty, it was economical to close down U and send its routes to WH and BK. The 238, like many routes moved to West Ham (WH), changeovers take place at Stratford Bus Station with drivers going via the 69

© GloriousWater 2014

The 238 doesn't have much going for unallocated workings, the most common is a Dennis Trident which happens every day. Although something which is really rare on the route is a Scania Omnicity. These have only been blinded for the 238 since March, and only two duties have managed to stay out on the route for the whole day. Jack managed to catch up with one doing the 238U which operates when the District Line is closed.

So what do you think about the route? Do you want to ride it? Or would you prefer to stay away from it? Please let us know your thoughts and views on this route by posting a comment below. 

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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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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 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 368 Runs Between Barking, Harts Lane Estate and Chadwell Heath. It is operated by Go ahead London (Formally First London) out of BE garage and is allocated with SEN class Buses coded SEN30 - SEN37.

It has been unique in changing operator each of the previous Two times it has been tendered, just to return to BE again before the end of the contract. First time when that happened, BE lost the contract to Docklands buses but then when both Blue Triangle and Docklands Buses were absorbed into GAL, the 368 changed allocations to make operation simpler. Then in 2011 the contract was awarded to First London, just in 2013 for First to Leave London and Sell the Route to Blue Triangle.

The Route itself is mainly residential, it starts of at a Housing estate in Barking known as "Harts Lane Estate", it then passes through Barking and then runs via Ripple Road. When it reaches the flyover at the end of Ripple Road, it moves onto Lodge Avenue. It then follows Lodge Avenue until the end of the Road and then continues onto Becontree Avenue. Then it turns onto Bennetts Castle Lane, then Green lane then joins onto Valence Avenue. It then follows Valence Avenue until it becomes Station Road, and then onto Wangey Road which is its Terminus.

Me being a daily user of this Route find this one of London's Most Unreliable Routes. Sometimes It's hit and miss whether a bus will turn up at all, and with a high frequency route, this shouldn't be happening. It's buses don't have the best maintenance, and SEN31 and SEN37 make weird whining noises while they are on the move. With that note I bring you to the fleetlist

SEN30 - LX61FZO

SEN31 - LX61FZP

SEN32 - LX61FZR

SEN33 - LX61FZS

SEN34 - LX61FZT

SEN35 - LX61FZU

SEN36 - LX61FZV

SEN37 - LX61FZW

Route 368 doesn't often have any working that can be classed as 'odd', as BE tend to mix and match buses whether they be blinded or not. Two interesting workings I have can be seen below...

© EastLondoner2013

What do you think of this Route, Is it a good Route or a Bad Route. Do You want to ride it or did this Put you off from Riding it? Please let us know in the comments Section

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