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

Thank you for reading this post, please visit again soon!

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! 

Thank you for reading this post, please leave a comment below and be sure to return!

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

Thank you for reading this post, Please visit again soon :)

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. 

Thank you for reading this post, Please visit again soon :)

TA650 and TE926 take a break.
©GloriousWater

On Saturday the 2nd of August, Metroline West successfully took over the operations of route 112 from Abellio London. The route is operated from Cricklewood with 10 Trident 2/Alexander ALX400s (TA).

Metroline West took over the operations of route 112 between Brent Cross and Ealing Broadway. Initially, the route was rumoured to be operated from Greenford garage with brand new 10.8m Alexander Dennis Enviro200 buses (DEL), until there was word of the DELs for the route, running late due to the annual summer shutdown at Alexander Dennis. This then leading to discussions of which buses will deputise for the late buses, it was then believed that existing Alexander Dennis Enviro400 buses would be drafted in from Holloway until the new buses arrived, but this would not to be, why? Because the current drivers on the 112 were not all familiar on how an Enviro400 works. The discussion of the deputising buses rose again until it was confirmed that the route would temporarily operate from Cricklewood garage with the redundant TAs at the garage.

TA638 looking for a place to stand.

August the 2nd neared, it was said that ten transferred Enviro400s (TE925-934) from Holloway at Cricklewood were loaned to help out the TAs, as well as a few Enviro200s. Possibly hinting at a permanent stay at Cricklewood for the 112. 

The route successfully passed to Metroline West even though it operates from a Metroline Travel garage and operated the day using the planned TAs and one TE. I went to cover it to see how the route was operating on its first day, blog member Jack followed the next day.

©KTLBB

The 112's route is mostly on the North Circular Road (A406) with it only coming off most noticeably at Brent Cross and at Ealing. It passes through Neasden, Stonebridge and Hanger Lane en-route and has quite a few fast sections. It was previously operated by Abellio London - who took over from Travel London - who took over from Tellings-Golden Miller - with 10.4m Caeteno Nimbus Darts from Hayes garage. These buses were highly rated and reached high speeds, prom a friend of mine, to ask me to do the route.

©KTLBB

I ventured out to Brent Cross via the 189, my first time doing the route for such a long distance and I enjoyed it very much, TEH1114 providing me with my best hybrid journey in a long time. Going over the bridge leading to Brent Cross, I got my first sight of a Metroline operated 112, it was TA640 the bus I took to Ealing Broadway as I missed TA649 by a minute because of the backlog of buses trying to enter the small bus station at Brent Cross. It was an eleven minute wait for the next 112 and I happily waited observing the many buses entering, alighting and circling the bus station looking for a place to stand. Eventually, my bus, TA640 pulled round and we were off. The bus keeping to a nice steady pace for the first few minutes of the journey, I was highly anticipating the bus reaching high speeds of 40 to 50mph but instead was treated to a slow and quiet ride along a traffic-less A406.

I was so disappointed with this that I decided to take TA649 back to Brent Cross - scrapping the proposed bus to White City to take a 49 home - to see if my fortunes improved. The journey was literally the same, slower than I expected, with the driver only reaching a satisfying speed in Neasden. I was very displeased to say the least and the only interesting moments for me was seeing TAs passing in the opposite direction. Overall, I found the 112 over-exaggerated. I didn't have the pleasure of buses reaching high speeds and I didn't really enjoy the scenery of the route either. But I did like the state of which the buses were in considering they are 9 years old! It is a route I would like to try again and a route I think I would enjoy with faster drivers.

Jack:

©GloriousWater

My experience was very different to Kieran's. The bus station wasn't very busy when I arrived on the 102 and it was barely a minute before TE926 pulled up. Everybody crowded on the bus which made me doubt how a single-decker could cope with the loads. Almost immediately the driver thrashed the bus and it was regularly hitting 40 on the A406 despite some traffic. It stayed crowded for most of the trip until about Hanger Lane and the traffic didn't relent, but it always found a gap. So I would recommend doing the route, just hope you get a fast driver.

It has also been confirmed that the route will now stay at Cricklewood. 

Fleetlist

TA638 LJ05GFO

TA640 LJ05GFX

TA642 LJ05GFZ

TA644 LJ05GGE

TA646 LJ05GGJ

TA649 LJ05GGU

TA650 LJ05GGV

TA655 LJ05GHB

TA656 LJ05GHD

TA658 LJ05GHG

• Route 112 runs between Brent Cross, Shopping Centre/Bus Station and Ealing Broadway
• Operated from Metroline's head office, Cricklewood
• Will use TAs until the DELs arrive
• The TAs are also being assessed to see if the 112 will stay double-decker