Au Revoir 2018

It's been a while since I've done this, the last years I  skipped over was due to lack of keeping up with with what happened I admit. Now I've come back and prepared for this adventure. Enjoy this structure-lacking writing.

Before I start.
Note: Usage of any photos on this blog isn't permitted where no name is present (meaning it's mine, ©Unorm), or an All Rights Reserved symbol © is present. If you desire to use a photo, you must contact the original author. In my case, you should contact my Flickr.

“For last year's words belong to last year's language 

And next year's words await another voice.”

- T.S. Eliot

I will cover 2018's changes month by month, going through operator changes and certain retains. For example, the 300 switching it's Enviro200s with D6's longer Enviro200s. Don't worry, there's better examples below.

January:

6th January:

ADE40402 (YX12FNH), Brent Cross

The first change of the month was 142/258, lost from Arriva the Shires to London Sovereign of RATP. Except Arriva surrendered 258 early in September 2017. Anyhow, the end of Garston (GR) come closer, with the loss of their closest routes only slightly off Watford Junction. The end of the LJ55-reg B7TL ALX400s and the transfer of now-T199 sole Enviro400 (former 5458) and DB300s DW190/1 (6100/1) to Croydon (TC). Without a doubt the loss was anticipated, yet was a sad loss. With this, Arriva have moved one step closer to closing off their north west career.

The change itself brought RATP into Watford, certainly an adventure in uncharted territory. The buses brought in were Enviro400s released from the loss of 120 and 222 to Metroline, some refurbished in time for 142's arrival. Four new E40H MMCs were ordered as top-ups, but were late, extra Hounslow (AV) ADEs from 81 filled in the space of these late ADHs in the meantime.
Operation wasn't quite perfect as you'd expect, with 642s being lost thinking they were school 142s which isn't exactly the case if you look up the route. Back to 142, the changeover was pretty smooth nonetheless, with it remaining so for the coming new weeks of operation.


20th January

DW442 (LJ61ACO), Chislehurst War Memorial

The highlight for this month in my eyes, 3 weeks in was the change of three Bexleyheath routes to Arriva from their border-London base in Dartford (DT), scoring these routes from operators who have garages within few minutes or on line of route. 99 from Stagecoach's Plumstead (PD), the 269 from Bromley (TB) and 401 which terminates close to Go-Ahead's Bexleyheath (BX).

The 99 was allocated LX11 diesel Enviro400s on paper, but most are now found in East London for the 86 which was retained in July 2016. As a result of this, the route gained near-new E40Hs once 53 received yet another new batch of buses in 2016.

12341 (SN64OGP), Bexleyheath

Ninety nine's the first route to be de-hybrified, with similar 469 downgrading from smart-blind LX11 Enviro200s to manual-blind 2008/10 Enviro200s, a related route from the same Dartford (DT) which changed hands earlier on.

The other two routes Arriva took on were the Trident ALX400 allocated 269 and formerly B7TL President allocated 401, the latter withdrawn ahead of time for released B7TL Geminis. The former route saw Arriva back in Bromley territory after the long-forgotten loss of 126 and 162 to Metrobus. On the other hand, Nuxley Village, where 99 and 401 cross paths, went from a mix of two operators to one operator overnight.

WVL312 (LX59CZY), Yarnton Way, Thamesmead East
Unallocated, B9TL Gemini 2

All in all, DW423-459 for the trio, came from Tottenham (AR) after 243 received it's batch of new hybrids. These could not perform the hills well on any of the trio, which all have steep hills they have to tackle day in day out. Dartford (DT) went under a regime to fix all of these restricted VDL DB300s to have some standing capability. Originally, a DW would perform uphill at less than 5mph through, but after un-restricting their performance, they could reach 30mph.

Arriva aside, Stagecoach had their fair share of the pie. The 99's loss was nullified by gaining 422. Whilst the 422 has a higher PVR than 99, the 47 received a cut in buses prior to the award, though this came in the form of 136's 64-reg E400s and a hybrid from Bow (BW). Two things to note in this change.
- The award was existing diesels on-paper (as per 99's contract)
- The route terminated in Bexleyheath (BX)

12364 (SN15LRJ), North Greenwich

The former isn't an issue but more an observation. The latter however, was an issue. Instead of having Go-Ahead route one of their routes from the Shopping Centre, TfL decided the 422 to use an existing stand for curtailed routes located off a road 401 uses. This raised alarms for residents, though nothing changed since.

Prior to the change, 422 had WVL-coded Volvo B9TLs Wright Gemini 2's on it as an allocation, with some now sold off (#ads). Other types like Enviro400s would appear on the route. Service-wise, Bexleyheath (BX) operated the route to an acceptable standard, but not to the end. In my experiences, the buses were 8 minutes late from North Greenwich on two occasions. Like most Plumstead (PD) routes, the 422 was another long route to add to their long route arsenal.

Since these changes happened, routes like 99 and 269 seem settled down, the 422 with it's long and twisty nature sees turns to this day.

February:

3rd February: First week of February on the 3rd, Saturday like every other, saw a few changes less relevant to the ones prior, in my eyes at least.

In the central (north) corner we have a single deck routes by the number of 153, from Finsbury Park to Moorgate lost from CT Plus to Go-Ahead from their far-away base located just off Tottenham. Northumberland Park (NP). With electric BYD D9UR Enviro200 MMCs, SEe66-75. The route also had extras drafted in from 360, the likes of EB3.

In the north corner, Sullivan gained another route in to their base, going for StreetLites (SLS90-97) after Wright did some modifications of a sort to the product. This route was 299, Cockfosters to Muswell Hill.

EH175 (YY67URC), Peckham

In the central (southeast) corner, Abellio surrendered the 343 after a 15 year stint to the previous owner, Go-Ahead at the terminus depot, New Cross (NX) with yet another batch of ADL Enviro400H MMCs, EH171-194.

In the southeast corner, the only direct link from Bexleyheath to Orpington, the half hourly B14 switched hands from Go-Ahead to Stagecoach, though the predecessor has garages either end of the route. Confusing. In fact, the B14 moved to Bexleyheath (BX) only towards the end. Regardless, Bromley (TB) were finally greeted with stop-start ADL Enviro200 MMCs, 37501-6. In recent (fall 2018), the operation of B14 by Stagecoach wasn't up to the standards of the public, and an article was published somewhere by Bexley.

Finally, again in north, another loss from Northumberland Park (NP), the W4 moved back to Arriva at Wood Green (WN), with 14 new ADL Enviro200 MMCs, ENN40-54. Home sweet home.

On this day, 41, 121, 423, H22, H37 and W6 were retained. H22 promised ex-70/C1 buses when released, and W6 received new Enviro200 MMCs ENS29-39 ahead of contract renewal, replacing it's aged Dart Pointer 2s.

10 February.

EH248 (YX18KSO), Victoria

The 36 received the first ultracapacitor E40Hs. The normal E40Hs have a battery that does the job of moving the bus. However, batteries aren't exactly feasible when they need replacement, and have a short life span. Ultracapacitors avoid the latter issue, promising as much life as the bus itself. These were EH226-63. These however came quite late into the play. At first we noticed they have a faster performance on a flat than a battery one, but up hills the ultracaps are downhill compared to the battery ones in terrain performance.

24 February. 233 and H28 were retained. H28 promised a new bus, but it got an existing instead.

March:

17 March.

12442 (SN67XEG), Millennium Village South

It's now Stagecoach's time to shine and they reclaimed what was once theirs as early as the 90s. The 161, 181 and 284 were welcomed back 'home' after decades of being with Metrobus, whilst all three had Scanias to begin with, only the 181 had it's own to the end.
Plumstead (PD) picked up 161 since losing it in 1991, now allocated new 12433-12451.
The former Clarkes depot, now an outstation of Catford, Kangley Bridge (KB) took on 181 with 10.9m 36685-36699 and 10.5m 36671-36684 for 284.

36's EH236 (YX18KRJ), New Cross Gate Station

Go-Ahead reclaimed the 172 which joins 343 with EH195-214. These are normal battery hybrids.

On this day, 138, 225 and H98 were retained. 225 received ex-284 Enviro200s 740-746.

24 March. 169/247/287 retained. 169 supposed to receive smart hybrids but got reallocated to West Ham (WH) and again to Catford (TL) for 136. Confusion however you looked at it.

31 March. Clicky linky

April:

7 April. 389/399, rumoured to be withdrawn for dial-a-ride, were awarded to  Sullivan. Surprise surprise! Crosslinked to 299 again. 424 retained on this day.

28 April.

Previous face; VNW32412 (LK04JBE), Shepherd's Bush

I'm sure all of us have wondered. How did this happen? You tell me. Tower Transit had the home advantage, but lost. Anyways, as very typical of Metroline, it's buses were not even in sight, don't blame them. So they scrambled every VW-coded B9TL Gemini 2 in their fleet following reductions to 105 and whatever else, to Perivale (PA), to operate 31. VW1178-80/83/85-96, VW1379-83/85-88/1400/03-07 transferred. Operation obviously iffy, but the frequency reduction that kicked in weeks later did not help matters at all. To think 31 was operated well at Tower Transit...

Routes 95 and 171 were retained on this day, 171 with battery EH264-284.

May:

5 May:

2618 (SN18KLL), Knights Hill

For 196, I go in depth here.

Over in East London, the 474 changed over from Go-Ahead to Stagecoach. A change long awaited but never happened. Of all the routes in East Ham to my memory, the 474 had to be the route to have avoided Stagecoach's grasp for the longest time. The 474 introduced a new type to the table.

Smart Hybrids.

Suppose this makes previous hybrids dumb... ahem. They have capacitors like the previous EH226-263, but small enough to fit in the diesel E40D. Provides only 51kW of power (18hp) alongside the 250hp engine, this helps reduces fuel consumption by reducing strain from the engine.
These are distinct from regular diesels by the nice whining sound in harmony with the engine. Realistically they're only diesels with electrical assistance but TfL are in need of cost-cutting, plus this tech helps matters for them, win-win. If only Abellio ordered these for 196......474's are 11033-54, including other West Ham (WH) routes, 241 and/or 330.

On this day, 241/330 and 485 were retained. Former with smarts as above, latter with spare SOEs. On 26th, 337 was retained.

June:

Now spare parts at Stagecoach West (Swindon)
34383 (LX03BZR), Greenwich

2nd:
Two small routes that saw somewhat a balance for Go-Ahead. 491 was lost to Metroline but 386 was gained from Stagecoach. At first 491 saw 9.6m DEMs allocated to other routes, as it's own intended DEs 1327/31-36 weren't all present. Meanwhile, for 386, it's ex-299 SENs 13-20 were all refurbished and some ex-100 64reg SE217-20 were brought in to make the total requirement. These were released after 100 was cut to London Wall and received a frequency reduction afterward.

Retains: 37, 44/N44, 77, 87/N87, 219.
37 received ex-36 12reg E246-60 to replace it's 06reg E16-37, most which went Plymouth.
44/N44 received the first hybrid StreetDecks WSD2-23. Normal StreetDecks but with a battery pack and hub motor by the side blinds, making it a parallel hybrid. Imagine the smart hybrids prior, similar.
Anyway, 77 and 87/N87 (partially) gained ultracapacitor E40Hs, the second overall, EH285-310.

9th June:
Metroline strike again, like a norse iron hammer.

Potters Bar (PB) gain the 231 from Go-Ahead's Northumberland Park (NP), at which point I must ask how will NP go on, but no problem for now, they have 214 and 232 to come.
Anyways, over to the central side, the 268 and H2/H3/631 have returned home to Cricklewood (W). 268 went from questionable Wright Cadets with Garston (GR) maintenance to, for better or worse, equally neglected Enviro200s. I say this as 268's allocation is mostly of PVR cuts, off C11. Speaking of Enviro200s, ENL109 was it's last Arriva bus if I recall.
Meanwhile, the Hampstead circulars, had their specially designed Optare Solos late, due to this, Metroline had no choice but to hire the ex-Arriva Solos, which were deemed so unreliable that the service reliability dropped, in fact, one broke down performing a turn. Going up and down a motorway can do that much damage huh...

All in all, 231 went from 2008 ENs to mostly 2012 TEs, including TE946/7, which are 58reg, the same as the previous ENs.
268 meanwhile, DE1131/2, 1172-4, 1605/9.
327, uses a bus from 298, and 298 uses the famous SL98 (STL1470), which was new to Metroline for  new limited stop route 714 (New Barnet - St. Alban's - Luton), but got abandoned both bus and the route as Metroline weren't satisfied with the StreetLite. The route from what I saw was an express of existing 84. Arriva acquired it for 450 type training, and now Sullivan picked it up. For the first few weeks or so the bus wasn't logged on iBus but eventually made it.
H2/H3/631 are allocated the Solo batch of Solo SRs, OS2499-2504, these entered service almost at once by the end of September.

23rd June:

VMH2467 (LK18AMV),
Marble Arch

Remember when Metroline had 205? Metroline in East London? Mile End? About that..they picked up the 30, I don't know off my head the geographical positions between Mile End and Hackney but, without a doubt, Metroline made it back, and with style. Egyptian style. Not pharaohs...but buses..

Yes, Metroline were disappointed in the quality of the Gemini 3 and the late deliveries that they shifted to MCV. Go-Ahead who weren't satisfied left them though I hear. Anyways, Metroline have binge ordered a lot of them, coded VMH. 2455-2480's the settled allocation for 30 now. That said, these EvoSeti's were indeed late for 31 (now used on 113?), these ones for 30 were prepped quickly and entered right into service.

DN33631 (SN11BOH), Hackney Wick

Tower Transit with their grey-green interior, Go-Ahead with the the normal blue and yellow, now Metroline have came in with their ultimate fusion of the same blue, but with orange. I haven't been on them myself, however, it seems to have good reviews. Hmm.
On this day, 46 was retained (the BELs haven't entered service yet), and 274 had tree issues so it's VMHs couldn't enter service any further than Marble Arch to London Zoo. Until the start of October that is...

30th June:
The French's time to shine. RATP picked up 105 off Metroline, finally, a non-ex-First route, and regained K3 but not quite home, all K3 did was go over the wall from Abellio's Fulwell (TF) to RATP's Fulwell (FW). With new DLEs 30227-40 (alongside 216). 105 meanwhile had the latest B5LHs VH45262-277 thus far, after 468's HV380-412.
On this day, 143D/643, 216, K2 and K4 were retained.
216 gained new E200MMCs DLE30227-40 (with K3), K2's DLE30217-226, K4 with SDE20297-301.

August:

VHP1 (BV18AYD), Acre Lane, Brixton

Nothing to note for the month. On the 1st, the pantograph-chargeable B5LHCs VHP1 and VHP2 entered service on promised 37, the one that runs Peckham Bus Station to Putney Heath Green Man. Originally thought as a typo for 36, New Cross Bus Garage to West Kilburn. The 36 does have the advantage of terminating at a depot, but the other stand in Queen's Park isn't as advantageous as the TfL manageable Putney Heath. TfL own Peckham Bus Station making life easier. What didn't make life easier was the fact the electric side of things were delayed and didn't work. As such, the trial of the B5LHCs ended as a fail. Millions of quids gone down the drain for a relatively good idea. The reason of failure was the impossibility of making the stands prepared for fully electric operation.

R9 retained with existing Enviro200s on 18th

September:

1st:

Garston will be missed
DWL80 (YJ06LDK), Edgware

I recommend reading London Buses On The Go's post for the juicy details, but I shall summarise below.
RATP gained 288/303, H18/19 from Arriva with brand new Enviro200 MMCs (E200s from K2 used until full delivery of new DLEs), the H12 from Metroline with new E40H MMCs (B5LH Gemini 3s for 79 used temporarily) and in South London the 293 from Go-Ahead Metrobus with brand new 11.5m long Enviro200 MMCs.
Tower Transit lost nightly N550/551 to CT Plus using 388's Enviro400H City buses.
Over in Epsom, Metrobus gained 318 (Banstead - Epsom) from Buses Excetera

15th September

SE125 (YX61BXA), Mile End

East London's Docklands routes change. Just two of them. The D6 goes from a depot in the Docklands, Silvertown (SI) to a depot operated from the opposite side at Ash Grove, Hackney (HK) with new 10.9m 1283-1295, Enviro200 MMCs.
Likewise, the D8 changes from Go-Ahead London Docklands Buses' Silvertown (SI) to Tower Transit from Lea Interchange (LI) with some B9TL Gemini 2s released from the withdrawal of 25's short Mile End workings in favour of extending and enhancing 425 to Ilford. The previous allocation of Scania OmniCitys dully withdrawn as a result. The existing Enviro200s offloaded by D6 were reused on route 300.

In it's previous life
36555 (LX13CYW), Blackheath

29th September

The 193 changed hands from Go-Ahead to Stagecoach as anticipated. The route did operate from the Rainham depot of Blue Triangle but now closer to the Barking side. Alas, Stagecoach nailed it with one existing bus from 386, 36555 and the rest brand new with the TfL specified larger wheelchair space...37514-37525. From the North Street Romford (NS) depot.

The 179 was supposed to receive brand new smart hybrids on this month on the 29th but were relegated to Catford (TL) in exchange for Euro 5 diesels from 136. The H14 was retained on the 1st with new E40Hs alongside H12's. H17 was retained with new DLEs.

October:
The first week.

BE37040 (LJ18FLD), East Acton

Not a contract change. However, sweet reminder if you glossed over, or just to put it in your head again. It's finally been since what, October 2017 since they were promised? January? Then finally October 2018, over a year since it's contract began in June of course it's the 70 I'm on about. C1 included but 70's the main focus here. It got the D9UR 10.9m Enviro200 EVs, electric. RATP are trying to get Shepherd's Bush (S) as zero emission as possible. The result in this, is the awaited promise of H22 receiving it's DLEs from the 70. Which it definitely did. As the BEs phased in for 70/C1, the DLEs first phased out to H22.
The 274's issue meanwhile was trees that wouldn't be cut, probably on private property..now that autumn has come, trees leaves be gone and branches be lain skinless. Part of the tree issues solved.
The 46...as of typing, hasn't seen electrics. YT1, acquired from Arriva who tested it on 312, have tested it on 603, which used a VWH set mind you. Quite salty after losing it to a much far away base quite out of London aren't we....

13th October.
The 223 and 224 changed hands from Metroline's Alperton (ON) to RATP's Park Royal (RP). Though the 223 is temporary as Harrow (SO)'s full. The 223 got it's brand new [meh] DLEs whilst the 224 had to put up with reused existing Enviro200s from K2 due an issue on the 224 route which required double yellow markings. The issue has been resolved now that the year is coming to a close.

27th October.

E198 (SN61BKD), Fairfield Halls, Croydon

The first operator change, route 403, which is basically November at this point, is the long prepared transfer from South Croydon (C) to Croydon (C).The 403, a route many of us thought Arriva-bound, was lost? The buses it's been prepared with can now see Croydon again, albeit all the time instead of to Elephant. They've been refurbished early on and been used on every route of interest in the garage. ADL Enviro400s, SN61-plate, E194-201. 8 buses, for a PVR of 7.

November:
11 November. Abellio acquired the Yutong E10 demonstrator previously seen on Arriva route 312 and Metroline route 603. The bus is tested on Walworth (WL)'s only single decker central London route the C10, Canada Water to Victoria via Elephant & Castle.

22 November. Orpington (MB) bus garage fire of arson attack in the early morning, 11 buses E60 E94 E211 E224 EH18 EN33 EN37 SEN21 MEC54 MEC56 MEC60 were destroyed in the fire, some possibly repairable though chosen to be scrapped. In the short term, ex-405 and ex-293 Scanias 948/952 and 561-3/5 have been brought back to life.

24 November:

The 79 was meant to change on the 24th but was deferred until 8 December to coincide with the route 292 change, essentially swapping both routes in terms of operators.

DNH39118 (SN12ASO), Ladbroke Grove Sainsbury's

Also on the 24th, the 10 was withdrawn and 23 was rerouted, you can read my post here.
Routes 318 and H25 were retained with existing 57-reg 8.9m Enviro200s and 13-reg 10.8m Enviro200s respectively on the 10th and 17th.

Special mention.

December 2018

VN37961 (BN61MXL)

December the 1st the 452 received ex-25 B9TL Gemini 2s to start it's contract. On the same date, the 25 was cut back to Holborn Circus (City Thameslink) from Oxford Circus and received an evening/Sunday frequency reduction, with a PVR of 32. It was soaring at 60 at the start of the year surely.

Retains:

61: Stagecoach Selkent (TB), existing 10.8m E400 withdrawn in favour of ex-261 SN63s.

261: Stagecoach (TB), partial new smart hybrids 11064-74, part existing SN63s.

8 December 2018

Big day!
Mostly Go-Ahead stuff so let's start with the small stuff.

Original Order
VWH2296 (LK17DFP)

Over in North West London the 79 and 292 swapped operators. Metroline had 79 with Scania Olympus (later B9TL Gemini 2s) and RATP had 292 with Scania OmniDekkas. The 79 received Scania OmniCitys from the H91 as the H91 stole 79's brand new buses for the Chiswick corridor. The 292 on the other hand received 105's B9TL Gemini 2s effectively as promised.
At first it was thought Edgware (EW), should they take on 292, would get Enviro400s one way or the other with 204's transfer to Alperton (ON) as the best guess. Which happened, to compensate for the earlier loss of 223/224. Though that didn't stop Edgware (EW) returning to Volvo, they received new B5LHs EvoSetis earlier for 113. As for the 79, it's original new order was B5LH Gemini 3s which entered service on H12 as they arrived much earlier than anticipated, with H12's E40H MMCs being late.

SP198 was the first 79 at 05:05 and TEH1232 as the first 292 at 05:11

Go-Ahead land.

18451 (LX05LLM), Orpington

Metrobus (MB) got the 51 with ex-Tower Transit Enviro400s from 30 (EN28-40) with some ex-Abellio from 211 and B9TLs from 474. Operation on the route did not end well for the first week at least. Stagecoach on the other hand did well on the route, operation on the route was decent in my experience but later on slipped a bit. Last Stagecoach bus was 12442  at 01:42. WVL418 was the first Go-Ahead at 07:03. I'd probably go off on a tangent if I didn't keep this short, maybe I'll make a post of my own sometime?
East London's 104 from River Road (RR) received "everything possibly scrambled within the company", as such, various buses from various routes which had frequency reductions or lost from the company. E127 from 57, E130/36 from Bexleyheath, E186/89-92 ex-468. You get it. E191 first 104 at 04:45. 10109/19868 last Stagecoach 104 at 01:46. Here's a descriptive read on the 104 from London Connected.

The 178 & 291, now history 

Back in South London the 178 and 291 were double decked. The former still is iffy service-wise but the short residential hopper and busy 291 was okay, both received E40Ds and B9TLs from other route losses, operated from New Cross (NX) or Morden Wharf (MG) [291]. The R5/R10 went back home to Metrobus (MB) with SEN10 from W4, actually a refurbishment float for 434 at time of writing. WVL333 first 178 at 04:55, first odd working EH175 on Tuesday 11th. E262 first 291 at 04:53

Due to Crossrail not coming in this year December as originally intended, routes 301 and 304 were postponed, as was 104's reroute as 262's alternative.
The 244 and 300 were retained with existing Enviro200s, the latter with D6's longer 10.8m ones rather than 300's own 10.2m models.

HW100 (SK68TNJ), Stockwell Station
Wright StreetDeck HEV 10.6m

Hope you enjoyed the lengthy post. My News Flash series received thousands of views I never expected to see, as compensation for not continuing the series, I thought I'd bring back the yearly post I used to do. Feedback will be welcome, positive and negative. If negative, constructive criticism will be helpful. For me I had ups and downs this year but I'm not in the country to provide December photos of my own, I'm on holiday! Hope you enjoyed your Christmas and your days off and New Year. Also, to a happy 2019!

Note: Usage of any photos on this blog isn't permitted where no name is present (meaning it's mine, ©Unorm), or an All Rights Reserved symbol © is present. If you desire to use a photo, you must contact the original author. In my case, you should contact my Flickr.

Note: I sorta rushed this post to the end due to many reasons.

Sources / Credits:
The Bus Forum
London Bus Fleet by Vjaska, also found on The Bus Forum.
London Vehicle Finder
Flickr