London Buses Discussion

[MotCO]

Not my photo

LF74 UAB

**FIRST DAY & BRAND NEW** Go Ahead London EBD25e LF74UAB Route 320

www.flickr.com

(Picture of EBD25, reg LF74UAB, a BYD BD11 in Bromley, heading for Biggin Hill Valley)

There are a number of videos out on the BD11, including this one including a ride inside.

The video shows shots of three new BYD BD11 operating on route 320 between Catford and Biggin Hill. It includes interior and exterior shots. Interestingly, there are two glass panoramic roof windows (how will they fare during the summer?), green and white lighting, and there was evidence of some rattling already!

 

[Edvid]

[...] would be interested to know if - 7 months since [the EMCs'] withdrawal - a decision on their fate is close at hand.

Indeed it was; a few of them were spotted at the Boulder Bridge Lane scrapyards a month or so later.

Flickr links (not my photos): EMC 11 / 12 / 14

 

[Railguy1]

I was on a bus the other day where some of the bus stop buttons were red but others were yellow. Is there any significance to this, in the same way that the blue button is for users requiring the ramp?

 

[WibbleWobble]

I was on a bus the other day where some of the bus stop buttons were red but others were yellow. Is there any significance to this, in the same way that the blue button is for users requiring the ramp?

Not really - most likely a defective unit replacement, where whatever spare stock at the depot was utilised.

 

[Mikey C]

A No 1 crashed into the patio of a pub at its Hampstead Heath terminus yesterday. Luckily it didn't hit either the pub or the tree head on.

Metropolitan Police officers, paramedics and London Fire Brigade were scrambled to The Garden Gate on South End Road, Hamstead amid intial claims the driver’s brakes failed.

The No1 bus smashed into the pub’s outdoor patio area at lunchtime on Wednesday.

But fortunately because of a heavy downpour on New Year’s Day across parts of the UK, no customers were sitting there

Double-decker bus narrowly avoids London pub after crashing in wet weather

Staff at The Garden Gate say wind and heavy rain was ‘a saving grace’ as no customers were sitting outside

www.standard.co.uk

 

[telstarbox]

Here's the 358 at the charging point at Crystal Palace. The driver said he can do a round trip to Orpington and back without charging at the other end.

 

[johncrossley]

Here's the 358 at the charging point at Crystal Palace. The driver said he can do a round trip to Orpington and back without charging at the other end.

That would explain why I've only ever seen them charge at Orpington.

 

[stevieinselby]

Here's the 358 at the charging point at Crystal Palace. The driver said he can do a round trip to Orpington and back without charging at the other end.

I should hope so – it wouldn't say much for the batteries if they couldn't manage a 30 mile round trip in London suburban traffic.
Although I do recognise that with opportunity charging, it may not be recharging to full each time ... but even so, in York buses can do a daily diagram of 150 miles or more on a single charge, so the 358 really shouldn't need charging for every journey.

 

[MotCO]

I should hope so – it wouldn't say much for the batteries if they couldn't manage a 30 mile round trip in London suburban traffic.
Although I do recognise that with opportunity charging, it may not be recharging to full each time ... but even so, in York buses can do a daily diagram of 150 miles or more on a single charge, so the 358 really shouldn't need charging for every journey.

But I believe the Irizars do not have such large batteries because they can charge up regularly throughout the day. That saves weight, which presumably also improves their kwh/mile.

 

[ChilternTurbo]

I had my first trip on one the Irizars last weekend from Bromley to Crystal Palace. It was a cold day (which obviously effects range) and the driver used the pantograph charger at Crystal Palace Bus Station. The bus was absolutely freezing and steamed up when I boarded in Bromley. The air conditioning did come on but was blowing out cold air! Other than that I thought it was nicely appointed and definitely striking looking. I had a chat with a friendly controller from Go-Ahead at Crystal Palace who said that engineers were over from Spain to sort out the heating, or lack thereof...

Link to my picture of IE19 charging at Crystal Palace

LJ74BTV

Having arrived on the long run from Orpington, Go-Ahead London Metrobus IE19 Irizar ie tram has a quick charge using the pantograph fast charger at Crystal Palace Bus Station. Not all the Irizars were out on the 358 today with Enviro200, StreetLite and a Citaro providing cover.

www.flickr.com

 

[Blindtraveler]

Looking forward to a trip on one next month all being well
Has anyone been on the new BYD deckers yet? I am prepared to give these another chance now they're not teamed up with the abysmal ADL for body and stuff

 

[Chiltern006]

They’re on my local route, haven’t tried them personally but heard lots of positive things (even if they do look slightly strange). A big step-up from the previous bone shakers

 

[Blindtraveler]

That's the 320 isn't it? I know it was posted here somewhere but really can't find the motivation to go scrolling back.

 

[Chiltern006]

Yeah, no doubt they’ll be trashed soon though

 

[Mark L]

But I believe the Irizars do not have such large batteries because they can charge up regularly throughout the day. That saves weight, which presumably also improves their kwh/mile.

They have 90kWh batteries compared with between 340 and 567 kWh on a Wrightbus GB Kite Electroliner. This should give enough range for two round trips on the 358 with a bit of wriggle room too.

 

[Edvid]

Here's something you wouldn't expect to see as an enthusiast, let alone a regular passenger - a non-TfL bus on a regular TfL route!

(Tiktok footage of Uno's YX67 VFW on the 699 courtesy of @english_trains_buses)

 

[chopperman21]

More BYD BD11's entered service today for Go-Ahead as they push diesel vehicles towards Bexleyheath, for the takeover of Routes 99/269/401.

EBD25 (for illustration) https://flic.kr/p/2qFrVuQ

 

[Edvid]

LOTS update (12 January) on the Silvertown Tunnel cycle-buses:

Stagecoach London route 323 has been de-electrified, now worked by E20D single-deckers (36570-36574) transferred from Bromley (TB) to West Ham (WH). The five BYD/E200EVs latterly used (64201-64205) are due to be converted into bicycle-carrying vehicles for a service through the new Silvertown Tunnel from 7th April.

TfL FoI response on the upcoming SL7 electrics:

We can confirm that the new EV’s for Route SL7 will be single door with the larger luggage rack associated with Single-Door models.

In addition a Tangytango poster says TfL has fixed their data supply to BODS. As an example the Irizars on GAL Metrobus' bustimes list used to intermittently "track" on the 309 until yesterday.

 

[Chiltern006]

The BYDs are actually really nice, quick off the mark and a genuine improvement to what we had before… the bell chime is a bit ear-piercing though

 

[Blindtraveler]

How are they for build quality, rattles, bits that look like they might fall off if someone sneezes etc? Are the latest ones to enter service also allocated to the 320 or has another route now also got them?

 

[Chiltern006]

I mean it rattles a bit when going over potholes (they’re rife in SE london) but nothing I’ve not seen before

 

[MotCO]

All Irizars have now made an appearance on route 358, the last, IE 7 entering service today. Still no 100% Irizar operation - Citaros, Darts and Streetlites are still helping out.

First dates into service as follows:

	First appeared
IE1	4 December 2024
IE2	4 December 2024
IE3	29 November 2024
IE4	20 November 2024
IE5	13 January 2025
IE6	20 November 2024
IE7	16 January 2025
IE8	20 November 2024
IE9	4 December 2024
IE10	20 November 2024
IE11	20 November 2024
IE12	30 December 2024
IE13	20 November 2024
IE14	20 November 2024
IE15	20 November 2024
IE16	20 November 2024
IE17	28 December 2024
IE18	19 December 2024
IE19	4 December 2024
IE20	19 December 2024

 

[Omnidekkalover]

347s gone

 

[Mikey C]

I had a ride on a 347 yesterday, as I expected it was rammed with enthusiasts!

 

[Edvid]

Buses are serving the West Drayton station forecourt once more, for the first time in 5 (!) years

(Yes, I know the U1 already returned to it a short while back)

Metroline | The Bus Forum

This is a thread dedicated to Metroline's fleet movements i'll start of with VPL 207 VPL 208 VPL 209 Have all transferred from Holloway (HT) to Harrow Weald (HD)

tangytango.proboards.com

 

[DM352]

Not to throw the thread off but around 2000, I saw P, R and T reg London United Leyland Nationals around Hounslow that sounded like they had new engines/transmissions to the modern Volvo ones at the time. Was this a micro fleet to Hounslow or more common across London?

Before then was only familiar with the Nationals that had the loud smokey engine often doing green line routes to say Dorking from Kingston.

 

[Mikey C]

Not to throw the thread off but around 2000, I saw P, R and T reg London United Leyland Nationals around Hounslow that sounded like they had new engines/transmissions to the modern Volvo ones at the time. Was this a micro fleet to Hounslow or more common across London?

Before then was only familiar with the Nationals that had the loud smokey engine often doing green line routes to say Dorking from Kingston.

Probably the rebuilt Greenways

The East Lancs Greenway, or National Greenway, is a type of bus which is rebuilt by East Lancashire Coachbuilders from a Leyland National single-deck bus.

The first Greenway appeared in late 1991. It was conceived by London & Country, which at the time was part of the Drawlane Group, which owned East Lancs. L&C began a co-operative venture with East Lancs. The idea was to give some of the Leyland Nationals, of which London & Country still had quite a few, a mid-life rebuild. The engineering work was carried out by London & Country at Reigate, then the buses were sent to Blackburn for the replacement bodywork. Soon East Lancs made the project widespread. Many operators were in the same situation as London & Country. Since the Leyland National had an advanced integral structure which generally remained sound, it was decided that rebuilding was a cost-effective option for them. The project lasted about four years, with the last of the 176 Greenways entering service early in 1996.[1] Another major customer was London General, for the Red Arrow network in Central London.[2][3][4]

East Lancs Greenway - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[LUYMun]

Not to throw the thread off but around 2000, I saw P, R and T reg London United Leyland Nationals around Hounslow that sounded like they had new engines/transmissions to the modern Volvo ones at the time. Was this a micro fleet to Hounslow or more common across London?

Before then was only familiar with the Nationals that had the loud smokey engine often doing green line routes to say Dorking from Kingston.

I believe London United had them refitted with Cummins engines and some had their concertina doors swapped for the more modern ones. I also believe they were known as the Dart variants after the popular midibus of the time. This YouTube video showed them in action:

In other news, TFL have made plans to launch the Superloop 2 add-on to the existing network, with a potential to introduce them by the end of this year: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3e1pj8v50xo

TfL plans Superloop 2 routes 'by end of 2025'​

Superloop 2, the next stage in a network of express bus routes linking the outer London boroughs, could be launched the end of the year, according to the capital's bus supremo.
Transport for London commissioner Andy Lord said he hoped to see the first of the new routes launched before the end of 2025 – but a round of consultation would have to take place first. The original Superloop network of express bus routes began in 2023, and Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan promised in his re-election manifesto last year to launch Superloop 2.
The mayor said this would mean effectively doubling the size of the current network.

'Bakerloop'​

That could mean another 10 services, including a "Bakerloop" bus which would follow the route of the proposed Bakerloo line extension from Elephant and Castle to Lewisham.
Asked when TfL would begin consulting on the new services, Mr Lord said: "We'll be doing that shortly. I can't give you any details at the minute, but we're very excited about the next routes.
"I'm hoping that we'll perhaps be able to get the first one launched by the end of the year.
"The Superloop has seen a huge benefit in terms of the increase in ridership, increasing people's awareness of our bus services, and we're really excited about what the next phase can deliver for the city."
The original Superloop comprises seven services which form a circular series of routes through London's suburbs – launched with the aim of providing better connections between town centres across outer London.
A further three routes were also included as part of that first wave, though a further one is yet to launch as it will make use of the Silvertown Tunnel, which does not open for another two months.
That route – known as SL4 – will start in Canary Wharf and pass through the new tunnel under the Thames to reach Blackheath, Lee and Grove Park railway stations.

TfL said Superloop services had added more than six million bus kilometres a year to the capital's network, above the four million originally forecast.

The network connects with 310 other bus routes, 49 rail stations and 23 rail lines.

The full list of proposed Superloop 2 routes:

• Harrow to Barnet, via Edgware
• Barnet to Stratford, via Enfield and Chingford
• Leytonstone to South Havering, via Gants Hill and Romford
• North Greenwich to Thamesmead, via Woolwich
• Bakerloop line: Elephant and Castle to Lewisham, via Old Kent Road and New Cross
• Streatham to Eltham, via Tulse Hill and Lee
• Richmond to Wimbledon, via Roehampton
• Ealing Broadway to Kingston, via Great West Road and Richmond
• Hounslow to Hammersmith, via Great West Road
• Hendon to Ealing Broadway, via Brent Cross and Hanger Lane

Also saw a picture from a friend of mine showing one of the new BYD BD11 electrics already received ‘Bakerloop’ branding, so the timeframe may not be overly optimistic after all.

 

[Goldfish62]

I believe London United had them refitted with Cummins engines and some had their concertina doors swapped for the more modern ones. I also believe they were known as the Dart variants after the popular midibus of the time. This YouTube video showed them in action:

They all had a Cummins / Allison driveline fitted (ie same as a Dart) and were converted to single door. They were like a new bus to drive.

 

[Thirteen]

The Richmond to Wimbledon Superloop service sounds like a faster 493 and Ealing Broadway to Kingston sounds like a faster 65.