Society news

This page gives up-to-date major news items to supplement our monthly newsletter, •The London Bus• (TLB). Items noted here will be incorporated in the next issue of TLB in greater detail. Reports more than a month old and already reported in TLB are deleted. Each issue of TLB is typically 40 pages containing references to around 300 routes and 1000 vehicles, together with the business and political news, the publicity output of the companies, forthcoming exhibitions and rallies, and much more. To get the full picture, why not join now? Go to the Membership Page for details.

If you need to contact us with anything to do with membership, subscriptions to TLB or LBM and queries over postal sales, email lotsmemsec@gmail.com and it will be passed to the correct person. Reports for TLB/LBM or queries to other society officers can go via the TLB Editor lotstlbeditor@gmail.com and it will be passed to the correct person.

For queries about Postal Sales, please email lotspostalsales@gmail.com. This E mail address may also be used for ordering from Postal Sales if wishing to pay by direct debit bank transfer - for details see Page 1 of the Sales Bulletin.

Meetings and Events

We meet at The Gallery at Alan Baxter, 77 Cowcross Street, Farringdon. A three minute walk from Farringdon Station* (Met/Circle/H&C lines, Elizabeth line and Thameslink).

Doors open at 6pm, meetings start at 6.30pm and finish at 8pm, then Q&As and sales stand but all out by 9pm when the venue is locked.

Booked dates in 2024 are 30 September (featuring “London Country under deregulation” by Jeff Tucker) and 18 November.

*Exit from Farringdon station (Met side), turn east and go up Cowcross Street until you reach the Leon restaurant. Opposite there is a passageway, cross the cobbled courtyard to the far right corner and go down the stairs to the basement meeting room known as 'The Gallery'. We would advise that you do not drive to the venue, parking space is rare and charges apply for 24 hours. There are several coffee shops and a Wetherspoons on Farringdon Road.

The London Bus (TLB)

TLB 719 was posted on Tuesday 16 July. The closing date for reports for TLB 720 is Wednesday 7 August and it is due for posting on Tuesday 20 August.

New and recent LOTS publications

For queries about Postal Sales, please email lotspostalsales@gmail.com. This email address may also be used for ordering from Postal Sales if wishing to pay by direct debit bank transfer - for details see Page 1 of the Sales list.

Please address your orders to LOTS Postal Sales, Lombard Business Park, 8 Lombard Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 3TZ. Orders are processed weekly. Make sure that the 'Postal Sales' name is included prominently, so we can give your order our best attention. You can use the Sales List printed off from this website this list to order, or a letter is perfectly acceptable. In either case, please don’t staple cheques to the form.

Recent publications available now:

London Bus Review 2022 Greater London and Beyond (£17.00).
A4 glossy, 80 pages, 135 colour photographs with extensive captions. This is the ORIGINAL annual Review made with about 50 years’ experience.

LOTS London Bus & Tram Fleetbook 2024 (£8.50).

SUP 39D Transport for London's Bus Operators Fleet Allocations and PVRs - March 2024 (£5.50).
TfL operators' fleets with garage allocations and a simplified PVR table.

NEW London Bus Magazine No 208, Summer 2024 (£6.00).
Features include the centenary of route 80 at Sutton garage by Malc McDonald, and finding Routemasters in the Canadian Maritimes by Nigel Eadon-Clarke.

From Mike Harris: the latest Greater London bus maps
New editions of the Greater London Bus Map dated 13 April 2024 are now available for (£2.00) and a Night Bus Map for 13 April 2024 (£4.00)
From each edition of the series an amount of the price is donated to a charity. In this case it is to the Architectural Heritage Fund. Copies are available from www.shop.busmap.co.uk and from the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden.

See the Publications page for details of LOTS publications or the Sales Bulletin on the Sales page for our current stocklist.

Vacancies

Nil.

Non-members may wish to look at a sample issue of TLB.
Hopefully this will whet your appetite for joining LOTS!

Industry and general news

Major news items to supplement our monthly newsletter.

Friday 26 July

LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:

New electric vehicles may enter service after the contract start date, dependent on infrastructure and/or vehicle delivery timescales.

The diesel vehicles detailed above will meet Euro VI emissions standards. 

The start and end dates for the above contracts are detailed in the following table:

Sunday 21 July

1) The gradual conversion of route H98 at Hounslow Garage (AV) to LT-class New Routemasters started on 18th July, using buses made spare at Stamford Brook (V) by the loss of route 211 last month.

2) Go-Ahead Women liveried Ee245 started working from Merton (AL) on 18th July after a period out of use. Partner Ee244 has been at Croydon (C) since late May, usually on the 119 or 264.

3) Transport UK's third batch of Wright GB Kite single-deckers started entering service on route R70 from Fulwell/Twickenham (TF) on 16th July. Twelve are due (1725-1736). The R70 has used some of the earlier (and longer) batch 1701-1712, and these should now be heading to Southall (GW) for their intended route E7.

4) To mark the 70th birthday of the Routemaster bus an impressive gathering of the type was held at Chiswick Business Park this weekend. The slightly unusual venue was chosen as it was built on the site of London Transport's Chiswick Bus Works. We hope to list all attendees in the next TLB.

5) There are no TfL bus changes planned for next weekend, but in the country area, Sunday 28th July should see the closure of Arriva's Aylesbury and High Wycombe garages, with a number of route changes. Details were in the last TLB.

Friday 19 July

LBSL intends to enter into a new contract for the following route with the operator listed below:

The vehicles detailed above will meet Euro VI emissions standards. 

The start and end dates for the above contract are detailed in the following table:

Wednesday 17 July

LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:

New electric vehicles may enter service after the contract start date, dependent on infrastructure and/or vehicle delivery timescales.

The diesel and hybrid vehicles detailed above will meet Euro VI emissions standards. 

The start and end dates for the above contracts are detailed in the following table:

Tuesday 16 July

1) Stagecoach London has placed an order for ADL's new electric bus models, the first for London use. The order comprises 24 Enviro100EV single-deckers and 17 Enviro400EV double-deckers. The intended routes are not yet known.

2) Go-Ahead London's short route 485 (Wandsworth to Castlenau) has been largely converted to electric operation using SEe-class buses from Merton Garage (AL) that are normally allocated to route 152.

3) Route changes next weekend (20th July) are all just contract renewals, although routes 280 (Go-Ahead), C11 and W8 (both Metroline) are all due to get new electric buses at a later date.

4) A reminder that there are two bus events next weekend. On Sat 20th and Sun 21st there is RM70 at Chiswick Bus Park (free entry, but getting there will be tricky due to several line closures), while on the Sunday there is also the Alton Bus Rally.

Saturday 6 July

1) Route W5 has finally gone electric, over a year after the contract was won (by Stagecoach) and the buses delivered. The route was transferred from Ash Grove (HK) to Walthamstow Avenue (AW) on Saturday 6th July and is now worked using Switch MetroCityEVs 45001-45011 (shared with route 379).

2) Metroline renews its contract on route 382 next weekend (13th July), and the route is due to go electric using VMSS-class Volvo BZLs from Potters Bar (PB) garage. The buses have not yet been delivered, although PB already has some VMSS allocated for route 384.

Tuesday 4 July

LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:

New electric vehicles may enter service after the contract start date, dependent on infrastructure and/or vehicle delivery timescales. 

The start and end date for the above contract is detailed in the following table:

Tuesday 2 July

LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:

New electric vehicles may enter service after the contract start date, dependent on infrastructure and/or vehicle delivery timescales.

The diesel and hybrid vehicles detailed above will meet Euro VI emissions standards. 

The start and end dates for the above contracts are detailed in the following table:

Coming events

These are publicised as a service to the readership; LOTS has neither any involvement nor responsibility for any event noted. Many events have admission fees, which are included where they have advised, you should check with organisers or websites before attending if costs worry you. We usually confine this listing to events with an expected London bus interest or within easy reach of London.
(LSS) = LOTS' Sales Stand expected to attend.

Sunday 28 July
Running day centred on Windsor and Slough (Amersham & District Motorbus Society).

BH Monday 26 August
Brands Britannia car show and bus rally at Brands hatch, Kent. Entry fee to site - bus services free.

Saturday 31 August
NLETE Enfield Transport Bazaar at St. Stephens Church Hall, Village Road, Enfield EN1 2EU. 11:00-14:30, up to 30 stalls. £3 entry.

Sunday 1 September
Epping and Ongar Railway - Autumn Bus Event.

Saturday 14 September
Running day on route 61 (Bromley to Orpington and Chislehurst). Free rides on vintage buses 10:00-17:00.

A national event list can be found here.