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

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). 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.

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.

Next meetings:
29 September: "The Road to the North – E17 to SK10". A photo show by Russell Young covering early London tendering and Russell's early TfL career and involvement with Blue Triangle.
24 November: "Getting Fastrack Moving – My part in the mobilisation. A presentation by Ben Knowles of Go-Ahead.

The London Bus (TLB)

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.

London Bus Magazine No 212, Summer 2025)  (£6.00).
Including articles on colourful contracts and leisure bus services.

NEW SUP-45C London Bus Garages Allocation and Routes (£6.50).
List of all London bus garages with route and bus allocations as at 1 September 2025. 60 pages with 8 colour photos.

SUP-46A London Transport Trolleybuses - Allocations and Disposals 1948-1962 (free digital download). Allocation histories and disposals for all LT trolleybuses. 102 pages.

SUP-47A London’s Advert Buses 1969-2024 (£8.00).
All known all-over advert buses in the London area (not London Country). Over 1000 buses and over 4000 adverts listed, with dates. 76 pages, 18 colour photos.
View sample pages.

NEW SUP-48A Country Area Bus Route Directory - Part 1: North and East (£7.50).
NEW SUP-49A Country Area Bus Route Directory - Part 2: South and West (£7.50).
SUPs 48A and 49A together list all bus routes in our 'country' area, showing the main points served, the operator/s, days/times of operation and basic frequencies. There is also an overview of each of the operators covered. Correct to 1st September. A5, 52 pages (part 1) or 60 pages (part 2), each 8 colour photos.

See the Publications page for details of LOTS publications or the Sales Bulletin on the Sales page for our current stocklist.
SUPs 45C, 48A and 49A are expected to be first available at Catford Garage Open Day on 11 September.

Vacancies

LOTS requires a new sub-editor (or perhaps two) to cover the Current Vehicle News section in TLB. Please e-mail lotstlbeditor@gmail.com if you think you may be interested in helping out.

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 12 September

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

Routes E9 and SL8 will initially be operated by existing hybrids.

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:

Wednesday 10 September

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

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

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

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

* Seven-year contract term..

Friday 15 August

1. Arriva has been taking some new(ish) ES-class StreetDeck Electroliners out of storage and putting them on route 243 (AR). This has allowed 8-year old HV-class hybrids to start moving to Grays, where they are due to take over routes 66, 103 and 370.

2. Transport UK started putting its new AD E100EV buses into service on route G1 (QB) this morning. In a change of plan, the fleetnumbers are now 1051-1063 instead of 1201-1213. Similarly, the Wright GB Kites ordered for route 485 (QB) are now 1738-1742 instead of 1301-1305.

3. Go-Ahead London's next batch of BYD B11E02s are now being delivered. Fifty are due (EBD114-163), originally ordered for routes 88 & 188 but it remains to be seen where they actually go.

4. The introduction of the full fleet of Go-Ahead London IE-class Irizar ie trams onto the North Kent Fastrack routes is still being held up by charging infrastructure issues. Fifteen of the buses are now in store in Thamesmead.

5. Metroline's WSEL-class buses for route 153 (HT) are now nearly all in service, leading to a few more appearances by the shorter WSE-class buses on route C11.

6. Go-Ahead has started disposing of its 7-year old WSD-class StreetDecks, with four going to Oxford. Others are still in service on route 44 (SW) for now.

7. Stagecoach route 339 is still mainly diesel-operated, although some of the Switch Metrocity electrics have been returned to service. Route 242 is going (more) electric, with the transfer into HK of several 82xxx StreetDeck Electroliners.

Wednesday 6 August

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

Electric vehicles will enter service after the contract start date, and is dependent on infrastructure and/ or vehicle delivery timescales.

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

* Current route 472 (24h) will be restructured as routes SL11 and N472 in early 2026 on a date yet to be confirmed.

Coming events

27-28 September
London Event at the East Anglia Transport Museum.

28 September
Chesham Vintage Bus Running Day organised by the Amersham & District Motorbus Society.

4 October
Theydon Bois Transport Bazaar, Theydon Bois Village Hall (opposite village green) CM16 7ER. 10.00 to 15.00.

12 October
"Reading Runabout" event oragnised by The Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust.

19 October
Transport Fest 2025 at the London Bus Museum.

1 November
Aldenham Transport Spectacular, Allum Hall, 2 Allum Lane, Elstree & Borehamwood, WD6 3PJ. Open 10.00 - 16.00hrs. Information: www.facebook.com/aldenhamtransportspectacular. (LSS)

2 November
Muswell Hill running day raising money for The Poppy Appeal. Vintage buses running on part routes 43,102, 210, 212, 299. Contact 0795 652 8474 for information.

16 November
Camden Town Running Day raising money for Children in Need. Vintage buses operating on part routes 1, 24, 31, 46, 134, 214, 253. Contact 0795 652 8474 for information.

A national event list can be found here.