Latest Update:  19 June 2021

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. News updates will usually be weekly, by Sunday evening, but if major stories arise we will attempt to announce them sooner. 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 to 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 davestewart297@gmail.com and it will 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.

LOTS meetings and events

Conway Hall meetings

Due to the continuing pandemic all LOTS meetings are CANCELLED until further notice

Conway Hall is located at Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL. Nearest Underground station: Holborn (Central and Piccadilly Lines) Buses: 1, 8, 19, 38, 55, 59, 68, 91, 168, 188, 243 & 521 stop nearby. Doors  open from 6pm. Sales stand from 6.30pm, event begins at 7.30pm and is finished by 10pm. There is no charge. Visitors are welcome, especially from other societies or if you buy something or join as a new member. In normal times, meetings are held monthly (except January, July & August).

The London Bus (TLB)

TLB 681 was posted on Tuesday 18 May. The closing date for reports for TLB 682 was 9 June and it is due for posting on Tuesday 22 June. The closing date for reports for TLB 683 is 7 July.

New and Recent LOTS publications:

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.

Please address your orders to LOTS Postal Sales, Unit G16 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 the order the best attention. An updated Sales List was included with TLB670. You can use this list to order, or a letter is perfectly acceptable, and so is the Sales List printed off from our website.  In each case, please don’t staple cheques to the form – they really won’t get lost by us but might be when the banks try to process them electronically!
          
LOTS’ latest publications, available now:

NEW LOTS London Bus & Tram Fleetbook 2021:   Updated to TLB681.   (£7.00).

NEW TLB Extra 1956  The last of the series although there is a difference. 1956 was a fairly slack year for vehicle changes so this

book has been expanded from 60 to 80 pages to include a summary of all the updates to all the other issues 1948 to 1955 and

1957-1984. Fully illustrated in B&W but with original 1956 colour cover pictures. (£7.00).   

NEW LOTS Review 2020:  An A4-size 80-page book detailing all the London region events of last year, with over 100 colour pictures.  £13.00. 

LOTS SUP-39B TfL Bus Operators Fleet Allocations and PVRs (£4.50) 

LBM 195 Spring 2021 London Bus Magazine (£5). The main features are another 'travelogue' by Bob Saxby featuring TDs and trolleys at Edgware and "Origins of Peckham route 381" by Malc McDonald.

LOTS LBM194 Winter 2020/21 London Bus Magazine (£5) The main article is 'A return to Hammersmith please - a history of London bus routes 110 & 111 by Colin Stannard and Peter Bradley. Also, 'A modern London enthusiast' by Matthew Wharmby, mainly a photographic item covering the years 1983-1989 but including some photos of 1991. Plus 'Rail Air Links to Feltham Station' by Philip Wallis.

LOTS LBM193 London Bus Magazine Autumn 2020: (£5.00)  Main articles are 'In Memory of via points' by Colin Fradd with 57 pictures; reminiscences of bus, tram and trolleybus routes serving Clerkenwell in the early 1950s by Nigel Davis, plus 'All change at the London Bus Museum'.

LOTS London Bus & Tram Fleetbook 2020. The 32nd edition of our 128-page pocket size Fleetbook,  updated to June 2020. Orders can be taken by Postal Sales ( £7.00 post free to members, add +15% for postage to UK non-members  or +30% for all overseas orders.   

TLB EXTRA 1955 is now available, same prices as Fleetbook.  An updated full sales list can be printed out by going to the ‘Sales’ tab on this website. Extra 1954 and Extra 1953  (£7.00 each) also recent issues.

LOTS Review 2019 (£13.00) As ever, this is the original and definitive story of buses in London and the country areas during the last year, fully illustrated with informative captions.

LOTS SUP-24I: (£4.50)   The latest LT Service Vehicles Current fleet. Current at September 2019

TLB Extra – Vehicle news of 1948 to the 1980s:  (£6.50/£7 each year) (80-pages illustrated)

Sales List in TLB670:  Please note on page 2 that Capital Transport books attributed to Mick Webber are incorrect.  ‘London’s 70s Buses’ is by Matt Wharmby and ‘London’s Country Buses’ is by Kevin McCormack.

From the Sales List, the following are now out of print:

LOTS  TLB Extra 1973.

Grey-Green and Contemporaries (1961 to Arriva years)

(SEC, John Allpress’s) The three Routes Handbooks for 2019 -  Brighton & Hove Buses; First Hampshire & Dorset and Stagecoach South

Recent items from other publishers: 

Young Routemasters (James Whiting) £16.95. A photograph and caption book covering each route conversion to Routemasters 1956 to 1965

London's Disused Railway Stations - Inner South East London (CT) £22

Wires above South East London (Robert Harley) £25

A London trolleybus reborn Q1 1812 (Dave Chick) £25

Vehicle History File - London DMS (Wooleybus) £22.50

Valliant Years (coaches in W & NW London) (£50)

London Country Vehicle Memories by Julian Bowden & Michael Dryhurst  £16.00 Bowden Publishing  (A4 format)

The London Feltham Tram The Evolution of a Classic Tramcar Design by Peter Waller £25.00 Pen & Sword Books

Croydon Tramlink A Definitive History by Gareth David £30.00 Pen & Sword Books

SEC’s 2020 Update to its 2019 Fleet List and Sussex Independents books, 32pp (£2.50).

Trolleybuses in East Central London. Published by Adam Gordon £30.00. 184 pages –details on ahgbooks.com website.

Wires above South East London.  (Robert Harley) £25.00 Heathfield Publishing (part of Capital Transport – more details on C/Ts website)

Regional Tramways: London Transport  (Waller) £25.00 Pen & Sword   (includes history, DLR and Croydon Tramlink)

From Mike Harris, the latest London bus maps:

Greater London Bus Map for 15 June 2019 (2) and a Night Bus Map for 15th June 2019 (£4)
From each edition of the series an amount of the price is donated to a charity.  In this case it is to the Firefighters Association.

Also, in the Historical series -
The 1976 Greater London Bus Map, 10th April 1976 - £4.00
The 1952 Greater London Bus Map, 6th July 1952 (Second Edition) - £4.00

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

Note that on the ‘membership’  page of this website is a new membership form. When you are due for renewal you should receive one of these, or you can print the one on the website.  Note that at the bottom of  the form that there is a new way of renewing.  It can be paid directly to our bank account and then you must send the MemSec an email to let him know you have done it.

Latest news 

Saturday 19 June

1) See Coming Events below for important updated information on the London Bus Museum Summer Gathering on 27 June.

2) On 19^th June  four RATP routes (293, 404, 467, 470) moved with around 30 buses from Epsom to Tolworth Garage,  leaving the  Epsom premises with just two routes (413 and S1) for two more weeks.

3) The Optare MetroDecker EVs at Go-Ahead Merton have still not entered service and at Metroline there are still four hydrogen fuel-cell WHDs that are not yet In use on route 7.    However the latter type is becoming more common on the route with up to six in use on any one day.  

4) The green-liveried Optare Solo-EV OP02 ARE has arrived at Metroline Potters Bar Garage, presumably for trials on route PB1.    A Metro City-EV had been ordered  a year ago but had never been delivered.

Friday 18 June

Notification of Tender Results   

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

* Certain journeys will be operated by Euro VI diesel single decks.

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

The above contracts will commence on the following dates:

26th February 2022: Routes 55/N55, 56 & 397.

5th March 2022: Route W16.

12th March 2022: Routes 667 & 677.

30th April 2022: Routes 322 & 350.

21st May 2022: Route 433.

Saturday 5 June

1) At Go-Ahead at Merton, six MetroDecker EVs have now been delivered and service on route 200 is said to be “imminent”.   As this progresses, WHVs from the 200 are due to start to convert route 80 to double-deck, in turn to allow SE class E200s to take up route 413 when that is taken over from RATP on 3rd July.    The  413 (plus the S1) will be the last routes from RATP Epsom Garages (which will then close) and the buses on the S1 will transfer to Go-Ahead.  

2) Later this year it is planned that the fleet of 51 SEe buses on routes 507 and 521 is to be halved, resulting in cascading of vehicles, indirectly gaining sufficient electric  SEe buses to cover the W15 next  year.

3) In SE London Go-Ahead’s routes 132 and 358 had been re-awarded for electric buses. The 132 will get BYD/ADL E400EVs and the 358 is expected to use Irizar IeTram single-decks.  In both cases, re-charging will be by overhead pantographs, the 132 only at Bexleyheath Garage, the 358 at each end of the route at Crystal Palace and Orpington Station –  although that at Orpington is still subject to planning approval.

4) The Original Tour in London has re-branded itself to TOOTBUS, using the initials of ‘The Original Open Tour’. 

Saturday 29 May

1) 29th May saw Abellio losing two routes at Ealing, the E1 to RATP with ADHs from Hounslow Garage and E9 to Metroline with TE/TEH/VMH from Greenford Garage.  The hybrid E400Hs off the E1 are destined to continue the gradual replacement of diesel E400s on routes 156 and 345;  further progress on this programme will follow in September when route 49 is lost to RATP. 

2) Golden Tours began three open-top operations from 29^th  May, two in partnership with local operators, four Volvo B9TL/ MCV buses at Bournemouth  and four at York.  A third service but in their own right also began with two buses at Windsor.

3) For those of you who have ordered our new publications  (Review2020, Fleetbook2021, Extra 1956), these were delivered from the printers to us as expected on Friday 28 May, During the past weeks we have received almost 300 advance orders either by letter or by the banking link (as on page 2 of TLBs). This little lot will take a bit of time to fulfil so please be patient!! 

Saturday 22 May

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

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

* Certain journeys will be operated by Euro VI hybrid double decks.

The above contracts will commence on the following dates: 

 2nd October 2021: Route 148.

5th March 2022: Route 415.

12th March 2022: Route 549.

19th March 2022: Route U5.

2nd April 2022: Route 432.

2) Thursday 20^th May saw the City Sightseeing brand return to London marketed by Grupo Julia.  The tour runs from Victoria every 30mins using the Stagecoach London open-top Trident/  Envro400s 19131-136.

3) White Bus Service is now 100 years old, having started in 1921 and still occupying its original yard at Winkfield near Windsor. Its E20D No.72 now carries a set of pictures on the body sides to recall its history.

4) Adding to the TfL tender award of route W15 last week, the intention to split it a W15 and W17 will now not occur.

Friday 14 May

1) From Monday 17 May capacity totals on London Buses are revised to 60 (double deck), 28 (single deck 10-metre or longer), 24 single deck (less than 10 metre).   All seats can be used, other than rear facing seats and standing is technically not allowed (other than when accompanying a buggy or wheelchair).   Face coverings remain mandatory  on all passengers from 11 years old onward (other than the usual exemptions). The alternate School or Non-School boards are no longer being used except for the specific extra school journeys on low frequency routes.  

2) Metroline’s first hydrogen fuel cell bus entered service on Wednesday 12th May, WHD2725 on route 7.

3) Otherwise the battery- electric buses continue to make their mark. For double-decks, the front runner is of course the BYD/ADL E400EV with the London (TfL)  stock (including those on order) now having topped 400.   There are 184 already in service (GAL 69, HCT 2, ML 37, RTP 29, SCH 47) and another 221 on order (AB 29, AL 22, GAL 18, RTP  127, SCH 25),  totalling 405.  Assuming that TfL route contracts are more-or-less met, these should arrive between June and December this year, those for RTP for route 65/281 (Fulwell) first off (by date order).  The solitary competitor is the  Optare MetroDecker-EV but that has been let down by lengthy build and delivery delays. The 31 for Metroline took from 6/19 to 4/20 to be delivered,  the 37 for Tower Transit started to come in 9/20 and there are (as of now) still 11 to come, while only the first two of the 17 for Go-Ahead came in late April this year. 

4) Electric Single-decks are also coming from BYD/ADL with the E200EV. So far 219 are in use with GAL 155,ML 23, RTP 36, SCH 5,  with another 68 on order from RTP.    Optare was an earlier entrant in 2014/15 with the MetroCity-EV and 13 of them are still with Arriva at Croydon.

Monday 10 May

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

The above contract will commence on the 5th March 2022.

 
2) London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been relected Mayor until May 2024. There are no significant bus news items, see below, item 3 of 1 May for changes that took place on Saturday 8 May.