News

Latest Update:
27 November 2024
(Industry and general news)

On this page:

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.

Alisha Juszczyk's presentation "Bus Stories Through the Lens" has had to be postponed.

*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)

Issue

Closing date for reports

Due for posting

723 November 2024

Wed 6th November

Tues 19th November

724 December 2024

Wed 4th December

Tues 17th December

725 January 2025

Wed 8th January

Tues 21st January

726 February 2025

Wed 5th February

Tues 18th February

727 March 2025

Wed 5th March

Tues 18th March

728 April 2025

Wed 2nd April

Tues 15th April

729 May 2025

Wed 7th May

Tues 20th May

730 June 2025

Wed 4th June

Tues 17th June

731 July 2025

Wed 2nd July

Tues 15th July

732 August 2025

Wed 6th August

Tues 19th August

733 September 2025

Wed 3rd September

Tues 16th September

734 October 2025

Wed 1st October

Tues 14th October

735 November 2025

Wed 5th November

Tues 18th November

736 December 2025

Wed 3rd December

Tues 16th December

Notice about TLB723 (November)

Unfortunately some copies of TLB723 (November 2024) were affected by a page collation error and had pages 25 to 36 plus the Sales List missing, with other duplicated pages in their place. Could we ask members to please check their copies and get in touch (e-mail to lotstlbeditor@gmail.com) if yours is affected. We will then arrange for replacement copies to be sent out.

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.

REV46SUP45BSUP46ASUP47A

NEW London Route Review 1946-1952 (£18.00).
A4 glossy 172 pages. Full details of all changes to Central Area bus, tram and trolleybus routes during the period, including garage/depot allocations and vehicle types for bus routes. Includes 47 black & white photos, with three historic colour photos on the covers.
View sample pages.

NEW SUP-45B London Bus Garages Allocation and Routes (£6.00).
List of all London bus garages with route and bus allocations as at August 2024. 60 pages with 8 colour photos.
View sample pages.

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

NEW 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.

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 209, Autumn 2024 (£6.00).
Features include "Royally serving different Standards by motorbus"London Transport Ticket Machines in the 1980s and 1990s and Buses to Zoos.

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:

Wednesday 27 November

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

Route

Current Operator

New Operator

PVR

Vehicles

44/N44

London General

London General

18

Existing hybrid double deck

61

Stagecoach Selkent

Stagecoach Selkent

10

New electric double deck

77

London General

London General

18

Existing hybrid double deck

261

Stagecoach Selkent

Stagecoach Selkent

14

New electric double deck

308

Stagecoach Lea Interchange

Stagecoach Lea Interchange

14

Existing hybrid double deck

403

Metrobus

Metrobus

8

Existing hybrid double deck

488

Stagecoach Lea Interchange

Stagecoach Lea Interchange

9

Existing diesel single deck

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

The 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:

Route

Contract Start Date

Contract End Date

44/N44

31st May 2025

31st May 2030

61

29th November 2025

26th November 2032

77

31st May 2025

31st May 2030

261

29th November 2025

26th November 2032

308

8th March 2025

10th March 2028

403

25th October 2025

27th October 2028

488

1st March 2025

3rd March 2028

Saturday 23 November

1. After numerous postponements due to infrastructure issues, the Irizar ie tram electric buses for Go Ahead London route 358 finally started working on Wed 20th Nov. Nine out of the 20 IE-class buses have so far been used.

2. Also on 20th November, 2 passengers were taken to hospital after a Stagecoach London E400 on route 145 struck a tree in Hedgemans Road, Dagenham. Perhaps surprisingly, the roof of bus 10196 was completely ripped off.

3. From 18th Nov until 20th Dec, route 146 from Bromley to Downe is terminating at Keston due to road works. A shuttle service numbered 546 runs from Keston Church to Downe High Street and is being operated by Ensignbus using a plain white Mercedes Sprinter minibus.

Monday 18 November

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

Route

Current Operator

New Operator

PVR

Vehicles

46

Metroline

Metroline

17

Existing electric single deck

D8

Stagecoach Lea Interchange

Stagecoach Lea Interchange

7

New electric double deck

N5

London Sovereign

London Sovereign

*

Existing hybrid double deck

N20

Metroline

Metroline

*

Existing New Routemaster

N550

Stagecoach East London

Stagecoach East London

*

Existing hybrid double deck

N551

Stagecoach East London

Stagecoach East London

*

Existing hybrid double deck

* Night only routes using buses sourced from day route allocations.  

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

The 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:

Route

Contract Start Date

Contract End Date

46

21st June 2025

18th June 2032

D6

13th September 2025

10th September 2032

N5

26th July 2025

26th July 2028

N20

26th July 2025

28th July 2028

N550

30th August 2025

1st September 2028

N551

30th August 2025

1st September 2028

Sunday 17 November

1. After a couple of months with Arriva London, former Sullivans TfL route 217 was taken over by Go-Ahead London on a 1-year contract from 16th November. WVN-class buses gathered from DS/SI and AL are being used from Northumberland Park (NP) garage.

2. Kingston Cromwell Road Bus Station re-opened on 16th November after being closed for rebuilding since August 2023. Interestingly, the new configuration is very similar to the previous one, retaining provincial-style nose-in stands that are not found anywhere else in London.

3. The issues with the TfL live bus running data feeds appear to have been resolved and all routes now seem to be logging correctly, even the W9.

4. Route 257, along with about 16 buses, has been temporarily transferred from Leyton (T) to Lea Interchange (LI) garage to allow rebuilding work for electric buses at T. This is due to last for around 6 weeks.

5. There are no planned TfL route changes next weekend (23rd Nov).

Monday 11 November

1. Go-Ahead London took over the North Kent Fastrack routes from Arriva Kent Thameside on 10th November. Although many of the Irizar ie tram electric buses have already been delivered, the infrastructure is not yet ready, while the plan to utilise Mercedes Citaro buses off TfL work was also affected by similar delays elsewhere. Instead, the services are being covered by about a dozen existing SE-class E200s from around the fleet, along with seven ex Sullivans E200MMCs acquired from EnsignBus (now SEN58-64), five former Luton Airport Citaros (now MEC70-74) and a pair of Volvo B7RLEs loaned from Metrobus (6003/6013).

2. Go-Ahead London has placed several large orders, including 38 more BYD B11E02s (for routes 129 and 320), 131 Wrightbus StreetDeck Electroliners and 53 Wrightbus GB-Kites. Routes for the latter types are to be announced.

3. Arriva London has also ordered some of the new BYD double-decker (the B11E02), with 66 due for routes 34, 141 and SL1. A further order is for 30 ADL Enviro 400EVs for routes 196 and SL6.

4. Stagecoach has ordered 13 StreetDeck Electroliners for route 247 (NS), which will be numbered 82083-82095. The 17 ADL Enviro 400EVs for the SL3 (TB) are expected to be numbered 80401-80417.

5. Former Sullivans TfL route 217 passes from Arriva London to Go-Ahead London next weekend (16th November), and should be operated by existing WVL and WVN buses.

6. The Metroline base at Kings Cross (closed in June 2023) will be re-opened from 30th November to run routes 30 and 274 once again. This is to make space at Holloway (HT) for other route tendering wins.

7. Following an accident, Walthamstow Bus Station is closed until 20th December while new pedestrian crossings are installed.

8. Further details of next weekend's Camden Town Vintage Bus Running Day are now available.

Sunday 3 November

1. As planned, Stagecoach London has sent a couple of the Wright StreetDeck Electroliners intended for route 242 over to Catford (TL) for use on route 47 (plus the 199). Three more from the batch have been working on route 86.

2. The demise of Stagecoach London's Optare Solo fleet is confirmed, the last working recorded on LVF being on 5th October. They are now in the process of being towed away from West Ham garage (WH) for scrap.

3. Photos taken at the BYD factory in China have been seen on Facebook that showed various buses awaiting delivery. Among them were Metroline BDE3008, lots of Go-Ahead EBDs numbered up to EBD86 and a new design single-decker in London red.

Friday 1 November

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

Route

Current Operator

New Operator

PVR

Vehicles

55/N55

Stagecoach East London

Stagecoach East London

29

Existing New Routemaster

56

Stagecoach East London

Stagecoach East London

18

Existing hybrid double deck

87/N87

London General

London General

19

Existing New Routemaster

219

London General

London General

12

Existing electric single deck

230

London General

London General

11

New electric double deck

432

Arriva South London

Arriva South London

10

Existing hybrid double deck

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

The 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:

Route

Contract Start Date

Contract End Date

55/N55

1st March 2025

2nd March 2029

56

1st March 2025

3rd March 2028

87/N87

31st May 2025

1st June 2039

219

31st May 2025

28th May 2032

230

21st June 2025

18th June 2032

432

5th April 2025

7th April 2028

Saturday 19 October

1. Lots more EBD-class double-deckers have arrived for Go-Ahead London, being noted at Southampton Docks or at BYD in London. These have included a number in red and white for eventual use on Superloop route SL4 next year (when the Silvertown tunnel opens).

2. Other deliveries have included the first of Metroline's Wright GB-Kite single-deckers (WSE2931 and WSE2936 noted), most of the outstanding Volvo/MCV double-deckers for Stagecoach London (86190 and 86203-86208, with 86200 to follow) and also most of the Wright Electroliners for Stagecoach route 257 (82065-82082).

3. Recent and forthcoming TfL route changes are mainly contract renewals. In quite a few cases, new electric buses are specified but will be introduced "in due course", rather than from the contract start dates. Examples include Arriva London route 341, Go-Ahead London route 22, and Metroline routes U1, U2, U3 and U4.

4. Work to make PDFs of older LOTS publications available on-line is nearing completion. All but a handful of TLBs and SUPs can now be downloaded for free from the archive at www.ltsv.com/lots/.

Friday 18 October

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

Route

Current Operator

New Operator

PVR

Vehicles

258

London United

Metroline

12

Existing diesel double deck

293

London United

London United

6

Existing diesel single deck

412/685

Arriva London South

Arriva London South

8

New electric double deck

415

Transport UK London

Transport UK London

9

Existing New Routemaster

434

Metrobus

Metrobus

4

Existing diesel single deck

677

Blue Triangle

London General

1

Existing hybrid double deck

U5

Transport UK West London

Transport UK West London

11

Existing electric double deck

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:

Route

Contract Start Date

Contract End Date

258

1st February 2025

28th January 2028

293

30th August 2025

1st September 2028

412/685

30th August 2025

27th August 2032

415

8th March 2025

3rd March 2028

434

30th August 2025

1st September 2028

677

15th March 2025

10th March 2028

U5

22th March 2025

17th March 2028

Saturday 12 October

1. Arriva London EKL1 has now been delivered to London. This is the first of 11 Wright GB-Kite single deckers for route 255 from Thornton Heath (TH).

2. Arriva London has added some T-class Enviro 400s to the allocation at Grays (GY) garage, these working alongside the existing DW-class buses on route 370. The Ts came from Edmonton (EC) and several DWs have gone the other way for use on route 217 and rail replacement work.

3. The ex-Hackney CT Optare Solos with Stagecoach London are all but finished. Just one example (47916) is showing on LVF as having worked into October (but see also the next item).

4. Following the TfL cyber attacks last month it appears there has been an impact on live bus running data, as displayed on LVF and other websites. Some routes, particularly those that have had changes to their schedules, are only showing some of the buses working at any given time (for example the 4, 131, 180 and 201) while some are showing no buses at all (for example the 210, 290, 390 and W9). Until these issues are resolved, it would be helpful if members could report any observations that relate to possible bus transfers.

Thursday 10 October

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

Route

Previous Operator

New Operator

PVR

Vehicles

217

Sullivan Buses

London General

12

Existing diesel double deck

Route

Current Operator

New Operator

PVR

Vehicles

60

Arriva London South

Arriva London South

20

New electric double deck

312

Arriva London South

Arriva London South

12

New electric single deck

405

Arriva London South

Arriva London South

10

New electric double deck

466

Arriva London South

Arriva London South

20

New electric double deck

485

London General

Transport UK London

4

New electric single deck

499

Stagecoach East London

Stagecoach East London

8

Existing diesel single deck*

* One vehicle is diesel double deck.

 

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:

Route

Contract Start Date

Contract End Date

60

30th August 2025

27th August 2032

217

16th November 2024

14th November 2025

312

6th September 2025

2nd September 2032

405

30th August 2025

2nd August 2032

466

30th August 2025

2nd August 2032

485

3rd May 2025

2nd April 2032

499

28th June 2025

2nd June 2028

Sunday 6 October

1. In addition to the 75 BYD B11s reported last week, Go-Ahead London has now ordered 32 ADL Enviro 100EV single-deckers for routes 233, R1, R3, R4 and R8 (all MB).

2. RATP has ordered 20 Wright GB-Kite Electroliner single-deckers for route 33.

3. Due to delays in installing charging equipment at Ash Grove (HK, for route 242) and Leyton (T, for route 257), some of Stagecoach London's new Wright StreetDeck Electroliners are going to be temporarily redeployed to routes 47 (TL) and 247 (NS). Delivery of the batch for route 257 (82065-82082) has now started, while 82064 from the route 242 batch is now at Catford (TL) for driver training.

4. Further vehicles ordered by Stagecoach London are 11 Volvo BZL/MCV single-deckers for routes W13 and W14 (LI), to be 66090-66100, plus one Volvo BZL/MCV double-decker for the school working on route W13 (LI), to be 86226.

5. The 51 Volvo BZL/MCV double-deckers on order for Arriva London routes 243 and 341 (AR) are to be numbered EZ1-51.

Coming events

These are publicised as a service to the readership. LOTS has neither any involvement nor responsibility for any event listed. Some events have admission fees. Please check before attending if costs are a concern. We usually confine this listing to events with an expected London bus interest or are within easy reach of London.
(LSS) = LOTS' Sales Stand expected to attend.

Sunday 17 November
Camden Town Vintage Bus Running Day in support of the BBC Children in Need Appeal.
Free vintage buses on routes 24, 29, 134 and 214 with a feeder service on route 68.
Further details here.

A national event list can be found here.