News

Latest Update:
7 February 2025
(Coming events)

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.

10 February 2025: John Parkin will present archive London bus pictures that he has taken over the decades with some "moving surprises" promised.

12 May 2025: Keith Wood will give a photo show entitled "40 Years as a Bus Nut".

16 June 2025: AGM.

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

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

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.

Rev2023

NEW London Bus Review 2023 (£18.50).
Now in stock. 80 well-illustrated pages covering bus developments (both routes and vehicles) through the year.
View sample pages.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:


Monday 4 February

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

Route

Current Operator

New Operator

PVR

Vehicles

138

Metrobus

Stagecoach Selkent

3

Existing diesel single deck

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:

Route

Contract Start Date

Contract End Date

138

25th March 2025

30th March 2030

 


Wednesday 22 January

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

Route

Current Operator

New Operator

PVR

Vehicles

285 (24hr)

Transport UK West London

Transport UK West London

16

Existing hybrid double deck

326

London Sovereign

London Sovereign

15

Existing diesel single deck

The 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

285

28th June 2025

30th June 2028

326

26th July 2025

28th July 2028

 

 

Monday 20 January

1. Go-Ahead took over routes 99, 269 and 401 from Arriva on Saturday 18th January and are using a variety of elderly E, WVL and WVN buses transferred into Bexleyheath (BX) pending the delivery of new electric buses later this year.

2. To free-up more buses for the above, Go-Ahead put some of the new EBD buses intended for route 321 (EBD1-18) into service at RR during the week, mainly on school routes.

3. The last of the 20 Irizar ie trams for route 358 have also now been put into service. Together with the introduction of ex-Red Arrow SEe buses on the 108, this should see off the last of Go-Ahead's MEC Mercedes Citaro single-deckers.

4. Metroline is gradually introducing more electric buses (VMS class) onto routes 187 and 487 from Willesden Junction (WJ). The garage has also put the first of the longer VMSL class into service on route 316, with route 228 due to follow.

5. There are no TfL route alterations planned for next weekend (25th Jan), but the 1st of Feb will see various changes including Metroline gaining routes 153 (from Go-Ahead) and 258 (from RATP), plus the withdrawal of long-standing route 118 (covered by an extension of the 45).


Friday 17 January

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

Route

Current Operator

New Operator

PVR

Vehicles

318

Arriva London North

London General

9

Existing diesel single deck

324

Metroline

Metroline

7

Existing diesel single deck

H25

Transport UK West London

Transport UK West London

10

Existing diesel single deck

The 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

318

8th November 2025

10th November 2028

324

25th October 2025

27th October 2028

H25

15th November 2025

17th November 2028

 

 

 

Sunday 12 January

1. Go-Ahead London routes 51 and 244 transferred from Bexleyheath (BX) to Morden Wharf (MG) on Saturday 11th, taking with them a number of EN and WVL double-deckers and SE single-deckers. These changes are to make space at BX for the assumption of routes 99, 269 and 401 from Arriva on Saturday 18th January.

2. Other changes from 18th January are the withdrawal of irregular Arriva London route 347 (Romford to Ockendon) and contract renewals on routes 273, 422, B16 and SL3 (the latter two with electric buses due later).

3. 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.

4. Arriva London started putting ES-class electric buses out on route 279 from 6th January. Most of the batch of 34 buses (ES51-84) for this trunk route were delivered last summer but have been stored pending charging infrastructure improvements at Enfield (E) garage.

5. Further new orders placed by Metroline with Wrightbus are for 52 WDE-class StreetDecks (for routes 266, U3 and U4) plus 20 WSEL-class GB Kites (for routes U1 and U2).

Sunday 5 January

1. The first of Go-Ahead London's new EBD-class BYD double-deckers entered service over the holiday. Those on route 320 (MB) started on Christmas Eve, while others appeared on route 101 (RR) from - appropriately - 1st January. Note that the 320 has jumped the queue and is using buses originally earmarked for the 333 (SW).

2. Lots more BYDs for Go-Ahead London and Metroline have been delivered to London but are believed to not yet be in operator stock. The use of Atlas Road garage (RP) as a store has ceased, with other RATP garages now being used. GAL EBDs (up to EBD94) have been noted at Hounslow Heath (WK), while some of Metroline BDEs (BDE2985-3030) are at Stamford Brook (V).

3. Fleetnumbers at Metroline have jumped ahead with the arrival of Wrightbus StreetDeck Electroliners WDE3113 and WDE3114, the first of 53 on order for routes 4, E2 and E8.

4. The use of Mercedes Citaro single-deckers on TfL work is almost ended. 18 of the 20 Irizar ie trams for route 358 (MB) have now seen service, with just one MEC still working into 2025, while route 108 (MG/NX) is now going fully electric with additional (ex-Red Arrow) SEe-class buses replacing the (ex-Red Arrow) MECs. RATP still has nine Citaros, mainly on route 117.

5. TfL route changes over the next two weeks are mainly to make space at Bexleyheath garage (BX) for routes won from Arriva from 18th Jan. On 11th Jan, routes 51 and 244 transfer to Morden Wharf (MG), as will school routes 624, 625 and 658 after the holiday.

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.

23 February
Epping Ongar Railway Winter Bus Running Day.
EVENT CANCELLED.

1 March
Shoreham Transport Fair, The Shoreham Centre, 2 Pond Road, Shoreham, BN43 5WU. Open 10.00 - 15.30hrs. Details from Julian Bowden on 07932 812268.

23 March
Wood Green Vintage Bus Running Day. Traditional London buses operating on parts of routes 29, 121, 144, W3 and ENOC251. For more information contact 0795 652 8474.

29 March
Route 19 Heritage Day.

30 March
Classic Buses Rickmansworth to Loudwater Village. Amersham & District MBS.

5 April
South East Bus Festival, The Kent Showground, Detling. Open 10.00 - 16.00hrs. (LSS)

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)

A national event list can be found here.