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:
11 May: Deregulation in London Country by Jeff Tucker.
15 June LOTS AGM.

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 Review 2024 – Greater London & Beyond (£18.50).

NEW London Bus Magazine No 215, Spring 2026  (£6.00).
Main feature about the two-door London "country" bus.

DUE EARLY APRIL London Bus & Tram Fleetbook 2026  (£9.50).
128 pages packed with fleet details and illustrations. Updated to 6 March 2026.

DUE EARLY APRIL SUP39F TFL's bus operators - Fleet Allocations and PVRs  (£7.00).
Fleet lists in fleet number order and a list of routes with allocations. Updated to 6 March 2026.

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

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 20 March

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 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 18 March

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 dates for the above contracts are detailed in the following table:

Sunday 8 March

1. Metroline took over route H32 from Transport UK on Saturday 7th March and has initially been using LT-class New Routemasters from its own fleet. To enable this, a few additional WDE-class StreetDeck Electroliners have transferred into Cricklewood for use on route 16. The LTs latterly used on the H32 by Transport UK (143-153 and 638) are likely to return once re-lettered, with LT153 being the first to do so.

2. Delivery of Wrightbus StreetDeck (DEL) and GB Kite (SEL) Electroliners for Go-Ahead London routes at Bexleyheath (486, B11, B12 and B15) has started. DELs already delivered are now starting to go to New Cross for use on route 172.

3. Arriva London started putting its EYX-class electrics to work on route 312 on 2nd March. These are the first of the new all-BYD single-deck model to enter TfL service.

4. Transport UK has placed orders for a total of 163 new buses for use on routes 109, 119, 156, 267, 344, 407, 433, 490 and P13. Details (types, fleetnumbers, allocations) will be in the March TLB.

5. Stagecoach East London withdrew the last of its BYD/ADL electric double-deckers in February, following the entry into service of more Wrightbus StreetDecks at Barking and Rainham. Stagecoach Selkent continues to use the BYD/ADL type on routes 160 and 180.

6. First Bus London has withdrawn its small VDW-class of seven Volvo B9TLs, latterly used as part of the allocation on route 452.

7. The five TfL-owned Routemasters put up for auction this week were all sold, achieving some impressively high prices.

Coming events (LSS - LOTS sales stand attending)

We are happy to publicise transport related events such as running days. These must be available to all passengers and contact details for further information must be provided.

29 March
Classic buses in the Watford area, including 60 years of route 724, by the Amersham & District Motor Bus Society.

29 March
Theydon Bois Transport Bazaar at Theydon Bois Village Hall CM16 7ER. 10:00 to 14:30. £3 entry. https://tetc.chessck.co.uk.

9-12 April
Icons of London open days at the London Transport Museum Depot in Acton Town.

11 April
South East Bus Festival The Kent Showground, Detling. 10:00 to 16:00. (LOTS Sales Stand will now NOT be attending).

19 April
Spring Gathering at the London Bus Museum, Brooklands. (LSS).

26 April
East Grinstead Country Bus Running Day. Information on Facebook.

10 May
Classic buses in Windsor, by the Amersham & District Motor Bus Society and Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust.

16 May
Fastrack 20th Birthday Running Day, with a mix of heritage and modern buses over Routes A and B between Dartford, Bluewater and Gravesend up to every 15 mins between 10:00 and 16:00.

13 June
Route 213 Heritage Day London Bus Museum.

13 June
Ewell Transport & Toy Enthusiasts' Bazaar, Bourne Hall, Spring Street, Ewell, Surrey, KT17 1UF. 10:30-15:00. email: ttbazaars@btinternet.com.

28 June
Summer Festival at the London Bus Museum.

28 June
Reading Buses Open Day Reading Buses.

12 July
Low-ish Floor Running Day, Godstone Green. Information on Facebook.

15 August
Imberbus, Warminster Website.

16 August
Roundabout 40 and Vintage & Classic Bus & Car Show, West Kingsdown and Swanley. Initial details here.

A national event list can be found here.