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).

TLB 679 was posted on Tuesday 16th March. The closing date for reports for TLB 670 is Wednesday 7 April and it is due for posting on Tuesday 20 April.

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 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.

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

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

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)

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

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

1) This weekend marks the point whereby over the past few weeks more operators in the Country Areas have reverted to normal services (e.g. Southdown, Compass, Go Coach, Courtney(TVB) and Central Connect) or near normal (Metrobus, White Bus, Carousel, the ‘Aylesbury Reds’ and Arriva in Essex, Herts, Beds and Bucks ).

2) On 5th April Courtney Coaches was re-named formally to Thames Valley Buses. The use of the latter fleetname had been extending gradually of late. Parent operator Reading Transport cited the fact that there is no longer any member of the Courtney family involved.

3) Following a Freedom of Information request concerning Heritage Routemaster route 15(H) it has been admitted by TfL that it will not run again. In any case in 2019 it had been reduced to summer weekend and bank holiday operation while in 2020 and 2021 it was never reintroduced during the Covi-19 virus crisis. The existing route contract has expired and a new tender offer was never renewed.

4) A reminder that several routes in north and mid Hertfordshire change hands from Monday 12^th (see March TLB).

1) Concerning the route 65 event on 11 April, LS174 and BEA 4RF4 are now unable to attend but RF226 and RMC1461 should be. STL2377 has had a mechanical problem, although it is being worked on. The timetable for the day is here. The London Bus Museum itself remains closed but it is hoped that it can re-open in mid-May.

2) This weekend sees the withdrawal after operating on Saturday 3rd April Courtney’s routes 10/10A (from Windsor area) and 459 (from Iver) to Heathrow T5, in both cases with no replacements.

1) Ensignbus is to resume the Southend sea-front open-top service this year with an early start for the Easter school holidays. Mon 29 March every day to Sun 11 April, full round trips from the Pier west to Leigh-on-Sea, than back along the front to the Kursaal and return to the Pier. Full round –trips (56mins) depart Pier 10:00 to 16:00. “Positioner journeys” from Leigh Station 09:18 and from Pier back to Leigh 17:00. Fares: adult return (ie round trip) £4.50, child and ENCTS £2.50; single fares £2.50 and £1.50. Some may prefer the day ticket, adult £6 (no ENCTS discount), child £3. There are many more dates from May to September with a full list in April TLB680 . Expect two buses to be used but with duplicates if required.

2) Many may be interested in the TV series “Secrets of the Museums” on the Yesterday channel. The next to feature is the Brooklands Museum complex which of course includes the London Bus Museum. The first of 10 episodes is to be broadcast on Tuesday 30 March.

3) BYD/ADL is now offering new charging options for electric buses. Already there are AC (the usual) and DC (higher charging power) options but a third option will be the so-called “opportunity charging” using pantographs on the bus roof.

1) Although Ensignbus ran its 21-reg StreetDecks (161-7) from the beginning of March into Canning Town on their route to Amazon at Tilbury, the first 21-reg buses on TfL routes were the Go-Ahead E20Ds when it took over (from Abellio) on route 484 on 20^th March, the very first out on the road being SEe 147. Other 21-reg buses still awaited are HCT’s two E400EVs (2500/01), Stagecoach’s last E400EV (14129) and the next few OEs for Tower Transit.

2) The 15 ADE-class E400s that were loaned from RATP to Stagecoach at Barking have been drifting back home over the last week or so, with just one (40458) left in use on 19^th March. The first few back at RATP have gone into service at Edgware.

1) The Stagecoach E400EVs continue to arrive in ones and twos ever few days, as well as a few more MetroDeckers to Tower Transit. HCT’s two E400EVs are due in the coming week.

2) At Go-Ahead the new E200EVs due for route 484 from 20 March are gathering too. Meanwhile there has been a few WSs put back into NP Garage to cover the long awaited new route 456 in the Enfield area.

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.

1) This weekend is seeing a lot of vehicle moves in London to get buses in place for the reintroduction of the “V route schoolday extras” starting on Monday 8^th.

2) On last Monday 1st March and in later days during the week, the electric BYD/E400EVs began to enter service at Stagecoach Barking. In turn, that is starting to release RATP’s 15 ADE-class E400s that had been on loan there back home.

Coming Events

(LSS) = LOTS Sales Stand booked to attend

These are publicised as a service to the readership; LOTS has neither any involvement nor responsibility for any event noted. Many events have admission fees, I have included them where they have advised, you should check with organisers or websites before attending if costs worry you. We usually confine this listing to events with an expected London bus interest or within easy reach of London. Full national event lists can be found in the April issue each year of ‘Buses’ magazine and at http://www.classicbuses.co.uk/events.html Our website is regularly updated with other events.

All events are subject to any Covid-19 restrictions at the time but the London Bus Museum Brooklands has booked Sundays

11 April (see below), 27 June and 24 October for its three main events.

Saturday 10 April: The South East Bus Festival at Detling is postponed (no date yet)

Sunday 11th April: London Bus Museum Route 65 event

London Bus Museum is pleased to provide more details about the Route 65 event on Sunday 11th April 2021. As planned, the event will comprise two elements – a road run by historic vehicles over the route and a free bus service subject to Covid-19 constraints. See the news page update above for latest changes.

https://www.londonbusmuseum.com/event/route-65-running-day-11th-april-2021/

Interest from bus owners has been strong, and we expect to have 25 buses in service on route 65, of which 20 will be over 40 years old. We will also be operating route 465 between Malden Rushett (at the edge of London) and Dorking, providing connections with buses to Leatherhead using younger preserved buses which are not eligible to enter the London Low Emission Zone.

Service buses will include both historic and current buses from the London Bus Museum, private owners and bus operators, the majority being former London Transport RT (6) and Routemaster (11) families. London Bus Museum hopes to operate its 1937 STL-type and the 1939 prototype RT1; other planned participants include a former BEA AEC Regal airport coach.

The 65 route from Ealing Argyle Road to Leatherhead will follow existing TfL bus routes and the free service serve all relevant stops, as follows: E10 from Ealing Argyle Road to Ealing Broadway, 65 from Ealing Broadway to Kingston Eden Street, 71 from Kingston Eden Street to Hook Parade (White Hart), 465 from Hook Parade to Leatherhead Leisure Centre. Buses will run broadly every 15 minutes between Ealing Argyle Road and Chessington Zoo (some journeys requiring a change in Kingston), continuing every 30 minutes to Leatherhead with connecting 465 journeys to Dorking.

The 465 route will follow the existing TfL 465 route in Surrey, operating approximately every half hour.

There will also be two journeys on former London Transport route 235 in Richmond, a route passed to independent operators in 1966; in order to provide additional capacity, the afternoon journey will be duplicated. Green Line route 714 will provide three journeys each way between Richmond and Leatherhead, following the route of the 65.

Road run participants will follow some or all of route 65, but will not stop at bus stops. Participants already confirmed include representatives of six London Transport classes and at least three non-London operators.

Timetables and more details of participants will be provided on the London Bus Museum website LondonBusMuseum.com.

The event continues to be subject to any changes in Government regulations and advice; current plans are based on the end of the ‘stay at home’ rule on 29 March, whereby limited local travel will be permitted.

Buses in free service will operate with limited passenger numbers, in accordance with owners’ risk assessments. The focus will therefore be on viewing the buses from the roadside, rather than spending all day travelling. Bus crews have been provided with the following guidance:

 Passengers (single or family) to be requested to sit with empty seats in front, beside and behind them. No standing

 Windows to remain open throughout the day

 Touch points to be sanitised between each journey

 Masks mandatory for passengers and crew

 Crews will be encouraged to refuse boarding to potential passengers seen failing to socially distance at bus stops.

Full route details have been provided to participants, and blinds (or other suitable displays) provided for buses operating in service; non-service buses will be requested not to display route 65 when moving, but may do so for photographs when stationary.

As at 20 March, there are about 25 buses due to operate as a free service on the 65 – star items being STL2377, RT1, Titan and T961. Additionally about 15 buses are booked as a “Fly-by” operation, running over the route but NOT in service – including GS42 and a Brighton Leyland PD2. Those in service will display blinds and the present restrictions such as a limit on passenger totals will be in force. Those NOT in service will not carry passengers and will not display blinds while on the move – although some may do ‘photo stops’ along the route when blinds may well be set up for that.

Route 465 will run every 30 mins between Malden Rushett (the London boundary) via Leatherhead (calling at the stops by the old garage) to Dorking. ‘Modern’ buses which are non-LEZ compliant will operate, including TLA18, VPL630 and TPL264. A special extra service is on former route 235, departing Richmond Station at 11:53 and 15:43 to Richmond Hill and back. Green RF600 is due to operate three round trips between Richmond and Leatherhead as route 714. Timetables should be posted nearer the date.

At Leatherhead, normal service and “Fly-By” buses will continue beyond the town centre via Bridge Street to the site of the former bus garage on Guildford Road. Then there is a (very tight) turn at the Fetcham Road junction although others may stop further back at the Leisure Centre and go up to the Rail Station for layover. Departures should all be from “LH Garage”.

Some may need toilets on such a long route. Just like everywhere these days, most public toilets tend to be closed, so supermarkets and large shopping centres are the best bet. However London Bus Museum is arranging for a Portaloo at the Ealing Argyle Road terminus.

Sunday 18th April: "LT RLHs 50 Years Later" spectator event in East London, running as near as possible these days to old RLH route

178, Clapton Pond via Homerton and Hackney Wick to Stratford, terminating at The Grove (the old Maryland terminal is no longer

accessible). All the info is at https://timebus.co.uk/rlh/news/2021-04-18-lt-rlhs-50-years-later/

Saturday 24th April: The open day at Ash Grove Garage has been postponed, date t.b.a. but not before July.

Sunday 18 July: The Alton Bus Rally and Running Day is CANCELLED

You must check on the event websites or on the full national event list at http://www.classicbuses.co.uk/events.html
Our website is regularly updated with other events.

Latest Update: 10 April 2021

LOTS meetings and events

Conway Hall meetings

Latest news