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Metrobus' New Dart('s)

A little while ago, Metrobus gave up their two remaining Marshall Darts inherited from First Orpington numbered 142 and 143. London General have recently transferred one of their old spare Darts to partially to replace 142 at C, and partially for a top up. I therefore went to Addington Village to cover it running on the T32.

392 (ex LDP192) on the T32 at Addington Village

Note the makeshift fleet numbers in the lower front windows

Makeshift fleet Numbers

The other Replacement. 286

My Photo Archives (Post 1?)

This is probably my best night shot so far...

189 at Addington Village

Here we see a regular bus seen on the T32, an 8.9m Enviro 200 bought for the winning of the 434 back in August. 189 is leaving the drop off point at Addington Village heading off to stand before the return journey to New Addington. The T32 is probably the most varied route for buses in London, because it can have anything from these mini E20D's, to an Omnidekka! This route is supposed to be withdrawn in 2015, and be partially replaced with the 314. I really do enjoy the journey on the T32 and its buses, but as they say, everything has their time.

Buses Excetera in a Nutshell Part Two: Route 479/489

Lets start off with the 489.

The original 489 which was operated by NorthDown was introduced in (insert year) and ran as a Monday-Saturday, evenings only and Sunday Service (Bit weird, I know). I do have a panel timetable of this route that you can view on the right.

As you can see, the route ran from Tolworth to Bookham/Guildford, which is nearly the same as the present day 479/489, just without the extension to Tolworth from Epsom.

The 489 was eventually discontinued, and then revived by Buses Excetera after the Sunday 479 service was discontinued, which created competition with then Sunray Travel's 479. Many people preferred to use Excetera's 489 as it was cheaper, more reliable, and the drivers were friendlier too.

Sunray couldn't cope with this, and it lead to the repossession of their working fleet, which meant they had to borrow Olympians off Southern Transit. A short while after, failure to meet payments lead to the repossession of the loaned buses, which meant they had to borrow B10M's from Edward Thomas & Son until the schools went back after Summer half term.

On Tuesday the 10th of September 2013, Sunray travel went into liquidation, and did not run a service at all. Sunray advised customers to use Excetera's 489 service for buses to Epsom. The Sunray Saga was over.

At present, Buses Excetera are running both routes in tip-top shape, with clean, on time buses and freindly drivers. The 479 usually runs Full Size buses such as single deck Eclipse fusions, and Enviro 300's, although occasionly Darts can slip onto the route. The 489 is regularly run with double deck Presidents, although sometimes, single deck workings can occur.

For photos, please visit my new Flickr page here.

Break in Blogging

Just to let you guys know, I will be taking a break from blogging for a while, but i will be back at the end of the month

Buses Excetera in a Nutshell Part One: Route 516

Here is (yet another) new series on this blog. In this series, I hope to focus on the Excetera Routes around Surrey. Lets start with the 516.

Route 516 is a bus route in Surrey which starts in Epsom, at Kiln Lane Sainsbury's , before continuing onto the High Street and scooting off south, passing Leatherhead, and shooting up Box Hill, and down the other side, before arriving in Dorking Town Centre!

The main buses seen on this route are Dennis Darts of all lengths, Prototype E200's, and of course, my lovely Primo J222ETC!

I do hope to record a journey on this route someday, but all i have to share at the moment are photos of this spectacular rural route across Surrey. Enjoy!

S30 ETC at Epsom, Clock Tower

J222 ETC at Kiln Lane, Sainsburys

J222 ETC at Kiln Lane, Sainsburys

J222 ETC at Kiln Lane, Sainsburys

J222 ETC's Engine

J18 ETC at Epsom, Clock Tower

S29 ETC at Epsom, Clock Tower

Photo of the Month (January 2014)

Here we are! Looks like we made it into another year after all. Happy new year everybody! Lets start the year off with something that we can all enjoy. An out of London photo.

J14 (J14ETC) ex- AE56 MDO on route 25 at Guildford Library

Heathrow 7series

First Berkshire’s 7 series running from Heathrow to Slough, and various parts of Berkshire is quite a big success story. Being supported by Slough County Council, and BAA, as well as First themselves, they have recently purchased some Volvo 7900H’s for these services. These buses are currently running alongside the younger Citaro’s, but also displacing some older Citaro’s for Beeline work in Bracknell.

 The routes that make up the 7 series network are Route 71 (Heathrow T5-Slough via Staines), Route 75 (Heathrow-Maidenhead via Langley, and Slough), Route 76 (Heathrow Central-Cippenham via Langley & Slough) Route 77 (Heathrow T5-Dedworth via Slough & Windsor), and Route 78 (Heathrow T5-Burnham/Britwell via Slough)

Route 71:

 Route 75:

Route 76:

©Au Morandarte

Route 77:

Route 78:

The Old and the New:

All photos in this post are copyright to ©Joshua Perrett, unless stated otherwise

Bus of the Week (wb 23/12/13)

This week's bus of the week award goes to Abellio London's 8434 for its appearance on the 455!

The Dr Beeching of Buses. Discontinued Routes 1: Route 599, and Purley Tesco Free Bus

Route 599 was Introduced on the 15th June 2013 as a temporary route covering the track of the 455 between Purley Old Lodge Lane  and Reedham Station, when the 455 was unable to serve these points due to bridge work at Reedham. The route used 8.9m MPD's spare from Abellio's BC garage.

I covered it on the first day of operation, when it was operated by 8044 (V304 MDP).

©JP

©JP

©JP

I then covered it again, only this time, it was operated by 8032 (BU05 HFC)

©JP

©JP

To also help the residents of Reedham, Purley, and Kenley, Buses Excetera introduced a Tesco free bus route which ran with one 7.1m Plaxton Primo which was J222 (J222 ETC)

©JP

©JP

©JP

Introducing Myslef!!

Hello Everybody My Name Is Tyler;

A Short Intorduction:

I was kindly asked by a member of London Bus Scene to Join in posting on a big blogger, I will be delighted to keep everybody up to date and any questions will be answered by a member.I have loved buses ever since the age of 2 and as my dad is a driver on the route 371 i can always get behind the scenes access.

Thanks

Tyler

Bus of the Week (w/b 16/12/13)

This weeks award goes to Tower Transit's DM41445 (LN51DUH) for its appearance on the 339!

DM41145 LN51 DUH at Stratford City Bus Station

This bus is one of only two Dennis Marshall Capitals with two sets of doors in London, both of which belong to Tower Transit.

Rating: 5/5 ★★★★★ (because its a Marshall)

Route in Focus Post 2: Route W10 (15/12/13)

London bus route W10 is a Shopper route which began in Febuary 1992, as an experimental route introduced by Capital Citybus.

X788 HLR - ©Bluey Birdy

The route was operated by one midibus off the 299 allocation, out of Northumberland Park garage (NP) where it still runs from today. The bus runs during shopping hours between Enfield Town, and Crews Hill via Clay Hill and Forty Hill.

In January 1998, the route was extended from Crews Hill to serve Cuffley Station, with the frequency and PVR staying the same, however, in 2003, the extension was removed, and also the section between Crews Hill Golf Ride and Crews Hill Station.

©BristolRE2007

The route got its own allocated bus in 2012, which is a single 02 reg Marshall, following the takeover of NP by London General.

©Andrew HA

I rode the W10 and I found it quite boring, and the best part of the journey for me was alighting at Enfield Town Station. Sadly, I couldn't record a journey as the driver said I needed to have a 'special permit'. No idea what that's all about...

LT02NUK DMN1 on the W10 (©JP)

Bus of the Week (w/b 9/12/13)

Bus of the Week 1 goes to Go-Ahead London's very own WDL1 (LX58CWG) for its appearance on the 163!
It is the company's only version of this bus, and its not too bad after refurbishment. it gives a good ride, although the paintwork can look hideous to some.

Rating: 2/5 ★★

Photo of the Month 1 (December 2013) Route 588

Here is a quick post, as I have run out of ideas for any others, and I don't have time to do anything else!

18460, LK55 EPJ stands proudly at Srratford City Bus station awaiting its next run on the 588

Temporary route 588 was born in August 2013, following the announcement of the 388's extension to Stratford City in December. It covers the stretch from Hackney Wick, to Stratford City using three spare ALX400's from Stagecoach at West Ham garage. Its a short route, at an average journey time of 9 minutes, and demand is very small, mainly due to the Overground existing, and the publicity of the free bus being very litttle. The route will be withdrawn next Friday, and will be replaced with the extended 388 on Saturday, operated by CT Plus using East Lancs Mylennium Lolyne's, and a recently acquired Plaxton President from Dawsons.

Sorry

Due to exceptional circumstances, it will not be possible to release this week's W10 post. Instead, two posts will be released tomorrow and Wednesday.

Route in Focus Post 1: Shopper route 359 (1/1/2013)

This is a new series I am starting called "Route in Focus" This week, let's start with route 359.

The 359 is a shopper route which runs between Addington Village, and Selsdon Library. This route is run normally by a single 8.9m Marshall Dart, or a MAN E200. In early December, the Marshall will be replaced by an existing MPD released from the R7, after being awarded to Stagecoach, and that bus will become a spare

142 (LT02 ZDR) on the 359 at Selsdon

The route began in March 1998 to bring the residents of Monks Hill a link to neighbouring towns. It used 10.7m Darts off the 138 allocation at Orpington Garage. When the route began, it did not serve Addington Village Interchange, so instead, it turned at Forestdale.

142 (LT02 ZDR) on the 359 at Addington

In May 2000, The route was extended to serve New Addington, and the allocation was changed to one bus off the T33, but this extension wouldn't last long. 

142 (LT02 ZDR) on the 359 at Addington

In May 2002, the route was moved to Godstone Garage to make space at Orpington.

In March 2006, the route was curtailed at Addington Village due to lack of use. The allocation was also transferred to Croydon, because of the closure of Godstone in Febuary of that year. 

142 (LT02 ZDR) on the 359 at Addington

Since then, the route hasn't really changed, it still has it's odd frequency of every 35 minutes, which can be confusing at times, but always keep a timetable handy when travelling on this route!

142 (LT02 ZDR) on the 359 at Addington

I also recorded a journey for you lot to view, you can see it by clicking here