LDN: First's new Wright B9- body spec changes

The new batch of Wright bodied Euro5 engine Volvo B9L are going into service on route 23;this batch would eventually go onto route 266 in May.
Please note the normal [for London] window arrangement, where each window has it's own glass attached;
up to now, First specified bonded windows for their Wright bodied volvo B9L.

here is VN37962 at Marble Arch in the very depth of winter- low sun!

Oh the 266 will be switching to B9TLs?
I thought it'd be using E400 Tridents instead when it was switching to First.

yes, First would be using volvos- the VN class for the 266, operating out of Atlas Way [this garage - AT is a 'volvo' garage. AT currently works the 28 31 328.
the E400s at X [Westborne Grove ]for route 23 are due to move to UX for route 607, and the 23 would receive E400H, while the 295- the other d/d route at the garage- should get new VNs in due course.

Regards

Yoram

I hear that the TNAs on 23 will move to Bristol.

原帖由 yblumann 於 2012-1-16 18:47 發表
yes, First would be using volvos- the VN class for the 266, operating out of Atlas Way [this garage - AT is a 'volvo' garage. AT currently works the 28 31 328.
the E400s at X [Westborne Grove ]for rou ...

So are the old Metroline ALX400 Tridents from 266 leaving London?
Many of them are over 10 years old I think and it's time for them to go...but I'll miss them.
Still remember how I saw them passing outside my window from day to night when I stayed
in North Acton...

The TAs currently on the 266 are from 2005, [TA638 onwards] and those would be leaving W garage and are planned to go to HT[Holloway] garage.
With the loss of the 266 [about 26 buses], new buses to replace the current buses on the 32, and the new order of 65 Wright bodied volvo B9L [for Holloway], and new buses for the 82, the end result would be:
the batch TP1-65 withdrawn from service
remaining trident from the batch TA66-TAL136 to be withdrawn [and sold to Ensign for disposal]
and some TPs would be coming off lease as well.

the TNAs off the 23 would be leaving London, but it might be a bit delayed thanks to the olympic games extra services!

regards

Yoram

原帖由 yblumann 於 2012-1-18 01:19 發表
The TAs currently on the 266 are from 2005, [TA638 onwards] and those would be leaving W garage and are planned to go to HT[Holloway] garage.
With the loss of the 266 [about 26 buses], new buses to re ...

Thanks for your informative answer.
Yeah I also remember that 266 was switched to Tridents relatively late, and it's among the last routes using
the Alexander Royale Volvo Olympians. But still I think some of the older Tridents are commonly seen on the
route, such as this one (photo taken in 2010, sorry for the poor quality):

yes, you are right... there are not enough '05' reg tridents for the full allocation on route 266, so older tridents [TA and TAL] and E400 buses have to be used alongside the '05' reg.

This represents a fairly significant but common shift in the way London Buses view vehicle age profile;
in the past, London Buses awarded the operation of a bus route with X number of buses, and the bus company bought or leased X buses plus a 10-12% spare buses, and that was simple enoguh!

But over the years, several things have happened:
1. During the life of a contract [the contract to run a bus route is for 5 years and it can be extended by a further 2 years], London Buses altered the frequencies, usually by increasing them, and the bus company had to obtain additional buses for the contract.
This is a problem if the contract only has a few years to run before expiry, so the bus company would not risk getting a new bus- and London Buses would not pay for it.
The result was a compromise- an older bus to be used.
2. LEZ- Lower Emission Zone was introduced by TfL; the newest one, dated 1/1/2012 requires EURO4 equivalent for buses in London Buses service.
3. London Buses wish to increase the number of hybrid d/ds in service in central London.
3. The recession in the UK is forcing London Buses to seek some financial savings.

The result is a shift in the way in which new buses are bought:
In the case of Metroline- it will serve as a good example.
over the last couple of tender rounds, it won again routes  43 134 271 W7 82 113, but lost routes 266 and the C2. The win was about 130 buses, and the loss of route was of 55-60 buses.
So, Metroline and London Buses had a look at the existing double deck fleet of Metroline:
the first goal is to get rid of all the pre Euro 3 buses in the fleet.
Those are TP1-65 at holloway[HT], the remaining TA/L in the range up to TAL132.
Then there are some buses on lease. the first to depart the fleet would be the '51' reg buses.

So, having look the age profile of the fleet, Metroline placed an order for 65 volvo B9L for Holloway,
another order of 20 E400 tridents for W garage, and will order 24 E400H [allocation not finalised yet] , transfer the newer tridents to Holloway, and order another few E400 [not specified yet].
So, when they loose the 266 & C2, W garage would become an E400 & E400H garage for routes 16 32 139 189 210 332 with no tridents TA/L or TP left, and HT would be getting rid of all their pre 02 reg buses.
More TPLs [51 reg] would also be withdrawn, probably when the E400H arrive [for route 82 is my guess].
In fact, over at HT garage, the allocation would be mixed on all routes, as well as in the other garages.

I hope this clarify a rather confusing reality- dictated by the need to economise and reduce emission in central London at the same time!

regards
Yoram

nice to kow that the 23 TNA are going to Bristrol

Follow a 23 B9