Arriva London Route 73 converted to New Routemasters

Thursday May 14th 2015 saw Arriva London start a phased conversion of route 73 from Volvo B5LH Wright Gemini 2 Hybrids to New Routemasters.  The route, which runs between Victoria and Stoke Newington, via Hyde Park Corner, Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road, Euston, King's Cross St Pancras, Angel and Essex Road is now underway. 

The 73 and the N73 route, will be running entirely with New Routemaster buses from July.

The vehicles used on the first day of conversion were LT464-9/88-90/2 along with LT352/3/5 which have transferred from the 137 allocation.  The batch will be 53 new LT's from LT464 plus 6 from the 137 batch (LT352-6 plus one other). 

During peaks hours, as mentioned above 53 of these state of the art buses will be in passenger service to carry the 35,000 people who travel on the route each week day.

Route 73 will operate with the rear platform closed when the bus is moving, with large numbers of passengers able to quickly board and alight using all three sets of doors and two staircases at bus stops.

To date thirteen bus routes in London are operating with New Routemasters.  Once route 73 has fully converted there will be over 500 of these bespoke buses in passenger service.  The conversion of route 73 will be another step towards the delivery of 800 New Routemasters on London's streets by 2016, reducing CO2 emissions in the Capital by around 27,500 tonnes a year.

Reduce emissions

The introduction of New Routemaster buses is part of a comprehensive programme to reduce emissions from London's bus fleet, which includes 1,700 hybrids on the street by 2016, accelerating the introduction of ultra low emission Euro VI buses and retrofitting 1,800 older buses to reduce their NOx emissions by up to 88%.

All buses entering the TfL fleet since January are equipped with Euro VI engines and there are now over 500 in service.  On average, around 700 new buses enter London's fleet each year.

The effectiveness of Euro VI engines in reducing harmful emissions has been substantiated in testing by TfL that re-creates real world driving conditions in London.  During this testing, a bus with a Euro VI Engine was found to have 95% lower NOx emissions than a bus with a Euro V engine (down from 10 g/km to 0.5 g/km).  This test result correlates with testing conducted by manufacturers.

More satisfied customers

TfL has also recently awarded contracts to convert routes 149 and 168 to New Routemasters with exact dates for conversions to be set later this year.

A customer satisfaction survey conducted in November 2014 revealed that customers who travel on the New Routemasters are more satisfied than those who travel on standard buses - scoring 87 vs. 84 points out of 100, respectively.  The survey also found that New Routemaster routes have had a higher rise in overall satisfaction (five points) than standard routes (two points) over the last two years.

New Buses for Service 15 Liverpool to Huyton

Sunday May 2^nd 2015 saw Arriva Merseyside introduce the latest batch of seven brand new double deck buses into traffic at Green Lane.   The other seven of this batch entered service on Tuesday May 4th.  These follow on from the eleven new double deckers introduced earlier this year on the 10B.

The route these vehicles will serve is the 15 between Liverpool and Huyton.  Previously the route was operated by VDL SB200 Wright Pulsar and Wright Pulsar 2 although on occasions other vehicles types were used on these routes.

The vehicles that will be operating on service 15 are brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro400s on the Alexander Dennis Enviro40D chassis.  They are powered by the Cummins ISB6.7EV engine and feature a six speed ZF 6HP1203B gearbox - featuring Euro V emissions.  The new Enviro400s feature a higher specification from the vehicles that previously operated this service although they aren't quite to Arriva MAX or Arriva Sapphire specification.

Internally the vehicles have Esteban Civic V2 seats with the lower deck featuring three tip up seats and around twenty modular seats which are found over the wheel arches and the back seats of the lower and upper deck. All the 78 seats are covered by a navy blue e-leather whilst both decks have a bright and airy feel to them due to the LED lighting.  They also feature on board free WiFi which is provided by Icomera's Moovbox.  Front, rear and side LED destination equipment is also fitted.  They vary slightly from the batch delivered earlier in the year as this batch has a CCTV screen fitted to the top of the stairs.

This batch of Enviro400s follows on numerically from the batch delivered to Arriva Bus Wales Chester depot for services 10 and 10A. For our readers who may be interested the details of these vehicles they are as follows: 4646 SK15 GYC, 4647 SK15 GYD, 4648 SK15 GYE, 4649 SK15 GYF, 4650 SK15 GYG, 4651 SK15 GYH, 4652 SK15 GYJ, 4653 SK15 GYN, 4654 SK15 GYO, 4655 SK15 GYP, 4656 SK15 GYR, 4657 SK15 GYS, 4658 SK15 GYT, 4659 SK15 GYU.

I sampled two vehicles on their first day in traffic, 4655 and 4647.  I found 4655 the better of the two and I was pleased to find the vehicles to be very warm and the complimentary WiFi powered by Icomera's Moovbox worked very well on both vehicles.  As with the Enviro400's at St Helens, I found the e-leather seating to very comfortable for each journey. 

I look forward to reporting on the launch of even more brand new double deckers for Arriva Merseyside’s Green Lane depot over the coming weeks when the remainder of the thirty five that are due for services 12 and 13 that operate between Liverpool and Stockbridge Village have been delivered.

London’s first all electric bus route to be operated by Arriva

On March 2nd 2015, Transport for London (TfL) announced that Arriva has been awarded the contract to operate route 312, which will become the first route in London to be operated entirely by electric buses.

Arriva, which already operates route 312, was re-awarded the contract after a competitive tender process. The contract will run from September 2015.

There are currently two Optare MetroCity electric single deck buses on route 312, which runs between South Croydon and Norwood Junction. These two buses have been used as an initial test to establish whether the technology could stand up to the rigours of operating in an intense urban environment such as London.

Arriva is currently in talks with bus manufacturers with a view to adding a further seven electric buses to the route. A date for the route 312's conversion to all electric buses will be confirmed later this year.

Passengers will notice that pure electric buses offer much lower noise and vibration levels compared to diesel vehicles, with the bus operating company benefiting from lower maintenance and running costs. These buses have zero tail pipe emissions, resulting in lower carbon emissions and improved air quality. The current trials will help TfL develop plans for greater use of electric buses in central London in the future, contributing to the Mayor's vision of a central London Ultra Low Emission Zone.

Mike Weston, TfL's Director of Buses, said: `This is an exciting new milestone for our bus fleet, which is already one of the cleanest in Europe. We currently have eight electric buses in our fleet and as this number grows we are learning more about this new technology, which alongside other measures like retrofitting older vehicles with enhanced exhaust systems and continuing the expansion of our hybrid fleet, continues to contribute towards our strategy to further reduce harmful emissions from the Capital's bus fleet.'

Since TfL was formed in 2000 it has invested strongly in London's bus network - resulting in a 69%  increase in passenger numbers. London Buses now carry more than 2.4 billion passengers a year, which equates to half of all bus journeys made in England. In recognition of the continued need to invest in bus services - with a increase in demand from the city's rapidly growing population - TfL's latest Business Plan has dedicated around £500m to improve the network over the period from 2015/16 to 2020/21. This will include funding for over 500 extra buses, which will create capacity for an extra 2.9 million customer journeys each week. There is also an additional £200m, which will be invested in supporting the reliability of the bus network at a local level with bus priority schemes. A further £25m will be used to fund customer-focused bus driver training to improve customer service.

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• Route 312 is used by around 4,700 passengers a day
• Arriva is part of Deutsche Bahn, one of the world's leading passenger transport and logistics service providers, and operates in 14 European countries. Headquartered in Sunderland, Arriva is responsible for Deutsche Bahn's regional passenger transport services outside of Germany
• Route 312 connects Croydon bus garage and Norwood Junction via Addiscombe and East Croydon
• More electric buses are anticipated to join the TfL fleet as London is engaged in a partnership funding bid with seven other cities in Europe to trial a range of pure electric and hybrid vehicle technologies and charging techniques
• TfL has six Optare electric buses - four operating on route H98 (between Hayes End and Hounslow) that entered service in July 2014 and two on route 312 that entered service in December 2014. Two additional electric buses manufactured by BYD operate on route 507 (Waterloo to Victoria) and 521 (Waterloo to London Bridge). They entered service in December 2013
• The trialling of electric buses paves the way for plans for an Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in central London in 2020. A consultation was launched on 27 October 2014 that contains proposals that all single deck buses driving in the ULEZ will be zero emission at point of use and all double deck buses will be hybrids
• Details of the ULEZ consultation can be found at: www.tfl.gov.uk/ultra-low-emission-zone. The consultation closed on Friday 9 January 2015
• The trialling of electric buses is one of the many measures introduced to make London's bus fleet more environmentally friendly, including the operation of zero emission hydrogen buses on Route RV1 between Covent Garden and Tower Gateway and delivering Europe's largest hybrid bus fleet - with more than 1,000 currently in passenger service
• By 2016 there will be more than 1,700 hybrid buses, including 800 New Routemasters, in passenger service - representing 20% of the total bus fleet
• TfL has recently completed the retrofitting of more than 1,000 of the oldest buses in the fleet with special equipment that has reduced their NOx emissions by up to 88%. This retrofit programme will continue with a further 800 buses being fitted with this specialist equipment
• TfL also operates a number of hydrogen buses on route RV1 that emit just water vapour.
• From next year TfL will also trial range extending hybrid buses that utilise inductive charging technology
• TfL has also accelerated the introduction of ultra low emission Euro VI buses - with more than 500 in service by the end of March 2015. The effectiveness of Euro VI engines in reducing harmful emissions has been substantiated in testing by TfL that re-creates real world driving conditions in London. During this testing, a bus with a Euro VI Engine was found to have 95% lower NOx emissions than a bus with a Euro V engine (down from 10 g/km to 0.5 g/km)
• Optare Plc is a bus manufacturer based in Sherburn in Elmet, North Yorkshire. Its parent company Ashok Leyland, part of the Hinduja Group, is ranked within the top five global bus manufacturers. Optare designs, manufactures and sells advanced single deck and double deck buses for a global market place

16 New Buses for Netherton to Liverpool Services 52/52A

Sunday March 1st 2015 saw Arriva North West introduce the latest batch of sixteen brand new double deck buses into traffic at Bootle depot to operate on two of Arriva North West's routes in Liverpool.  This represented £3 million of a £10 million investment in new buses which hit the roads of Merseyside throughout the first quarter of the year.  A small launch for the new vehicles was held on Saturday February 28th in Mons Square in the New Strand Shopping Centre.

They are the first brand new double decker buses delivered to Bootle depot since a batch of twelve Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodied Alexander Dennis Trident IIs which were delivered to the depot in 2009.  Bootle depot has always had a double deck allocation which in recent times has included former Arriva London DAF DB250s Alexander ALX400 and Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Geminis. 

The routes these vehicles will  serve is the 52 and 52A between Liverpool and Netherton via Bootle New Strand.  Previously the route was operated by VDL SB200 Wright Pulsar and Wright Pulsar 2 although on occasions other vehicles types were used on these routes.

The vehicles that will be operating on services 52 and 52A are sixteen brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro400s on the Alexander Dennis Enviro40D chassis.  They are powered by the Cummins ISB6.7EV engine and feature a six speed ZF 6HP1203B gearbox - featuring Euro V emissions. The new Enviro400s feature a higher specification from the vehicles that previously operated this service although they aren't quite to Arriva MAX or Arriva Sapphire specification.

Internally the vehicles have Esteban Civic V2 seats with the lower deck featuring three tip up seats and around twenty modular seats which are found over the wheel arches and the back seats of the lower and upper deck. All the 78 seats are covered by a navy blue e-leather whilst both decks have a bright and airy feel to them due to the LED lighting.  They also feature on board free WiFi which is provided by Icomera's Moovbox.  Front, rear and side LED destination equipment is also fitted.

Howard Farrall, the area managing director for Arriva Merseyside said: "Arriva is committed to providing the best possible service for our customers, and we continue to invest in our fleet.

"New buses not only make a huge difference to our passengers in terms of comfort and reliability, but also have an impressive environmental impact. The 10s are an important group of services which link St Helens, Prescot, Page Moss, Huyton and Liverpool, and are part of the Quality Bus Network, so it's great that we are able to invest in new buses for the route."

"The 16 brand new buses on the 52 service are a real boost for bus passengers in Merseyside. We are delighted to introduce double deck buses to these really popular routes, we hope our passengers enjoy the view from the top deck!"

This batch of Enviro400s follows on numerically from the batch delivered to Arriva North West's St Helens depot for services 10 and 10A between St Helens and Liverpool. For our readers who may be interested the details of these vehicles they are as follows: 4621 SL64 JHX, 4622 SN15 LME, 4623 SN15 LMF, 4624 SN15 LMJ, 4625 SN15 LMK, 4626 SN15 LML, 4627 SN15 LMM, 4628 SN15 LMO, 4629 SN15 LMU, 4630 SN15 LMV, 4631 SN15 LMX, 4632 SN15 LMY, 4633 SN15 LNA, 4634 SN15 LNC, 4635 SN15 LND and 4636 SN15 LNE. 

I sampled two vehicles on their first day in traffic, 4628 and 4623.  I was pleased to find the vehicles to be very warm on what wasn't the warmest of days and the complimentary WiFi powered by Icomera's Moovbox worked very well on both vehicles.  As with the Enviro400's at St Helens, I found the e-leather seating to very comfortable for each journey. 

I look forward to reporting on the launch of even more brand new double deckers for Arriva Bus Wales Chester depot in the next couple of weeks and also at Arriva North West Green Lane depot later on in the year were thirty five are due for services 12 and 13 that operate between Liverpool and Stockbridge Village and service 15 that operates between Liverpool and Huyton.

To celebrate the launch of these new vehicles Arriva North West offered free travel for all passengers travelling on services 52 and 52A on their first day in service. Passengers were issued with a Zero Fare ticket as shown above.

26 new buses for St Helens to Liverpool services 10/10A

Sunday February 1st 2015 saw Arriva North West introduce a batch of twenty six brand new double deck buses into traffic at St Helens Depot on two of Arriva North West's Quality Bus Partnership routes. This represents part of a £10 million investment in new buses which will hit the roads of Merseyside throughout the first quarter of the year.  Two small launch events for the new vehicles was held on Thursday January 29th at the depot and a public launch on Saturday 31st January in St Helens Town Centre. 

An impressive line up from L to R 4615, 4619, 4602, 4616, 4607, 4603 & 4613

Two of the batch had already entered service on Monday January 15th, those being 4595 and 4596 with the remaining twenty four vehicles of the batch entering service on the 1st and 2nd of February respectively.

4596 in St Helens Town Centre after returning from Liverpool on it's first day in service on 15/01/15

They are the first brand new double decker buses new to St Helens depot since a batch of ten Northern Counties bodied Leyland Olympians were delivered to the depot in 1989 when it was operated by Merseybus. In September 2013 the depot saw a return in the operation of double deck vehicles with the arrival of two former Arriva London London DAF DB250 Alexander ALX400's. These were later replaced with two former Arriva London Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Geminis.   

The routes these vehicles are deployed on are high-frequency services 10 between Liverpool and St Helens via Prescot and 10A between St Helens and Liverpool via Rainhill. Since 2009 the route was previously operated by VDL SB200 Wright Pulsar and Wright Pulsar 2 although on occasion other vehicles types were employed on these routes.

The vehicles that will be operating on services 10 and 10A are twenty six brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro400s on the Alexander Dennis Enviro40D chassis. They are powered by the Cummins ISB6.7EV engine and feature a six speed ZF 6HP1203B gearbox - featuring Euro V emissions. The new Enviro400s feature a higher specification from the vehicles that previously operated this service although they aren't quite to Arriva MAX or Arriva Sapphire specification.

Internally the vehicles have Esteban Civic V2 seats with the lower deck featuring three tip up seats and around twenty modular seats which are found over the wheel arches and the back seats of the lower and upper deck. All the 78 seats are covered by a navy blue e-leather whilst both decks have a bright and airy feel to them due to the LED lighting.  They also feature on board free WiFi which is provided by Icomera's Moovbox.  Front, rear and side LED destination equipment is also fitted.

Lower Saloon of 4596

Upper Saloon of 4596

Howard Farrall, the area managing director for Arriva Merseyside said: "Arriva is committed to providing the best possible service for our customers, and we continue to invest in our fleet.

"New buses not only make a huge difference to our passengers in terms of comfort and reliability, but also have an impressive environmental impact. The 10s are an important group of services which link St Helens, Prescot, Page Moss, Huyton and Liverpool, and are part of the Quality Bus Network, so it's great that we are able to invest in new buses for the route."

This batch of Enviro400s follows on from those delivered to Arriva North West's Green Lane depot for service 10B between Liverpool and Huyton. For our readers who may be interested the details of these vehicles are: 4595 SL64 JEO, 4596 SL64 JEU, 4597 SL64 JFA, 4598 SL64 JFE, 4599 SL64 JFF, 4600 SL64 JFG, 4601 SL64 JFJ, 4602 SL64 JFK, 4603 SL64 JFN, 4604 SL64 JFO, 4605 SL64 JFU, 4606 SL64 JFV. 4607 SL64 JFX, 4608 SL64 JFY, 4609 SL64 JFZ, 4610 SL64 JGX, 4611 SL64 JGY, 4612 SL64 JGZ, 4613 SL64 JHA, 4614 SL64 JHE, 4615 SL64 JHH, 4616 SL64 JHJ, 4617 SL64 JHK, 4618 SL64 JHO, 4619 SL64 JHU and 4620 SL64 JHV.

I sampled both 4595 and 4596 on their first day in service and have since ridden nine more and overall I was very impressed with the new vehicles.  The e-leather seating was very comfortable for the length of the journey between each terminus, and the on board complimentary WiFi has worked excellently on all the vehicles I sampled.

I am looking forward to reporting on the launch of sixteen more new double deckers at Bootle depot for use on services 52 and 52A between Liverpool and Netherton at the start of March.

To celebrate the launch of these vehicles, Arriva North West in conjunction with Wish FM ran a "Mystery Rider" competition every day from Monday 9th February through to Friday 13th February where a lucky contestant won a £200 cash prize!

Eleven new buses for the 10B Liverpool to Huyton service

Today saw Arriva North West introduce eleven brand new double deckers which represents part of a £10 million investment in new buses that will hit the road early this year.  The launch of the 11 new ADL Enivro 400's took place on Saturday December 13th 2014 in Huyton Town Centre.

These new vehicles will be used on the 10B service from Liverpool City Centre to Huyton and the route was previously operated by VDL SB200 Wright Pulsar and Wright Pulsar 2.

The arrival of these new buses to Green Lane will be the first brand new double deckers delivered to the depot since 1988 when the depot received Alexander bodied Leyland Olympians.  The depot was then run by Merseybus.  Two of which are still in use today as open tops at Arriva Bus Wales Rhyl depot.  The last double deckers based at Green Lane were a batch of former MTL North Millennium Fleet Volvo Olympians.

As I mentioned previously the new vehicles are Alexander Dennis Enviro400s on an ADL E40D chassis.  They are powered by the Cummins ISB6.7EV engine and feature a six speed ZF 6HP1203B gearbox with Euro V emissions.  They also have a higher spec from the previous vehicles used on the route.  They are not to Arriva Max or Sapphire standard but never the less are done to a high standard.

Internally the vehicles have Esteban Civic V2 seats with the lower deck featuring three tip up seats and around twenty modular seats which are found over the wheel arches and the back seats of the lower and upper deck.  All the 78 seats are covered by a navy blue e-leather whilst both decks have a bright and airy feel to them due to the LED lighting.  They also feature on board free WiFi which is provided by Icomera's Moovbox.  Front, rear and side LED destination equipment is also fitted.

Speaking of the new buses due to Green Lane and St Helens, Howard Farrell the area Managing Director for Arriva Merseyside said "Arriva is committed to providing the best possible service for our customers, and we continue to invest in our fleet.

“New buses not only make a huge difference to our passengers in terms of comfort and reliability, but also have an impressive environment impact.  The 10s are an important group of services which link St Helens, Prescot, Page Moss, Huyton and Liverpool and are part of the Quality Bus Network, so it's great that we are able to invest in new buses for the route."

This batch of Enviro400s follows on from the deliveries made to Arriva North West's Speke depot for service 86/A and to Arriva North West's Southport depot for services 375/385.

For anyone who may be interested the details of the vehicles are 4584 SL64 JCX, 4585 SL64 JCY, 4586 SL64 JCZ, 4587 SL64 JDF, 4588 SL64 JDJ, 4589 SL64 JDK, 4590 SL64 JDO, 4591 SL64 JDU, 4592 SL64 JDX, 4593 SL64 JDZ and 4594 SL64 JEJ.

The arrival of these Enviro400s will also see some of the newer VDL SB200 Wright Pulsar 2s delivered during 2013/14 depart from the North West fleet and onto other Arriva operating areas in UK.

Christmas Bus Times Wales

Arriva Buses Wales have published their Christmas and New Year bus timetable for 2014. Services will operate as normal except for:

Christmas Eve:
Normal service until approximately 7pm when buses will start to finish - click here for a full list of last journey times.

Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day:
Sorry, no services will operate.

New Year’s Eve:
Normal service until approximately 7pm when buses will start to finish - click here for a full list of last journey times.

Services return to normal on Friday 2nd January 2015.