Monday 28 November 2016

More Enviro400H City buses for London bus routes 133 and 333!



The Enviro400H City design is based from the New Routemaster bus.

On 1st October I published an article showing that routes 133 and 333 will be having futuristic style Enviro400H City buses.


Now LOTS have reported the following:

1) TfL has issued the proposals for the West End / Paddington area, this being partly to comply with the promise to reduce substantially the number of buses on Oxford Street. This is the link to the full document:    https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/west-end-bus-changes/

2) Surrey County Council has issued details of the plans for 31st December after Abellio Surrey decided to pull out of several services. This is the link:

3) Delivery has now commenced of Arriva’s new E400H-City buses (HA 20-53) which will, together with HVs transferred from Stamford Hill to south London, provide the allocation on routes 133/333.  Delivery has also started of the E400H buses (EH 74-112) for Putney, principally for route 14 and of Citaro-Ks to Epsom Buses (MCS 01-09) for route 413; the familiar demonstrator (BU13 ZVE) that had been trialled with many London operators, will be added (as MCS 10).

4) The StreetLites for London General route 39 (batch WS 66-74) have started to trickle into service and are being joined by E200s SEN30-37, which had been on route 368 but more recently spread about the fleet. Staying at Go-Ahead, the fairly slow process of upseated Citaros going onto route 108 continues. Eight others are now starting to arrive at Oxford for Carousel Buses, while four WVLs (242-245) have also gone to Oxford for the Thames Travel operation.

5) This weekend marks the opening (operationally) of CT Plus’’ new garage at Walthamstow Avenue (code AW), initially operating routes W19 and 385 with brand-new classic-bodied Enviro200s (batch 1221-1237).  Abellio’s recent successes in London route tendering in west London mean that they are now seeking another garage in the Southall area as the existing Hayes Garage will not be big enough.

I’ve found couple photos of the new Enviro400H City buses leaving the Falkirk Factory for their test run; these are HA20 and HA32.

Below is a short fleet list which I compiled from London Vehicle Finder; the list is of the Enviro400H City buses which are owned by Arriva for route 78.

Fleet Number
Number plate
HA1
LK65BYX
HA2
LK65BYY
HA3
LK65BYZ
HA4
LK65BZA
HA5
LK65BZB
HA6
LK65BZC
HA7
LK65BZD
HA8
LK65BZE
HA9
LK65BZF
HA10
LK65BZG
HA11
LK65BYM
HA12
LK65BYN
HA13
LK65BYO
HA14
LK65BYP
HA15
LK65BYR
HA16
LK65BYS
HA17
LK65BYT
HA18
LK65BYU
HA19
LK65BYV
HA20
LK66GZM

And the Enviro400H City purchased by CT Plus for route 26:

Fleet Number
Number plate
2501
SN16OHP
2502
SN16OHR
2503
SN16OHS
2504
SN16OHT
2505
SN16OHU
2506
SN16OHV
2507
SN16OHW
2508
SN16OHX
2509
SN16OHY
2510
SN16OHZ
2511
SN16OJA
2512
SN16OJB
2513
SN16OJC
2514
SN16OJD
2515
SN16OJE
2516
SN16OJF
2517
SN16OJG
2518
SN16OJH
2519
SN16OJJ
2520
SN16OJK
2521
SN16OJL

Interestingly enough, London Vehicle Finder also hold the fleet details of the new Enviro400H City purchased by Arriva London for routes 133 and 333.

Fleet Number
Number plate
HA20
LK66GZM
HA21
LK66GZN
HA22
LK66GZO
HA23
LK66GZP
HA24
LK66GZS
HA25
LK66GZT
HA26
LK66GZU
HA27
LK66GZV
HA28
LK66GZW
HA29
LK66GZY
HA30
LK66HAE
HA31
LK66HAO
HA32
LK66HAX
HA33
LK66HBA
HA34
LK66HBB
HA35
LK66HBC
HA36
LK66HBD
HA37
LK66HBE
HA38
LK66HBF
HA39
LK66HBG
HA40
LK66HBH
HA41
LK66HBJ
HA42
LK66HBL
HA43
LK66HBN
HA44
LK66HBO
HA45
LK66HBP
HA46
LK66HBU
HA47
LK66HBX
HA48
LK66HBY
HA49
LK66HBZ
HA50
LK66HCA
HA51
LK66HCC
HA52
LK66HCD
HA53
LK66HCE

This brings it to a total of 74 Enviro400H City buses for London Buses.

The newly delivered Enviro400H City buses are expected to enter service on routes 133 and 333 by 21st January 2017.

I should add that a municipal bus company, ‘Blackpool Transport,’ has purchased another 25 Enviro400 (diesel) City buses.


The Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) stand at Euro Bus Expo 2016 was a fitting location for Jane Cole, Managing Director of Blackpool Transport, and her team to finalise the order for an additional 25 ADL Enviro400 City double deck buses.

8th November 2016

The first ten Enviro400 City vehicles have been in service on the town’s high profile Palladium route since July. These were developed to a unique Blackpool Transport specification as a result of a close collaborative partnership between the transport authority and ADL, which started at the Bus and Coach Live show at the NEC in 2015. The new order fulfils Jane’s commitment to add 25 more Enviro400 City vehicles to the fleet if the introduction of the first vehicles was successful from an operational and passenger perspective.

Jane Cole commented “We have been delighted with our Enviro400 City vehicles already in service and have received fantastic feedback from locals and visitors alike. This is echoed by our own team with great praise from drivers to service technicians, and we are pleased that Christine Wright, Chair of Blackpool Council, has given her own seal of approval to the ADL vehicles. We are particularly proud of having responded to the needs of our disabled passengers who appreciate the low floor entry, wide access gangway and spacious wheelchair areas.”

Bob Mason, Service Delivery Director at Blackpool Transport, added “The vehicles deliver a great customer experience with modern features such as Wi-Fi, USB charging points, audio and visual next stop customer announcements, e-leather seating and wood effect flooring. We are also getting very good MPG from these buses.”

The 25 newly ordered vehicles will run on route 14 and have a social seating configuration to the ones already in operation, while still maintaining the strong styling, glazed stairwell, SkyView wrap-over rear window and individual USB

charging points which have been greatly praised by passengers. Social seating with seats grouped around three tables in the upper saloon will provide passengers with space for working and studying along with centrally sited USB charging points to improve connectivity.  This layout makes travel time more productive or sociable for the younger generation of passengers on their way to and from the schools and university which route 14 serves. It is also intended to increase ridership amongst other passenger segments including families and groups of friends.

Referencing the initial order, Jane commented, “We wanted to do more than buy a bus. We wanted a partner willing to become intrinsically linked to us, joined at the hip, if you like, a partner that understands our ethos and our objective of genuinely bringing a team approach to the whole task of providing tailor-made public transport solutions.”

Blackpool Transport is a truly visionary operator focused on delivering the ambitious goal of transforming the entire fleet of 130 buses serving Blackpool, Wyre and the Fylde Coast. Jane secured a multi-million pound investment from Blackpool Council, the transport authority’s sole shareholder, to revitalise the whole bus fleet over a 5 year period.

Colin Robertson, Chief Executive of ADL, commented “This is a superb example of what can be achieved by two like-minded organisations committed to a philosophy of inclusive management and progressive partnerships that can make a difference to operators, passengers, visitors to and inhabitants of Blackpool. What Jane Cole and her team have achieved takes passenger-centric transport to a whole new level and we are proud to partner with them on this journey.”

Blackpool Transport is owned by Blackpool Borough Council, which also runs tram services in Blackpool.

I’d also like to mention that Alexander Dennis has a webpage for their Enviro400 City (diesel) product which is worth checking out.

As always, I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Google Plus which is @CLondoner92

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