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| 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.
From Alexander Dennis
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
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
