Go Ahead London has succeeded in retaining the London bus routes for this month’s tender awards; they also won one route from Stagecoach Selkent which is route 386.
From LOTS:
LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:
| Route | Current Operator | New Operator | PVR | Vehicles |
| 37 (24h) | London Central | London Central | 19 | 2011 Euro V diesel double deck |
| 44/N44 | London General | London General | 20 | New Euro VI hybrid double deck |
| 77 | London General | London General | 18 | New Euro VI hybrid double deck |
| 87/N87 | London General | London General | 22 | 2013 Euro V hybrid double deck* |
| 171/N171 | London Central | London Central | 25 | New Euro VI hybrid double deck |
| 219 | London General | London General | 11 | 2013 Euro V diesel single deck |
| 337 | London General | London General | 11 | 2011 Euro V diesel double deck |
| 386 | Stagecoach Selkent | London Central | 11 | 2011 Euro V diesel single deck |
| 424 | London General | London General | 5 | 2017 Euro VI diesel single deck |
| 485 | London General | London General | 4 | 2010 Euro V diesel single deck |
* 6 vehicles will be new Euro VI.
The above contracts will commence on the following dates:
- 7th April 2018: Route 424.
- 28th April 2018: Route 171/N171.
- 5th May 2018: Route 485.
- 26th May 2018: Route 337.
- 2nd June 2018: Routes 37, 44/N44, 77, 87/N87, 219 & 386.
It will be interesting to see which new buses Go Ahead London will purchase for routes 44, 77, 87 and 171. It’s a shame that not a single London Bus operator is interested in purchasing the SRM (2 door 1 staircase New Routemaster) for their new contracted routes. There is an alternative design though, which is the Enviro400H City which holds design cues taken from the New Routemaster bus. London bus companies Arriva and CT Plus purchased them for their contracted routes which are on routes 26, 78, 133, 333 and 388.
Here’s the rest of the London Bus news update from LOTS:
During the past week the new StreetLites (batch WS81-86) have gone into service on the 424 with Go-Ahead at Putney, plus a few more (WS87-90) to complete the allocation of route 39 at Plough Lane. New Arriva HVs continue to arrive at Tottenham for routes 243 and 341. As the latter progresses, DWs are being released for Barking (DX) and more for Grays (GY). Stagecoach are now taking in seven E40Hs (12426-32) as part pf the new contract for route 257 in October.
At Uxbridge from the 16th Metroline took over route 222 from London United. Until the ’dedicated’ batch of VWHs are made ready, VWHs already delivered and intended for Willesden and some already on route 114 at UX are being used. Additionally seven TEs transferred to UX from Potters Bar to make up the numbers will now be seen on route 114. Meanwhile yet more VWHs are being delivered (batch 2345-2432); many arrived with 17 plates but all will be changed to 67s.
I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Google Plus by searching for @CLondoner92
Related article
Go Ahead Group wins Dublin Bus contract but loses West Midlands Rail franchise