The Formation of London OmniBus,

London OmniBus isn't that big, nowhere as big as L1/Group but we are fairly substancial in and around west London with commercial operations and routes operated on contract for Transport for London.

In Summer 2012, I took up the collection of older buses for preservation in the form of 2 M-Class Metrobuses and one LX-Class Leyland Lynx. Both Metrobuses originated from Carousel: M524 and M1386, and LX212 came from Regal Busways.
These accompanied the Citaro which I had obtained from Carousel in January 2012 (MB52).

In February 2013, I was made aware that London United and L1/Group were selling their different Hayes bases, the LU one near Bulls Bridge and the L1 one at the end of Rigby Lane beside the Great Western Main Line. This was meeting Au, the great head manager of L1/Group, and starting a partnership with him that has been strong ever since.

Both garages became my property at the beginning of the 2013/14 financial year, April 1st, with routes 112, 195 and U9.

On April 3rd, we had the arrival of another Citaro, but this time it was a new one. To match CB52BUS, the new Citaro had been registered MB62BUS, and numbered MB62. It was also painted in red with an orange-style interior to match, contrary to our usual red and black interior design. The same day, 10 Enviro200 buses from Greenford garage which had been refurbished through L1/Group entered service on route 421 with our contract commencing that day. To complement the used Enviros, 5 brand new Optare Tempo buses also entered service, which have a Mercedes engine and a ZF gearbox. Also on that day, new route 111H was started up with LX212 (now numbered LX3), M524 and M1386 from Cranford to Hampton Court, with most fares costing £1.11.

Throughout the rest of April, services ran smoothly under the new operation. At the end of April, the fleet was renumbered into a three-figure number system to differentiate from other London companies, in preparation for the arrival of the buses for the new commercial services. 4 new Wright Meridian buses were ordered for new route 49 running every hour between Staines and High Wycombe. L1/Group also announced their acquisition of Abellio Surrey, and we were given routes 218 and 218A, which we planned to replace with 4 used buses: 3 more Meridians and 1 used MCV Stirling. An East Lancs Kinetic was also found for sale, which we purchased for the commercial services.
An agreement has also been signed with L1/Group for us to put 1 bus on route 74 on weekends, and to half-operate route X74 on Sundays.

All the Meridians, the Kinetic and the Stirling for use on all the commercial services (49, 74, 218, 218A, X74) entered service on the 11th May.

Also arrived is a 52-reg VA which used to be London United, it has now been branded for the 111H for a frequency increase to every 30 minutes.
Following an increase in passenger numbers on the 111H lead to 4 more buses being bought for the service to increase the frequency again to every 20 minutes. Two Plaxton Presidents, one East Lancs Myllennium Vyking and one new Enviro400 have arrived for this increase.

We have recently won contracts for routes 114/N114 (commencing June 1st), 398 (commencing September 2nd) and 640 (commencing September 2nd).  Route 421 will have a new double decker supplement from Hayes East garage running between South Ruislip Station and Kenton in busy times, along with being extended on September 2nd to Heathrow Terminal 6, via Hayes & Harlington and Sipson.

And finally, the proposal of two new commercial routes running from Heathrow Terminal 6 to Britwell and Beaconsfield is currently being run through and the result announced soon!

The current fleet list follows:

Commercial: LX3 - Leyland Lynx - G7UYV - DP45F - HS
M524 - MCW Metrobus - GYE524W - H43/28D - HS
M1386 - MCW Metrobus - C386BUV - H43/28D - HS
ADE11 - Alexander Dennis Enviro400 - YX13FNS - H41/24D - HS
VLE27 - Volvo B7TL / ELC Myllennium Vyking - PA04CYK - H47/22D - HS
VLP37 - Volvo B7TL / Plaxton President - X637LLX - H43/25D - HS
VP101 - Volvo B7TL / Plaxton President - W444BCW - H41/21D - HS
VA295 - Volvo B7TL / Alexander ALX400 - SK52MPU - H45/20D - HS
105 - MAN 12.220 / MCV Stirling - CU04AMK -  B39F - HS
106 - MAN 18.240 / East Lancs Kinetic - CU56AVP - B43F - HS
107 - MAN NL273F / Wright Meridian - SF08ROU - B44F - HS
108 - MAN NL273F / Wright Meridian - SF08RNZ - B44F - HS
109 - MAN NL273F / Wright Meridian - SF58OHO - B44F - HS
111 - MAN A69 / Wright Meridian - OM61BUS - B42F - HS
112 - MAN A69 / Wright Meridian - RL13NTF - B42F - HS
113 - MAN A69 / Wright Meridian - RL13NTJ - B42F - HS
114 - MAN A69 / Wright Meridian - RL13NTK - B42F - HS
152 - Mercedes-Benz Citaro - CB52BUS - B42F - HS
153 - Mercedes-Benz Citaro - MB62BUS - B42F - HS

Transport for London:
311 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FMA - B26F - WS
312 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FMC - B26F - WS
313 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FMD - B26F - WS
314 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09 FME - B26F - WS
331 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FKS - B29D - HS
332 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FKT - B29D - HS
333 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FKU - B29D - HS
334 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FKV - B29D - HS
335 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FKW - B29D - HS
336 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FKY - B29D - HS
337 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FLL - B29D - HS
338 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FLM - B29D - HS
339 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FNJ - B29D - HS
340 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX09FNK - B29D - HS
341 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BCU - B29D - HS
342 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BCV - B29D - HS
343 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BCY - B29D - HS
344 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BCZ - B29D - HS
345 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BDE - B29D - HS
346 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BDF - B29D - HS
347 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BDO - B29D - HS
348 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BDU - B29D - HS
349 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BDV - B29D - HS
350 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BDY - B29D - HS
351 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BDZ - B29D - HS
352 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BEJ - B29D - HS
353 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BEO - B29D - HS
354 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BEU - B29D - HS
355 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX10BEY - B29D - HS
356 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX62DAU - B29D - WS
357 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX62DBU - B29D - WS
358 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX62DDE - B29D - WS
359 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX62DDO - B29D - WS
360 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX62DFE - B29D - WS
361 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX62DFO - B29D - WS
362 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX62DVA - B29D - WS
363 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX62DVC - B29D - WS
364 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - YX62DVG - B29D - WS
801 - Optare Tempo - YJ13AYX - B34D - HS
802 - Optare Tempo - YJ13AYZ - B34D - HS
803 - Optare Tempo - YJ13AZN - B34D - HS
804 - Optare Tempo - YJ13AZP - B34D - HS
805 - Optare Tempo - YJ13AZR - B34D - HS
931 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RTX - H41/22D - HS
932 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RTZ - H41/22D - HS
933 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RUA - H41/22D - HS
934 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RUC - H41/22D - HS
935 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RUH - H41/22D - HS
936 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RUJ - H41/22D - HS
937 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RUO - H41/22D - HS
938 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RUU - H41/22D - HS
939 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RUV - H41/22D - HS
940 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RUW - H41/22D - HS
941 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RUY - H41/22D - HS
942 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RVA - H41/22D - HS
943 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RVC - H41/22D - HS
944 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RVE - H41/22D - HS
945 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RVF - H41/22D - HS
946 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RVJ - H41/22D - HS
947 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RVK - H41/22D - HS
948 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RVL - H41/22D - HS
949 - Scania CN230UD / Scania OmniCity - YR61RVM - H41/22D - HS

Soon to be in the fleet:
391 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - SN13RXC - B29D - WS (for route 398)
392 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - SN13RXK - B29D - WS (for route 398)
393 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - SN13RXP - B29D - WS (for route 398)
394 - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 - SN13RXY - B29D - WS (for route 398)
806 - Optare Tempo - YJ13HNS - B34D - HS (for route 421 extension)
807 - Optare Tempo - YJ13HNT - B34D - HS (for route 421 extension)
808 - Optare Tempo - YJ13HNW - B34D - HS (for route 421 extension)
809 - Optare Tempo - YJ13HNX - B34D - HS (for route 421 extension)
810 - Optare Tempo - YJ13HNZ - B34D - HS (for route 421 extension)
961 - Volvo B5LH / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 HEV - BV13ZDF - H39/21D - WS (for routes 421, 640)
962 - Volvo B5LH / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 HEV - BV13ZDL - H39/21D - WS (for routes 421, 640)
963 - Volvo B5LH / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 HEV - BV13ZDN - H39/21D - WS (for routes 421, 640)
964 - Volvo B5LH / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 HEV - BV13ZDR - H39/21D - WS (for routes 421, 640)

© London OmniBus

FRED BRUNDELL
London OmniBus
Hayes Bus Garages

WLTM Tenders May 2013 (from TfL)

Tranche 137:
Routes 142/N142: Retained by L1/Heathrow Buses, contract start 2nd September with existing buses.

Route 258: Awarded to London Sovereign (formerly Arriva Shires & Essex), contract start 2nd October 2013 with new buses.

Route 266: Awarded to London United (formerly L1/Heathrow Buses), contract start 2nd October 2013 with new hybrid buses.

Tranche 138:
Route 85/85N: Awarded to L1/Heathrow Buses (formerly London General), contract start 2nd October 2013 with new hybrid buses.

Route 163: Retained by London General, contract start 2nd October 2013 with existing buses.

Route 164: Retained by London General, contract start 2nd October 2013 with existing buses.

Route 213: Awarded to L1/Heathrow Buses (formerly London General), contract start 2nd October 2013 with new hybrid buses.

Route N213: Retained by L1/Heathrow Buses, contract start 2nd October 2013 with existing buses.

Tranche 139:
Route 139/139N: Retained by Metroline, contract start 2nd October 2013 with new hybrid buses.

Route 189/189N: Retained by Metroline, contract start 2nd October 2013 with new hybrid buses.

Tranche 140:
Routes 140/140N: Retained by L1/Heathrow Buses, contract start 2nd September with existing buses.

Route 335/N335: Retained by L1/Heathrow Buses, contract start 2nd September with existing Citaros and new Citaro Hybrid.

Route 335D: Awarded to Metroline (formerly L1/Heathrow Buses), contract start 2nd September with existing buses.

Route 640: Awarded to London OmniBus (formerly L1/Heathrow Buses), contract start 2nd September with new hybrid buses

Tranche 141:
Route 157: awarded to Tower Transit (formerly Abellio London), contract start 2nd October 2013 with new buses.

Route 264/264N: awarded to Tower Transit (formerly Arriva London South), contract start 2nd October 2013 with new buses.

Route 407: awarded to Tower Transit (formerly Abellio London), contract start 2nd October 2013 with new buses.

Route 410: awarded to Tower Transit (formerly Arriva London South), contract start 2nd October 2013 with new buses.

Tranche 142:
Route 95/N95: Retained by L1/Heathrow Buses, contract start 2nd October 2013 with existing buses.

Route 105/105N: Retained by L1/Heathrow Buses, contract start 2nd October 2013 with existing buses.

Route 204: Retained by L1/Heathrow Buses, contract start 2nd October 2013 with existing buses.

Route N69: Retained by L1/Heathrow Buses, contract start 2nd October 2013 with existing buses. 
Extended to Heathrow Terminal 6 via 482 until Hatton Cross, then via Eastern Perimeter Road, Harlington Corner and Route N4 to Heathrow T6. This replaces 482N.

Other News:
Routes 25/25N will be extended from Oxford Circus to Victoria, with a PVR increase to 90, from 1st June 2013.
Route 290 will be extended from 1st June 2013. It will now run Chiswick Station to Staines.
Route 350 is extended from Hayes & Harlington Station to Heathrow Terminal 6. PVR to 11.
Route 375 will be extended from Abridge, Blue Boar to Epping, Cock from 1st June 2013. This will also include a service increase, and a PVR increase to 10.
Route N117 will be extended to Colnbrook By Pass, Heathrow North Bus Garage from 1st June 2013.

A consultation will be in place over the possible 204 night route Heathrow T5-Edgware, and numbering it N204. It will be under the 204 contract.
Also, another consultation will be made under the rerouting and changing of Routes 209, 440 and E3 at Acton/Acton Town. More details can be found when available.

Routes to be tendered in June 2013:
Tranche 143 (all contracts start November 2013)
11 (Liverpool Street-Fulham) - London General
N11 (Liverpool Street-Southall North) - London General
36/36N (Queen's Park-New Cross) - London Central
72/72N (Roehampton-East Acton) - London United
205 (Paddington-Bow) - Stagecoach (205N replaced, see below)
N205 (Paddington-Stratford City) - new route, 205N operated by Stagecoach
211 (Hammersmith-Waterloo) - London United
283 (Barnes-East Acton) - London United
436 (Paddington-Lewisham) - London Central
N136 (Oxford Circus-Chislehurst) - Stagecoach

Tranche 144
69/69N (London City Airport-Walthamstow) - L1/Romford Buses
473 (Stratford-North Woolwich) - Stagecoach
474/474N (Canning Town-Manor Park) - Docklands Buses

Tranche 145
145 (Dagenham-Ilford) - Stagecoach
285/285N (Heathrow-Kingston) - London United
416 (Hanwell-Feltham) - L1/Heathrow Buses

Tranche 146
230 (Wood Green-Walthamstow) - Stagecoach
267 (Hammersmith-Fulwell/Hampton Court) - L1/Heathrow Buses

Tranche 147
250 (Brixton-Croydon) - Arriva
391 (Fulham-Richmond) - London United
H91 (Heathrow T6-Hammersmith) - London United
N4 (Heathrow T6-Croydon) - L1/Heathrow Buses

L1/Group News May 2013

L1/Heathrow Buses

The new L1/Group moquette will be rolled out across the fleet, starting with HN Garage.

Heathrow North (HN)

TE120 has been involved in a road traffic accident whilst on duty on the 140, leading to massive delays on the 7th April 2013. The accident damage will mean the bus will be out for a few months in order to fix the repairs.

VLE31 and SLE1 have been renumbered VEN31 and SEN1 respectively. These are on loan from London Sovereign.

TEN69 and HN Showbus TE140 have been involved in a small accident at HN, meaning that these are out of service for a few weeks at least.

TE110 has been fitted with a modified engine and refurbished in-house. This bus will now move to SA on loan after trials on X26, X91, 105 and 140/140N.

This new modified engine will decrease the "high-rev" problem on these buses, and will be rolled out across the fleet.

Existing Citaros will be used on the now branded "Uxbridge 5series" (Routes 58/59). This is a cascade of Citaros from the 7series, due to new Volvo 7900s being delivered.

New DEs are ready for the extension of Route 290 from Twickenham to Chiswick Station via Richmond. These are DE700-709 (although in practice are mixed).

TE1069 has returned from London OmniBus. TE1071 is on loan to Metroline to replace the VW(H) on loan.

Southall (SA)

All trials on the 456 are continuing.

TE110 will move to SA for a 6 month loan to trial for the 456.

The following TANs are being withdrawn and sold: 560-579, 591, 610.

The rest of the TANs are still running on the 207, 607 and 483.

DPN 701 and DPN 679 has been involved in a road traffic accident whilst on duty on the 483/480 respectively on the 8th April 2013. DPN 701 will never see L1/Heathrow Buses duty as it will be sold once repaired. DPN 679 is written off and will be stripped for parts in HN.

Route 335 will get new Citaro Hybrids as part of its new contract.

Brentford Dockside (DI)

Route 483 will continue to be temporarily be operated from SA until further notice.

Route 338 will have DEs as a trial to see if longer buses are suitable for this route on a regular basis.

10 New Bus for London are ordered for Routes 311 and 392. Route 392 will become a full New Bus for London allocation in 2014.

Route 278 will have a half allocation here with Heathrow Buses, as well as the current running from HO Garage of Romford Buses. Thus PVR is 15. Buses will not transfer. This will fill up the gap that will be left by Route 266.

Wembley (WE)

Buses will now use the "Jake" L1/Group logo, and all with the "Fred" L1/Group logo will either swap with those from DI/SA with the "Jake" L1/Group logo.

TE75, 76 and 77 will move from UP (Romford Buses) to WE permanently.

Alperton Garage is currently storage for withdrawn TANs and DPNs.

Fulwell (TF), Byfleet (BF), Slough (SH) from June 2013

These garages will be transferred to L1/Heathrow Buses in June.

Upon tender, routes 213, 85 and 85N were won and will be run from Fulwell.

Bylfleet will run the current Abellio Surrey routes remaining.

Slough Garage will be used as a store, as Heathrow North will take up its work. New and existing Enviro 200H will be used for local services from Slough Garage.

L1/Romford Buses

Upminster (UP)

Upminster Garage will increase its allocation on Route 25 to 34 buses. 

The PVR increase of Routes 5 and 87 will mean new TEs will be delivered to UP (TE1020-1068). TE1068 will move on loan to Arriva to cover the DW (HW) on loan.

Upton Park (U)

Routes 104, 438 has moved from Upton Park to Stratford in order to create more space in the garage. 

New Bus for London LT99-111 have arrived for Routes 15 and 25. Route 25 will have an allocation of 5 and 15 will have this supplementing the current NBfLs. Route 15H has moved to SD in order to centralise Heritage Routemaster operation.

Lea Interchange (HO)

Route 25 will no longer be run from this garage - the allocation and buses have moved to SD.

PVR 15 of the route 278 will move to DI Garage of Heathrow Buses.

TE1010-1019, 1093-1110 will be new to Lea Interchange, to supplement for the 58, and replace most buses moved to the increased PVR of the 25.

Stratford High Street (SD)

A new garage has opened on the Stratford High Street. Routes 8, 15, 25, 58, 104, 438 and N8 will operate from this garage. Numerous TEs and TELs have moved from HO and U (mainly) to operate these routes. TEL1113-1142 will be delivered for the 8 contract and extension of Route 25 to Victoria.

Also, the heritage Routemaster operation of TfL will be moved to SD. Routes 9H, 15H will operate from here. This will be joined with 25H, 94H and 159H.

WLTM Tenders April 2013 (from TfL)

Tranche 131
Routes 8/N8 - awarded to L1/Romford Buses (formerly Stagecoach), contract start 23rd August 2013. Allocated with new Enviro 400H from Stratford Garage.

Route 438 - retained by L1/Romford Buses with existing arrangement. Contract start 2nd September, with existing buses

Tranche 132
Route 395 - awarded to L1/Heathrow Buses (formerly Metroline), contract start 20th June 2013. Allocated with new Enviro 200H from Southall Garage.

Route 398 - awarded to London OmniBus (formerly London Sovereign), contract start 2nd September with new buses

Tranche 133
Routes 13/N13 - retained by London Sovereign, contract start 2nd September with new buses (Volvo B5LH/Wright) from Edgware Garage

Route 82 - awarded to London Sovereign (formerly Metroline), contract start 2nd September with new buses (Volvo B5LH/Wright) from Edgware Garage

Tranche 134
Routes 187/487 - awarded to Metroline (formerly L1/Heathrow Buses - First Centrewest originally), contract start 20th June 2013 with new buses

Route 452 - awarded to Tower Transit (formerly Abellio London), contract start 7th December 2013 with new buses

Tranche 135
Routes 5/15/115/N15 - retained by L1/Romford Buses with existing arrangement. Contract start 2nd September, with new and existing buses (new buses are New Bus for London for Route 15)

Tranche 136
Route 34 - awarded to Tower Transit (formerly Arriva London North), contract start 2nd September 2013 with new buses

Route 107 - awarded to London Sovereign (formerly Metroline), contract start 14th September 2013 with new buses

Other News:
Route 295 moved to London United with existing buses from Shepherd's Bush Garage.
Route 23 moved to L1/Heathrow Buses with existing buses from Brentford Garage.
Route 9 to receive New Bus for London by June 27th 2013, existing buses to go to Route 111 from AV.
Westbourne Park and Willesden Junction garages ex-First sold to Transit Systems, branded as Tower Transit. Beddington Farm and Edmonton Garages ex-Arriva sold also to Transit Systems.
Routes 28/31/328/N28 moved to London United with existing buses from Park Royal Garage.
Atlas Road Garage is merged into Park Royal Garage, owned by London United/RATP.
Abellio London West and Surrey will be absorbed into L1/Heathrow Buses by 20th June 2013.
First Berkshire Slough Depot will be absorbed into L1/Heathrow Buses by 20th June 2013.

Routes to be tendered in May 2013:
Tranche 137
142 (Brent Cross-Watford Junction) - L1/Heathrow Buses
N142 (Hammersmith-Watford Junction) - L1/Heathrow Buses
258 (South Harrow Station-Watford Junction) - Arriva Shires & Essex
266 (Hammersmith-Brent Cross) - L1/Heathrow Buses

Tranche 138
85/85N (Kingston-Putney Bridge) - London General
163 (Wimbledon-Morden) - London General
164 (Wimbledon-Sutton) - London General
213 (Kingston-Sutton) - London General
N213 (Kingston-Croydon) - L1/Heathrow Buses

Tranche 139
139/139N (West Hampstead-Waterloo) - Metroline
189/189N (Brent Cross-Waterloo (extended)) -Metroline

Tranche 140
140/140N (Heathrow Central-Harrow Weald) - L1/Heathrow Buses
640 (Clamp Hill-South Harrow (-Colnbrook if retained by incumbent operator)) - L1/Heathrow Buses
335/335S (Chiswick-Eastcote, Victoria Road) - L1/Heathrow Buses

Tranche 141
157 (Crystal Palace-Morden) - Abellio London
264/264N (Tooting-Croydon) - Arriva London South
407 (Caterham-Sutton) - Abellio London
410 (Wallington-Crystal Palace) - Arriva London South

Tranche 142
95 (Hammersmith-Southall) - L1/Heathrow Buses
N95 (Trafalgar Square-Colnbrook, Heathrow North Garage) - L1/Heathrow Buses
105 (Heathrow-Greenford) - L1/Heathrow Buses
204 (Southall North-Edgware) - L1/Heathrow Buses
N69 (Southall North-Potters Bar) - L1/Heathrow Buses

L1/Group - The Story So Far

L1/Heathrow Buses

Heathrow Buses was formed in 2004, with the win of the tender of the route 140 and Surrey County Council routes 555, 556 (now withdrawn) and 557. This opened a base in Heathrow North. However, the original site was then swamped by Terminal 6 in 2006, so it was relocated to west of the site, still on the Bath Road. This garage is HN (Heathrow North). Also, in 2005, Brentford Dockside and Southall garages opened mainly due to tender wins of the 266, 267 and new routes such as 335 (South Harrow-Chiswick), 392, 456 (Chiswick-Greenford), 480 (Hanwell-Richmond) and 495 (Hanwell-Wimbledon), which we had won. They linked in with the expansion of the Tube network under Ken Livingstone.

Pre-merger, Heathrow Buses was a sizable company in West London, and Berkshire (with the 7series off Abellio/Arriva/First). Notable trunk routes operated by Heathrow Buses included 392 (Hanwell-Brixton), 278 (Turnham Green-Newington Green) and X26 (Heathrow-Croydon).

L1/Romford Buses

Romford Buses was formed in 2005, with the win of the tender of many Romford local routes. This opened the original UP base, firstly in Upminster. It is now in Hornchurch, due to expansion. Gradually, the company grew as more routes were added. The largest gain at this time was the 86/N86. Romford Buses bought shares in Alexander-Dennis in 2006.

Pre-merger, Romford Buses was centred around Romford and Hornchurch, taking many routes off First, Stagecoach and Arriva. The largest route operated pre-merger was the 5/N15 (Romford Market-Canning Town/Paddington) and 86/N86 (Stratford-Romford/Harold Hill).

I am part of the founding members of L1/Romford Buses, and initiated the merger with Heathrow Buses.

Merger -  L1/Group Buses

In 2008, Romford Buses and Heathrow Buses merged. The new joint group was named the L1/Group. Since then, the joint group bought hybrids from Alexander-Dennis, notably the Enviro 200 and Enviro 400 Hybrids. Since then, these buses have been the staple London bus for L1/Group. However, when Au became part of management in 2012, this has changed and currently, the well known "type trials" on Route 456 is currently in progress. 

Even two new logos has been trialled, made by (now) London OmniBus' Fred Brundell and (was) our Jake Nibhall. The garages with Fred's logo are now HN, DI, SA, SD and UP. The garages with Jake's logo are WE, HO and U. 

We are now currently the largest bus operator in London, and have grown to where the two "mega-garages"/headquarters of each company have doubled in size. Heathrow North Bus Garage is now situated in Colnbrook, and houses a bus refurbishment centre, the DVLA ex-Stanmore office, the small ADL factory for Enviro 200H and 400H for London (built under agreement from ADL) - this had come from Romford Buses' share in ADL. 

Expansion

After buying First Centrewest's Alperton, Hayes, Uxbridge and Greenford garages (and since selling Hayes to London OmniBus, Uxbridge to London Underground and Greenford to Ealing Community Transport, respectively), Stagecoach London's Upton Park, First Capital's Lea Interchange and Metroline's Brentford bases, we have gained a number of TfL routes, including the 25 between Oxford Circus (soon Victoria) and Ilford - the most frequent bus route in London, operated by the largest amount of buses (70). 
In June 2013, First Berkshire (Slough) and Abellio London West (and Surrey) will be under L1/Group control, thus gaining Slough, Byfleet and Fulwell bases under L1/Heathrow Buses.

Transport for London has since re-assigned the Heritage Routes to L1/Group, and has since added the routes 159H (as it was the last proper Routemaster route), 94H (as it passes Oxford Street) and 25H (to aid capacity and in joint with an extension).

Rail

In 2011 we had also won the bid to run the Great Western franchise temporarily after First Group's franchise had finished, then won the franchise outright in 2013. Also in 2013, we had won the combined Great Northern, South Central and Thameslink franchises, and was part of the consortium that won back the Virgin Trains franchise off First Group (along with Stagecoach and Virgin Groups).

Also in 2011, we had restarted the Crosslink service by Anglia Railways, now restructured with new Class 172 trains. L1/London Crosslink is now running successfully and has been profitable for a few years now.

And as this continues on, the L1/Group just grows. I'm now the head of L1/Group, and is making it my own.

Au - L1/Group.