L1/Group Tube Strike Notice 29-30/04/14

Due to the tube strike, extra buses will be put on certain routes. Bus types and single/double decker status may not be kept. Strike extra buses with no London ticket machine will be free. Some non-London buses will be used. All extras are controlled from Heathrow North Garage:

L1/Heathrow Buses:

Route 16 will have 10 extra buses on the route - some will be loaned from Thames Travel, Oxford Bus Company and Go-Ahead Group. Passengers are recommended to take the 758 when possible.

Route 83 will have at least 7 extra buses on the route. Some buses will be loaned from Metroline

Route 237 will have 10 single decker E25Hs on the route, of which 9 are loaned from Go-Ahead London.

Route 278 will have at least 10 extra buses, which will be loaned from various places. Convertible training buses will be used on the route. 

Route 335 will be using all stored buses from HN as the Citaros will be used on Route X91. London OmniBus peak hour journeys will run throughout the day. This means at least 10 extra buses will be used on the route.

Route 392 will have at least 20 extra buses. All spare NBfLs will be used, and some E45Hs in various states of refurbishment will be taken from HN. Routemasters will be used on the route. Some buses will be loaned from Reading Buses and some buses from London OmniBus will be used. The extra buses will do short runs Brentford-Brixton (Reading Buses will do Turnham Green-Victoria).

Route 456 will have 10 extra buses to supplement, including Routemasters. Some more extra buses will include Sky SoloSRs and E45H displaced from 311.
Route 607 will have 6 extra buses, 4 from Beeline, 2 loaned from various sources.

Route 666 will run every 15mins throughout the day, and all except the actual school journeys will omit The Ride (Gunnersbury School), running between Kew Riverside and Southall North (all journeys).

Routes U1 and U3 will have extra double deckers (U1 shorts between Uxbridge and Ruislip).

Route X91 will have approximately 15 extra buses. Most will be from Non-London operations and Route 335 - Citaros, E25H, Optare TempoSR, E40D. Some coaches may operate the route from RailAir and some hired coaches will run the route. 

7series 74, 75 - No peak extra buses will run due to the buses being used at London routes.

Other bus routes will have at least three extra buses to help ease crowding and conditions, these will usually be from within the company.

Green Line 701/702 will serve Heathrow North Garage and Terminal 6 between Langley and Hammersmith. Travel is free between Heathrow North and Victoria due to tube strike, service will run every 20 minutes (between Slough and Victoria, normal service Bracknell-Slough). For fairness of customers, all tickets valid to Langley/Slough will be valid to Victoria during the tube strike.

Extra buses will be from the Beeline, 7series, 5series, Surrey Locals and Hemel Hempstead, and hired coaches will be used.

Green Line 748/758 will be free between Brent Cross and Victoria, all tickets to Brent Cross are valid to Victoria. Extra coaches will be provided when possible.

L1/Romford Buses:

Routes 5, 15 and 115 - at least 10 extra buses for each route loaned from Ensignbus, First Essex and Arriva will be used on the route.

Routes 25 and 205 - at least 44 extra vehicles (some buses, some coaches) will be used (22 each), from various sources, including Alexander Dennis, loaned buses from London United, Reading Buses, First Essex, Ensignbus, Blue Triangle, London Bus Company, Stagecoach amongst others. These will run between Stratford and Centrepoint TCR (25)/Baker Street (205).

Route 69 will have at least 7 extra buses, loaned from various sources.

Route 278: see Heathrow Buses.

Route 438 will have at least 10 extra buses loaned from Stagecoach.

Most of these services are not organised by TfL, but rather by the L1/Group instead.

NOTICE TO ALL DRIVERS:

Those who have called up their own garages and have been told that there they are not on a specific route, or are willing to work during their days off for extra pay (which is being offered during the Tube Strike), call Heathrow North to register for duties on the extra buses. Most drivers will either get a route they have been trained for, or will have an instructor to help out.

Berkshire, Surrey and Hemel drivers who are willing to help out in London are most welcome to, just call up Heathrow North for allocations.

L1/Heathrow Buses - Beeline, 7series & Surrey Local Changes 18/04/14

L1/Heathrow Buses have restructured their services, with minor timetable changes on the 7series, but major changes to some of the Surrey Locals routes:

7series

Feasibility studies have been done on all routes, and a restructuring of frequencies has occurred on the 7series routes:

7series 70: Mon-FRI every 20 mins, Saturday reduced to every 30mins, Sunday stays hourly

7series 70A: No change
7series 71: Mon-FRI: Peaks every 15mins, 1000-1300, 1800-2300 every 20mins, Sat-Sun stays every 30mins

7series 72: Mon-Sat every 15mins, Sun reduced to every 30mins

7series 73: Mon-FRI every 30mins, Sat decreased to hourly, Sunday increased to hourly. For Brooklands Museum - for certain events, the route is re-numbered 73A southbound only, runs every 30mins regardless of day, and is extended to Brooklands Museum/Mercedes Benz World.

7series 74: Mon-Sat every 20mins (thus increased Saturday service), Sunday no change (hourly)

7series 75: Mon-Sat decreased to every 12mins, Sun increased to every 20 mins. Night service still hourly.

7series 76: Mon-Sat every 20mins, Sun increased to every 30mins
7series 77: Mon-Sat increased to every 15mins Heathrow-Windsor only, decreased to every 30mins Heathrow-Dedworth (through service). Sunday service still every 30mins through.
7series 78: Mon-Sat still every 20mins, Sun decreased to hourly
7series 79: Mon-Sat decreased to every 30mins, Sun stays at every 30mins
7series 170: Mon-Sun stays at every 30mins
7series 171: Mon-Sat increases to every 15mins, Sun decreases to every 30mins
7series 172: Mon-Sun all every 30mins
7series 174: Mon-Sun every 30mins, every 15mins service between Garston and Heathrow with Green Line 724.
7series 175: Mon-FRI increased to every 12mins, Sat-Sun now at every 20mins
7series X74: no change (still every 30mins daily)
7series X75: no change (still every 30mins daily)
7series X78: Mon-Sat every 30mins, Sun hourly.

L1/Surrey Locals

Feasibility studies and a consultation has taken place, with large changes to take place on some routes:

9: Mon-Fri still every 30mins, Sat-Sun hourly
400: No change (still Mon-Fri limited service)
459: Mon-Fri no change in frequency, Sat increased to every 30mins, Sun increased to every 30mins. This route is diverted to serve Sheerwater, and will be coordinated with 7series 79 to provide an every 15min service between Sheerwater and Woking.
461: Mon-Sun increased to every 15mins. This route is extended to Staines from Addlestone. The timetable will be coordinated with 7series 79 so buses do not overlap Addlestone-Staines. The route will no longer serve Field Common Estate
461A: No change
513: Mon-Sat every 30mins, Sun hourly
514: Mon-Sat every 30mins, Sun hourly
515: Mon-Sat every 30mins
515A: Sunday increased to every 30mins
564: Mon-Sat reduced from every 30mins to every 40mins
566/567: Mon-Sat every 30mins
814: No change

L1/Beeline

9: See above (Surrey Locals)

2: Mon-Sat increased to every 20mins, Sun increased to every 30mins
3: Mon-Sun now every 30mins
4: Mon-Sun now every 30mins
6: No change
6A: Mon-Sun now every 30mins
8: Mon-Sun now every 30mins
53: Mon-Sun now every 30mins
151/151A: Mon-Sun now hourly
155: Mon-Sun now every 30mins
171/172: Mon-Sun now every 20mins each way
190: Mon-Sat increased to every 12mins, Sun increased to every 20mins
191: Mon-Sat increased to every 20mins, Sun increased to every 30mins
194: Mon-Sun increased to every 20mins
305: Mon-Sun increased to every 30mins
X94: Mon-Sun increased to every 30mins

All ex-Courtney operated routes are now by Thames Travel (again).

All changes are due to take place 18th April 2014. During Easter, these are the service levels expected:
Good Friday: Saturday service on all routes, except 7series 75 - Sunday service with earlier start, later finish.
Easter Saturday: Saturday service on all routes, except 7series 75 - Sunday service with earlier start, later finish (see Saturday timetable between 0400-0800, 1900-2300).
Easter Sunday: Sunday service on all routes.
Easter Monday: Saturday service on all routes.

LONDON OMNIBUS CHANGES including route 49

Route 49 is now nearly a year old, and the service has been very successful indeed. However, to meet the growing demand for travel along this corridor, a number of service changes will take place, mainly to route patterns:

NOT ALL SERVICES WILL RUN THE ENTIRE ROUTE:

- 4 morning services will terminate at Legoland (Windsor) from High Wycombe

- A few services during the day from Staines will divert at Windsor for Eton Wick via Datchet (numbered 49A), journeys are either return journeys or operated in conjunction with the Legoland services.

- Not all services will serve Marlow Court Gardens, instead passing by on the A404 direct to Maidenhead. Please check the timetable for service details to Marlow

- All services will continue to serve Maidenhead Town Centre and Bray, no services will by-pass these centres. One service (the 1620 from High Wycombe) will terminate at Maidenhead, Frascati Way before returning to High Wycombe.

- Monday-Friday service will be increased from every 30 minutes to every 20 minutes with new earlier and later journeys from both termini but with some journeys terminating at Legoland or Eton.

- Saturday service will stay at every 30 minutes but with minor timetable alterations including services to Legoland and Eton.

- Sunday service will remain at every 60 minutes with extra shuttles to (AM) and from (PM) Legoland Windsor.

The new PVR for routes 49/49A is 13, which means that we have had to purchase some new buses:

- Following major engine problems with 923 (PO54ACJ), we have regrettably had to scrap this bus.

- Our new acquisitions include some new and used buses:

                                    YJ55WRC, numbered 301, VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet (temporary)

                                    SN56AYB, numbered 351, Enviro200 10.7m - already in service

                                    BU14EHW, numbered 118, Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse 12m
                                    BU14EHY, numbered 119, Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse 12m

New white blinds have been applied to all our remaining EVLs in preparation for these changes.

In addition, a special service will run tomorrow (13th April 2014) in a new venture from London OmniBus joint with London Bus Museum to provide long-distance services to Brooklands from Staines and High Wycombe. The service will be numbered 49C and will operate all day from High Wycombe to Brooklands with some journeys serving Marlow and others service Eton Wick between Maidenhead and Windsor. After Staines the route will follow L1/Heathrow Buses 73 to Weybridge before turning right into the LBM grounds. Please check the timetable for details.

The four buses running on this service tomorrow have been announced as:

#HS901 - Optare Versa 118 (BU14EHW)

#HS902 - Wright Eclipse 120 (BN14CVF)

#HS903 - Wright Meridian 111 (OM61BUS)

#HS904 - Leyland Lynx 105 (555MLX)

#HS905 - Optare Versa 883 (KX13DJW)

  with Versa 882 (KX13DJV) acting as our spare and President 963 (YN13AWT) on the Museum site

Finally, regular users can now opt to purchase the 49ticket, a new smartcard service which you can update with our London OmniBus app and make as many or as few journeys as you wish in any given time without being charged. A £10 deposit is required for the card; the app is free.

Other changes:

We have lost route U9 to Arriva the Shires, but won new routes 420 and 431.

     New Optare Versas have been ordered for route 420, and new buses have yet to be ordered for route 431. Route 420 follows much of our commercial route 45, and this will be discontinued when route 420 commences. Some services on route 41 (T6 - Britwell) will also be curtailed to West Drayton Station. The surplus buses from route 41 will transfer to route 49 to dispose of the old vehicles which have just entered service. Buses from routes U9 and 45 will either move to other areas within the company or transfer to Carousel Buses in High Wycombe.
     The new bus for route 421 has been announced as London's first Wright Eclipse, numbered 120 (BN14CVF), which was ordered alongside the two new buses for route 49.

WLTM March 2014 Tenders (from TfL)

Tranche 199:
159/159N: Retained by Arriva London South with new NBfL, contract start 13th December 2014
495: Retained by L1/Heathrow Buses with existing buses, contract start 1st November 2014

Tranche 200:
278/278N: Retained by L1/Group Buses with existing buses, contract start 1st November 2014
438: Awarded to Arriva London North (formerly L1/Romford Buses), contract start 1st November 2014

Tranche 202:
117/N117: Retained by L1/Heathrow Buses with existing buses (new buses for N117), contract start 1st November 2014
416: Retained by L1/Heathrow Buses with existing buses, contract start 1st November 2014

Tranche 202A:
431: Awarded to London OmniBus with new buses, contract start 18th October 2014

Other News:
Route 311 is partly converted to NBfL unofficially, for driver training and eventual early introduction before the official conversion date, due to an increase on Route 392.

NBfL Conversion Timetable (all LTs):
24 - 22nd June 2013 (LT9-36)
9 - 22nd June 2013 (LT37-49, 51-70, LT99)
11 - 21st September 2013 (LT70-98)
15 - 2nd November 2013 (LT100-111, 166-180)
392 - 2nd November 2013 (LT1, LT50, LT111-165)
390 - 30th November 2013 (LT181-204)
38 - 7th December 2013 (LT2-8, LT205-260)
16 - 1st February 2014 (LT261-282, 284-286)
7 - 15th February 2014 (LT283, 287-315)
148 - 15th February 2014 (LT316-343)
311 - 31st May 5th April 2014 (LT344-371 - this includes a 392 increase)
49 - 7th June 2014 (LT372-396)
22 - 21st June 2014 (LT397-423)
10 - 1st November 2014 (LT424-452)
8 - 1st November 2014 (LT453-485)
74 - 1st November 2014 (LT486-516 - this includes a 392 increase)
98 - 1st November 2014 (LT517-550)
159 - 13th December 2014 (LT551-

April Tenders:
Tranche 205:
414: Putney Bridge-Maida Hill (Abellio London)

Tranche 210:
177: Peckham-Thamesmead (Stagecoach)
322: Crystal Palace-Clapham Common (Abellio London)
432: Brixton-Anerley (Arriva)
G1: Streatham-Battersea (London General)

Tranche 211:
240: Edgware-Golders Green (Metroline)