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.

London OmniBus Updates

Time for your regular London OmniBus update!

Recent tender awards announced that we have won routes 223 and 420, and intend to operate both with existing MAN/MCV buses. Route 421 will get new Tempos replacing the MAN/MCVs.

Route 420 is a new route which runs from Heathrow Terminal 6 to Denham via West Drayton and Iver. As it follows the busiest part of commercial route 45, the 45 will be withdrawn when the 420 contract begins. What will be done with the three Optare Versas has yet to be decided. Route 41 will continue to operate between Terminal 6 and Britwell, albeit with an amended timetable including a few services terminating at West Drayton Rail Stn.

Over the course of the next few weeks, many buses are being refurbished including MAN/MCVs for Byfleet routes, Scania OmniCitys for route 195, Wright Meridian 113 for route 701 and 114 for route 218A. In addition, three buses are set to be withdrawn and either sold on or scrapped, these being 152 (CB52BUS), 104 (CU04AMK) and 106 (CU56AVP).

The MAN 18.290 / Plaxton President buses will arrive in late November to convert route 195 to double-deck, and one more B5LH / President has been ordered to take up services at Harrow Weald (HD).

That's all for now, another update will precede once any more major changes are announced!

OmniBus News : September

London OmniBus have been struggling a little since the win of trunk route 18. As a result, a lot of shifting has had to take place:
- Route 18/N18 will be run from Harrow Weald (HD) using new E40H / Enviro400H buses
- Routes 398, 408, 421 (DD) and 640 will remain at Harrow Weald (HD)
- Route 114/N114 will be retransferred back to Hayes West (HS) to make room for 18/N18.

The contract for route 195 has also been surrendered due to pressure from both TfL and L1/Group to convert the route to double decker (which we have not been able to provide). However it has been recently announced that the contract was retained by us, and with assistance from L1/Group we hope to be able to provide the double decker service wanted  by February. 8 Scania OmniCitys were drafted in to cover the 195 whilst the 408 got a few MAN MCVs last month, which have all already begun service. The new buses on route 408 will take over soon, following which the original MCVs will transfer again to East Hayes and Byfleet (which we obtained through L1/Group) for new commercial services. Route 421 will also have a mild service increase with leftovers from the 195. The 195 will get the four B5LH hybrid buses from Harrow Weald, before they are replaced by new MAN 18.290 / Plaxton President buses (two of which are already in service on route 114) and the single Enviro400. A few E45Hs destined for route 18 have thus entered service on the 114, 335D, 421D and 640, whilst others can be found on driver training for routes 18 and N18.

Our new services from Byfleet are:
39A: Chobham-Woking (Mon, Wed, Fri)
39B: Hermitage Estate-Woking (Thurs)
39C: Claydon Road-Woking (Tues, Thurs)
40: Ripley-Woking (Tues)
81: Woking-Barnesbury Estate
84: Chobham-Collingwood College SCHOOLDAYS ONLY
570: Ashford Tesco/Staines-Grovebarns loop (Mon, Wed, Fri)
571/572: Staines-Grange Farm (Mon-Fri Limited Service)
574: Ashford-Sunbury Tesco (Tues, Thurs)
637: Byfleet-Salesian School SCHOOLDAYS ONLY
663: Walton-Esher High School SCHOOLDAYS ONLY
690: Worplesdon-Kingfield Green SCHOOLDAYS ONLY

Thanks for reading our post, and we will keep you updated in times of many changes!
FRED BRUNDELL

Our Service Changes: 18th July

As I'm sure many of you are aware, June 22nd was the date of many service changes, garage swaps and other paraphernalia. Trying to keep you all up-to-date with what's going on, here's what's changing for us between then and now:

- Harrow Weald (HD) is now our property and will house routes 114/N114 from now and 335D from September.
- Enviro200s 331 to 335 have been swapped with London United for 25 MAN/MCV buses (numbered 401-415) as London United wanted to standardize chassis at their new garage, PA.
- We started running route 1B from Slough to Britwell via Trading Estates, which in turn became route 41 running alongside route 45 out of Heathrow Terminal 6.


In other news, we have won the National Express contract for route 701 (running from Heathrow to Woking Station). We have strangely decided to use more Meridians, but in the National Express livery for this service, as the company do not mind. The buses will be fully equipped with large luggage racks and seatbelts. The contract commences on August 31st with 3 buses.

Changes at London OmniBus + More Commercial Services

First up, recent changes:
- The Service Permit for 111H was cancelled by TfL and the service assumed control by them, the route will be tendered and awarded to another company on June 22nd.
- MB62BUS along with M524 and M1386 have passed to L1/Heathrow Buses
- LX3 has been renumbered 101 and reregistered 555MLX (was G7UYV)
- VLE27 has been renumbered 921 along with 7 other VLEs numbered 922-928 in order to double-deck route 49
- VA295, VP101 and VLP37 returned to Ensignbus
- ADE11 has been renumbered 951 and reregistered SN13ACH and will be allocated to the double deck support for route 421 at Hayes East garage
- 107-109 have received a new interior, new red and white exterior livery and new roller blinds
- Frequency on route 49 will be increased to every 30 minutes on 24th June


- HAYES EAST GARAGE RECODED AS EH (East Hayes)
- HAYES WEST GARAGE REMAINS AS HS
- HARROW WEALD NOW OUR PROPERTY CODED AS HD

--

As mentioned in the previous post, we were considering the introduction of two new routes running out of Heathrow Terminal 6.
L1/Group have bought out the Slough garage, and as per usual, their acquisition has given us route 1B, running between Slough and Britwell via Slough Trading Estate. Our operation of route 1B will commence on June 22nd. For route 1B, 4 brand new Optare Versa 11.5m buses were ordered.

The decision for the two new routes running out of Heathrow Terminal 6 are:
41 - Terminal 6, West Drayton, Langley, Slough, Trading Estates, Britwell (replacing route 1B)
45 - Terminal 6, West Drayton, Iver, Gerrards Cross, Beaconsfield.

For route 41, 3 more Versas were ordered to complement the buses already on route 1B.
For route 45, 3 9.5m Versas were ordered as the route is tight in areas.

Both routes will be operated from Hayes East, and commence on the 13th July.

The new buses will fall into the fleetlist like this:
851 - Optare Versa 11.5m - KX13DJC - B44F - WS (for route 1B, and eventually 41)
852 - Optare Versa 11.5m - KX13DJE - B44F - WS (for route 1B, and eventually 41)
853 - Optare Versa 11.5m - KX13DJG - B44F - WS (for route 1B, and eventually 41)
854 - Optare Versa 11.5m - KX13DJL - B44F - WS (for route 1B, and eventually 41)
855 - Optare Versa 11.5m - KX13DJM - B44F - WS (for route 41)
856 - Optare Versa 11.5m - KX13DJP - B44F - WS (for route 41)
857 - Optare Versa 11.5m - KX13DJR - B44F - WS (for route 41)
871 - Optare Versa 9.5m - KX13DJT - B32F - WS (for route 45)
872 - Optare Versa 9.5m - KX13DJV - B32F - WS (for route 45)
873 - Optare Versa 9.5m - KX13DJW - B32F - WS (for route 45)

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