Quarter Two Snippets
Stories, pictures and opinions from the last three months that don't merit a full article of their own...
28 June 2025
ABOVE: The Silvertown Tunnel in East London opened in April (see below). As well as conventional bus services using the tunnel to cross the River Thames, Transport for London also launched the "Silvertown Cycle Shuttle", or "SCS" service, to carry cyclists and their bicycles across the river, between dedicated bus stops north of the tunnel in Canning Town (Seagull Way) and south of the tunnel in North Greenwich (Millennium Way). The interiors of the buses used on this route have been especially fitted out to accommodate bicycles, and one can only use the service if one is actually carrying a bicycle (thus precluding your author, unless he hires one specifically)! On Tuesday 24 June, Stagecoach London 64201 (LF20 XKO), a BYD D8UR ADL Enviro200EV, is seen on the northern approach to the tunnel, heading for North Greenwich.
A Lesson in TfL Economics
It was six weeks after the 25-reg plate became available before I actually saw a bus carrying one. The new plate was available from 1 March, but I couldn't get up to see Delaines of Bourne's latest vehicle, which went straight into service that morning (178, AD25 DBL, an ADL Enviro400 City).
But London's streets - and the other places that I visited in March and early April - seemed not to have any new 25-reg buses to offer. There's usually one, somewhere, but not this time as far as I could tell.
Then, on Monday 31 March, Arriva London took over the Transport for London (TfL) contract on Superloop route SL6 (Russell Square to West Croydon), using new 25-reg ADL Enviro400EVs - the first such vehicles in London from ADL without involvement from its former partner BYD. It took me a couple more weeks to find an opportunity to track one down, when I found myself at Tottenham Court Road with a half hour in hand - plenty of time to pop down the road to Holborn!
The SL6 is quite a rare beast, running on Mondays to Fridays only, with 12 journeys from Croydon in the morning peak and 12 return trips to Croydon in the evening. (I wrote about the route, when it was called the X68, in an earlier article.)
Below is EE 6 (SK25 BBF), crossing High Holborn in the evening peak on Monday 14 April, with the 1750 service from Russell Square to West Croydon, the ninth of the day's 12 trips south. The white bar underneath the destination reads "First Stop West Norwood", reflecting that buses pick-up only as far as Waterloo and then run non-stop to West Norwood.
But London's streets - and the other places that I visited in March and early April - seemed not to have any new 25-reg buses to offer. There's usually one, somewhere, but not this time as far as I could tell.
Then, on Monday 31 March, Arriva London took over the Transport for London (TfL) contract on Superloop route SL6 (Russell Square to West Croydon), using new 25-reg ADL Enviro400EVs - the first such vehicles in London from ADL without involvement from its former partner BYD. It took me a couple more weeks to find an opportunity to track one down, when I found myself at Tottenham Court Road with a half hour in hand - plenty of time to pop down the road to Holborn!
The SL6 is quite a rare beast, running on Mondays to Fridays only, with 12 journeys from Croydon in the morning peak and 12 return trips to Croydon in the evening. (I wrote about the route, when it was called the X68, in an earlier article.)
Below is EE 6 (SK25 BBF), crossing High Holborn in the evening peak on Monday 14 April, with the 1750 service from Russell Square to West Croydon, the ninth of the day's 12 trips south. The white bar underneath the destination reads "First Stop West Norwood", reflecting that buses pick-up only as far as Waterloo and then run non-stop to West Norwood.
The SL6 isn't the most efficient use of resources. In the old days of the X68, buses used to work on other routes between X68 duties. They didn't have special branding so could be used efficiently.
Now, buses have to run from Norwood Garage to one end of the route to start work. In the case of 10 out of 12 journeys in each peak, they then return, out of service, from the other end to the garage. Only the first two journeys in each direction can be completed in sufficient time to enable the same vehicle to provide another journey - and they have to run back along the full length of the route in order to do so. That's a lot of driving without passengers. (If you're curious, you can download the working schedule from TfL here.)
So these buses spend a lot of time parked up as well, as they can't be used on any other service due to their Superloop branding. No weekend work, no Bank Holidays, no off-peak workings. So one round trip per day actually in service in most cases, Mondays to Fridays only.
A lesson in TfL economics...
There are more 25-reg buses around now, of course - a couple more appear in this article below.
A long way from home...
No, not me - for once I was quite local!
I spotted (below) Stagecoach South 11587 (YX23 OPO), an ADL Enviro400 MMC, in Amersham, Bucks, on rail replacement duties for Chiltern Railways - quite a long way from its usual haunt on the Portsmouth to Chichester section of the Coastliner 700. It is awaiting departure from Hill Avenue for Aylesbury Vale Parkway at 11am on Saturday 26 April.
I spotted (below) Stagecoach South 11587 (YX23 OPO), an ADL Enviro400 MMC, in Amersham, Bucks, on rail replacement duties for Chiltern Railways - quite a long way from its usual haunt on the Portsmouth to Chichester section of the Coastliner 700. It is awaiting departure from Hill Avenue for Aylesbury Vale Parkway at 11am on Saturday 26 April.
Introducing the Silvertown Tunnel
A significant piece of bus-friendly infrastructure opened in London on Monday 7 April, in the form of the new Silvertown Tunnel, broadly running from the Royal Docks, under the River Thames to North Greenwich. A new Superloop service, SL4, using the tunnel on its way from Canary Wharf to Grove Park, was introduced. The route uses BYD BD11 electric double-deckers, such as Go-Ahead Blue Triangle EBD 58 (LF74 TVV), which is seen, below, in Blackheath Village on Tuesday 24 June.
And here's the approach to the northern entrance of the tunnel itself, taken from an SL4 on Tuesday 8 April.
Bus trips through the tunnel are currently free of charge, but there's a charge for motorists, and charges were also applied at the same time to motorists using the nearby Blackwall Tunnel. In a wonderful demonstration of the Law of Unintended Consequences, there has reportedly been a marked increase in the number of motor vehicles using the free Woolwich Ferry, a couple of miles further east, to cross the river, since the charges were introduced through the tunnels.
Bus Stop Flags in need of updates
This bus stop flag, in Church Road, Penn, Bucks, is in need of an update. I stumbled across it whilst riding Carousel Buses route 31 (High Wycombe to Beaconsfield), now the main route to serve this stop (and not mentioned).
Given the state of the flag, I suspect that most of the routes listed here ceased to be a very long time ago, although the 377 does still exist, running between Hazelmere and Beaconsfield, albeit comprising of one return journey per day on Tuesday and Fridays only.
Given the state of the flag, I suspect that most of the routes listed here ceased to be a very long time ago, although the 377 does still exist, running between Hazelmere and Beaconsfield, albeit comprising of one return journey per day on Tuesday and Fridays only.
Not quite as old as the one above, but numerous bus stop flags in East Kent carry the Triangle branding which was applied to the main 'triangular' bus service between Canterbury, Whitstable, Herne Bay and back to Canterbury (now the 400 / 402 / 600 / 602 - see this recent article which covers parts of this).
It's a brand that ceased to be used by buses in May 2024, but it still appears on stop flags on all parts of the route. This one, below, was taken in Herne Bay on Saturday 19 April 2025. Looks like the Triangle brand will endure for some time to come. Is this where the phrase "eternal triangle" comes from?
A Bad Workman - or a Grubby Window?
They say that a bad workman blames his tools, and some of my photos aren't that great, I know. But I can only work with what I have. When I was writing about the 555 service (Lancaster to Keswick) recently (here and here), I finished with a photo of three buses in Keswick Bus Station.
But the upper front window was incredibly grubby, and I had to clean up that photo considerably to make it good enough to publish. I thought I would share the original, untouched, picture, to show how grubby that windscreeen really was, so here it is:
But the upper front window was incredibly grubby, and I had to clean up that photo considerably to make it good enough to publish. I thought I would share the original, untouched, picture, to show how grubby that windscreeen really was, so here it is:
ABOVE: A selection of Stagecoach ADL Enviro400s in Keswick Bus Interchange is headed by 10014 (PX12 DLV), on route X5 (Penrith to Workington). Behind is 19276 (MX08 GPZ, right) on route 554 to Wigton and Carlisle, and another, left, working route 78 to Seatoller. For a better version of this picture go to BusesTopDeck.co.uk/220
Stagecoach: Please clean your buses!
An Artificial London Bus
My recent article about Artificial Intelligence (A I) included a couple of 'photographs' that were created for me by various A I tools. One instruction to "draw me a London Bus" generated the image below, which appears to be a front-entrance / three-doored Routemaster (rear door open), with a traditional (reduced size) bonnet and grill that appear to be symbolic rather than practical. Actually, such is the retro-styling, with the nod to a traditional Routemaster design, that this might have won the "New Bus for London" design competition a decade or so back, if it had been entered!
Another Artificial London Bus
I stumbled across a fascinating animation on YouTube, depicting the evolution of London from 43AD to the present day. Generally very good, but I was disappointed at the depiction of the traditional London bus as a six-wheeled, left-hand drive, rear entrance vehicle:
Apart from being the wrong way round, the vehicle bears a strong resemblance to a London Transport Q1-class trolleybus from the 1940s (see a picture of the genuine article here), and this version even carries the route number 667, which was the trolleybus predecessor of today's TfL route 267 (Hammersmith to Fulwell) and certainly saw Q1s on it.
Smart Impressions
I stumbled across this ADL Enviro400 MMC, YX67 UYH (below), at Canterbury West station on Good Friday, 18 April, where it was covering rail replacement duties. Belonging to Crosskeys Coaches of Folkestone, I just thought it looked incredibly smart, clean and stylish, presenting its credentials in an appealing and eye-catching way. (And there's another one parked up behind.)
Crosskeys doesn't run service buses apart from some local school services, which is what these buses are usually used on.
Crosskeys doesn't run service buses apart from some local school services, which is what these buses are usually used on.
Play Time
When I was small, I remember an old London Transport RT, that had been converted into a playbus, regularly passing through my local area. I don't see buses that have been so-converted much nowadays, but I did find this one (below) parked on a private driveway (a large driveway!) in the suburbs of Ramsgate, Kent, on Saturday 19 April:
A bit of digging on the web suggests that G314 EJH was new to Isle of Man Transport in 1989, as its number 69 (BMN 69M). By 2019 it was in use as a Playbus by a firm based in Sandycroft, a few miles from Chester and just over the Welsh border (see photo here). Presumably it has changed hands again, given that it has ended up at the other end of the country.
TfL Rail lives!
Nothing to do with buses, but I was at Heathrow Airport's Heathrow Express / Elizabeth Line Terminals 2 & 3 station recently and noticed that the large signs promoting the two different train services into Central London were still referring to the Elizabeth Line as TfL Rail. This was the name applied by TfL to services on the-then future Elizabeth Line, in the period between TfL assuming those services from National Rail operators (from 2015), and the official launch of the Elizabeth Line in 2022.
Amazing to see that the maps haven't been updated three years on! The station is managed by Heathrow Express so it's probably down to that operator to update things. They can add Acton Main Line, between Ealing Broadway and Paddington, to the diagram at the same time, and maybe stations further east.
This is not the only surviving remnant of TfL Rail though. The "tube status" board at London Marylebone station, on the main concourse beside the ticket office, also still refers to TfL Rail!
Social Distancing Lives On
The "Hands, Face, Space" message at Canterbury Bus Station (below left) is in a much better state than the other, more current and relevant, messages, not to smoke, vape or walk across the bus manoeuvring area. And Lancaster Bus Station has these handy instructions (below right) on the floor at each stand to "please queue behind here for the bus", and to "please wait here until the person in front has moved forward". And actually it would be far less congested there if people did just that!
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A Sunday Bargain
Lancashire County Council is still offering its £1.00 fare for any journey wholly in the county, in the evenings after 1900 and all day on Sundays and Bank Holidays. I had forgotten all about this when I boarded a route 41 bus at Lancaster on a recent Sunday morning, and it was only hearing someone else commenting about it that prompted me to look at my ticket (paid for by contactless) and confirm that I had indeed only paid £1.00 for the 90 minute journey to Preston.
I didn't expect the next bus, route 125 to Bolton, to be £1.00 because the last half mile is over the border into Greater Manchester. But presumably the view has been taken that the short bit of the trip isn't worth the differential in fares, as it was indeed also only £1.00, for another 97-minute journey.
That's over three hours of scenic travel - Lancaster (dep 0850) to Bolton (arr 1202) - for two pounds! Bargain!
I didn't expect the next bus, route 125 to Bolton, to be £1.00 because the last half mile is over the border into Greater Manchester. But presumably the view has been taken that the short bit of the trip isn't worth the differential in fares, as it was indeed also only £1.00, for another 97-minute journey.
That's over three hours of scenic travel - Lancaster (dep 0850) to Bolton (arr 1202) - for two pounds! Bargain!
Innovation at its best (Part Two)
I wrote in Quarter One Snippets about a driver who used the sticky parts of a series of Weekly Bus Pass wallets to secure a loose hatch on the vehicle. Immediately after reaching Bolton on that very cheap trip from Lancaster, I took a service 20 bus to The Trafford Centre. On this Bee Network ADL Enviro200 of about 11-12 years' vintage, the driver's cab door kept falling open of its own accord.
The driver tried everything, from gentle closing, to slamming with all his might, but nothing would work, until ... you've guessed it ... he used the trusty sticky bit of a Weekly Bus Pass wallet to hold the door shut - and he only needed two or three of them this time!
The driver tried everything, from gentle closing, to slamming with all his might, but nothing would work, until ... you've guessed it ... he used the trusty sticky bit of a Weekly Bus Pass wallet to hold the door shut - and he only needed two or three of them this time!
Sweating the Assets
Here's Sullivan Buses AE10 (LX10 AVD), an ADL Enviro200, at Staines Bus Station on Saturday 31 May, working the 950 shuttle between Staines and the Thorpe Park resort (despite the destination blind, this is an early-evening trip back to Staines). Whenever I see buses on this route, they are always rammed, as in this case. It can't be very comfortable.
I believe there is a low bridge preventing the use of double-deckers, but this service would seem to be screaming out for some innovation (longer buses / bendy buses)?! Mind you, most of the people on board have probably been screaming all day, on rides far more 'uncomfortable' than this one!
I believe there is a low bridge preventing the use of double-deckers, but this service would seem to be screaming out for some innovation (longer buses / bendy buses)?! Mind you, most of the people on board have probably been screaming all day, on rides far more 'uncomfortable' than this one!
New Yutong Electric
Whilst out with friends sampling the TfL SL6 service on Friday 6 June, like you do, we found this Yutong U11 DD (below) working its way along Southampton Row towards Holborn. This is quite a rare model, with few in service in this country (the only two I know of are with Newport Bus).
This one, YK74 PEO, is registered to Westway Coaches, which is based in West Molesey in Surrey. Unfortunately the bus was in front of us, hence I only have this rear view. Westway doesn't run local bus services so this vehicle is presumably dedicated to special charters, private school workings and so forth.
This one, YK74 PEO, is registered to Westway Coaches, which is based in West Molesey in Surrey. Unfortunately the bus was in front of us, hence I only have this rear view. Westway doesn't run local bus services so this vehicle is presumably dedicated to special charters, private school workings and so forth.
A Spoiler Alert and a "Leave a Review" Request
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Nothing to do with buses, but I wanted to share two snippets of what could only be described, I think, as manifestations of modern life... First, I had to smile at this BBC News story (right) which appeared shortly after the final episode of the latest Doctor Who series was broadcast on 31 May. The headline might possibly have given away a few key plot points for anyone who hadn't, at that point, seen the episode. So it's very kind that, below this headline, is a warning that "this article contains spoilers". |
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Secondly, everyone is obsessed by reviews these days. I've lost count of the number of people in shops and restaurants, and online, who ask me to leave a review of their performance / service / product. Very tedious and I ignore these requests like the plague, whilst nodding insincerely to the person making the request, and promising to record my thoughts later.
I was tempted, though, by a request from Argos for a review of an item I had recently purchased. Let's see..
"Easy to use, worked straight out of the box, wide range of applications, would buy again."
Well ask a stupid question...
A Summer's Morning
Below is one of those chance shots where things just aligned. On Tuesday 24 June, three London buses cross Prince Charles Road in Blackheath, as I head along Prince of Wales Road. We're looking broadly south-west, and one assumes that is the Crystal Palace transmitter in the distance, about five miles away (and is there a fourth bus, a single-decker, in front of it)? The spire of All Saint's Church, Blackheath, is on the extreme left. Note also the Superloop paraphernalia on the bus stop, for the SL4 (Canary Wharf to Grove Park), which this picture was taken from.
Three More New Buses
Below is one of Stagecoach London's new ADL Enviro100 EVs; 46024 (YX25 NZB), outside Leytonstone Underground station on 24 June, working route W12 (Walthamstow to Woodford Bridge). This "dinky little bus," as a friend described it on seeing my photo, is spacious and comfortable, even if the two rows of seats at the back are rather high up compared to the rest.
My only complaint is that the information display for people using the wheelchair space completely blocks the view, for those in the seats behind, of the main information display. It's the clearly-visible yellow thing half-way down the bus. Surely it should be lower, so that those who need the wheelchair space don't have to crane their necks? Or it could be double-sided...?
My only complaint is that the information display for people using the wheelchair space completely blocks the view, for those in the seats behind, of the main information display. It's the clearly-visible yellow thing half-way down the bus. Surely it should be lower, so that those who need the wheelchair space don't have to crane their necks? Or it could be double-sided...?
Another recent new model on the market (there are so many at the moment) is the Volvo BZL DD with MCV bodywork, as demonstrated by Bee Network - Metroline VMD 376 (BD74 WLP), seen below in Chester Road, Old Trafford, working a diversion away from the official route of route 250 (Manchester, Piccadilly Gardens - The Trafford Centre).
Stagecoach London 66098 (LJ25 XNB), an MCV-bodied Volvo BZL (single-decker this time) stands (below) at Loughton Station between journeys on route W14 to Whipps Cross on Tuesday 24 June.
Coming Soon to The View from the Top Deck...
The pictures below are linked to stories that I will be bringing to you over the coming weeks. Stay with me for more adventures!
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* From this week, I am aiming to publish articles on Saturdays rather than Sundays. This relies on my ability, or otherwise, to prepare things in advance of the working week instead of after it! Let's see how I get on...