 | 14th Mar 2007 | London visit in March 2007
33 photos.
The weekend of March 10th and 11th 2007 marked the 75th anniversary of the opening of Victoria Coach Station, so a visit to that event was tied in with a further look at the modern scene in London, some seventeen months since my last visit for the end of Routemasters on route 38. After arriving at Heathrow on Friday March 9th, my itinerary was to take in a nostalgic trip to Morden, which had been the nearest tube station to where I stayed during my first visits in 1986/87. So three hours after getting off the plane, and four changes of tube train later, I finally emerged into daylight at the southern end of the Northern Line.
Outside, just as in 1986, routes 93, 118, 154, 157, 164 and 293 were all still running, but the buses (as might be expected after 20 years) had completely changed. Green London Country Atlanteans had given way to Mercedes Citaros, and Volvo B7TLs and Dennis Tridents had replaced Fleetlines. But where was my old route 156 (Clapham to Morden)? Cut back to Wimbledon it seemed, with new route 163 with Dennis Darts filling the gap. After a few pics, and a lunch break in a nearby cafe, it was time to head towards Croydon on route 154, with an East Lancs bodied Volvo B7TL doing the honours --my second one of the day, as a similar Bus Eireann machine had taken me to Dublin Airport that morning.
Croydon is now home to the superb Tramlink system, with the trams being of Bombardier manufacture, albeit a good deal quieter than the (in)famous Detroit Diesel powered buses from the same manufacturer which once graced the CIE fleet in Ireland. A further Irish link with Croydon's buses is the presence of several Wrights Gemini bodied double deckers, most of the ones I saw having registration numbers previously carried by Routemasters.
The next leg of the journey was to travel on a tram to Wimbledon, and then change to a 156 bus to Vauxhall. The tram journey was superb, and after observing the "interesting" red/blue/yellow livery on a South West Trains EMU in Wimbledon station, it was outside again to find the 156 stop. Now, Wimbledon on a Friday afternoon is a brutal place to try and get photos of buses, due to heavy traffic and daftly timed traffic light sequences. Of the few I took, none survived the delete button on my camera!!! The next stage was to leave the 156 at Vauxhall and change to an 87, which would reach Routemaster territory at Aldwych. The 87 journey provided the opportunity to sample a Go-Ahead London Wrights Gemini, in this case WVL109. Of all the varied bus types that have entered London service in recent years, surely this design has to be the most distinctive with its "D" shaped windscreens and stylised "W" grille.
Leaving the WVL at Trafalgar Square, RM324 soon appeared on route 15 to Tower Hill. Once aboard, I was struck by how quaint it looks now with its shallow window line, although its pleasant to see them still in use. The same bus took us back to Trafalgar Square, followed by a route 24 Alexander Enviro to Victoria, dinner in a local restaurant, and a final round trip on route 73 from Victoria to Kings Cross. Dare I use the word "flamboyant" to describe the driving technique of the Citaro bendy bus -- perhaps not, but it's still a bit weird to sit in the back of a bus and watch the front section partly disappear on bends or at junctions.
Saturday morning provided the chance to get some more RM trips in, preceeded by an 11 to Trafalgar Square. Former Blackpool bus RM1735 took me to the Albert Hall, and after pondering what route I would use to get back to Victoria, I regained the RM thread again back as far as Green Park, changing there to a packed route 38 Citaro, standing room only.
After observing the classic Royal Blue, East Kent and Crosville coaches on display alongside their modern white counterparts in the coach station, the afternoon was taken up with a trip on route 148, using one of Transdev's rare Scania OmniDekkas. Only 21 of these have been built so far, and it's not difficult to see why there hasn't been serious interest in them. From a passenger point of view they creak, rattle and squeak way too much for a new vehicle. Leaving the thing at Shepherds Bush, the return trip was on route C1, this time worked by an Alexander Enviro 200 Dennis Dart. Given the loadings on the service, it would seem that bigger buses would be an advantage. For most of the journey I was sitting at the back, over the engine, and with a standing load, it got unbearably stuffy.
To complete the day, some of the interesting vehicles around Victoria and Buckingham Palace Road were observed and photographed. Almost at the last minute, the coach scheduled to do the 18.00 departure for Dublin turned up, this being one of Bus Eireann's Irizar bodied Scanias of 2006.
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