When Boris Johnson was elected mayor in 2008, he planned to axe all Bendy buses in London and replace them with Double Decks and increase there frequency (Apart for routes 507, 521). It is a shame to see that today, December 9th, 2011 is the last day that we'll see a london bendy bus service on a London bus route.
In 2002, Ken Livingstone (Current Mayor at that time) was planning with transport officials how they can make bus routes with such high passenger rates decrease. At this time they were also conversating replacements for the 1963 AEC Routemaster. They came up with a decision to introduce Mercedes-Benz Citaro bendy buses on 12 London bus routes over the course of 3 years. In 2002, TfL decided to trial these Citaro's on Routes 507(Waterloo-Victoria)/521(Waterloo-London Bridge), the trial was proven to be successful and it was decided that these Citaro's will be rolled out on more of London Bus Routes. In November 2002, a new route to London had appeared. Route 436 (Lewisham, Shopping Centre-Paddington). Tfl estimated that route 436 would be a busy route in London as its taken some of the payload of passengers off of Route 36. Route 436 was to gain 24 Citaro's from New Cross Garage.
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| Route 436, London Central (NX), MAL44, BD52LMX seen at Paddington (C) The All Over London Bus Blog |
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| Route 521, London General (RA), MAL9, BX02YZO seen at Aldwych/Holborn (C) Lee Thatcher |
In 2003, another new route had appeared in London. Route 453 (Marylebone-Deptford Bridge). Route 453 just like the 436 with the 36, was made to take some ease off of route 53. Route 453 gained 25 Citaro's from Plumstead Garage. But in February 2008 the route was transferred from Stagecoach (Selkent) to London General from Mandela Way Garage. (See below for more information on the transfer of route 453 from Stagecoach to London General in the 2008 section). In November 2003, TfL decided to convert route 18 (Sudbury-Euston) into a bendy-bus operation from a double decker operation. Route 18 is somewhat of London's busiest routes. the route gained Citaro's from Willesden Junction Garage.
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| Route 207, First Centrewest (HS), EA11007, LK53FBA seen at White City (C) Lee Thatcher |
This bus was originally bought for route 18
In 2004, London saw its busiest year with the amount of bendy buses which came into service on London Bus Routes. Route 25 (Ilford-Oxford Circus) is one of London's busiest routes. The route was previously operated by First before the route was converted to a bendy-bus operation and transferred to Stagecoach London. The route gained some Citaro's from Waterden Road Garage. But the garage was closed in 2008 to make way for the Olympics Staduim. The route and its bendy buses were transferred in late 2008 to West Ham and Rainham Garage (Partial Running's). Route 149 (London Bridge-Edmonton Green) was also one of London's busiest routes. The route gain some Citaro's from Edmonton Garage. Route 73(Stoke Newington-Victoria) is one of London's busiest routes. Ken Livingstone was axing Routemasters in 2004. TfL and Ken decided that the route would gain some Citaro's from Lee Valley Garage. In November 2004, Route 12 was converted from a Routemaster operation to a Bendy Bus Operation just like route 73. The route gained 29 Citaro's from Camberwell Bus Garage.
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| Route 12, London Central (Q), MAL82, BX54UDM seen at Westminster Bridge (C) The All Over London Bus Blog |
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| Route 12, London Central (Q), MAL86, BX54UDT seen at Westminster Bridge (C) The All Over London Bus Blog |
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| Route 12, London Central (Q), MAL78, BX54UDH seen at Westminster Bridge (C) The All Over London Bus Blog |
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| Route 12, London Central (Q), MAL76, BX54UDE seen at Trafalgar Square (C) The All Over London Bus Blog |
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| Route 29, Arriva London (E), MA37, BX04NDZ seen at Warren Street (C) Lee Thatcher |
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| Route 12, London Central (Q), MAL63, BX54EFD seen at Trafalgar Square (C) Lee Thatcher |
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| Route 207, London Central (On Loan to (HS) First Centrewest), MAL85, BX54UDP seen at Hayes By-Pass (C) Lee Thatcher |
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| Route 12, London Central (Q), MAL92, BX54UEA seen at Oxford Street (C) Lee Thatcher |
In April 2005, Route 207(Hayes By-Pass- White City) converted from a double decker operation to a bendy bus operator. Route 207 is the busiest bus route in the west of London. Hence the reason why the route gained 26 Citaro's from Hayes Garage. In Late 2005, Route 29 (Wood Green-Trafalgar Square) converted from a double decker operation to a bendy bus operation with 29 Citaro's from Enfield Garage. Route 38 (Clapton Pond- Victoria) was also converted around the same time to a bendy bus operation from a Routemaster operation. Route 38 is one of the most interesting routes in London which I will explain later on in this post.
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| Route 207, First Centrewest (HS), EA11055, LK05FCU seen at White City (C) Lee Thatcher |
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| Route 207, First Centrewest (HS), EA11061, LK05FDA seen at White City (C) Lee Thatcher |
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| Route 73, Arriva London, MA122, BX55FVZ seen at Victoria on Fire (C) Lee Thatcher |
In January 2008, Route 453 was transferred to London General from Stagecoach London. The reason being is that Stagecoach London was operating the route 453 dreadfully. TfL decided to give London General a chance and since then they've been much, much better at operating the 453.
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| Route 12, London Central (On loan from MW to Q), MAL110, BL57OXM seen at Trafalgar Square (C) The All Over London Bus Blog |
On the 6th June 2009, the first bendy bus route converted to another operation. Route 507, Route 507 converted to 12m Rigid Citaro's from 18m articulated Citaro. The PVR was increased to 15. Route 521 was converted on the 8th June 2009 with the same buses. The routes PVR increased to 25.
In November 2009, Route 38 converted to a double decker operation. The route has to be one of the most interesting routes in London. When the route converted, it gained DB300/Gemini 2's and Enviro400's with a PVR of 72!!! Making this the bus route in London with the highest PVR. Th
On 16th October 2010, Route 149 converted to a double decker operation with 36 new DB300/ Gemini 2's from Tottenham Garage.
On 13th November 2010, Route 18 converted to a double decker operation with 48 new Volvo B9TL/Gemini 2's from Willesden Junction Garage.
On 25th June 2011, Route 25 converted to a double decker operation with 59 Volvo B9TL/ Gemini 2's from Lea Interchange Garage. Route 25 was transferred from Stagecoach to First for this conversion.
On 3rd September 2011, Route 73 converted to a double decker operation with a mixture of DB300/Gemini 2's and B5LHybrid/ Gemini 2's from Stamford Hill Garage. The route gained a PVR of 51.
On 24th September 2011, Route 453 converted to a double decker operation with 35 Enviro400's from Mandela Way Garage. Upon the time of the conversion not all of the 453's buses were delivered and the route had to use buses from Route 45 at Camberwell Garage.
On 5th November 2011, Route 12 converted to a double decker opeation with a mixture of Volvo B9TL/Gemini 2's and B5LHybrid/ Gemini 2's from Camberwell Garage. The route gained a PVR of 41
On 19th November 2011, Route 436 converted to a double decker operation with a mixture of Enviro400's and Enviro400H Hybrid from New Cross Garage. The route gained a PVR of 32
On 10th December 2011, Route 207 will convert to a double deck operation with 35 new Scania OmniCity's from Hayes Garage. December 9th 2011 is the last time we see a London Bendy bus in service with a London bus route.....well for now at least. Who knows they may reappear in London again.
Thank You for reading this post, we would like to say thank you to Lee Thatcher for helping to supply the pictures.
Very good info Rhys mate good pics as well nice to see Lee Thatcher being nice and giving you lots of photos! Keep up the good work Rhys mate.
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