Route 15 (Part 2) - Historic to Hybridful Operation

 Hello followers, after some time off i've decided to make a return. And what better way to start it off by posting about one of my favourite - and well established East London routes.

In the turn of 2011/2012, Route 15 recieved a brand new set of Hybrids, numbered 12128-12153. This is the 2nd upgrade the route has recieved within 8 years and i was duely shocked by this considering the fact it was retained with existing vehicles the year before. Here lies the modern day allocation sampled by 12140 and 12145.

At this point 10 years ago, this route was crew operated, with evening journeys extended to East Ham to allow changeovers to take place easier. At one point it fully ran to East Ham but since the Jubilee Line opened they felt the 15's passenger usage would drop. As a result the 15 was cut to Blackwall during the day, and left the 15B, renumbered the 115 in 1999 - on its own.

In August 2003 saw a big change to Route 15 operation. The route was no longer crew operated and was now OPO. In addition to this, it was also cut to terminate at Blackwall at all times instead of just during the day. The 115 still remains the link to East Ham, and was revised to run all day instead of just during the days and not evenings. However, two years later a new 'Heritage' 15 service started which runs between Tower Hill and Trafalgar Square. RM1968 samples what was the face of the 15, and is now for the Heritage service.

Its loyal home, Upton Park (U) also lost Route 15 to Bow (BW), in return for Routes 262 and 473 which were moved out of there to make room. However, it still retained the suburban 115 service. In June 2009, the 15 was once again reallocated. However it was done to make room for newly gained Route 205. It was moved to West Ham (WH) as a result.

In August 2010, the route was cut from Paddington to Regent Street in an attempt to cut congestion along Oxford Street and improve reliability of the route. This i must say wasnt the right thing to do and now passengers are left getting on the 159 and then changing onto the 15.

In September 2011, the route once again moved out of West Ham back to Bow thanks to its loyal base, Upton Park Garage being mothballed as a result of many Tender losses within the company. This route had to make way for many routes which moved to West Ham.

To complete this post, here's what 'was' on the 15 for 8 years. Sampled by 17932.