All Over London Bus Blog: ¼ of a Century + 1 Year - 26 Years

Hi Everyone, it has been a while since I have posted, my last post was on the subject of Metrobus 30th Anniversary and anyone who read that post knew this post was coming!

Route 261 was the longest running route in the LRT/TFL network to be contracted to a private company, it was operated by Metrobus for 26 years which is ¼ of a century and 1 year, Metrobus was the First private company to operate this route as it was previously run by London Transport which was a public company. Seeing as this is a milestone I have used previous calendars to calculate the amount of days this service has been operated by Metrobus including Christmas days as buses still run after 0:00 Hours, it is approximately 9510 days over the past 25 years including leap years. Please note that figure will of course be debatable for many reasons.

The Metrobus running numbers for the 261 were MB 1+ and from this you can tell how long it has been with the company as it has the top series of running numbers in the company, even though running numbers do not mean anything, as far as I know these numbers are mainly used to identify buses in service. I personally have always liked the way that Metrobus display their running numbers, it is always on a Yellow Card and placed inside a plastic pocket on the front windscreen and I personally think it is more unique than all other London operators, it looks very neat and can be easily spotted by drivers as well as enthusiasts, (When looking at the photos below and try to read the running numbers on the cards).

The year 2013 has seen a lot of changes in London Buses and quite a few routes that have had long histories with either garages or operators have moved on such as the 126 with Dartford Garage for 17 years and the 230 with Leyton Garage for 40 years, we have seen the departure of First London which served London’s streets from 1997 – 2013, the last ever First Capital East bus departed on Route 165 towards Abbey Wood Lane on the 27 September, routes 233 & 434 returning to Metrobus, routes K1 and K3 to transfer to Abellio London which had been operated by London United many years, routes 327 and 491 to Go Ahead London and routes 67 and 106 passing to Arriva London.

This year has also seen a new operator to London Buses which is named Tower Transit which is owned by Transit Systems of Australia who acquired 3 of First London’s Garages in June, two weeks later took over route 425 and in August the N550 & N551 from other operators. It should be known Tower Transit is not First London, they are a different operator altogether.

Back on topic, the 261 is now operated by Stagecoach London from Bromley Garage where it was originally operated by London Transport when the route began in September 1982. This is the first time Stagecoach have operated the 261, but to add on Bromley Garage were the first to operate the service, in those days the 261 ran as far as Orpington, then later withdrawn and cut to Bromley Common Garage.

The 261 is now operated with Standard Stagecoach Spec Enviro 400s and the full fleet list of allocated vehicles is provided later in this post. The award of this route to Stagecoach was probably one of the most surprising, shocking and upsetting for some tender award of the year. I myself was certainly in shock the day it was announced! In all fairness I do wish Stagecoach Selkent well with this route and the R5, R7 & R10 as in the past Bromley & Catford Garages have lost many routes to other operators, two of them will return next year which are the 54 & 75 to Catford Garage.

The change is going to take some time to get used to, even though my local routes are a mixture of Stagecoach & Metrobus which are my two favourite operators in London.
I am very sure the regular passengers of the 261 will notice a complete difference in the service! What I am more concerned about is any passenger that fails to read blinds, so I expect some to mix up the 208 & 261 in future as both buses will show "Lewisham Station" on the front! It will no longer be Stagecoach Vs Metrobus on the 208 & 261 from Bromley to Lewisham, but colleague vs colleague at TB Garage! I say this because once my friend and I had a mini debate on which bus is quicker to Lewisham from Bromley, so we decided to have a race, I took the 261 whilst he took the 208 and yes both buses split at Bromley Market Square at the same time, my bus got to Lewisham Station before his by 3 minutes.

Some History about the 261

The 261 began in 1982 replacing part of Route 94 which ran from Bromley Rise – Orpington. It ran from Lewisham – Orpington and to Brockley Rise on Saturday shopping hours and was operated from Bromley Garage with Routemaster double deckers. One very unusual thing about the 261 is that the service on Saturday has always had a increased frequency and has been running like that for 31 years, the last day the increased frequency operated was 23^rd November 2013.

In 1983 the 261 was converted to single decker operation and the single deckers used were Leyland Nationals, which were then replaced by Leyland Titan Double deckers the next year! In 1985 the route was withdrawn between Brockley Rise and Lewisham. In 1986 the route was withdrawn between Orpington and Bromley Common, Bus Garage with the old section replaced by other routes.

On 21^st November 1987 Metrobus took over the service where the route was withdrawn between Bromley Common The Crown and Bromley Common, Bus Garage, Leyland Olympian Roe's were used to operate the 261. During the first 13 years of operation special journeys on the 261 ran beyond Bromley Common to Green Street Green and from Pratts Bottom Northbound, but this was withdrawn in 2001. In 1996 a new contract began on the 261 which required new buses and the buses ordered Volvo Olympians, the new contract began on 23/11/1996. The Volvo Olympians only lasted 5 years on the route and in 2001 the contract called for new buses again, the buses ordered were Trident Lolynes and the contract began on 01/12/2001. In 2006 Metrobus retained the contract for the 261 for a 3rd time and again it got new buses this time Scania Omnidekkas, the contract began on 02/12/2006 and for the first time it gained a 2 year extension from 03/12/11 until 29/11/13. In 2007 the route was extended from Bromley Common to Princess Royal Hospital in Locksbottom providing a direct link from Bromley Town Centre to the grounds of the hospital which is a bit similar to the 358 which goes past it, but does not actually enter the grounds of the hospital. So far the 261 has managed to gain brand new vehicles at every contract, unlike the busier trunk route 208 which has retained existing buses a few times.

A Full Fleet List of Vehicles that have been allocated to the 261 under Metrobus has been provided below.

Please note various single deckers have been used on the 261 in the past, some as odd workings and some for the increased frequency on Saturday service which has now been discontinued as of today.

1987-1996 Leyland Olympian Roe, acquired from West Yorkshire PTE

UWW 13X

UWW 14X

UWW 16X

CUB 60Y

CUB 61Y

CUB 63Y

CUB 64Y

CUB 66Y

CUB 68Y

CUB 69Y

CUB 71Y

1996-2001 – Volvo Olympians

817 P817 SGP

818 P818 SGP

819 P819 SGP

821 P821 SGP

822 P822 SGP

823 P823 SGP

824 P824 SGP

825 P825 SGP

826 P826 SGP

828 P828 SGP

829 P829 SGP

2001-2006 – Trident / East Lancs Lolynes

417 LV51 YCC

418 LV51 YCD

419 LV51 YCE

420 LV51 YCF

421 LV51 YCG

422 LV51 YCH

423 LV51 YCJ

424 LV51 YCK

425 LV51 YCL

426 LV51 YCM

427 LV51 YCN

428 LV51 YCO

2006 – 2013 Scania / East Lancs Omnidekka

935 YN56 FDK

936 YN56 FDL

937 YN56 FDM

938 YN56 FDN

939 YN56 FDP

940 YN56 FDU

941 YN56 FDV

942 YN56 FDX

943 YN56 FDY

944 YN56 FDZ

945 YN56 FEF

946 YN56 FEG

New Vehicles allocated to the 261 with Stagecoach

2013 – Present - E40D/Enviro 400s

10184 SN63 NBD

10185 SN63 NBE

10186 SN63 NBF

10187 SN63 NBG

10188 SN63 NBJ

10189 SN63 NBK

10190 SN63 NBL

10191 SN63 NBM

10192 SN63 NBN

10193 SN63 NBX

10194 SN63 NBY

10195 SN63 NBZ

Now Enough Reading. Time For Images!

Leyland Olympian Roe

Volvo Olympians

Trident / East Lancs Lolynes

Scania / East Lancs Omnidekka

This here is one of the older Tridents ordered for the 161, they were regular visitors on 261.

Here we have one of the older batch of Omnidekkas for route 320, these were regular visitors on the 261

Omnicitys were no stranger to the 261. In 2010 974-978 spent about 6-7 months on the route as these did not have "Downham" on the blinds for route 320, so inserts had to be ordered before allowing the 5 Omnicitys to return to the 320.

Anyone who is a regular user of the 261 must have at least seen one of these single deckers or even been on one! This was the most common type of single decker to get on the 261 for a number of years, this bus is allocated to the 358. Depending on the time of day this bus can cope with a load of passengers from the 261.

It should also be known that single deckers have never been a stranger to the 261 route and it has happened many of times in the past, so it is not particularly unusual at all. I myself have used single deckers on the route a few times and they can cope depending on the time of the day.

The appearance of UWW13X & The Last two Metrobus Trips on Route 261

During the last day, preserved by UWW13X done two rounders on the 261 starting from the original routing, Bromley Common The Crown - Lewisham Station and back, then Bromley Common, The Crown to Green Street Green.

Here are some photos

UWW13X at Plaistow Green

UWW13X at Lewisham Bus Station

I do not normally do last trips on bus routes, but because the 261 was the only of my local routes that have not changed operator and the longest running route to be operated by a private company, I decided to do the last trips, it was worth it as the very last bus on the 261 was shadowed by preserved bus UWW13X, which ran on the 261 on the first day of Metrobus operation. I managed to get quite a few side by side shots at both terminus's of the 261.

939 YN56FDP as MB 7 & UWW13X before the departure of the second to last journey of the 261 under Metrobus at Princess Royal Hospital

939 YN56FDP as MB 7 & UWW13X just after arrival of the second to last journey of the 261 under Metrobus
at Lewisham Bus Station

939 as MB 7 & UWW13X
939 Showing Lewisham Station
13 Showing Green Street Green

939 YN56FDP as MB 7 & UWW13X
The Final 261 journey under Metrobus
939 went to Princess Royal Hospital
13 went to Green Street Green

All Change for Route 261!
All I can say is. I found it very strange to be on the 261 as a Stagecoach bus. It is just like being on the 208. As we can see here normal Stagecoach Spec Voith Enviro 400s MK1 Enviro 400, without the bumper.

All Rights reserved Robert Mighton - Lee
I have saved this photo until last. Here we have 10190 again later in the day.
This turn has not been used on the 261 for many years, now that Bromley Garage are running the route it should be quite a frequent turn

All Rights reserved Robert Mighton - Lewisham
Last Shot. Side by side shot of the 208 & 261 in Lewisham Bus Station. The two services to Bromley which take different routings before meeting up again at Bromley Civic Centre

A big thank you to all those who allowed me to use their photos in this post.

Thanks for Reading!

Feel free to Comment Below!

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5 comments:

LondonBusRoute2617:20 am, December 01, 2013
There could be a day when one of the 63-reg Enviro 400s from the 261 goes onto the 208 and one of the 53-reg Tridents from the 269 or 638 goes onto the 261.
MetrobusStagecoachBusEnthusiast7:10 am, December 02, 2013
The ex-261 Omnidekkas are on the 161, 320 and 353 right now. I don't know where the double decker Omnicities have gone though. They never go on the 320 any more and usually went on the 261. I hope the R9 gets converted to a double decker so the double decker Omnicities can go on that route.
MetrobusStagecoachBusEnthusiast7:22 am, December 06, 2013
I think the rest of the ex-261 Omnidekkas are going to be painted blue and are going to Crawley garage (CY).

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¼ of a Century + 1 Year - 26 Years - 1 Operator: All Change for Route 261!

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