Transport for London (TfL) London, England

[MVTArider]

Back at the end of February this year I was able to take a trip to the London area and do a bit of transit fanning on the various modes. Here's a fairly current look at some of the system:

• Red route buses:

I believe these are all privately owned and operated under contract by a variety of operators. Major operators/contractors in the London network include Abellio, Arriva, London United|RATP Group, Metroline, and Stagecoach. You can find others as well. Common new models are of course the Wrightbus New Routemaster (Borismaster) and also the Gemini 3, and Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 and 400 MMC version. A large number of older Enviro 200, 400, eclipse Gemini and Gemini 2 were also seen. Beyond those there are also some other makes and models depending on the contractor.

The electric buses are doing well it seems, route 507 and 521 are run completely with the Alexander Dennis Enviro 200EV on BYD chassis:

 

...and a short ride clip of one.

• London Trams

Trams serve the Croydon area to the south of London. A mix of equipment is operated, with the older refurbished Bombardier Flexity-Swift CR4000 and newer Stadler Rail Variobahns.

 

• London Underground

A mix of older and newer equipment is operating. Piccadilly Line was still the 1973 stock while a couple of others I rode were more recent. Open gangways are the standard now for all new trainsets. This helps a bit with some of them ore crowded periods and also with some of the older stations where the back set of doors on the train won't open! I didn't get a lot of photos of the Underground equipment due to the general poor photography conditions in the stations which make for blurry and dark shots, plus all the crowds which make it hard to get clear shot anyways. Here are a few however.

• DLR - Docklands Light Railway

Finally we have the DLR trams, the DLR is completely automated (think Vancouver SkyTrain) and consists of multiple lines around the Docklands area in the southeast of Greater London. The majority of the equipment I observed were the newer Bombardier B07 type. However a few of the older cars were also seen.

 

 

 
I was also able to ride once on the Overground, however I didn't get any significant photos, so I'll leave that out. Overall a very impressive system.
This is my main photo collection for stations, stops, and vehicles of Transport for London if interested: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thetransitcamera/collections/72157680919743146/

[RailBus63]

Nice shots!  

Interesting that the Tube stock and the Docklands cars have longitudinal seating with armrests.

[Blue Bus Fan]

London Underground has retired the last D Stock train on the District line:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/farewell-tour-for-district-line-train-being-taken-out-of-service-a3519541.html

[Centralsmt]

On ‎2017‎/‎04‎/‎19 at 11:01 PM, MVTArider said:

Back at the end of February this year I was able to take a trip to the London area and do a bit of transit fanning on the various modes. Here's a fairly current look at some of the system:

• Red route buses:

I believe these are all privately owned and operated under contract by a variety of operators. Major operators/contractors in the London network include Abellio, Arriva, London United|RATP Group, Metroline, and Stagecoach. You can find others as well. Common new models are of course the Wrightbus New Routemaster (Borismaster) and also the Gemini 3, and Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 and 400 MMC version. A large number of older Enviro 200, 400, eclipse Gemini and Gemini 2 were also seen. Beyond those there are also some other makes and models depending on the contractor.

The electric buses are doing well it seems, route 507 and 521 are run completely with the Alexander Dennis Enviro 200EV on BYD chassis:

 

...and a short ride clip of one.

• London Trams

Trams serve the Croydon area to the south of London. A mix of equipment is operated, with the older refurbished Bombardier Flexity-Swift CR4000 and newer Stadler Rail Variobahns.

 

• London Underground

A mix of older and newer equipment is operating. Piccadilly Line was still the 1973 stock while a couple of others I rode were more recent. Open gangways are the standard now for all new trainsets. This helps a bit with some of them ore crowded periods and also with some of the older stations where the back set of doors on the train won't open! I didn't get a lot of photos of the Underground equipment due to the general poor photography conditions in the stations which make for blurry and dark shots, plus all the crowds which make it hard to get clear shot anyways. Here are a few however.

• DLR - Docklands Light Railway

Finally we have the DLR trams, the DLR is completely automated (think Vancouver SkyTrain) and consists of multiple lines around the Docklands area in the southeast of Greater London. The majority of the equipment I observed were the newer Bombardier B07 type. However a few of the older cars were also seen.

 

 

 

I was also able to ride once on the Overground, however I didn't get any significant photos, so I'll leave that out. Overall a very impressive system.

This is my main photo collection for stations, stops, and vehicles of Transport for London if interested: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thetransitcamera/collections/72157680919743146/

TfL owns ALL the New Routemasters and allocates them to the operators for the individual contracted services.

In most cases the operators lease other types for the period of the contracted service rather than purchase them outright, this makes it easier for them to dispose of the buses at the end of the contract if they either lose it or if TfL specifies different vehicles.

[2044]

@MVTArider, could we use a few of your photos for the wiki?

[MVTArider]

18 hours ago, ADB said:

@MVTArider, could we use a few of your photos for the wiki?

Certainly, no problem. Thanks

23 hours ago, Centralsmt said:

TfL owns ALL the New Routemasters and allocates them to the operators for the individual contracted services.

In most cases the operators lease other types for the period of the contracted service rather than purchase them outright, this makes it easier for them to dispose of the buses at the end of the contract if they either lose it or if TfL specifies different vehicles.

So they do own those Routemasters. I was reading about the lifespan on those and how TfL changed something on operators contracts so they could run them all the way to 12 years or so instead of having to replace after 7-10.

I read about leasing buses somewhere, I have to wonder if we'll ever get a system like that in North America as more agencies seem to struggle with purchasing new buses.

[Centralsmt]

2 minutes ago, MVTArider said:

Certainly, no problem. Thanks

So they do own those Routemasters. I was reading about the lifespan on those and how TfL changed something on operators contracts so they could run them all the way to 12 years or so instead of having to replace after 7-10.

I read about leasing buses somewhere, I have to wonder if we'll ever get a system like that in North America as more agencies seem to struggle with purchasing new buses.

"Normal" London buses ie. not New Routemasters, are usually a different specification from standard UK provincial buses, the most obvious differences being dual doors and the staircase on double deckers. For operators in London to cascade them to provincial subsidiary's after London service the buses would require costly modifications to make them suitable for use outside London, that's why it is cheaper to lease vehicles in the long run as the actual owners are then responsible for converting the vehicles for onward sale, or the buyer gets them below book value and does the work themselves.

The New Routemaster is so different in specification from anything else in the UK no operator would have touched it, therefore TfL really had no option to buy them themselves as its unlikely any will ever see use outside London. In fact after the current order is completed it is extremely unlikely that any further vehicles will be built.

[Rob's Transport Hub]

London Overground 378204 at Gunnersbury (Taken 8/10/18)

London Overground 710261 and 710265 at Willesden Train Maintenance Depot (Taken 8/10/18)

[MVTArider]

^ The new overground units look nice!

 

A bit old now, but I finally got around to posting a video compilation of London Underground clips from my March 2018 visit.

TfL London Underground Trains

 

[anyfong]

Regarding the Class 710 Overground units, the entry date into service is still unknown due to various issues with the software. As the Class 172 diesel units are removed from the Gospel Oak to Barking line (GOBLIN), the Class 378 are being modified from 5 car to 4 car for operation on the GOBLIN until the Class 710 enters service.

[Rob's Transport Hub]

On 12/11/2018 at 9:44 PM, Rob's Transport Hub said:

London Overground 710261 and 710265 at Willesden Train Maintenance Depot (Taken 8/10/18)

710261 is now in service.  

[anyfong]

From a few weeks back, here's 710 269!