London Bus Route 173 - new electric buses

The London Bus Route 173 has recently received a contract renewal, in October 2025. Operated by Stagecoach London, they have retained the route with new electric buses. 

Stagecoach London 14124 (LF70YUY) is seen in Chadwell Heath on route 173 towards Beckton Station.
Bus type: BYD/Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 EV (Electric bus)
Photo taken during: July 2021

Running from King George Hospital to Beckton Bus Station, route 173 goes via Little Heath, Chadwell Heath Lane, Chadwell Heath, Becontree Heath, Dagenham Heathway Station, Ripple Road and Newham Way. 

The route has been in operation since 1987. I am not going to go too in depth into the history here, as I already published a blog in regards to that back in 2021 and not much has changed since then. I will provide a link here (or at the end of this post in case you cannot access it). 

Stagecoach London first gained the route in October 2020 from Arriva London, operating at Barking (BK) garage. These used at the time brand new BYD/Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 EVs, which did not arrive until April 2021 as the garage was not electrified. In April 2025, it was announced that the route would be retained for 7 years with new electric buses from October 2025. Now, you may wonder "why retain the route with new electric buses again if they just got the buses 5 years ago?" Well, you see Transport For London (TFL) right, lease buses with bus operators instead of owning them outright. What does that mean? Well, the bus operator, decides whether to retain the route with the same buses they are currently using or get new buses. Usually, this could be for the duration of the contract, which is 5 years (but for bus routes with electric/zero emission contracts this is 7 years from I have seen), usually for TFL bus routes (there are exceptions obviously). The bus operator may decide they want to refresh the bus fleet so that local bus routes are using the same bus type, this might make it easier when doing type training (learning the bus model), as a bus driver would have driven that same bus model on a different route. Of course there is a lot more to this, but I am still trying to understand it myself so I would rather not blabber on too much about it. Maybe it made sense to you, maybe it didn't. It's like leasing a car, basically. Anyways, moving on.

Stagecoach London 14127 (LF70YVC) is seen on the stand at Beckton Bus Station on route 173 heading to King George Hospital. This bus at the time had the OVO Energy wrap and has since been removed.
Bus type: BYD/Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 EV
Photo taken during: May 2023

The BYD/ADL Enviro 400 EVs were withdrawn by Stagecoach London rather quickly. These will return back to the leasing company where they will find somewhere else to go, it only seemed like yesterday when these vehicles entered service. This is how it's going to be for the foreseeable future, electrics being replaced by newer electric buses on bus routes. Certainly strange I have to admit but the TFL bus contracts are what they are. I thought they were decent buses to be fair and my bus rides on them were not too bad. 

Stagecoach London used to be known for being quite loyal to Alexander Dennis bus products over the past few decades, however this has changed in recent years, as they have decided to order from other bus manufacturers. One of those is Wrightbus and in particular the Streetdeck Electroliner EV, which has seen quite a lot of orders for bus operators over the past few years. Stagecoach seem to be quite a fan of them and this route (yes, the 173 bus route) among many others have or are in the process of being operated by them. 

Onboard 82113 (MF25HHT) one of the Electroliners intended for route 425 on the upper deck.

As it's not really good for a bus to be in storage for too long, these Electroliners have been deployed on the route over the past few months (between October and February) and make up the main allocation, although there is a catch... This batch currently on the route is actually intended for route 425 (Clapton, Nightingale Road to Ilford, Hainualt Street) fleet coded 82113-36, however, not all the batch is at Barking (BK) garage these being spread around other garages. This is how I understand it at the moment;

82113 - MF25HHT is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82114 - MF25HHU is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]                            

82115 - MF25HHV is at Rainham (RM) [TEMPORARILY]                                

82116 - MF25HHW is at Rainham (RM) [TEMPORARILY]                               

82117 - MF25HJV is at Rainham (RM) [TEMPORARILY]                                 

82118 - MF25HJX is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]                              82119 - MF25HJY is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]                              82120 - MF25HJZ is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]                              82121 - MF25HKA is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82122 - MF25HKB is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82123 - MF25HKC is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82124 - MF25HKD is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]                            

82125 - MF25HKE is at Ash Grove (HK) for route D7 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION] 

82126 - MF25HKG is at Ash Grove (HK) for route D7 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION] 

82127 - MF25HKH is at Ash Grove (HK) for route D7 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82128 - MF25HKJ is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82129 - MF25HKK is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82130 - MF25HKL is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82131 - MF25HKM is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82132 - MF25HKN is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82133 - MF25HKO is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82134 - MF25HKP is at Barking (BK) for route 173 [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82135 - MF25HKT is at Barking (BK) for route 173 I think? [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

82136 - MF25HKU is at Barking (BK) for route 173 I think? [TEMPORARY ALLOCATION]

As Bow (BW) garage is still doing electrification work at their bus garage, it will take some time for them to enter service on route 425. Either way, I managed to board one at the beginning of April. I got one from the first stop at King George Hospital to Chadwell Heath (near the station) and for the most part are pretty identical to the other Electroliners currently in service; skyline roof (not all the way), wood flooring effect, USB chargers, high back seats, updated iBus screen and LED blinds.  

The iBus screen was working I can confirm but, it didn't co-operate with my camera on this occasion.

The iBus screen as you can see above may seem like it wasn't in use, however, it was I assure you. It kept flickering back and forth giving you no chance to see what the next stop was. Either way the journey was not very long as I boarded the bus in the evening, being the only person on the upper deck, most of the other passengers were on the lower deck.  

Uno [University Bus] 1461 (LF70YUR) is seen at Elstree and Borehamwood Station on route 292 towards Colindale Superstores.
Previously 14118 and later 84118 under Stagecoach London.
Bus type: BYD/Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 EV (Electric bus)
Photo taken during: December 2025
Photo taken by: Aubrey

Some of the BYD/ADL Enviro 400 EVs that were formerly operated by Stagecoach London have found new lives. Uno (University Bus) acquired these for the 292 bus route (Colindale Superstores to Borehamwood, Rossington Avenue), which they gained from Metroline Travel back in December 2025. At the moment, the route is running with a mixture of diesel and electric double decker vehicles. This is on a temporary basis, as the route will receive electric buses and be fully electric at somepoint. 

Uno [University Bus] 1505 (YX12FNH) is seen at Elstree and Borehamwood Station on route 292
towards Colindale Superstores.
Previously London United RATP Group ADE2, London Sovereign RATP Group ADE40402 and more recently First Bus London 32774.
Bus type: Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 (Diesel bus)
Photo taken during: December 2025 
Photo taken by Aubrey

The Enviro 400 above did operate on the 292 bus route under London Sovereign, so it's not in unfamiliar territory but it's with a new operator this time. 

As for the 173 bus route? Well it's actual buses have not actually arrived yet. The route will eventually use Electroliners, basically identical to the ones currently operating - this is a basically a sneak peek of what's to come!

Stagecoach London 82122 (MF25HKB) is seen in Chadwell Heath on route 173 towards King George Hospital. 
Bus type: Wrightbus Streetdeck Electroliner EV (Electric bus)
Photo taken during: April 2026

These Electroliners are spreading all over East London, Stagecoach seem to be a big fan of them. Keep an eye out for more coming soon, including the ones due for route 173!

Thank you for reading and happy riding!

London Bus Route 310 and some buspotting in Golders Green (29/12/24)

London Bus Route 310 was introduced on Sunday 1st of September 2024, which is an oddity as new bus routes in London usually launch on a Saturday. 

The route 310 map.

The route runs from Golders Green to Stamford Hill, paralleling identically alongside route 210 between Golders Green and Finsbury Park. As part of Sadiq's Khan pledge during the Mayor elections, this had been requested a lot for a long while now by the Jewish community (15 years), as Stamford Hill and Golders Green are two areas which were demanded over the years to have a bus link to. Previously, you had take route 210 from Golders Green to Finsbury Park, then walk underneath the railway bridge to catch either routes 253 or 254 to Stamford Hill on the other side.

London Bus Route 210 operates with double deckers running between Brent Cross Shopping Centre and Finsbury Park Station.

Route 210 travels alongside 310 for the most of the way between Golders Green and Finsbury Park as you can see here.

The low bridge at Finsbury Park station, which is what you would have to previously walk under if getting routes 253 and 254 on the other side.
Taken on Sunday 1st of the September 2024.
Taken during: September 2024 on the first day of operation.
Photo taken by: diamond geezer

Doing the route end to end in terms of timing says it's timetabled to take 41 minutes. I imagine it will probably take almost an hour if you are doing it during the daytime or rush hour etc. From Monday to Sunday it runs every 20 minutes, with no service in the evening. Route 210 under Metroline Travel (at the time of publish) in comparison runs every 10 minutes Monday to Saturdays, increasing to 12 minutes on Sundays and during the evening. Stagecoach London is the operator of the route running from Ash Grove (HK) garage - in Hackney - (in East London yes, don't ask me the reason why) using Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 MMCS that operated on routes W13 and 165.

Ash Grove bus garage is on the right in East London, while Golders Green on the top left in North West London, certainly not nearby!

Seeing Stagecoach operate the route in this area is very odd indeed to say to the least. This route was approaching it's fourth month of operation and while I was unable to complete an end to end of the route, a decent amount of passengers boarded from the first stop. It's worth me noting to say that the route is running on a "trial basis" until Sunday 31st of August 2025 (a 12 month trial). If it turns out well then it could continue to operate. Whether the route is worth it - I don't know. It goes alongside route 210 most of the way and you can hop on route 253 and 254 at Finsbury Park so... but I haven't ridden on it myself - this is probably going to be one of those controversial routes. We will see at the end of the trial*. (see below...)

Afterwards, I did some random bus observations at Golders Green Bus Station.

London Bus Route 268: Golders Green to Finchley Road, O2 Centre

Metroline Travel DE1020 (LK59AVF) is seen on stand at Golders Green Bus Station awaiting a trip on route 268 towards Finchley Road, O2 Centre. Looks like I captured the same bus again!
Bus type seen: Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 (Diesel single decker bus)

Again? Yes. It seems like I photographed the same bus as I did on my previous visit as I recognised the registration plate. Anyways, the Alexander Dennis Enviro 200, once a staple of the diesel British single decker bus market starting back in 2006. Nearly two decades later, the bus type is now starting to slowly be on the decline, especially in London. As enter into the phase of zero emission, diesel buses like this are being phased out in favour of new cleaner buses and technology. Since 2018, Metroline Travel have been operating Route 268 with Enviro 200s like these, taking over from previous operator Arriva London (on the West London side in this area it was known as Arriva The Shires, as they operated from the now closed Garston bus garage). 7 years later, Metroline have retained the route but with new electric single decker buses. The contract starts in June 2025 but obviously the buses will come way after that, so who knows what Metroline will order for this route...*(see below 2..)

Metroline Travel WDE2803 (LV23EBJ) is on stand at Golders Green awaiting a trip on route 240 towards Edgware Station.
Bus type seen: Wrightbus Streetdeck Electroliner (Electric double decker bus)

A bus type that been growing in popularity among bus operators here in London, (and the UK as well) is the Streetdeck Electroliner. This one in particular is for Metroline and have around 169 of them in passenger service as I type this, with more being delivered/ordered for their respective routes. This bus is actually allocated to bus route 297 (Willesden, Bus Garage to Ealing Broadway) and runs from Perivale (PA) garage. The route was retained in 2023, however, there have been delays in electification for the garage so these vehicles have been at other garages working other routes. When will this be done? I don't know. I cannot provide a date for this as these sort of things take time. Although the vehicle above has been at Edgware (EW) garage, largely working route 240 (Edgware Bus Station to Golders Green Bus Station). It transferred in March 2025 to Potters Bar (PB) garage for route 317 (Waltham Cross Bus Station to Enfield). I haven't been on these Electroliners yet, aside from the ones that Stagecoach London have - I imagine there are not too many differences between them.

A 1995 Tube Stock train is seen approaching Golders Green station on a service towards Kennington (via the Charing Cross branch.)

After this, I took a Northern Line train (as seen above) to Tottenham Court Road where I got an Elizabeth Line train home. Was quite a foggy day when I travelled, though, that did not seem to be issue where I was heading so good stuff!

* Update May 2026: Well, the buses confirmed are the BYD B12s which are now in service! They have been in service since the 23rd of April 2026, so are over a month old as of typing this. If you would like to see a video on these in operation check out Mostly Buses video below:

The video also contains information about the previous buses that operated on the route and the history, so might be useful if you are unaware or never used the route before.

*Update June 2026: Route 310 is now a permanent route, but will be rerouted between Archway and Finsbury Park area serving Holloway, Nags Head, so that it does not act as a duplicate 210 bus route. As a result the route will use electric double deckers at some point...

I will link a video in regards to this for more information:

 

This channel largely covers London bus changes around London and sometimes trains, so I will leave a link to their channel if it's of interest to you:

MostlyBuses:https://www.youtube.com/@MostlyBuses1/

Thanks for reading and happy riding! 

Milton Keynes outing (11/11/24)

A last minute, unexpected, outing has seen me taking a trip towards Milton Keynes. I was there for other reasons, but I thought I should blog about it.

The day started out with me getting the 09:33am Elizabeth Line service (from Goodmayes) towards Farringdon. This took 25 minutes. I then had to tap out of the Elizabeth Line station and head towards the Underground station, a Circle line service towards Hammersmith rushed in, as I went quickly down the stairs - made it, thankfully. Two stops to Euston Square and walking to Euston station after alighting (a 5 minute walk), meant the journey only took 45 minutes which is pretty good.

London Euston Platform 11, with my train on the platform.

Ahh, London Euston. It takes me back those journeys I took in 2018 and 2019 to Coventry and Birmingham New Street. I have blogged about the latter trip if you are interested. My train operator today was London Northwestern Railway, and I would be boarding the 10:23 service which was heading to Birmingham New Street. On one of their Class 350s. Now LNWR have two services to get to Milton Keynes, you can use the faster service which has less stops, or the slower service that calls at more stops. 

Faster service to Milton Keynes; Calls at: Watford Junction, Leighton Buzzard, Bletchley and Milton Keynes Central. The train continues to Birmingham New Street. (Journey time = 44 minutes).

Slower service to Milton Keynes; Calls at: Harrow and Wealdstone, Bushey, Watford Junction, Kings Langley, Apsley, Hemel Hampstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Cheddington, Leighton Buzzard, Bletchley and Milton Keynes Central. (Journey time = 1hr and 7 minutes).

Class 350/1 interior, refurbished.

Of course, I went with the faster service and I boarded the Class 350, which was refurbished a couple of years ago. There are four variants of the Class 350, and I was onboard the first variant (350/1) which had a two by two seating layout featuring updated seat covers, USB chargers (along with a plug socket - always good to have two options) digital screens and wi-fi of course. This should make the trains last longer and ensure they are up to date with the current trains. Unsurprisingly, the train was full leaving London Euston, but it was a lovely 45 minute journey. We whizzed through West London, the view consisting of high-rise apartments/buildings. By the time we approached Watford Junction the scenery changed completely, green countryside and at least the weather held out. The train arrived on-time at Milton Keynes Central at 11:07, pleased to say. Also, a shout-out to the guard onboard this service a really friendly and nice guy. 

Photos above: Onboard digital screens, USB port and 3 socket pin which was part of the Class 350 refurbishment.

Departure board at Milton Keynes of the train I boarded, heading towards Birmingham New Street.

The train I boarded at London Euston, departing Milton Keynes Central continuing onwards to Birmingham New Street. 

Milton Keynes is a fairly new town in the UK, being formed on 23rd of January 1967. Originally it was a village and farmland but the area become part of the Government's plans, to relocate populations of people from London, including other cities that suffered bomb damage during World War Two. The population was planned to be 250,000, it has exceeded that and today sees over 280,000 people. In terms of design, the planners decided to make it as a grid design layout, this design is common in New York City in America. Plenty of roundabouts too, if you are a fan of them. It recently gained city status during the Queens Jubilee in 2022, so it's now a city, I guess. 

Additionally, I don't think I have ever seen so many car parks outside buildings close by - my gosh! A car park playground! Car is king around here, you can tell the planners didn't really make it pedestrian friendly. If you want to get the shopping centre from the station by walking, well, a 20 minute walk, yeah, I am not joking. You can blame the planners for that one.

Grid layout of Milton Keynes, seen on Google Maps.

If you want to kill some time while in Milton Keynes, check out Unity Place. It is the home of Santander Bank headquarters, but looks like a university campus with the amount of floors, size of the cafes (which have really nice chairs), food markets, as well as work and leisure. You would not think for such a large space like this it would be used for those purposes. 

I needed something to eat and there was a Wetherspoons nearby so I popped inside. Saved me walking 20 minutes to the shopping centre. Due to my train coming quite soon, I couldn't order a proper meal which meant I had to settle for a drink instead. Unfortunate but, I could manage - don't worry.

Coke Zero, in a glass.

The Wetherspoons Menu (the breakfast side anyway) at the Milton Keynes restaurant. 

Wetherspoons Milton Keynes restaurant.

Milton Keynes Bus Station. Uno to the left and Arriva to the right.

The bus station is pretty basic, featuring operators like Arriva, Stagecoach and Uno.  As for the frequency, well, it's pretty much normal, waiting 20 minutes or even more, but then again one would be grateful for a bus service operating at all to their areas. So anyways, my train came at 13:35 for the journey back down to London and well it was busy, supposedly it was coming down from Birmingham (and it was having checked this through Realtime Trains). We only called at Bletchley and Leighton Buzzard before arriving into London - a quick 40 minutes. Onboard a Class 350 again. I then took the Circle and Elizabeth Lines and made it before school kick out time, most importantly though I avoided rush hour, otherwise it would have been a nightmare!

Milton Keynes Central station entrance and exit.

Waiting for the London Euston at Milton Keynes Central.

Class 350 train, approaches the platform on the 1:35pm London Euston service, having come down from Birmingham. 

While I didn't explore the whole of Milton Keynes, visiting it was still an experience. Luckily, everything panned out well and there was no issues along the way, it could have all gone downhill. It's not ridiculously far from London, although it's not near either. Here are some other photos I captured to finish;

Milton Keynes Central station sign.

Arriva Beds and Bucks Bus Route M5 seen in Milton Keynes on a service to Magma Park.
Bus type seen: Wright Eclipse 2 (single decker)

Red Rose bus seen on stand at Milton Keynes.

Thanks for reading and happy riding!

A day in Ladbroke Grove (08/08/24)

It had almost been exactly a week since my trip to Earlsfield in South West London, and once again a trip was undertaken on Thursday 8th of August 2024, this time to Ladbroke Grove in North West London. 

My journey started off as usual by taking an Elizabeth Line to London Paddington, taking 30 minutes from Goodmayes. Exiting Paddington Station, I walked to the bus stop for bus route 23. The London Bus Route 23 is a route that has been altered quite a bit over the past few years, the Westbourne Park bit always stayed the same with the Central London destination always being changed around. It originally terminated at Liverpool Street, going via Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Aldwych, Fleet Street, City Thameslink, St Pauls, Mansion House and Bank. In 2017, the route was cut to Aldwych no longer going to Liverpool Street. A year later, in 2018 the route was rerouted to Hammersmith, so it did not go towards Aldwych instead via the old London Bus Route 10 routing - the latter route was withdrawn. From Marble Arch, it completely misses Oxford Street, going via Hyde Park Corner, High Street Kensington and Kensington Olympia. This was a very indirect routing from Westbourne Park to Hammersmith, the train is quicker which takes no more than 10 minutes to reach.  In April 2023, the route was reverted back to Aldwych having previously terminated at Hammersmith but it goes via Hyde Park Corner instead of Oxford Circus, clearly it means that the routing was not a total success. 

The Optare Metrodecker Interior (upstairs) onboard route 23, for the previous operator Tower Transit.

London Transit RATP Group OME46013 (YJ70EVT) seen at Ladbroke Grove Station on route 23 towards Westbourne Park. I had just alighted from this bus. 
Previously OE34013 under Tower Transit.
Bus type seen in this photo: Optare Metrodecker EV (Electric bus)

My vehicle for the journey from Paddington Station to Ladbroke Grove Station, was the Optare Metrodecker EV. Now, these electric buses have been involved in some incidents; one being the Potters Bar Garage (PB) fire at Metroline, that destroyed six buses at the garage (two being Optare Metrodeckers) with the culprit vehicle being the Metrodecker EV. This occurred in May 2022. The other incident involved a Go Ahead London Metrodecker EV catching fire while operating in service on allocated route 200 (Raynes Park to Mitcham, Fair Green). This happened in January 2024, so much more recent than the previous one. So despite those happening, personally I think the Metrodecker EVs has a decent interior although, I am not sure what's with the lower decker rear window - looks like a kidney! Their acceleration is not too bad for an electric, but then again 20mph roads and the vehicles themselves are speed limited so, don't expect anything amazing! Their reputation may have been tainted, however my ride was not too bad. The Metrodecker EVs were purchased by Tower Transit during late 2020, RATP Group took over their West London operations (London Sovereign and London United) in December 2021 merging with Tower Transit, and name was called RATP Dev Transit London. Westbourne Park (X) garage is under London Transit, but the others would still retain their London Sovereign/London United operations. This batch appear to be fine though. 

Metroline London OME2677 (YJ69DFX) is seen in Muswell Hill on route 134 towards North Finchley.
Bus type seen in the photo: Optare Metrodecker EV (Electric bus)
Photo taken during: November 2021
Photo taken by: Fabio Tanniguchi

The Metroline Metrodecker EVs entered service in 2019 (the first ones for London) for route 134 (Warren Street to North Finchley), 31 were originally ordered for the route, but 3 were written off in the Potters Bar fire, so that leaves 28. They have been quite unreliable in terms of reliability and range, meaning they are out of passenger service for many months. As a result, hybrid buses such as Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini 3s and MCV Evosetis (both of these with the Volvo B5LH chassis) tend to work the route on a daily basis. The Metroline Metrodeckers as seen in an article (see here) are currently at the moment off the road, being repowered (as of typing) so that they can last longer while in passenger service in terms of range. This is being done by Wrightbus (bus manufacturer) calling the project NewPower, so batteries, air conditioning and other electrical stuff with electric vehicles is being replaced from what I understand. Anyway, we will wait and see what happens with that. 

London Transit RATP Group WH45406 (SK19FCL) is seen at Ladbroke Grove, Sainsburys on route 452 heading towards the bus stand. The downstairs interior for this vehicle is seen above, I took this bus for a short journey. 
Previously WH31127 under Tower Transit.
Bus type seen in the photo: Wrightbus Streetdeck HEV96 Microhybrid (Hybrid bus)

At Ladbroke Grove, I got something to eat and then took route 452 towards Ladbroke Grove Sainsburys, onboard a Wright Streetdeck. This route used to be operated by Abellio London, but passed over to Tower Transit in December 2018, later RATP Group (or known now as RATP Dev Transit) London in December 2021, although the 23 and 452 bus routes operate under the same garage (Westbourne Park). It also explains why alot of the former Tower Transit vehicles still retain the interiors, maybe they will refurbish the vehicles for their current operators - maybe not, I don't know. As it happened, I managed to ride on a Streetdeck and well, they are not the fastest vehicles around, but then again these buses are quite underpowered. Eventhough I only rode a couple stops, it explains why bus operators were not so keen on ordering the Streetdeck. The engine on this version of the Streetdeck, sounded like a washing machine on it's last spin cycle, weirdly. No idea why but it's funny to me. The 452 bus route is also allocated Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini 2s, (with the Volvo B9TL chassis) which was the previous allocation when Tower Transit originally won the route. MCV Evosetis on the Volvo B5LH hybrid chassis also makes up the numbers, but I did not see one when I was out. 

London Transit RATP Group VDW41002 (BJ11DTO) is seen at Ladbroke Grove station on route 452 towards Vauxhall. 
Previously VN36108 under Tower Transit.
Bus type seen in the photo: Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini 2 Volvo B9TL (Diesel bus)

View of the Grand Union Canal near Ladbroke Grove Sainsburys.

After spending a bit of time in Ladbroke Grove, I walked over to Queens Park and boarded London Bus Route 36, which starts here and ends at New Cross Gate. I would go as far as Paddington. Needless to say on the way there, we weaved in and out a bit of the roads, eventually we took a left turn staying on Harrow Road for a little while, reaching Royal Oak and another trip through the houses lead us to Paddington where I alighted. It took around 20 minutes but I can imagine it takes longer during rush hour. 

Onboard route 36 in Maida Vale.

Another Go Ahead London Bus Route 36, seen in the Paddington area on a journey towards Queens Park.

Go Ahead London EH209 (YY67UTJ) seen at Paddington Station on route 36 towards New Cross Gate, I had just alighted from this bus.
Bus type seen in this photo: Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC Hybrid (Hybrid bus)

I got the Elizabeth Line home after that. Overall, it was a nice little outing around North West London and I am glad I got to explore different areas of London during the month of August.

Update:

Since I last wrote this post over a year ago, Route 452 has had some changes. On the 28th of February 2025, First Bus London made their return (yes First London previously operated from 1997 to 2013.) to London, taking over RATP London's West and South West London garages. Meaning that this route (as well as Route 23) is under First Bus now. Additionally the route no longer goes from Ladbroke Grove Sainsburys to Vauxhall, this was cut back to Notting Hill Gate on the 29th of November 2025, owing to lack of bus stand space at Kensal Rise. Which is where the route previously went to but, the Ladbroke Grove Sainsburys curtailment was made permanent a couple of years ago. Amazing how much can change within a short space of time!

Thank you for reading and happy riding!