My first bus ride since Lockdown began

Hey! This blog is going to be a bit different. So lets get into it.

2020 has been a strange year so far, I never would have imagined a virus coming into the UK, forcing us to be in lockdown all of a sudden. I expected much more since it's 2020. A new decade you know?
Was actually hyped.  Anyways, here are my thoughts.

Thoughts on Lockdown

I find it odd to stay at home continuously I will be honest. The thing is I wish it happened a few weeks before, that's my only complaint. I have been busy, it's not like being in the summer holidays where you have all that freedom around you. At most it has been hard, because working at home is a completely different environment than school for example. Nonetheless the new "normal" has taken some time to get used to, though I have been finding other ways to keep myself occupied. One of these include drawing, which I decided to do one time and the end result came out pretty well - it was a bus.  

Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC

I managed to draw an Enviro 400 MMC, a product that has proved to be very popular around the UK. This one in particular is a smart hybrid variant however, in my drawing I didn't add the smart cameras - let's just say it was faulty and the cameras had problems seeing the road. Technology is always reliable. Proudest drawing I have ever done, looks so realistic to the end product.

Lets move over the main topic now!

Public transport (Buses)

In the beginning of April, bus trials were going ahead on some South London bus routes. It includes people to board at the middle door, instead of being at the front. This managed to be a success, meaning by the 20th April most double and single decker routes converted - except those routes that had single door buses (you had to not tap at the card reader). Even some double decker buses were provided on single decker routes to help with social distancing. The aim was to minimize as much contact between passengers and drivers as much as possible. While that's good there came a downside; TFL ended up being low on money due to the number of people not tapping in during this time. Wait hang on. How did TFL manage to be in this situation? They had like £10 billion at the start of the year then come May they were almost bankrupt? Would have been screwed there to be honest. For now, the Government was generous to give out £1.6 billion as part of emergency funding until at least September.

Back into the outside world

©ELBE's photo - don't use without permission.

Saturday 16th May 2020. It had been coming up to the second month in lockdown, though I needed to get something in Ilford so I took the 86 bus route. When the bus arrived at the stop, I immediately noticed those changes that I discussed above; it felt really weird boarding through the back since I am very much used to using my oyster card. The front seats were taped off, presumably to protect drivers.  As we progressed the bus started to became a bit full, which felt rather odd since at the time lockdown wasn't even fully eased. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of these stickers at the time but EastLondonBusEnthusiast has allowed these to be used in this post which I appreciate alot! 

 

©ELBE's photo - don't use without permission.

Arriving at Ilford I noticed the town centre felt deserted - almost like a ghost town! Most buses I saw were basically carrying air, with majority of shops being closed even inside the Exchange shopping mall. It's amazing how being outdoors, can notice to appreciate the little things that have been happening behind the scenes, especially in a situation like this! Once I got what I needed then I walked home to soak up some Vitamin D by the sun. I really needed it. 

©ELBE's photo - don't use without permission.

On the 29th May, TFL announced that they will be bringing back front door boarding onto all routes (124 were converted the day after). A few weeks later (Sunday 7th June 2020), I needed to go out for some shopping at ASDA so, I decided to use a bus since it was a while. I saw a brief preview of the stickers on routes 62, 86 and 362 while I was waiting. An ADL Enviro 400 (T72) 59-reg on route 173 managed to be my bus, this is known for the ridiculous stop bells that are placed inside. I should have taken a photo - oh well! The queue at ASDA seemed long but went fairly quickly than I thought. Again social distancing had to be done while queuing, with the yellow markers on the ground indicating the 2m distance. Eventhough stickers were put on the floor, inside the rule didn't seem to be applied so that's a bit worrying in my opinion... 

           

©ELBE's photo - don't use without permission.

On the way back I going to walk home however, the rain and wind were preventing me so I decided to not take any chances and just get the bus back. While I was waiting I saw T199 (ADL Enviro 400 SN08-reg) with a pretty outdated "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie advert heading to Beckton stating the cinema release date of February 14. Just goes to show that advertising companies are also struggling too. After about 10 mins my bus came (T74 - 59 reg on the same bus type towards King George Hospital). Again there were changes to the front of the bus, including the oyster reader and drivers cab being covered off for the passengers. Hopefully the drivers are safe now. The front seats are still out of use at present, though it may return much later on.








Interior photos

The last three photos are mine - I managed to take some!

Managed to pull this off well - the bus was moving too!

Exterior shot

Here you can see (almost) all of the stickers. 

While I was inside the bus, I saw some stickers for social distancing, number of people that can board at the drivers cab door and face coverings - the latter has already become compulsory on public transport from 15th June. While the bus roared away (like all E400s do) with it's engine towards King George Hospital, I considered to walk home instead of waiting again. So has this worked out? At the moment yes. People are keeping the distance on buses and going upstairs, incase seats have been occupied on the bottom deck. When I was walking back I saw an 86 bus with a slipboard saying "BUS FULL" at the front, eventhough it looks a bit empty. Is this how buses are going to be in the future? That's a question yet to be answered.


It's safe to say that the online market has dominated since March, noting the amount of delivery vehicles I have seen each day. Some shops have opened this week to the public, so that they can start their spree once again. One thing I do fear is of the queues, as most people would have had to go through over the past few months. Lockdown has started to ease down now, with more rules being put in place so I guess most of you can't wait to get outside again. In the meantime, I've been reading some blogs just so that can find my rhythm as it's been so long! Either way most of us will remember these times whether it's staying at home, the panic buying, or just witnessing life unfold day by day. Getting back to normal won't be easy, but remember there is hope - we can do it! :)

Either way I hope you liked the different layout of this post, it's different than to how I normally write so I wanted to try it out. Also at the time of writing it is the first day of summer, and today marked the longest day of the year!

As always - thanks for viewing the blog and staying safe, writing hasn't been easy. Thanks for sticking around and reading I really appreciate it. If you liked the post leave a comment below!

Thank you for reading!

Happy riding! :) (essentially of course - at the time of publish)

ELBE's links:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoK0-Ux-ad0bePnrQGiuRHw
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/151611131@N05/

Rail Replacement + my experience

Hi there! A question. Have you noticed something different on your road? Like a bus type for example that you've been meaning to catch for ages and appears on the weekend randomly? If the answer is yes, then it could be to do with "rail replacement". Yes. Rail replacement.

Rail Replacement

The role of rail replacement, is to replace a section of the route on the railway that is closed or for other reasons. This would mean that bus companies has to source out their own fleet, as using the current buses on route can be difficult, especially if they have a schedule to bring the next day. That's why private operators come in sometimes, since some are used commercially and not daily. Of course it happens within the UK, though I am more familiar with it in London. In some cases though, desperate times call for desperate measures so if something tragic has happened on a line, then emergency rail replacement is deployed. This took place on London Overground earlier this year, where a freight train managed to derail between Leyton Midland Road and Walthamstow Queens Road (Gospel Oak to Barking Line a.k.a GOBLIN) causing severe damage to the track. Derailments aside, I would like to talk about the route I took to reach Central London. I will start off with the past route I used to take.

Thing of the past

Once upon a time, Summer 2017. It marks the longest holiday of the year in August (7 weeks - more if you are doing educational studies etc) a perfect time to take a break and relaxxxx..... though if you have commitments then there's not much else to do. I mainly come from East London so I use TFL Rail but it didn't really cause too many issues. When it hit November I had an issue. Full closure. Just what I wanted to happen. During this time, I was skeptical on taking rail replacement since I thought you had to pay. I avoided it for that reason. Instead I decided to take London bus route 86, getting off at Ilford to board another bus - 123, 128, 150 or 179 towards Gants Hill.

Gants Hill tube station is served by the Central Line, using 1992 tube stocks coming frequently within a matter of 2-3 minutes. I managed to bag a seat, since it's so empty from the station prior, during early weekend mornings - Newbury Park. Coming back, I alight at Stratford to get my local route home, since I didn't want to go the same way as buses around Gants Hill, are a bit hit and miss on occasions. 86 is an important route in East London, since it goes from Stratford to Romford via majority of the stations on GEML (Great Eastern Main Line) so there was no surprise, that many people were waiting and I managed to end up on a packed commute.

London Bus Route 25, was the #1 busiest route in London back then, going from Ilford to Oxford Circus meaning every bus came rammed. Though in today's times, the route at present goes to City Thameslink so buses aren't as full as it was anymore, which is a shame because I found it very useful. Another bus route; 425 became extended from Stratford to Ilford in September 2018, helping out with the Romford Road corridor. Honestly I feel it was the right call, since there were many people travelling along that section so I'm thankful. Basically, that is what I've been doing over a year. Though something come to mind.... I know, I know. I missed the Wright Eclipse Gemini and ALX400 workings (older and endangered buses at the time). That's the thing of the past now.

First Ride!

I thought - why don't I try rail replacement? So in November 2018 I ventured to the bus stop. When I arrived I saw people waiting, as well as a member of train assistance staff. Makes sense. Their job is  to look out for the next rail replacement bus coming and give assistance to passengers. One of the things I had to do is keep an eye on the mini slipboard at the front of bus, as it was showing the destination that it was going to. I needed to get to Stratford, thankfully it wasn't long before I saw a rail replacement bus arriving at the stop. It was an Enviro 400 MMC double decker powered by hybrid, as I noted with the "Hybrid Cleaner Air For London" sticker towards the back. It was an 18 reg new for route 196 which was gained in May that year, by Abellio London. Once I boarded the bus we set off. This MMC had speed and overtook many buses during the journey - it's like being on a train! Unfortunately the Romford Road section near Manor Park, did contain bad traffic levels leading to long wait times. The bus started to become packed until Stratford station where most people got off. I decided to go Stratford City since that's where it terminated. The route is basically an X86 for most of the way.

In 2019, I also did the Newbury Park to Shenfield and it felt fast too with the buses allocated. Though if they don't come on time, then I usually take 396 then 173. Still works well for me. I've only been as far as Chadwell Heath on this route, sometimes it can be a bit packed during the evening.  Now I will show the route allocation for them both.

Route Allocation

Route: Stratford to Romford (UL16)

Operator: Abellio London

Garages: Walworth (WL), Hayes (WS) and Battersea (QB)

Vehicles: Alexander Dennis Enviro 400H MMC, Alexander Dennis Enviro 400/H, New Routemasters
Bulit in: Gulidford, England/Falkirk, Scotland and Ballymena, Northern Ireland

Chassis: E40H (MMC and Enviro 400), Dennis Trident 2 & E40D, Wright NBFL

Engine: CumminsISBe4.5, CumminsISBe6.7 

Gearbox: 1 speed, 5 speed & 6 speed 

Tranmission: Hybrid, ZF Ecomat and ZF Ecolife

My preferred bus to ride on: Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 (Dennis Trident 2 and E40H) 

Reasons why I chose that bus

Dennis Trident 2 (ADL Enviro 400)

• Dennis Trident 2s can have a good sounding gearbox
• Despite their age, it could provide you with a good ride
• Comfortable seats

E40H (ADL Enviro 400 and MMC)

• Quick acceleration
• Nice motor sound when the bus goes into neutral
• Seats are comfortable 
• Has a nice whine before the engine turns on 

Route: Newbury Park to Shenfield (UL51)

Operator: Sullivan Buses

Garage: South Mimms (SM)

Vehicles: Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 and Scania Ommicity
Bulit in: Gulidford, England and Slupsk, Poland

Chassis: Dennis Trident & E40D,  Scania N230UD

Engine: CumminISBe6.7, ScaniaDC9

Gearbox: 6 speed and 5 speed

Tranmission: ZF Ecolife and ZF Ecomat

My preferred bus to ride on: Scania Ommicity (though I don't mind the Enviro 400s)

Reasons why I chose that bus

• Quick once it starts moving through the gears 
• Suits the fast paced route
• Love hearing the ZF and revs

What can I say? It was a good experience in general and provided a quicker link! It's free too! To this day I use it and is honestly a great way to travel, rather than enduring your usual start-stop route since it will take more time.

This was my review on rail replacement. Hope you enjoyed!


With a new threat that arrived in the UK causing lockdown near the end of March, staying at home has been a bit weird to adjust - hence I haven't been posting blogs recently. On double decker buses in London, both doors contained stickers encouraging to people not to tap in or board at the front. The front section was blocked off with tape. Instead you would need to board at the back, this applied to single deckers too though those routes that use one door, simply had a sticker saying not to tap on the reader. I might do a blog on it soon.


Thanks for reading!

Happy riding - essentially of course! (at the time of publish)