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)

(1 Year Special) The Great Eastern Mainline Old and New Stock

Hello there and welcome to another blog.

Before I start, I would like to say thank you for keeping up to date with my blogs. It marks the first year and honestly didn't think of doing something so.... interesting. Inspiration from other blogs is what made me to write my own.

Anyways, I am going to talk about the Great Eastern Main Line in it's old and new form in terms of train stock since it will change very soon. Since this is my local route, expect me to go into detail here.

Great Eastern Main Line (what you need to know)
The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML), runs from London Liverpool Street to Norwich via many stations/destinations with a total of 184km and 27 stations that are served. Now, it's a fairly long distance relying on a working fleet of trains, transporting people to places that they need to go. The line is part of 7 main railway lines in the UK. It opened in 1862, operated by Network Rail with operators such as Greater Anglia and TFL Rail mainly doing the route. There are various branches on the route, that go towards alternative directions such as Chingford, Barking, Clacton, Southend and more.


The Past...

London North and Eastern Railway (this is the past so ignore the current one for this post), began operation from 1923 to 1947. During this time, the flyover near Ilford was formed in order to allow interchange onto the Central Line at Stratford and to test Liverpool Street's west platforms without having to do it much closer to the station.

In 1950, British Railways opened a new service (Liverpool Street-Clacton).Within that period, electrication on the line had to be managed in order to meet the standards. So it was done even if it's slightly lower. Incase you don't understand, this is the overhead lines where on most trains, have a pantograph which can sometimes cause sparks. The 1980s. Signalling felt too outdated here and a proposal was written to the Department of Transport. 5 years later, the first electric train (Class 305) came into Ipswich station on the 9th April being used for crew training. A week after that, a passenger service was born as the Class 309 operating the Clacton service seen today. It was known as the Clacton Express.


The Present...

In 1997, privatisation came around leading to services being handed over to First Great Eastern and Anglia Railways. Class 90s, Class 321s, Class 360s and other train types had go through this phase before being called National Express East Anglia. During this period it became the start of my first ever sights of trains seen on rail. :) A proud moment. From 2012 the company became known as Abellio Greater Anglia seen today. TFL Rail began the Shenfield Metro operation (Liverpool Street-Shenfield) in May 2015. Most of the Class 315s, were repainted into white with blue being the skirt supporting the livery. 2 years later, Class 345s became introduced to prepare for the upcoming Crossrail. Heh. We all know how well that went...


Not so distant Future...

The future (which is now haha), will see many trains being replaced by newer and up to date stock for passengers. Part of phase, has started already with the Class 345s and Class 745s (replacing the Class 90s slowly at the time of publish), making their way on track. Class 720s are also being built to replace the Class 321s and Class 360s. Somewhere along 2021, they all should be in service which is shame but its all to do with regulation standards, so you cannot really complain. Greater Anglia better not screw this order up, since London Overground did with the Class 710s - mind you I would be pretty annoyed if I was on that line. Well, least they could get a months worth of free travel. Wait. This is part of - Ah. Okay well I'm out of options then. Hopefully it doesn't go to that extent though...


Let me list the trains here...

Greater Anglia Fleet (at the time of publish)

British Rail Class 90

Built in: Crewe
Constructed between: 1987-1990
Entered public service in: 1990
Stock replaced: Class 81/82/83/84 and 85s
Manufacturer: British Rail Engineering Limited
Maximum speed: 110mph
Lines served: British Rail, DB Cargo UK, Greater Anglia and Freightliner
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 50
Formed of: 10 coaches (not sure)
Type: Intercity express train (very fast service)

British Rail Class 170

Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 1998-2005
Entered public service in: 1998
Stock replaced: Class 142, Class 144, Class 150, Class 153, Class 156, Class 158, Class 205 and Class 207
Manufacturer: Adtranz (known today as Bombardier Transportation)
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Abellio ScotRail, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Northern, South West Trains, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Trains
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 139 (9 was converted to Class 168s for Chiltern Railways whlist 11 were for Class 171s)
Formed of: 2/3 coaches
Type: Stopping service train

British Rail Class 317

Built in: York and Derby
Constructed between: 1981-1987
Entered public service in: 1981
Stock replaced: Class 127, Class 310 and Class 312
Manufacturer: British Rail
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: First Capital Connect, Greater Anglia and London Overground
Last refurbishment: 2006-07 (FCC) 2013-15 (GA) and 2015-18 (LO)
Total built: 72
Formed of: 4 coaches
Type: Stopping/semi fast train

British Rail Class 321

Built in: York
Constructed between: 1988-1991
Entered public service in: 1988
Stock replaced: Class 305, Class 308, Class 309, Class 312 and Class 317
Manufacturer: British Rail Engineering Limited
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: First Capital Connect, Greater Anglia, Sliverlink
Last refurbishment: 30 units for Greater Anglia were part of Renatus project
Total built: 117 originally - 12 got converted to Class 320s
Formed of: 4 coaches
Type: Fast, non-stopping train

British Rail Class 360

Built in: Krefeld, Germany
Constructed between: 2002-2005
Entered public service in: 2003
Stock replaced: Class 312
Manufacturer: Siemens Mobility
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Greater Anglia, Heathrow Connect and TFL Rail
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 26
Formed of: 4/5 coaches
Type: Stopping/semi fast type train

British Rail Class 379

Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 2010-2011
Entered public service in: 2011
Stock replaced: Class 317
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation
Maximum speed: 100mph
Line served: Greater Anglia (part of Stansted Express)
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 30
Formed of: 4 coaches
Type: Fast, non stop train

British Rail Class 745

Built in: Bussang, Switzerland
Constructed between: 2018-present
Entered public service in: 2020
Stock replaced: Class 90, (in progress) Class 379 (soon but no date released)
Manufacturer: Stadler Rail
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Greater Anglia
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built:  20 - ongoing
Formed of: 12 coaches
Type: Fast, non stop train

British Rail Class 755

Built in: Bussang, Switzerland and Siedice, Poland
Constructed between: 2018-present
Entered public service in: 2019
Stock replaced: Class 37, Class 153, Class 156 and Class 170
Manufacturer: Stadler Rail
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Greater Anglia
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 38 - ongoing
Formed of: 3/4 coaches
Type: Stopping service train

Coming soon.....

British Rail Class 720

Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 2018-present
Entered public service in: 2021 (planned year)
Stock replaced: Class 317, Class 321, Class 360, Class 379 and Class 387 (soon)
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: C2C, Greater Anglia
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 665 planned to built
Formed of: 5 and 10 coaches
Type: Stopping/semi fast type train

TFL Rail Fleet (at the time of publish)

British Rail Class 315

Built in: York
Constructed between: 1980-1981
Entered public service in: 1980
Stock replaced: Class 306
Manufacturer: BREL York
Maximum speed: 75mph
Lines served: London Overground, Greater Anglia and TFL Rail
Last refurbishment: 2015-2016
Total built: 61
Formed of: 4 coaches
Type: Stopping service train

British Rail Class 345

Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 2015-2019
Entered public service in: 2017
Stock replaced: Class 315 and Class 360 (both in progress)
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation
Maximum speed: 90mph
Lines served: TFL Rail (to be Crossrail)
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 70 are planned
Formed of: 7 coaches at present (when Crossrail is close to opening then it will be extended to 9 cars)
Type: Stopping service train

British Rail Class 360

Built in: Krefeld, Germany
Constructed between: 2002-2005
Entered public service in: 2003
Stock replaced: Class 312
Manufacturer: Siemens Mobility
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Greater Anglia, Heathrow Connect and TFL Rail
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 26
Formed of: 4/5 coaches
Type: Stopping service train


London Overground Fleet (at the time of publish)

Class 315 and Class 317s specifications are listed above.

British Rail Class 710

Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 2017-present
Entered public service in: 2019
Stock replaced: Class 172, Class 315, Class 317 and Class 378 (all in progress)
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation
Maximum speed: 75mph
Lines served: London Overground
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 54 are planned
Formed of: 4/5 coaches to fit within the tight platform spaces
Type: Stopping service train

Some Facts...

There is only one tunnel on the line and it is named Stoke tunnel. It's 330m in length built by Peter Bruff for Ipswich and Bury Railway back in the day. Various animal fossils were discovered and later became vital for climate change when Ice Age began...

The Great Eastern Main Line is among one of the busiest railway lines in the UK containing many uses for daily passengers and those that wish to take a visit to the seaside. Maximum speed for the line is 100mph. Though the Class 90 surpasses that - 110mph. I know what you are probably thinking. "Why not make it 125mph!" Okay. Firstly, the train is not a Pendolino (Class 390 - yep those). Secondly, it doesn't have the tilting capabilities to do all that magic. Finally, it could cause derailments onto the track. 100mph is as good as it gets. Funnily enough, Virgin Trains operated a "Pretendlino" livery on a Class 90! The result was due to a derailment. Click here for more information.

Ilford Depot was where the Fairlop Loop became accessible at the time. It connected freight and passenger stock from Seven Kings onto the Woodford and Ongar branch. The line opened on the 20 April 1903 to freight. Before a few weeks later (1st May) allowed passenger usage. Today it is renamed as Hainault Loop mainly in use for Central Line services going towards Woodford and Central London.

Summary

• The GEML opened in 1862
• Part of 7 major lines in the UK
• It had to be upgraded to meet the current railway standards e.g. signal boxes, overhead wires
• Plays a role today for passenger and freight stock
• Greater Anglia to bring stock suiting the passengers needs
• Fairlop Loop was formed near Ilford Depot
• The future will see modern trains on the GEML

Well would you believe it, you reached the end! Thank you once again for reading my blogs. I will continue posting whenever I can.

P.S. I will miss the old stock on the line. The Class 360s are not even that old. Either way as a passenger, I'm sure you will appreciate this in the years to come. Sooner or later.

Thank you for reading!

Happy riding! :)

A first review at the Class 321!

Good day or evening. I thought I should do a post on one of these trains on the Great Eastern Main Line since they are becoming endangered.

Sitting comfortably?


Then I shall begin!

British Rail Class 321

Built in: York 

Constructed between: 1988-1991

Entered public service in: 1988

Stock replaced: Class 305, Class 308, Class 309, Class 312, Class 317

Manufacturer: British Rail Engineering Limited 

Maximum speed: 100mph

Lines served: Greater Anglia (at the time of publish) and Northern

Last refurbishment: 30 units for Greater Anglia were part of the Renatus project 

Total built: 117 originally - 12 got converted to Class 320s

Formed of: 4 cars

Type: Fast, non-stopping train

The design

Back then, slam door trains were trendy like the latest product, as you would see them on long distance journeys. Not anymore. You would have be to lucky to catch one on a running day, or more specifically, a rarely used bit of track. In this case, British Rail (the designers) decided to incorporate a new train that would meet needs of passengers. The end result was the Class 321. Companies were fairly happy with the model, so British Rail developed Class 320 and Class 322 as a result. One by one they started building 117 of them - essentially like building estate houses.

Let me put this in a scenario. If you're trying to build multiple houses on one road then you would need to think about these:

• Type of material
• Length of each house
• How many rooms there would be 
• Electrical and plumbing (that's always "fun")
• Additional features of your choice

I could go on but between you and me, I ain't no constructor or designer so lets just stick with transport. Possibly an easier example could have been- that's for another day. 

Impressions...

Admittedly, the train did look a bit weird at first sight. After a while of seeing them going past to this present day, I started to like the train - so much that I wanted to ride it. It's funny how there are still some running around in the Great Northern livery (Purple and pink) - those were the days.... Annoyingly, it wasn't one of those TFL Rail services that stop at every single station, so I have had little chance of riding this train. Another problem is the colour. White. I mean don't get me wrong, the train does look good even so - but White? Once its dirty then it will need a trip to the "train-wash," making it clean as football boots do when you have played a game. Otherwise, that is how it starts to look old and stuff..

First Ride...

On the 2nd of February, TFL Rail had a part closure between Liverpool Street and Ilford due to Crossrail works. With this in mind I came up with an idea; take a TFL Rail to Romford then Greater Anglia to Stratford. Going by what Citymapper said, I decided to go through and see whether it actually was quicker.

Upon arrival at Romford, I needed to switch platforms. On Sundays, there is a 30mins Greater Anglia service that runs to Shenfield calling at Stratford, Romford, Harold Wood, Brentwood and Shenfield. Waiting was a bit of a burden so I played a game on my phone to pass up the time.

25 mins later...

A train arrives! 

Class 321 is here at Stratford with one more stop to go. What a ride!

To get a Class 321 was great. But in the Renatus livery was even better!! Stepping in felt like being in showroom. Bright lights, slick interior, just feels so modern. Probably similar to how some of Tesla  car models are. Seats are actually comfy (good job Eversholt!) with other features including: onboard wifi, charging sockets, toilets, storage for bicycles (maximum of 2) and air conditioning. Riding this train, was superb and I enjoyed the non-stop experience, especially with the Vossloh Kiepe motor sounds. A link about the Renatus project can be clicked here. Annoucements do work in their own time. Such a shame these will be going soon though...

Interior

I just noticed, that I got one of the last trains to be completely revamped. How lucky! On acceleration, I would say it sounds similar to a Class 458. Anyway, this was a nice treat as the stock will be slowly no more on the GEML. Might want to ride the older Class 321s first when I get a chance...

Train Rating: 8/10

Thanks for reading this blog!

Happy riding! :)


Here's London Connected opinion on the Class 321:
https://thewestlondonbusblog.blogspot.com/2017/10/project-renatus.html

396 - It's progress so far with Go-Ahead

Hello and welcome to another blog.

How are you? Good? Bad? Whatever you are feeling today another post is ready to be read. By me of course.

Today I am going to talk about route 396 which operates on the East side of London.

It has almost been a year, since the route has been taken over by Go-Ahead and I aim to talk about my initial reaction to the route, as well as a comparison between the recent operator.

So grab a snack or drink and enjoy! If you have any....

First Impressions

When I heard that the route was lost to Go-Ahead I was like "Ah, no!" I felt this way because Go-Ahead London, is such a big company and with their allocations, I thought there wouldn't be any double decker workings. I did use the route, quite regularly under Stagecoach London so hearing that made me feel a bit mixed honestly... 

The route, at present goes from King George Hospital to Ilford Broadway (technically Sainsburys) via Newbury Park and Gants Hill, being that way since the route was born in 1994. It's rather short, being 7km in length making it to be among the shortest routes in London. 

Places of interest: 

Aldborough Hatch - There is a stop near William Torbitt Primary School called Aldborough Road North and there's a road opposite which is ultimately under the same name - Aldborough Road South (if you walk back towards the subway then take a right). Staying on this road for a short time, a park will appear on the left hand side (Seven Kings Park). Things, such as a tennis court, slides and certain gym exercise equipment (I don't go gym, don't judge me) are situated here. However, there is much more further to explore up ahead - just requires a walk if you're interested. Those of you who want to know, I did play tennis and goodness me, it was really tough! I am still a beginner, as I only started training for the first time last summer. I ain't going to be the next Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal, unless I train as mad as a headless chicken. But that is not gonna happen so I will continue doing it for fun. Look how much training they have to do. Do you think I will be able to match that? Anyway this isn't a tennis blog - it's a transport blog so lets get back down to Earth lol. 

Newbury Park - This is the section of the route where people mainly get off ideally to get Central Line services towards London. Not to mention, there is this massive dome-shaped bus shelter that buses go under to serve the station which I find rather awesome! Can also be useful when mother nature decides to play nasty. On certain occasions when TFL Rail is closed, rail replacement buses normally go to Newbury Park so on weekends it is rather busy! 

Gants Hill - Gants Hill is the busiest station on the Central Line (Hainault Loop) meaning quite a few buses serve the area. In the morning though, there may be traffic so if you want to access Central Line quickly then getting off at Newbury Park would be more ideal. The station design is similar to stations that are operated in Moscow. A rather cool design by Charles Holden. Good on you fine chap. 

Valentines Park (near Ilford) - Funfair events take place here eventhough I never been to it. If you ever get a double decker on 396, you are able to see a pond near The Drive, close to the traffic lights. Splendid. Sometimes cricket matches also take place at this park. Notably, it is one of the biggest parks in the London Borough of Redbridge so to speak.

One more note: There is an Ilford Exchange if you want to do shopping. Not really a shopping fan myself but for those hardcore enthusiasts take your pick.

Those are the places of interest. Up next the comparisons!

Stagecoach London vs Go Ahead London

Stagecoach used Dennis Darts when it was handed over (2002) before getting Optare Versas 7 years later. Annoyingly, these buses did have loud ratting problems so that was a headache for me. If you were lucky then during the cold seasons, the driver would switch on the heating. This was mostly great since you don't want to come onboard a bus and feel like you're in the North Pole. No one wants that. In that case, hot chocolate and biscuits would be provided. Never mind who am I kidding it's a public bus! That said, other double and single decker vehicles did have to come in forming part of the allocation due to the Versas being untrustworthy. The frequency felt a like hit and miss overall with some buses coming on time or just taking ages to come. Apart from that though, Stagecoach London managed to give passengers a good service and handed over the baton to Go-Ahead.

Go Ahead also decided to follow suit with the allocation. ADL Enviro 200s (Allison gearbox) is the original allocation. However ADL Enviro 400s (Tridents - mainly 56 reg and 57 reg), Optare Esteem (sometimes) and if you're lucky 60 or 61 reg E40Ds although these tend to stay confined onto the 147 bus route. One time I managed to get thrash on E69 (LX57 reg - Enviro 400) and reached near to 47-48mph. If you're a London enthusiast, then you would know that thrash is very hard to get nowdays. That is why, people tend to go outside London in order to search for their much loved childhood buses. Having been on this route under Go-Ahead operation, I can say they are doing a good job. Frequency may not be perfect, but it's there when I need it to be so I appreciate that, since I need it sometimes to get alternative bus routes.

Tip: On single decker Enviro 200s, there is a air-conditioning/heat unit just before the back (third seat on the left hand side). Certain drivers enable this function to give passengers the best comfort. Hence, I'm saying aim to sit there since whatever season, it can really be better or worse. Trust me, I go to that seat and one time the driver switched on the heating unit. Jackpot!

Okay. Decision time.

Which operation do I prefer it under?

I would say.........................



Stagecoach.


Not trying to say Go-Ahead is bad, but I felt like there was more variety under Stagecoach. Including ALX400s which are my prime favorites! If Go-Ahead had alike types of buses e.g. Optare Olympus or Wright Eclipse Geminis in their garage then maybe........ maybe I could have changed my mind. Unforunately though in this day and age - rather unlikely.

Summary on Route 396

1. 7km route going from King George Hospital - Ilford Broadway (Sainsburys)
2. Allocation consists of single deckers and double deckers can make an appearance too
3. Passes through some places of interest including Valentines Park, Aldborough Hatch, The Exchange (Ilford shopping mall)
4. Frequency has improved under Go-Ahead operation - amount of vehicles allocated stays the same though
5. Handy (at the right time) if you need to make quick links

Generally, I feel like 396 is doing great based on what I discussed here. I wish the best for this company as they continue to dominate once again.

Hopefully I made your day/night slightly brighter or better than how it is going. 

Thanks for reading this blog! 

Take care and happy reading! :)

Wales 2016 and 2018

Hello and welcome back to this blog, which I hope you enjoy reading.

This is another one of those adventure type blogs like the last one so hopefully you can imagine how this ride was using your imagination.

Without further ado, its time to begin.

Why don't we head back to the past instead of the future? ;)

Disclaimer: I will be using emojis for fun posts only.


History timeeeeee! Okay I went overboard there, lets just go... 😂😂

Cardiff Capital! 🧭

Cardiff is the capital of Wales containing tourist areas notably the castle (see Wales 2018 section for an analysis on that), Cardiff Bay and more. It has grown since 1980s, when a Cardiff Bay was built at the time. That said, Cardiff was ranked 6th (dang) in the world by the Nat Geo for best tourist attractions. To be honest I could see why, I refer to Wales as my second home and some of the areas are just breathtaking... 

Theres your little introduction to the city. Now onto the REAL thing. Enjoy reading!!!

Getting to the Coach Station in 2016  😅😊

On the summer of 26th August 2016, we were heading to Victoria Coach Station. To get there I had to take a bus (yes, surprised we didn't take the train as we were carrying suitcases) from my residence to Stratford. I believe it was an ADL Enviro 400* {Voith} funnily enough that I took. Unfortunately though, these buses do not have luggage racks so it was very hard to find a space to put the luggage so it had to be put in the wheelchair/buggy area. However, it meant I had to stay downstairs for the whole journey just for that. Thankfully though the loads were alright - could have been much worse. 

Upon arrival to Stratford we then waited for a coach known as the Caetano Levante*. As the coach arrived the driver asked for our tickets and showed them in paper form. We stopped at Mile End before heading to Victoria. There was a bit of traffic along that section but we made it.

Extra Info:
The Enviro 400 was very a popular model with most companies ordering Voith and ZF Ecomat(was common in and outside London)/Ecolife. It was designed by Alexander Dennis (ADL) to replace older bus types such as the ALX400s and Plaxton Presidents which was also commonly seen.

Caetano Levante is a coach that serve routes such as National Express with a long wheelbase (due to the number of seats) and luggage racks.

The adventure begins (2016)  😀    

Well the coach arrived - thankfully. But.... we had wait in line. I saw other destinations going to Paris, Glasgow - heh, can't believe you can go to France with a coach - and more. We showed our tickets to the driver and was onboard. So the journey began... I was one seat near the back and it was hot and packed. Considering it was near the end of the month, you know how people like to get out and take a break from their daily lifes. There was some really nice views after passing through Earls Court, Chiswick Roundabout, Great West Road {home of H91}*, M4 and the crossing (the first time I have been past one). There was a long bridge that we crossed. The views was awesome. Annoyingly though I didn't take any photos. :( or did I?...

H91 (Hounslow West - Hammersmith via Osterley, Gunnersbury, Chiswick and Stamford Brook)

Arrival in Wales (2016)  🙌

After stopping at Newport and the university nearby, Wales was to be seen. The alighting point was at Sophia Gardens. Quite long - 4hrs to be exact. Next up we had to find the spot for the Premier Inn hotel that we were supposed to be staying in. It was confusing since it was my first time here. In the end, some kind people said onboard the Optare Solo (which we had to pay - this is outside London so very normal) to take a route numbered "58" from the city centre. And so we did. Which lead onto some hide and seek game of "find the stop" lol. You see without London Vehicle Finder, people wouldn't be to track their vehicles. Okay you have tracking bus applications on your phones. This doesn't apply here though...

Since we were in Wales, it was hard to find the name of the stops and check when they are leaving via real time information. So in this case, Citymapper couldn't help me out - lovely. I had to resort to plan B which was to use the timetable on the stop and find the route. It took some time, luckily though the stop was found and we were able to find our route and bus required. The bus came and at first sight I felt amazed. It was in light green and orange and the company being called Cardiff Bus (Bus Caerdydd in Welsh). The body is a Enviro 400 MMC manufactured by Alexander Dennis with the engine being ZF Ecolife (6-speed gearbox). At the time I didn't know all this stuff to do with gearboxes and such. Its amazing what you discover and learn as it may seem interesting.

The bus. Comfy seats, (they were high in my view lol) pretty good next stop announcements in English and Welsh (great for tourists) lovely engine and a nice livery - note some of the greenish livery does remind me a bit of the Reading Buses MMC but that one has it covered full on. Just brilliant to be honest. Thumbs up. 👍 :) Oh right it was one door too - had to get used to that when I traveled on other buses...

Service wise. Driver was kind and helpful to getting towards our destination. Wasn't really any issues onboard seemed to be a smooth service. The thing about this route is it not very frequent. Yeah... During my stay when waiting for the 58, amount of buses operating on the route is low (20 mins to say the least) so hmm... plan your time accordingly as you could be waiting at the stop for a while.

The Hotel 😆😩 :D... 

You don't understand how pleased I was to see the hotel in the distance... Long journey, tiring day just what I needed. When we entered, the receptionist greeted us and as the room was booked online, they showed us the way. There was a lift that we took 3 floors. Exiting the lift, a narrow corridor appeared with the different rooms on each side. The one came up on the left side eventually, offering a bathroom, kingsize and single bed, table and a mini old school TV. Once we had settled in, it started to get dark and I was on my tablet catching up on Youtube and checking out Google + communities. Wifi wasn't partcularly great though - the videos kept buffering and could barely watch them.

Later on the staff allowed us to go downstairs for dinner offering a great menu on display. Food was top notch, as you would expect it to be. Feeling full, we went upstairs to bed for the night awaiting as what will be an epic first day.....

 9:00am. ⌚

A new day in Wales + some surprises! 😳😲 (Day 1)

Bright and early Saturday morning, woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go like an armed soldier taking commands. Got prepared and went downstairs for breakfast wondering what is on offer. You had the full english breakfast (moretheless): bacon, sausages, eggs, baked beans and hash browns! And thats not all. You thought that was it? Ha. A continental breakfast included a range of  croissants, bagels, muffins, bread, pancakes.... Then of course you have cereals - a great way to start your week/day and fruits if you wanna stay healthy. Sometimes, its good to spoil yourself. I had an english breakfast with bagels and pancakes was really nice and tasty!

Surprisingly, there was alot going on today so lets jump to it. 😌

Dressed up, we headed out to the city. It needed route 58 and came in form of a single decker Scania Omnicity. The bus packed halfway we arrived at Cardiff. First of all, we went over to the shops and stuff (the paths looked like a mini Romford) to check whats there. I wondered about the castle since I first arrived so after eating a sausage roll at Greggs, it had to be discovered. Took some pictures (seen below) of the castle. Didn't fully explore it but not to worry. We then had to go to an area called "Cardiff Bay". The route required was route 22 - vehicle being a Dart Pointer with the Allison engine. Took roundabouts 20-25mins with mini shops mainly along the way.


Cardiff Bay... well it has a really nice view! There seemed to be an event too guess it was my lucky day today ;)... I saw a boat sailing along the sea saying "Challenge Wales" there was also advertising for an event that took place over the next two days related to jet ski of some sort. Took loads of pictures here - was really a great day. I then went into the retail park known as the Red Dragon Centre (home of Wale's Capital FM radio station) whilst going past an Asda with an Optare Tempo that operated on one of the "T routes" (T9) similar to the H37 examples that entered service in London. Welp, this wasn't one your normal retail parks containing shops e.g. Sports Direct, JD you name it. No. No. No. Inst- *looking around with people walking* 😑 Instead, there were an array of food shops, arcade and a cinema! I decided to go to Five Guys as walking around Cardiff Bay for a considerable amount of time can be tiring and I didn't want to leave on an empty stomach.

At first looks, I thought it might be some sort of chicken and chips sort of place. I was mistaken hugely though as it looked purely American based on their range of burgers, chips, hot dogs; you can view the menu by clicking on this link: https://www.fiveguys.co.uk/download/uk/menu.pdf  When I say the food is filling, its FILLING nothing else to say about that. My order was a burger (possibly cheese I think) with fries and a drink from the CocaCola "free style" refill machine where you can refill as many times as you want with no charge with your own drink combinations. Huh? Gobsmacked I tell you... So hopefully you're convinced to visit a Five Guys restaurant after this mini review. Give it a shot, go on.

And with Cardiff Bay done that was pretty much Day 1 dusted over...

Well, I did mention there would be alot so don't say I didn't warn you. 😉

A quiet day out 😩 (Day 2)

Sunday. Quiet morning after a fun packed day before. Before anything else, I woke up and looked outside at the view overseeing the car park and entrance. Went downstairs for breakfast once again choosing the meal I wanted. Today I decided to just spend a day in the city centre mostly hanging around near the castle area. There was a church too so I went there before staying at someones residence with vastly improved wifi. Was greatful! Unfortunately that didn't last forever, as we stayed for a few hours before returning back to the hotel. Not much happened but yeah.

Departure from Wales 🛫 (Final Day)... 

It was the final day in Wales as I woke up for the last time packing my stuff in the suitcase. Had breakfast before departing on route 58 towards the city centre, where we headed to the coach area in Sophia Gardens. We waited for our coach to arrive at the bay as I was taking in my last surroundings of Wales. In my head I was thinking: "I'm going to miss Wales" sure enough I was. In the sunshine, the coach appeared and went onboard sitting a few seats near the back. The coach felt hot though like heating up food in a microwave. Nevertheless, the driver still informed us of the next stops on the route just so that we don't get lost. Because thats what coach drivers do. Inform, drive and serve. It was a bank holiday Monday so it wasn't going to be a straightforward fast ride home. Traffic mainly caused an issue but otherwise London approached as we reached closer to the coach station and took the necessary transport back from there.

And there you go. 2016 Wales. Fun wasn't it? Its time to go up much more recent now and uncover 2018. With a time machine. 

Thursday 30th August 2018

The revisit?!? :O 🤯

Well I wasn't expecting this - a return to Wales again! I felt surprised and glad! The day started off differently, as I took the train (thank goodness) to Liverpool Street. Most likely a Class 315 referred to as "old train" by TFL Rail users as it was a weekday. Rush hour period, trains were busy. Although in this case the time was 7:20am and the S Stock train that I boarded felt alright in terms of passenger levels. Arriving at Victoria with Circle line the coach awaited. As it was a Thursday, not many people got on the coach majority of them being university students (I dread to think how much they have to pay for this and for uni at the same time - I guess thats why some people decide to move out therefore living nearer) or normal passengers. This time I had my phone with me, meaning I could take photos of the journey whilst the coach being in motion. On the first trip I hesitated taking photos for some reason. The driver was helpful on the journey, as well as a camera at the front showing a first person view of the road. Familiar territory, Sophia Gardens arrived in sight contending with a few speed humps which this tri-axle coach had to contend with.

Arrival time: 11:38

Wales in one day (ft. Tourist attractions!) 🕐 (2018)

You read right. Must be scratching your head thinking "how is this gonna happen?" Well its possible and im going to prove that this statement is true. Watch me. Well not "watch me". Read.

So after alighting at Sophia Gardens, I walked around the castle taking pictures noticeably at the steps. The castle felt like a proper maze! There was different sections diverging towards a shop (which I visited) entrance of the actual castle inside and a secret little section on the right. I stepped into the medieval bit of the castle and well it did feel medieval - no doubt. Some stairs to climb, wasn't as bad as I thought to be honest. I saw an eagle being held by a birdkeeper with its glove must be very well trained to do that. People decided to take pictures even if I tried to do that I would probably fail the first time...  Moving onto the castle with big steps. Climbing this was no issue. However due to the sheer amount of steps, the ones going up to the top of the castle really felt like Mount Everest "stairs edition". I had to abort the mission instead of losing my stamina/strength which could be more useful for better things. Which meant continuing was a big no no as my legs were tired out and the stairs looked like an endless way of steps. Mission failed. Sorry sergeant, I went as far as the middle, got a pretty good view here so took some pictures. Safety first... 🚶 📷

Secret section. Alright on the right hand side, it had the entrance for a lookalike subway path. Down there it showed how workers used to operate during war at the time with background noises and old commentary taking it back a notch. This tour was remarkable and interesting to see some of the areas that people had to cope in as it must not have been easy.

I congratulate if you've made this far reading this must not have been easy but hopefully you don't doze off here just a bit more to go. Understandably if you need to do something thats fine - the blog is available to view at your disposal and I ain't going to stop you.

Thats just a little thanks there. Anyhoo at this point (since my coach was leaving in a few hours) I had a decision to make; wander around the remaining sections of Cardiff or take a tour bus through the whole city. I choose the tour bus option since I wanted to explore the areas of Cardiff Bay as well as some great tourist attractions! Plus it would be wayyy more fun...

Cardiff Sightseeing! (2018) 🌅🏰  

Had to pay boarding the tour bus to the pleasant welsh bus driver seemed rather happy which you would expect. Payment successful, went onboard upstairs with the driver giving earphones. Okay at first I felt so confused but then I realised it was just him not any other tour guide so in this case I plugged my earphone through the compartment and went on the move. This bus driver informed us along the way about Cardiff University and a museum which at the time related to a chinese theme event. Soothing background music was played whilst the views were admired. Speed felt good too - not too fast or slow just right like a cooked tasty meal (sorry if I made you hungry 😂). Another point of interest was Cardiff Bay which my driver referred to as being a well known attraction for tourists due to it having a library and certain events across the sea (talked about in 2016 - Day 1). Afterwards, we saw some shops on this normal two way road. Before the tour ended, there was a sight of Wale's stadium (Principality Stadium - home of Cardiff FC) which felt nice to see. And then we parked up nicely near the castle exactly where we began. At that time it was still an 1 hour left so I made my way to the coach point at Sophia Gardens to catch the coach back.

The End. 🌙

Hope you enjoyed reading my summary maybe you want to have a quick glander at the pictures now:

Wales 2016 pictures 🌆

Wales 2018 pictures 🐉 

Recent news: 
Unfortunately, Virgin Trains no longer operate on the West Coast Main Line. Avanti West Coast have taken over the company and as a result the Pendolinos/Super Voyagers have transferred over. I find this a shame since I was looking forward for many adventures with Virgin Trains but I guess not... one will do - I suppose. You will be missed Virgin Trains... thank you for making everyone's journey special! (including mine) :/ 😭😢

1997-2019... 😞😔

At least the trains are staying though! Click here to read my blog that I did on my travels in the summer.

Thanks for reading this blog, that is it for 2019 worth of blogs. One blog that started so simple has grown into a hobby and I will continue to write more as time goes by!


I appreciate the time and effort reading my blogs - lets make 2020 a good year!

Happy reading! :)


Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 🎄🎁🎆🎇