Transdev



London Sovereign is a bus company in North London. It is a subsidiary of Transdev and operates buses under contract to Transport for London. After Transdev sold London United to RATP in March 2011, it is Transdev's only remaining London bus company.

Company history
London Sovereign can trace its roots back to independent Borehamwood Travel Services (BTS), which ran a fleet that included ex-Kelvin Central MCW Metrobuses and Northern Counties Palatines bodied  Leyland Olympians and a collection of other vehicles. In 1993 it won its biggest London Buses contract, to operate route 13 with leased Routemasters in its orange livery. In 1994, BTS was sold to the Blazefield Group's Sovereign subsidiary, and was renamed Sovereign London. In 2002, it was sold to the Transdev group, and renamed London Sovereign.

Garages
Transdev London operate two bus garages.

Edgware (BT)
Edgware garage operates London bus routes 13, 114, 183, 251, 292, 324, school route 605 and night route N13.

History
Edgware garage was first opened by the London General Omnibus Company in 1925 with space for 24 buses, but there was plenty of room adjacent to the Underground station which had recently been built. In 1939 a new building was built next to the original building which was to become the new bus station, while the remaining open parking area was used to store vehicles for the trolleybus replacement program. In 1984 a new 100 bus garage was built on on the site of the long closed Edgware railway station at a cost of £4.5 million. In 1992 plans were made to close Edgware garage as Cricklewood garage was to become a fully functioning garage with new facilities. The outdoor parking area and the bus station then became a midibus base in 1993, with a new bus wash and light maintenance facilities provided in the yard.

In 1999, London Sovereign, having won some tenders for bus services in North-East London, took a 10-year lease on half of Edgware garage and invested in a new maintenance facility which was to replace its former base at Borehamwood. In late 2000, Metroline moved back into the other half of the garage, making it one of the few garages to be shared by two operators.

On 3 September 2011, London Sovereign commenced operating route 251.

On 1 September 2012, London Sovereign commenced operating route 605.

Bus types in use

 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 8.9m (SDE) for route 324
 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DE) for route 251
 * Scania OmniCity 10.6m (SP) for route 183
 * Scania OmniDekka 10.6m (SLE) for route 114, to be introduced on route 292 from 7 December 2013
 * Volvo B5L Hybrid 10.4m / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 (VH) for routes 13 and N13
 * Volvo B7TL 10.6m / East Lancs Myllennium Vyking (VLE) for route 114
 * Volvo B7TL 10.6m / Plaxton President (VLP) for routes 292 and 605
 * Volvo Olympian / Alexander RH (VA) for contract hire

Harrow (SO)
Harrow garage operates London bus routes 398, H9, H10, H11, H13, H14, and H17.

History
Harrow garage opened in 1994. It is Transdev London's smallest garage just holding 42 buses. Due to a low roof beam across the middle of the site the depot building cannot hold double deckers.

Bus type in use

 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DE) for routes 398, H9, H10, H11, H13, H14 and H17
 * Dennis Dart SLF 10.2m / Plaxton Pointer 2 (DPS) for routes H9 and H10