London United Busways

London United is a bus company operating in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of the RATP Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London.

Company history


London United was established in December 1988 as one of 12 operating subsidiaries of London Buses in preparation for privatisation. In November 1994 it was sold in a management buyout.

The company's name was derived from the former London United Tramways, that operated trams and trolleybuses in west and south west London until absorbed by the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933. London United adopted the former tram company's ensignia, based on the coat of arms of the City of London, as its logo.

In 1995, London United purchased the Westlink business from Stanwell Buses Limited with garages in Hounslow Heath and Kingston upon Thames.

In August 1997 London United was sold to Transdev. In 2002 Transdev purchased fellow London operator London Sovereign from the Blazefield Group.

In April 2006 both operations were rebranded with the Transdev name and logo, removing the London United and London Sovereign brands, although both companies continued as separate legal entities.

In November 2009 Transdev purchased NCP Challenger with seven Transport for London contracted routes, 87 buses and garages at Park Royal and Twickenham. These were integrated into the London United business.

Mergers and demergers
In 2009 Transdev's majority owner, Caisse des dépôts et consignations, commenced negotiating with Veolia Environnement to merge Transdev with Veolia Transport. As part of the resulting agreement, it was agreed that the RATP Group, which had a minority shareholding in Transdev, would take over ownership of some of Transdev's operations in lieu of cash payment.

This resulted in London United transferring to the RATP Group, while London Sovereign remained with Transdev and become part of the merged Veolia Transdev group.

This agreement took effect in March 2011, and RATP Group renamed its newly acquired business London United.

Livery
London United had an all red livery with a light grey skirt. This was later changed to all red to comply with Transport for London requirements.

Garages
London United operates eight bus garages.

Fulwell (FW)
Fulwell garage operates London bus routes 71, 110, 131, 216, 267, 371, 24-hour routes 33, 65 and 281, and school routes 671, 681, and 691.

Fulwell also operate shuttle buses to and from Twickenham Stadium on behalf of the Rugby Football Union on match days.

History
When new, the 11 acre site was described as one of the finest plants in the country and was the main depot of London United Tramways with 20 covered tracks. The garage is nowadays divided into two sections, one used by London United, with an entrance off Wellington Road, and the other by Abellio London with an entrance off Stanley Road.

Fulwell was the first garage in London to receive trolleybuses in 1931, and together with Isleworth was the last to operate them until 1962. The last trams operated from the depot in 1935, although some of the tram tracks were, until recently, still visible in the cobbled surface of the Stanley Road entrance. The garage has never reached its capacity, even taking in much of the work from Twickenham when it closed in 1970, and in 2001 107 buses were allocated. In 1999 the garage housed 13 London Country buses after Arriva Croydon & North Surrey shut its Leatherhead garage. The buses on route 85 were operated from the forecourt with Arriva drivers. The large forecourt is at present partly used as the bus stand for route route 267.

On 5 September 2011, route 110 was transferred to this garage.

On 1 October 2011, route 290 passed to Abellio London.

On 2 March 2013, route 33 was transferred from Twickenham garage.

Bus types in use

 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200H Hybrid (HDE) for route 371
 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DE) for routes 33, 216 and 371
 * Dennis Dart SLF 10.2m / Plaxton Pointer 2 (DPS) for routes 110 and 216
 * Dennis Trident 2 9.9m / Alexander ALX400 (TA) for routes 131, 281, 371 and 681
 * Dennis Trident 2 10.5m / Alexander ALX400 (TLA) for routes 671 and 691
 * Scania OmniCity 10.6m (SP) for routes 65 and 71
 * Scania OmniDekka 10.6m (SLE) for route 267

Hounslow (AV)
Hounslow garage operates London bus routes 27 (night service only on this 24-hour route), 81, 120, 203, 222, H32, H37, H98, school routes 696, 697, 24-hour route 111 and night route N9.

History
Hounslow garage was opened by the London General Omnibus Company in 1913 on the former site of the District Railway's Hounslow Town station. The garage along with many others was requisitioned in the First World War. Hounslow was the subject of two firsts in 1925 and 1930 with the first pneumatic tyre buses and the original Dennis Dart allocated respectively. The garage had one problem though: the roof was too low and only open toppers and single deck vehicles could use the depot until the mid-1930s when the roof was raised.

A London Transport survey in 1947 found that 92 vehicles were allocated to Hounslow, a garage with a capacity of 72. This was mainly achieved by parking buses on a plot of land behind the garage that was also used to stand vehicles terminating there on layover. The garage was rebuilt in the early 1950s and included a new bus station in front of the garage. The planned allocation was now up to 120 vehicles, although the allocation in 2002 was 127.

Hounslow's first one man operated double deckers were MCW Metrobuses delivered in 1982 for routes 111 and 202. With the allocation still high, Hounslow runs a number of night services on behalf of other London United garages to enable it to fit the buses into the garage. It was also the first garage in London to operate a low-floor bus with the arrival of Wright Pathfinder bodied Dennis Lance SLF in December 1993.

There were plans to relocate the garage away from the town centre, and allow the expansion of the adjoining bus station. In 2005 an unsuccessful planning application for a site in Hanworth Road was lodged. This was largely due to a campaign by residents overlooking the site.

In late 2007 the bus station in front of the garage was closed for rebuilding. The overall roof was removed and the eight bus bays demolished. In their place have been built just two stands for routes 120 and route 281. The other seven routes that previously served the bus station now stand on the garage forecourt (the old bus station) but pick up passengers in the road outside. One exception was route 81, where buses ran out of service to and from the bus stand at Isleworth Fire Station however this has since been discontinued and buses again turn around in the bus station.

Bus types in use

 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.8m (DLE) for route H98
 * Alexander Dennis Enviro400 10.2m (ADE) for routes 81, 120 and 222
 * Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaro 12.0m (MCL) for route 203
 * Optare Tempo 12.0m (OT) for route H37
 * Scania OmniCity 10.6m (SP) for routes 27, 111, 120, 697, H32 and N9
 * Volvo B7TL 10.1m / Alexander ALX400 (VA) as a logistical spare
 * Volvo B7TL 10.1m / Plaxton President (VP) for route 696

Hounslow Heath (HH)
Hounslow Heath garage operates London bus routes 116, 423, 482, H22, H91, 24-hour route 285 and school routes 216, 635 and 698.

History
Hounslow Heath was the original operating base of Stanwell Buses, a company set up by London Buses just prior to deregulation. They traded as Westlink, hence the garage code WK, and initially operated routes 116, 117 and 203 which were all joint Transport for London/Surrey County Council contracts. In 1999 Westlink was taken over by London United and recoded internally as HH. London Buses still use the code WK. The depot has also been extended over the former Travellers Coaches yard next door.

On 12 January 2013, London United commenced operating route 635.

Bus types in use

 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DE) for routes 116, 216, 285 and 698
 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.8m (DLE) for route 423
 * Dennis Dart SLF 10.2m / Alexander Dennis Pointer (DPS) for routes 116 and H22
 * Dennis Trident 2 9.9m & 10.5m / Alexander ALX400 (TA/TLA) for route 635
 * Scania OmniCity 10.6m (SP) for routes 482, 698 and H91

Park Royal (PK)
Park Royal garage operates London bus routes 220 (day time service only), 283, 440 and E11.

History
Park Royal was opened by NCP Challenger on 26 May 2007, on the site of the former Metroline garage (HR) in Atlas Road, Harlesden, which had closed in 2005.

The garage is actually located in a 3 places boundary, which are Park Royal, North Acton and Old Oak Common.

On 20 October 2012, the daytime service for route 220 was transferred to this garage.

Bus types in use

 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 8.9m (SDE) for route E11
 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DE) for route 440
 * Alexander Dennis Enviro400 10.2m (ADE) for route 220
 * Optare Versa 10.4m (OV) for route 283

Shepherd's Bush (S)
Shepherd's Bush garage operates London bus routes 49, 220 (night service only on this 24-hour route), 272, C1, 24-hour routes 72, 94, 148 and night bus N97.

History
Shepherd's Bush garage opened in 1906.

On 20 October 2012, routes 272 and C1 were transferred to this garage.

Bus types in use

 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DE) for routes 72, 272 and C1
 * Alexander Dennis Enviro400H Hybrid 10.1m (ADH) for routes 94 and 220
 * Dennis Trident 2 10.5m / Alexander ALX400 (TLA) for route 94
 * New Bus for London 11.3m (LT) to be introduced on route 148 from 15 February 2014
 * Scania OmniCity 10.6m (SP) for routes 49 and 148
 * Volvo B7TL 10.1m / Alexander ALX400 (VA) for route N97
 * Volvo B7TL 10.1m / East Lancs Myllennium Vyking (VE) for route 49

Stamford Brook (V)
Stamford Brook garage operates London bus routes 9, 27 (day time service only), 391, 419 and 24-hour route 10.

History
Stamford Brook opened as a bus garage in 1980 after a two year construction. Originally built as Chiswick Tram depot, it had latterly been used to operate the British Airways bus service between Heathrow Airport and the West London Air Terminal in Kensington.

The original plan was to create a temporary home for the Riverside garage buses and staff whilst that garage was re-built with a view to taking on the workload from Mortlake and Turnham Green which were to close. However this idea was changed and the garage took on the work from Turnham Green which closed and also inherited the garage code V. Following service reductions, Mortlake and Riverside closed in 1983, with some of their work moving to Stamford Brook.

In 1981 Stamford Brook took on Airbus routes A1 and A2 following the withdrawal of the existing British Airways services between Heathrow Airport and central London. These vehicles were transferred in 1994 to West Ramp (which became an outstation of V) leaving the garage with an allocation of MCW Metroriders, MCW Metrobuses, Leyland Olympians and Dennis Darts.

The garage closed in 1996 and became a store for unlicensed buses held for possible future use. In 1999 it reopened to cater for increased demand in the area. In 2001 the allocation consisted entirely of Dennis Darts. When route 9 was converted from AEC Routemaster to one man operation in September 2004, it moved from Shepherds Bush, and East Lancs Myllennium Vyking bodied Volvo B7TL double deckers appeared.

On 27 November 2005 London United commenced operating route 27.

On 2 March 2013, route 419 was transferred from Twickenham garage.

Bus types in use

 * Alexander Dennis Enviro400H Hybrid 10.2m (ADH) for routes 10 and 27
 * Dennis Dart SLF 10.2m / Alexander Dennis Pointer (DPS) for route 419
 * New Bus for London 11.3m (LT) for route 9
 * Optare Versa 10.4m (OV) for route 391
 * Scania OmniCity 10.6m (SP) for route 10

Tolworth (TV)
Tolworth garage opertes London bus routes 265, K2, K4, 24 hour route 57, school bus routes 613 and 665, mobility bus route 965, and seasonal Kingston Park & Ride service K50.

History
Tolworth is one of the newest London bus garages and was built on the site of a former coal yard behind Tolworth railway station.

Tolworth was originally planned in the late 1990s following the closure of Kingston Garage and the announcement that the site was to be part sold off and part converted into the new bus station. A recruitment centre was opened on Tolworth Broadway long before building work ever started.

The sale of the Kingston site was brought forward somewhat, and this appeared to catch out the operator as Tolworth Garage was not yet ready. Buses were temporarily parked in a car park in Kingston until the new 100 capacity bus garage opened in early 2002.

On 29 June 2013, routes K1 and K3 passed to Abellio London.

Bus types in use

 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 8.9m (SDE) for route K4
 * Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DE) for route K2
 * Dennis Dart SLF 10.2m / Plaxton Pointer 2 (DPS) for routes 265, 665, 965 and K50
 * Dennis Trident 2 9.9m / Alexander ALX400 (TA) for route 57
 * Dennis Trident 2 10.5m / Alexander ALX400 (TLA) for route 613
 * Volvo B7TL 10.6m / East Lancs Myllennium Vyking (VLE) for route 57

Kingston Christmas Park & Ride K50
London United operate route K50, the Kingston to Chessington World of Adventures, Christmas Park & Ride service. The service runs daily from early November to mid-January each year.

History
Twickenham garage was opened by NCP Challenger in 12 November 2005.

On 31 March 2012, route 493 passed to London General.

Twickenham closed on 1 March 2013 with route 33 transferred to Fulwell and route 419 to Stamford Brook.