First London

First London

A First London Enviro200 at a bus rally. The bus number and destination shows a former mobility route that was withdrawn in 2010.
Parent	FirstGroup
Founded	1997
Service area	Greater London
Service type	Bus
Routes	90
Web site	www.firstlondon.co.uk

One of First London's new Alexander Dennis Enviro400s. One of First London's new Alexander Dennis Enviro400s. The Destination shows a new Commercial Route running between Brentwood and Lakeside

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First London is one of many operators of London Buses and owned by First Group. They did also run the Tramlink network, in a partnership with Tramtrack Croydon before June 2008. Their registered office is at Paddington station in London. First London is a widely known bus company in west and north west London, as nearly all the routes in that area are operated by First London.

First London has the operator with the third largest number of London Buses routes, after Go-Ahead London (1st place), and Arriva London (2nd place).

Company history

First entered bus operations in London in 1997 after acquiring Centrewest and Capital Citybus in 1998. More recently, the two divisions have been re-organised into one brand, "First London", split into two areas: First London West (the former Centrewest) and First London East (the former Capital area). Local identities, such as the old "First Gold Arrow" and "First Challenger" Centrewest brands have also been discarded in favour of the simpler "First" identity. First Berkshire's (the former First Beeline) operations have also been transferred to First London management.

Legally, operations are split between three registered companies. They all share the same main address.

First Capital East Ltd

First Capital East Ltd operates one bus garage based in Dagenham.

Dagenham (DM)

This garage holds 101 buses, and runs London bus routes 58 (Friday), 165, 179, 193, 252, 365, 368, 498, 953, school routes 370, 608, 646, 648, 652, 656, 679, 686 and Essex route 265.

History

They previously operated a garage in Romford (Harold Wood) which closed in 2004, and was an outstation of Dagenham.

On 26 March 2011, First Capital Successfully gained the contract for route 368 and are now operating it from this garage.

From 3 September 2011, First Capital successfully gained the contract for routes 608 and 648 and are now operating them from this garage.

Bus types in use

• Dennis Dart SLF 8.8m / Marshall Capital (DMS) for route 193.
• Dennis Dart SLF 10.2m / Marshall Capital (DML) for routes 646, 648 and 953
• Dennis Trident 2 9.9m & 10.5m / Plaxton President (TN/TNL) for routes 58, 370, 608, 652, 656, 679 and 686.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro400 10.1m (DN) for routes 165, 179, 252, 265 (Essex), 365 and 498.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DML) for routes 165 and 498.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.8m (DMV) for route 368.

First Capital North Ltd

First Capital North Ltd operates two bus garages - one in Hackney Wick and one in Northumberland Park.

Lea Interchange (LI)

This garage holds 129 buses, and runs London bus routes 26, 30, 58, 308, 339, RV1, W14, W15, 24-hour routes 25, 236, night bus N26 and school route 686.

History

The garage was opened in 2007 to replace the original depot in Waterden Road that was closed to due development of the Olympic Park for London 2012. The original Waterden Road depot was opened in 1996 to cope with the tender wins in the Stratford area on a former industrial site. In 2004 the garage received Mercedes-Benz Citaro Hydrogen 'Fuel Cell' buses for evaluation on route 25 and subsequently on route RV1.

On 25 June 2011, First Capital have gained the contracts of routes 25, 26, 30 and N26 and operating them from this garage.

In June 2011, VDL SB200 11.9m/Wright Pulsar Hydrogen powered (WSH) for route RV1, where temporarily withdrawn following a fire on one of the fleet.

London's first HyFLEET:CUTE hydrogen fuel cell bus, at Covent Garden. These buses are used on route RV1.

On 17 September 2011, Dockland Buses gained the contracts for routes D6, D7 and D8 and are now being operated from their Silvertown (SI) garage.

On 25 February 2012, First Capital have gained the contract for route W14.

On 3 March 2012, First Capital have gained the contract for route W15.

On 3 March 2012, CT Plus have gained the contract for route 309.

On 3 March 2012, Arriva London have gained the contract for route W11.

Bus types in use

• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 9.3m (DM) for routes 339 and W14.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DML) for routes RV1 and W15.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.8m (DMV) for route 308. To be introduced on route 236 from 28 April 2012
• Alexander Dennis Enviro400 10.1m (DN) for routes 26, 30 and N26.
• Dennis Dart SLF 10.2m / Caetano Nimbus (DMC) for route 236.
• Dennis Dart SLF 10.2m / Marshall Capital (DML) for route 236.
• VDL SB200 11.9m / Wright Pulsar Hydrogen powered (WSH) for route RV1.
• Volvo B9TL 10.4m / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 (VN) for routes 25, 58 and 686.

Northumberland Park (NP)

This garage holds 125 buses, and runs London bus routes 58 (Friday), 67, 191, 231, 259, 299, 357, 389, 399, 476, W4, W10, W16, school routes 616, 692 and 699.

History

The garage was opened in 1991 to house the Walthamstow Citybus operation, an offshoot of Capital Citybus, the operation steadily grew especially after the collapse of the London Forest company. Capital Citybus was bought out by the management team in late 1995, and subsequently by First Group in 1998 becoming First Capital.

On 5 February 2011, First Capital gained the contract for route W4.

On 3 March 2012, First Capital gained the contract for route W16.

On 29 February, First Group informed staff that they were intending to sell First London's Northumberland Park Depot operation, together with its route contracts, vehicles and staff to the Go-Ahead Group. Subject to successful negotiations, conclusion of the transfer is expected on or around 28 March.

Bus types in use

• Dennis Dart SLF 9.4m / Marshall Capital (DM) for route W10.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro400 10.1m (DN) for routes 191 and 231.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 8.9m (DMS) for route W4
• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 9.3m (DM) for routes 299, 357, 389, 399 and W16.
• Dennis Trident 2 9.9m / Plaxton President (TN) for routes 58, 616 and 853.
• Dennis Trident 2 10.5m / Plaxton President (TNL) for routes 692 and 699.
• Volvo B7TL 10.6m / Plaxton President (VNL) for route 67.
• Volvo B9TL 10.4m / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 (VN) for routes 259, 357 and 476.

First Centrewest London Buses Ltd

First Centrewest London Buses Ltd operate 7 bus garages in Atlas Road, Alperton, Greenford, Hayes, Uxbridge, Westbourne Park and Willesden Junction.

Atlas Road (AS)

The Atlas Road garage runs London bus routes 28, 31, 328 and night routes N28 and N31.

History

On 1 October 2011, routes 28, 31, 328, N28 and N31 was transferred to this garage from Westbourne Park (X) due to the Crossrail construction. However, Atlas Road operates as an outstation for Westbourne Park, so Westbourne Park buses may been seen on Atlas Road routes, and Atlas Road vehicles may been seen on Westbourne Park Routes in return.

On August 2010, First Centrewest won the contract for route 266 from 19 May 2012. The route will be operating from this garage.

Bus types in use

• Volvo B7TL 10m / Wright Eclipse Gemini (VNW) for routes 28, 31, 328, N28 and N31.
• Volvo B7TL 10.6m / Wright Eclipse Gemini (VNZ) for route 28.
• VDL DB300 10.4m / Wright Gemini 2 HEV (WNH) for route 328.
• Volvo B9TL 10.4m / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 (VN) to be introduced on route 266 from 19 May 2012.

Greenford (G)

The Greenford garage holds 107 buses, and runs London bus routes 92, 95, 282, E1, E3, E5, E7, E9 and E10.

History

Greenford bus depot is part of a local council depot and was first used in 1993 as a midibus base. The opening of Greenford garage led to the closure of Hanwell, and in 1995 the garage was operating 110 midibuses. The standard fare of vehicles in the late 1990s were Renault/Wright midibuses, and Marshall Minibuses but both types had a bad reputation and did not last long. In recent years the allocation has been much diverse, ranging from Marshall-bodied Darts to Dennis Trident 2/Plaxton vehicles.

From late 2003 until 14 March 2009 Ealing Community Transport operated London route - 195 from the Greenford depot using garage code EY.

On 13 November 2010, route 92 was transferred to this garage.

On 2 July 2011, Metroline won the contract of route 105 and are operating it from Perivale West (PA).

Bus types in use

• Dennis Trident 2 9.9m / Plaxton President (TN) for route 282.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DML) for routes 95, E7 and E9.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 8.9m (DMS) for routes E5 and E10.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 10.1m (DN) for routes E1 and E3.
• Volvo B7TL 10.6m / Wright Eclipse Gemini (VNZ) for route 92.

Hayes (HS)

The 207, using the Mercedes-Benz O530G Citaro (articulated)

The Hayes garage holds 50 buses, and runs London bus route 195, 207, 427 and Night bus N207.

On 13 November 2010, route 195 was transferred to this garage.

Bus types in use

• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DML) for route 195.
• Volvo B9TL 10.4m / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 (VN) for route 427.
• Scania OmniCity 10.6m (SN) routes 207 and N207.

Alperton (ON)

24-hour route 83, using Volvo B7TL 10m/Wright Eclipse Gemini.

Their Alperton garage holds 71 buses, and runs London bus routes 223, 224, 245 and 24-hour route 83.

History

It was one of three garages built by the LPTB, and the only one to survive, Alperton Garage opened in June 1939, adjacent to the Piccadilly Line station of the same name, to serve the extensive local area that had built up in the mid 1930s.

When it opened it had an allocation entirely of STL's which were reshuffled from Cricklewood, Hanwell, Harrow Weald, and Willesden garages. As Alperton was a new garage and had plenty of headroom it was one of the few garages able to take utility Guy Arabs, and at one stage these made up its complete allocation and lasted until 1954 when they were replaced by STLs.

By 1972 with the arrival of numerous AEC MB and SM class single deck buses to operate the numerous OMO services, and the further allocation of Daimler Fleetline DMS, parking space was becoming a problem. It therefore became necessary to park a dozen or so buses on nearby Glacier Metals' car park overnight. The garage was consequently enlarged between 1976–1978, which encompassed the adjacent former Underground substation, and the LT Lifts and Escalators department which had to move out to new premises. During the reconstruction works, 18 vehicles were outstationed at Stonebridge (SE).

The last RT buses were transferred out in 1975, and until the beginning of the 1980s, Alperton had an entirely RM and DMS allocation. The first MCW Metrobuses arrived in 1981, and gradually replaced the DMS on all the OPO routes, and would become the mainstay of the fleet for many years.

Following the September 1982 service reductions, all the remaining RMs were transferred away to other garages, route 187 and 83 being one manned at the same time. Replacement Metrobuses were allocated to make up the allocation (mainly used vehicles from Edgware (EW), Hanwell (HL), and Fulwell (FW), making the garage all Metrobus.

By 1995 Alperton was doing most of the maintenance for the Centrewest operation and had also become the home of the training fleet.

On 26 november 2011, Metroline have won the contract for route 79 and they are now operating it from their Perivale (East) garage.

Bus types in use

• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 9.3m (DM) for route 223.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DML) for route 245.
• Dennis Dart SLF 10.2m / Marshall Capital (DML) for route 224.
• Volvo B9TL 10.4m / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 (VN) for route 83.

Uxbridge (UX)

The Uxbridge garage was built for 76 buses, however holds 88, and runs London bus routes 331, 607, A10, U1, U2, U3, U4, U5, U10, and night route N207.

History

The original Uxbridge Garage was around half a mile out of town on the Oxford road and was built by the LGOC in 1921, but passed to Thames Valley a year later. The garage was taken back by the LGOC in 1929 to work its new local routes which were operated mainly by single deckers. An extension was added in the late 1940s and a new garage was planned, although work didn't begin until the 1980s. The new garage came into commission in late 1983 and is situated next to the underground station occupying the lower ground floor of a multi use building. In 1989 the garage began operating the U-Line network of local routes using 16 seater Mercedes Alexander midibuses (MA's) in an initiative by London Transport. The growth of use of the U-Line services over the years since 1989 has meant that larger buses have been put into service on these routes, in particular the U4 which has seen upgrades from MA's to DML's (older Marshall versions) to the current fleet of double deck TN's. The garage also operated the busy 207 and (since 1991) the express version 607 from Uxbridge into Shepherds Bush (extended to White City Bus Station/Westfield shopping centre since January 2009). In 1994 the garage was allocated some of London's first low-floor single decker, Dennis Lance SLF/Wright-bodied vehicles (LLW's) with Centrewest branding for the then operated route 222.

Bus types in use

• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DML) for routes 331, A10, U1, U5 and U10.
• Dennis Trident 2 9.9m / Plaxton President (TN) for routes U3 and U4.
• Dennis Trident 2 10.5m / Plaxton President (TNL) for route 607.
• Dennis Dart SLF 10.2m / Caetano Nimbus (DMC) for routes U2 and U3.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro400 10.1m (DN) to be introduced on route 607 from April 2012.
• Volvo B7TL 10m / Wright Eclipse Gemini (VNW) to be introduced on route 607 from April 2012.

Westbourne Park (X)

The Westbourne Park garage holds 181 buses, and runs London bus routes 9 (Heritage) and 24-hour routes 23 and 295.

History

Westbourne Park Garage was part of the re-construction programme undertaken by London Transport in the early 1980s. As was common practice at the time, the new garage replaced two older garages - the small and inadequate Middle Row (X), and the larger former trolley bus depot at Stonebridge (SE). The new garage, which opened in 1981 in Great Western Road, and is of unusual design in that it is built beneath the elevated A40 Westway, the roof of the garage being profiled to match the concrete flyover. Originally, the garage allocation consisted of RM, and a small number of DM to B20 "quiet" specification for Route 18. These were supplemented in 1983 by a number of Leyland Titan of T class for comparative trials.

In 2006, an arson attack destroyed around ten buses.

On 1 October 2011, routes 28, 31, 328, N28 and N31 transferred to the new Atlas Road (AS) garage.

Bus types in use

• AEC Routemaster (RM) for route 9H.
• Alexander Dennis Enviro400H hybrid to be introduced on route 23 from April 2012.
• Dennis Trident 2 9.9m / Plaxton President (TN) for route 295.
• Volvo B9TL 10.4m / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 (VN) for route 23.

Willesden Junction (WJ)

An old type of First London's buses: Marshall Capital used on route 187

The Willesden Junction garage holds 120 buses, and runs London bus routes 18, 187, 226, 228, 487 and Night route N18.

History

On 13 November 2010, N18 was transferred to this garage following the withdrawal of articulated buses from the day 18.

Bus types in use

• Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (DML) for routes 187, 226, 228 and 487.
• Wright StreetLite 10.2m (WM) for routes 226 and 228.
• Volvo B9TL 10.4m / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 (VN) for route 18 and N18.

See also

• List of bus operators of the United Kingdom

External links

• First London