Fleet news
8 fleet news items found.
Posted on Saturday 3rd August 2024
New Ford Transit Connects in TfL white ivery have continued to flood in, with a total of 106 now reported. The vast majority are long-wheelbase crew vans, but there are also a dozen LWB vans and (so far) just one SWB van (9250F). Fleetnumbers are spread across the range 9169F to 9379F, and I am beginning to think that this is the only type that has been ordered so far. This could mean there are still 105 yet to be reported or delivered.
The only other central-fleet addition is a bit of a mystery. Renault Kangoo van MW24VRU was seen at Newbury Park Station and was white with LUL roundels on front and sides and TfL lettering on the sides. No fleetnumber was carried but this looks to be a long-term addition. What is not clear is why this got LUL livery when TfL-only seems to be the new standard. The Renault Kangoo model was updated a couple of years ago and this is the first example reported as a service vehicle.
A newish (73-reg) Vauxhall Combo van was found at Arriva London's Grays garage. This is a 'stealth' SV, in that it has white Arriva lettering on its white bodywork! Not yet added to the database is HK24KZS, an unmarked red Seat Ibiza car seen at Dartford garage. If anyone sees this in use as a crew ferry, please let me know.
Metroline has been receiving new vans again, two of which were Ford Transit Courier Mk2 vans. This new model is markedly different from the original Courier, which was visually similar to the Ford Fiesta car. The new version has a more pronounced bonnet. Also at Metroline, two Ford vans were noted recently that have perhaps been operated since new a few years ago. Quite how AX68UYA and AY71JKK avoided being seen until now is a mystery.
Transport UK has added several more second-cars of various makes, replacing the once-standard Ford Fiesta. A growing number also have Transport UK fleetnames and numbers in the 68xx range.
Posted on Friday 19th July 2024
Lots more TfL Ford Transit Connect vans have been found this week, bringing the total up to at least 88. Fleetnumber-registration tie-ups are missing for a few so please get in touch if you can help.
Posted on Sunday 7th July 2024
The number of TfL Ford Transit Connect vans delivered over the past couple months has risen to at least 54, and there are probably some we have missed. Fleet numbers are spread across a wide range (9189F to 9379F) and it is presumed (hoped!) that some of the other numbers will be used on vehicles of other types.
Posted on Sunday 26th May 2024
Deliveries of new Ford Transit Connect vans in TfL white livery have continued. Ten more arrived this week (photos to follow), meaning that at least 37 have been delivered over the past two months. The fleet numbers on the latest batch are interesting, being spread across a wide range from 9272F to 9376F. This suggests that a large quantity of vehicles are on order.
Transport UK has been adding a variety of second-hand cars for use as crew ferries, moving away from the standardised fleet of mainly Ford Fiestas used by Abellio. The examples added today include three makes not previously featured in the LTSV database (Alfa Romeo, Mazda and Ssongyang), while I have also updated the operator name (from Abellio to Transport UK) for all the older vehicles that have been noted still in use since March. This has left 18 vehicles that are still listed as Abellio, none of which have been reported recently. Any sightings of these vehicles would be welcomed.
Two more of Metroline's Ford Puma cars have gained advert liveries, formed of all-over vinyl wraps with graphics and lettering for bus driver recruitment. AY23KUE has a yellow base while AY23KWO is green (photos to follow). All three examples (including AY23KVM in light blue) are working from Brentford, while the Pumas at other locations appear to still be in unmarked red.
Posted on Sunday 28th April 2024
Fleetnumbers for central fleet vehicles are romping ahead. Four new Ford Transit Connect vans seen at Acton Works recently carried 9254F to 9257F, these being more than 30 higher than the batch of Connect crew vans delivered over Easter. So presumably lots more vehicles have been ordered. The four new vans (plus one further crew van numbered 9216F) all have the basic TfL white livery. Taking the places in the Acton lorry yard recently occupied by new Ford vans have been a variety of older LUL vehicles, such as Renault Kangoo Maxi vans 8357R, 8358R, 8360R, 8365R, 8367R, 8369R and 8372R. This would suggest that the new TfL Fords are indeed for LUL use, backed-up by the fact that examples have been noted at Frank Pick House and at Stratford Market Depot.
Posted on
Saturday 30th March 2024
Finally, we have some new central fleet vehicles to report, after a hiatus in deliveries of over 3 years. Seen at Acton Works today were 19 Ford Transit Connect crew vans that had arrived over the past couple of days. They had a new livery of plain white with blue roundels and TfL lettering, but they have gained fleetnumbers in the traditional series. The range was 9191F to 9219F, suggesting that more are on the way, and hopefully we will now be getting back into the way of regular additions.
9213F (LD24OSB) and eight of its sisters at Acton Works today
Posted on Saturday 16th March 2024
With nothing much to report on the central fleet (apart from the withdrawal of accident-damaged van 9043VW), most news is about the bus company fleets. Stagecoach now has five Vauxhall Vivaro electric minibuses at Rainham and it looks like these might have replaced the Hyundai I800 minibuses. Also new, or newly reported, are a few more Nissan NV250 vans with Go-Ahead London. These Renault Kangoo clones are all in anonymous white and a total of seven with HG21xxx registrations have now been seen. Needless to say, Arriva London's Dartford garage has had a couple of new hired cars, with one of Norwood's Seats also seen working from there recently.
Abellio (or Transport UK as we now have to call it) appears to have had a clear out of older service vehicles recently, with at least 20 leaving the fleet. It doesn't look as though these have been replaced by much, with just one addition reported. This was a Ford Focus in white with Transport UK lettering and the fleetnumber 6859 (photo to follow). This shows that the main numbering series is still in use, although the highest we had known about was 6811. Presumably the intervening numbers were allocated to the various cars that have been added but which have not carried external fleetnumbers. By the way, I will shortly be changing the operator of vehicles still in use as of this February from Abellio to Transport UK. Sighting reports, particularly of any cars with new fleetnames, would be helpful for this.
Site news22 site news items found.
Posted on Tuesday 20th August 2024
The database has been updated with changes reported over the past week, including 35 new additions. The latter are split between more new Ford Transit Connects for TfL (now with 118 reported) and lots of second-hand cars for Transport UK. There have also been a few more new vans for Metroline, and at least five Hyundai cars with Arriva Southern Counties at Northfleet.
Posted on Sunday 11th August 2024
The catch-up continues. A batch of 14 photos has just been uploaded, covering most of June 2024. There are quite a lot of July photos that I want to show and I will get on with those shortly.
Posted on Sunday 4th August 2024
Another 14 photos have been added. Half are stragglers from earlier this year, the other half were taken around the end of May or beginning of June. More soon...
Posted on Saturday 3rd August 2024
I had hoped to be able to do a fleet news update with illustrations, but I am still some way off catching up with the backlog of photos. So, I have posted the text covering some interesting recent events, and the photos can be added later when they are available.
Posted on Sunday 28th July 2024
I have prioritised another batch of catch-up photos today, so the Fleet News update has been deferred. The 16 photos just added were taken between mid- and late-May 2024.
Posted on Saturday 27th July 2024
A further 15 vehicles have been added to the database, some of which are rather interesting. I'll add some Fleet News about these soon but first I really must get some sleeeeeeeee......
Posted on Sunday 21st July 2024
The backlog of photos for LTSV is becoming rather large so I had better make a start. The photos are coming out in date order so this first batch of 12 covers the period from late-April to mid-May.
Posted on Friday 19th July 2024
The vehicle database has been updated with no fewer than 50 additions and a number of edits. Photos are still on my to-do list.
Posted on Sunday 7th July 2024
The vehicle database has been brought up to date. Photos will be worked on next.
Posted on Friday 31st May 2024
Time to catch up with photographs. The first batch of 30 covers events this year up to late-April. A second set to bring things up to date will be uploaded in the next week or so.
Posted on Sunday 26th May 2024
The database has been brought up to date with the latest additions, withdrawals and other changes. A new batch of photos will follow shortly.
Posted on
Saturday 30th March 2024
Before I plough on with the 'routine' photos from February and March, I have two special sets of photos today. The first 15 are 'publicity' shots sent to us recently by LUL but including photos from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1980s.
AEC Regal 396W was seen in about 1939, just after it had been converted from a Green Line coach
Next is the news I have been waiting many months for, which is the resumption (hopefully) of central fleet renewal. 19 new vans were seen at Acton Works today, as detailed under Fleet News. Ray photographed them all, but as they are all pretty much identical I have just used four of his pictures!
Could this be the new standard livery for LUL vehicles? Seen on new Ford Transit Connect crew van 9195F
Posted on Thursday 28th March 2024
Back in business
I have been having an interesting year so far! As well as the new 'job' with LOTS, I had the builders in for about a month, redoing my bathroom. Then I sustained a back injury which has seriously curtailed my activities through February and March. On the positive side, I am having treatment and it is slowly improving. Also, the peak of the workload at LOTS has passed for now. So, it is high time I got back into the swing of maintaining this website. The vehicle database was updated in mid-March (with just a few more later changes to be added) and today I am adding the first photos since the end of last November! There are 16 to start with, mainly taken in December and January. Photos from February and March will follow soon.
Posted on Saturday 16th March 2024
With lots of LOTS work concluded over the past week, I am finally able to find some time to update LTSV, starting with the vehicle database. The truth is that there is not a great deal going on at present. There are still no (known) additions to the central fleet, and I have summarised developments at the bus companies in Fleet News. Similarly, even though I have not added any photos since the end of November, I don't have a huge number waiting to go up. I will try and get a batch ready over the next few days.
Posted on Saturday 27th January 2024
On the Buses (AKA Making excuses again)
As the issue is still ongoing, I thought I should write to explain why I have not managed many updates on my LTSV websites over the past few months. The simple fact is that I have been moonlighting as the editor of a monthly (printed) magazine about buses! I have had a small involvement with LOTS (the London Omnibus Traction Society) for several years, including providing proof-reading and IT support to the editor of their magazine. The editor was getting on a bit and, a few months ago, he asked if I would be willing to take on some aspects of his work. I agreed to this and, although it took a while to get things set up, I managed to produce the January 2024 issue without any major problems. At the time, I envisaged this taking up perhaps 3-4 days a month, meaning that I would have plenty of time left over for LTSV.
However, there was then a change when the editor's health took a turn for the worse and he was admitted to hospital, potentially long-term. I now had to cover the whole of his job, or at least find other people to assist with parts, but either way it is proving to be rather time-consuming. The monthly magazine seems to be on-track, then there are a couple of yearly publications due out in the spring and on top of that, I had already been working on a major web project to mark LOTS' 60th anniversary later this year. Just to complicate things, some long-planned building work on my house finally got underway in mid-January, while I have had no fewer than three bouts of illness over the winter - just cold/flu but it knocked me for six each time and seemed to take ages to shift. Plus, of course, the dog ate my homework.
Anyway, there is light at the end of the tunnel (though I have been advised not to go towards the light!) and 'normal service' across all LTSV websites should be restored soon.
Posted on Tuesday 2nd January 2024
Happy New Year. The vehicle database has just been updated with all reported changes, though there is still nothing much going on with the central fleet. I've had a busy couple of months. Members of LOTS may have seen that I am taking over as Managing Editor of their monthly TLB magazine and preparations for this, together with a related side-project, have taken up most of my free time for a while. Once I am settled into the role I should (hopefully) be able to divide my time between LOTS and the various LTSV websites.
Posted on Thursday 30th November 2023
I'm back. Did you miss me? I have various excuses for my absence, including illness, leaky plumbing and a new job. Plus the dog ate my notes. Again. Anyway, I am kicking off with a batch of 43 photos, mostly taken over the past few months. The exception dates from 1957 and is rather special. I will catch up with (the few) vehicle changes shortly and also add some news commentary.
Posted on Friday 20th October 2023
Update on AEC Regents in London
Regarding the planned road run in London tomorrow (Saturday), due to a demonstration march taking place around the same time/area, the route and timings of the run may have to be revised. Understandably it has not proved possible to provide any more detailed information. Secondly, 739J will unfortunately not be able to attend either the run or the Brooklands event on the Sunday. Thus it should be 738J and 832J on the run, these then joined by 830J at Brooklands the next day.
Posted on
Saturday 14th October 2023
An event planned for next weekend may be of interest to service vehicle fans. It is hoped that all four surviving AEC Regent breakdown tenders will be re-united at the Transportfest event at the London Bus Museum at Brooklands on Sunday 22nd October. Not only that but it is planned that up to three of the vehicles will undertake a run around various central London locations on the Saturday (21st). Timings are estimates but include Westminster Bridge at 11:45, Parliament Square at 12:05, St James Park Station at 12:20, Victoria Station at 12:30, Hyde Park Corner at 12:40 and Marble Arch at 12:50. If you want more details about the intended route, please contact me by e-mail.
The last congregation of Regent tenders saw three together at Cobham back in 1994, along with a newer Titan.
Posted on
Friday 13th October 2023
New bus publication from LOTSPublished a few weeks ago, and correct to early September 2023, SUP45A is a new title in the series of Supplementary publications produced by LOTS. I have become more involved with the bus side of LOTS in recent months, and I did this new SUP since there seemed to be no immediate plans for a new edition of their established SUP39 booklet. The new title shows all London area bus garages, each showing details of the routes worked and the buses allocated. Whether or not this becomes a regular title will depend on how well the first edition sells. To give you some idea of what is inside, I have included some sample pages here. Click on any image to view full-size (will open in a new window).
I was going to post this in the forum rather than on the news page but then I remembered that I have disallowed HTML tags on the former, and hence cannot include images!
Posted on Sunday 1st October 2023
It seems hard to believe but LTSV is now 20 years old, the first version of the site having been launched on 1st October 2003. The site came about almost by accident. I had been sent on a web design training course by my employer, but there was then a delay in their website plans. So, to keep the knowledge fresh in my mind, I decided to create my own website. I settled on the subject of service vehicles as it was something I knew a little about yet which seemed to have been ignored, with virtually nothing published either in print or on-line. Hence I figured I would have no competition! My site was built using Macromedia Dreamweaver (on which I had been trained), and was limited to a few pages of general information and a handful of photographs. There was also a section on the Trainz railway simulator program, which I was quite into at the time. The latter was soon dropped as my interest reduced, though ironically the research into real trains (to enable me to build models for the simulator) eventually led to the addition of a major new branch of the LTSV site.
What I hadn't anticipated was the quantity of information and photographs that people would contribute to the service vehicle site, and I was soon able to add basic fleetlists and photo galleries. To handle the increasing amount of data and content, I figured that a database would be beneficial, though this involved quite a steep learning curve. The initial data-driven version of the site was launched in 2005, and progressively enhanced over the next few years. At the same time I stopped using Dreamweaver, all page creation now being done in a plain text editor. New sections were added to the site to cover railway rolling stock (LTSV Wagons in 2008, replaced by the more ambitious LTSV Rail Data in 2021), London Transport archive documents (LTSV-LTA in 2020) and railway company road vehicles (LTSV-RRV in late 2021), while the original SV site was replaced with a completely new version in April 2022. This year I have built a database of London buses, though this is not on-line and is intended mainly to assist with my involvement in publications produced by LOTS.
All my websites have one thing in common. They are all reliant on contributions of information and photographs by other people. And it is those people (of which there are too many to name) that I should really thank (or blame) for enabling LTSV to become what it is today.
